Danica Patrick is not the only one setting records this NASCAR season; The Business of NASCAR class set a record of its own in January.
Six years ago, Professor Coleman Rich created an exercise that would simulate securing sponsorships for a race team. The class is divided into teams of three and given a pinewood derby car. Each team is charged to create a portfolio which includes information about their car, driver, race shop and benefits of a corporate sponsorship. The team also creates a price table to illustrate different levels of sponsorship for different parts of the car. Then each team secures sponsors for their cars. On the last day of class, the Elon 100 Pinewood Derby race is held and a winner is chosen. This year’s winning team members were Tripp Winkler ’13, Ashton Harris ’13, and Andrew Russo ’13.
All sponsorship money is donated to the Victory Junction Gang Camp. This year the class raised $6,300, which is more than enough money to sponsor two campers this summer. Over the past six years, the Business of NASCAR class has raised $8,850 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
The class is partially funded by Dr. Rose and the late Dr. Joe Mattioli, owners of Pocono Raceway. Their generous gift allows the class to travel to Daytona to experience the birthplace of NASCAR. This year’s class experienced the contrast of the Rolex Grand Am testing, along with Sprint Cup testing and was one of the first groups to experience testing of the new Gen6 car for Spring Cup racing. Caitlin Sherr, a senior marketing major, described her experience of the class as, “Having known little about the sport, I can honestly say I have become a true fan.”