For 50 years SKF has used the high-tech world of European Formula One auto racing as a research and development testbed to design and prove new technology. Now, for the first time, we are joining the ranks of corporate America as NASCAR Winston Cup sponsors.To raise the awareness of SKF brands in North America and specifically in the vehicle service aftermarket, Chicago Rawhide and the SKF Automotive Division signed on as a major associate sponsor of the number 99 Exide Batteries/Roush Racing Ford team, competing in NASCAR’s premier series. As luck would have it, NASCAR also has been racing for 50 years and is celebrating its anniversary in 1998, which will increase our visibility during our first year of sponsorship.
It’s all in the numbers

NASCAR is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the leader in motorsport racing and entertainment. According to the 1997 Goodyear Racing Attendance Report, the Winston Cup series was up 9 percent, with 6 million fans attending the 32 events. Average attendance was a record-breaking 190,355 per event, up from 180,260 in 1996.
   

Throughout the ’90s, growth of the sport has consistently gone through the roof. From 1990 to 1995, NASCAR grew 60 percent. To benchmark this incredible growth, check out the following numbers for other sports during the same time period. The NHL reported 38 percent growth, the NBA 22 percent and the NFL 8 percent.
   

Nielsen Media Research said that in 1996, 148.8 million people watched NASCAR Winston Cup races airing on five different networks: ABC, CBS, ESPN, TBS and TNN. This number represented a 10 percent increase over the previous year.
   

Perhaps the most impressive NASCAR magic is its brand loyalty. SKF will be able to use this to raise awareness and sell product.
Brand loyalty among NASCAR fans is more than 70 percent. The next closest then sport is tennis at 52 percent, golf at 47 percent and the NBA and baseball are 38 percent each. NASCAR fans understand that without corporate sponsors, their sport would not exist. They support those who help their sport.
   

Given the numbers, understanding the marketing value of NASCAR is easy. The next part of the equation is getting the most from the experience by running up front with a
top team.
The young lion and the wily veteran

SKF and CR are positioned well to gain maximum exposure in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup series. We have invested in one of the hottest young drivers on the circuit, 30-year-old Jeff Burton. To channel the talent, Burton is backed by one of the most powerful veteran teams in auto racing, Roush Racing, owned by legendary engineer Jack Roush.
   

Burton is coming off of his best year ever in 1997. The gifted driver from South Boston, Virginia, finished the season fourth overall in the Winston Cup standings. En route, he posted his first career win at the Texas Motor Speedway and proceeded to charge into victory lane two more times at Loudon, New Hampshire and Martinsville, Virginia. He also clinched the NASCAR Winston Cup Manufacturer’s Championship for Ford with his win at Martinsville.
   

To this point in the season the team has posted four finishes in the top five.
SKF racing comes full circle

SKF first got involved in racing in 1947 when it supplied the legendary Italian Formula One racing team, Ferrari, with technical expertise and specialized products. Currently, the company supplies the Newman/Haas CART racing team with ultra-high performance wheel hubs. Over the years, these products have been developed and “raced” by SKF, providing us with important technical knowledge that we have carried to our product line.
   

The NASCAR sponsorship enables our racing involvement to come full circle and gain as much from racing’s marketing opportunities as we have gained from technical development.
As the NASCAR season gets underway, watch your TV guide for times and dates of Winston Cup events and join us in supporting Jeff Burton and the number 99 Ford.