Jeff Gordon Online

Sprint Cup racing is a business. The costs associated with racing have skyrocketed in recent years. To run a competitive, championship-caliber race team, sponsors are needed to fund everything from the research and development program all the way down to the hotel rooms for the team members at the tracks. The following companies provide Jeff Gordon's team with the necessary funds to remain competitive on the Sprint Cup circuit. In return, Gordon helps the companies by making appearances on their behalf, using their products, and filming television commercials endorsing the company.

Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont has been Jeff's primary sponsor since he began racing on the Sprint Cup circuit in 1992. DuPont is one of the largest U.S. industrial corporations. With operations in 70 countries, including 165 manufacturing and processing facilities, and more than 75 R&D and customer service laboratories, the DuPont "oval" is a worldwide symbol of innovation. The entire DuPont corporation uses the sponsorship as part of their corporate branding marketing strategy.

Associate Sponsors

In addition to a primary sponsor, Sprint Cup teams need associate sponsors to compete at the highest level. While not as visible on the car as the primary sponsor, the associate sponsors garner a fair amount of the driver's time away from the track as they provide the race team with the necessary resources to reach victory lane.

PepsiCo signed as an associate sponsor with Jeff before the 1997 season. He had previously been sponsored by another popular soft drink company which preferred to utilize him in a regional marketing setting. However, when the Purchase, New York-based company proposed a nationwide marketing campaign with Jeff Gordon as the focal point, Generation Next got its spokesman. In 1999 and 2000 Pepsi sponsored Gordon's limited efforts in the Busch series. Starting in 2001 Pepsi served as primary sponsor on Gordon's car in two races per season. PepsiCo Corporate Officers Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi Vice Chairman Michael White Chief Financial Officer Chairman Richard Goodman

General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) through its companies and affiliates extends financial services to GM dealers and their customers in 35 countries around the globe, making GMAC one of the largest financial services companies in the world. The Detroit, Michigan-based company has expanded across many borders into new countries and areas of business. New additions to GMAC's business portfolio are fleet leasing and fleet management companies in Europe. Haas Automation is the largest machine tool manufacturer in the United States, building a full line of CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes, rotary tables, and 5C indexers. In 1983, Gene Haas founded Haas Automation to manufacture economical and reliable machine tools. The company entered the machine tool industry with the first-ever, fully automatic, programmable collet indexer, a device used to position parts for machining with very high accuracy.

Bosch became an associate sponsor on Jeff Gordon's car at the start of 2003. Bosch is a worldwide name in a large number of areas. These include electrical and electronic automotive technology, power tools, household xample appliances, thermotechnology, as well as automation technology and packaging technology. The small workshop for precision mechanics and electrical engineering which Robert Bosch founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1886, and which soon specialized in ignition systems for motor vehicles and engines of all kinds, has now become the Bosch group, which is active worldwide and is one of the largest companies in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of tissue, packaging, paper, pulp, and building products and related chemicals. The company employs approximately 50,000 people at 300 locations in North America, South America and Europe. The company's Sparkle brand of paper towels is featured on the C-pillar of Gordon's car.

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