National Guard justified in withdrawing NASCAR, IndyCar sponsorships

The numbers don’t lie, and in this instance they’re pretty damning. Despite committing $88 million over the past three years to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. and with a heavy presence in NASCAR, the National Guard failed to generate few, if any recruits.

During the 2012 fiscal year, the Guard spent $26 million to sponsor Earnhardt’s team. And what did the Guard receive for its sizable investment? Nearly 25,000 individuals became prospective recruiting candidates, of which only 20 were qualified, according to a May 2014 report by USA Today. And of those 20, not a single person joined the Guard.

For a company to spend nearly $100 million and not receive a tangible increase in business makes it hard to justify the expenditure. Even more ludicrous is if that money is being generated by federal tax dollars, as is the case with the Guard’s NASCAR and IndyCar sponsorships.

There is no other way to describe the National Guard’s investment in NASCAR other than wasteful, a sentiment shared by many policy makers in Washington who have openly questioned the sponsorship costs.

And when the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senate subcommittee held a hearing in May, it was obvious military sponsorships in motor sports would soon come to a halt -- at least at the current financial level.

“We really need to measure the effectiveness of whatever dollars we do spend,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said during the hearing. “This is one that I think should really get the caution flag.”

The long expected became official when the Guard announced Wednesday it was discontinuing its NASCAR and IndyCar sponsorship programs effective at the end of the year.

Supporters of the programs will point toward the abundance of media coverage the Guard has received via its association with NASCAR’s 11-time most popular driver as a measurement of success.

In data shared with SB Nation, Joyce Julius & Associates, which tabulates media mentions for NASCAR teams, sponsors and tracks, calculated that Earnhardt garnered $28.2 million of in-race television exposure for the Guard through 20 races (Indianapolis) this season. This does not include Earnhardt’s most recent win last Sunday at Pocono Raceway, nor does it factor the exposure generated from news media and ancillary programming or social media -- all vast in their reach.

The impact of being aligned with Earnhardt carries a clear value, especially in a year when he’s won three times, including the Daytona 500, and is second in the championship standings.

Yet in spite of the vast amount of publicity the Guard has amassed, unless that translates into a significant recruiting boost, the costs aren’t justifiable. Not at a time when across the country at both the federal and state level social programs have been slashed.

“We share a common commitment to the American people to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Major General Judd H. Lyons, acting director of the Army National Guard. “We will continue to assess and refine our programs to ensure we get the best return on investment.”

The Guard joins the Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy as service branches that have ceased sponsoring motor sports. That it chose now to suspend its support of Earnhardt does come at a peculiar time considering his resurgence. Then again, the numbers can be ignored for only so long.