Bob Reif- Chief Marketing Officer of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp

As marketing jobs go, Bob Reif has what seems like a dream one. As chief marketing officer of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp., he is responsible for getting sponsorship for the Indy 500, an event that has little trouble grabbing the attention of corporate sponsors.

But even Reif has his challenges. So great is the interest in sponsorship that he said the speedway even turned down a $1 million offer to put an advertisement on an infield pedestrian bridge. To maintain a balance between the speedway's history and the commercial interests that want to piggyback on the race's fame, he said the Hulman-George family, which owns the track debt-free, often declines the kind of sponsorship deals that have become common elsewhere in the sports world.

"We're never going to sell naming rights on Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Reif, who helped market Miami Dolphins football, Florida Panthers hockey and Florida Marlins baseball for Wayne Huizenga before joining the Speedway in late 1999. "We're probably one of the only tracks around that is not selling signage on the back of our grandstands. There are so many opportunities when it comes to sponsorship that we don't feel the need to go out and paint signs everywhere."

But this is not your run-of-the-mill 500-mile race, either. The Indianapolis 500 is a monthlong festival that involves an entire region of the country with a parade, two weeks of practice, three days of qualifying, 33 of the fastest cars on Earth and a race that some 400,000 visitors will see in person. Its $9 million purse is one of the largest anywhere in sports, and the race is watched by millions of people around the world.

Industry sources claim that of the estimated $100 million in total revenue the race generates, ticket sales are the biggest source, followed by sponsorships from six companies: Coors Brewing Co., WorldCom Inc., Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., Firestone Rubber Co., Delphi Automotive Systems and General Motors Corp. In turn, the tens of millions of dollars those companies contribute give them exclusive rights to advertise on speedway grounds.

"If you don't have as much signage as other locations, you stand out," said Karen O'Quain, president of RaceWorks LLC, the Houston-based firm managing Pennzoil's motorsports programs. "The company has a heritage in motorsports, especially in open-wheel racing. It's something that's just not going away from our fan base."

Indeed, history is a lure the Indy 500 has over a wide range of companies. Bank One Corp., for example, took over sponsoring the award for the best new driver in each race from Indianapolis-based American Fletcher National Bank, a bank it acquired in 1979. Last year, the $25,000 award, now dubbed the Bank One Rookie of the Year award, went to Juan Montoya.

But it is not just companies with huge marketing budgets that get involved. The $596 million in revenue produced by Chicago-based BorgWarner Inc. during 2000 is small when compared with the $3.2 billion Pennzoil generated last year. Yet BorgWarner is more closely associated with the Indy 500 than nearly any other company in the world, largely because of the race's BorgWarner Trophy, the sterling silver trophy that has the sculpted face of every winner since 1911 welded onto it.

Beth Feikens, a spokeswoman for BorgWarner, said even though the trophy resides at the speedway's museum, it is an important marketing tool for the company.

"The trophy is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world." she said. "Even people who are not close to racing have seen or heard of it."

Still, the lure of the 500 is not enough to keep sponsors forever. PPG Industries Inc., which contributed more than $600,000 annually to the race, including the $100,000 award to the driver starting from the pole position, announced in January that it would not renew its contracts with the race. In a news release, Richard Zahren, a vice president, said the company's changing business was behind the decision.

"Our racing programs certainly met their objectives, and we are proud of our part of the exciting tradition of Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the mid-1970s," Zahren said. "But circumstances and objectives change, as does PPG's business portfolio. The combination of changing objectives and customer needs require redirection of resources."

For those companies that do participate, though, the reward is unparalleled exposure. Joyce Julius & Associates, a sponsorship research firm, estimated that advertisers and team sponsors received more than $100 million of television exposure during last year's race alone.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. received an estimated $7.5 million worth as an associate sponsor to the cars of winner Montoya and his teammate Jimmy Vasser. The company is back with the race this year to sponsor Vasser, together with his teammate Tony Stewart and Galles Racing's Al Unser Jr. and Casey Mears.

It's that kind of exposure that makes Reif's job that much easier.

"We want an opportunity to have [new companies] as our customers," he said. "If we give people an opportunity to come in and sample our returns, they can't say no."

Bob Reif Chief Marketing Officer Indianapolis Motor Speedway

James C. Allen is a writer in Virginia.