Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Hammer's Cycle Tune pit crew was fast and efficient during the Riverside (California) Six Hour. a ttit ude , "W ha t can I do for this spo nsor? " You ha ve 10 th in k why th is guy sho uld give you mo ney , Why sho uld he g ive you a free spa rk p lug? In the begi nni ng you' ll prob a bl y be unable 10 ge t mon ey, but may be a b le to get pr oducts free , That's where Team H ammer has everybo dy else , T eam Hammer isn' t just a successfu l race team , It's also a prom ot ion al effort . We've go t broch ures a nd flyers and pr ess kit s that we pa ss ou t. I go 10 press lu nch eon s, . T eam Hammer d istributed 7, 000 bro ch ures one way o r th e other in 19SI. so a guy spo nso ring the team go t a ce rta in amou nt of ex pos u re no matter wha t. Som e peopl e tell me th at pu bli c relation s isn 't th e fun ct ion of a ra cer. All a racer is supposed 10 do is ra ce , t hey te ll me . Bu t th er e's mor e 10 ge tt ing a spo nsor 'tha n raci ng , even tho ug h ra cing is wha t we'r e talking abo ut in · the fir st place . You have 10 give the sponsor some th ing wonhwil e for th eir mon ey. You ha ve 10 do anything you ca n to help promote th e sale of th e spo nsor's product a nd to get expos u re for th e product . Some people wonder if it' s luck or what that T ea m Hammer gets the cover age it gets all the tim e. People write in sometimes and com plai n to Cycle News that it' s T eam Hammer this and Team Hammer that , What they don't realize is that what they're Ham mer got down low and gassed It up see ing is Tea m H a m mer delivering publicity for spo nsors . wh ich is why spo nso rs spo nso r people. T he mor e spo nso rs, th e mor e co mpetitive tea ms a nd th e be tter the show for spectalOrs. If ou r spo nso rs ge t some th ing out of spo nso ring - raci ng , ot her co m pa nies will want to ge t somethi ng, too , a nd th ey'll ge t int o spo nsori ng racing and th e spo rt will g ro w, be ne fitti ng eve ry· bod y. not just Tea m Ha mmer. The other th ing is th at Tea m mak es th a t publ icity Hammer happen. I send out press releases to everybody fro m Cycle News 10 t he La Mirada Lamplight er. I send th em pr ess kit s and broch-ures a nd I ta lk 10 peopl e a ll th e t ime . I m ak e. m y own effort , I toot m y own horn . Tha t's what you've got to d o ou t there, unl ess you' re Freddie Spe nce r a nd have a public rela tion s age ncy doing it for you. And that 's why you see pictures of Bruce Hammer in a n AMA Natio na l program or in th e ' program for a n end u ra nce race. I send th em that stu ff a hea d of time , eno ug h a hea d of tim e for the gu y wh o'sdoing the program to ge t it a nd use it . I coo pe rate with th e pr om oters a t th e tra ck , do int ervi ews with Larry Huffman or whoever happens 10 be th e a n no unce r , I go to pre -race press conferences even if it means taking an extra da y off work and getting to the racetrack a day early , You can't just be a ra cer in the 'SOs. You 've got to be a PR guy and a racer , du ~l ng a successful season in 'S1. or. in t he case of Tea m H ammer a nd Bruce Hammer in 19SI , be a PR g uy a nd a racer a nd a mech a ni c a nd hold a full-ti me job a nd go fast a ll a t th e same lime . You have to ha ve good eq u ipment. too. a nd it has to use the right stuff. By th a t I mea n th at it's to ug h to ge t a n aftermarke t exha ust syste m manu fa ctu re r 10 spo nsor you if you' re riding in t he Box Stock class. It a lso ha s to make power, because a stock 550 just doesn 't mak e dem ands on produ cts like cha in o r ti res th e wa y a I 100 does. So me peopl e ma y not rea lize wha t the T eam Hammer bike reall y is. It 's not just a . stoc k st reet bik e . This is a I 50 -hor se power, ISO-mph ro cket -ship that definit ely puts a ny product 10 the sup re me test . The com bi na tio n of high horsepower a nd lon g rac es a nd grue ling heat , the co nd itions of end u ra nce racing, mean th at th e p roducts we use a nd endo rse must be very goo d or else they' ll fai l. If we use a brand o f cha in and it works lin e for us , it will work on a guy's st ree t bike. We kn ow th er e's a di ffer en ce between brands of chain be cause we've won races where 'guys we had 10 ra ce with d ropped out with chai n troubles. So if a cha in company sponsored us , th ey'd be a b le to advertise how great it work ed on thi s monste r bike in long rac es. As it is now , no chai n company sponsors us and th e only company that's int erested makes an inferior product , so we're staying with what Bruce Hammer's Basic Guide to Approaching Sponsors 1) Look and act professional. 2) Write letters on letterhead stationery. 3) Have business cards. 4) Tell them what you can do for them to help their business. 5) Tell them what you want from them; in other words, tell t hem how much it cost them. 6) Win races. w ill 24 work s a nd leaving th e decals off'. • We ca n't a ffor d 10 lose ra ces by usin g stu ff tha t isn't a ny goo d , a nd even th e most starving ra cer sho uld n't accept spo nsors hip if it mejin s th at he won 't ever win aga in because th e product is junk. It 's a lso important th at motorcycle people act professional. It 's been a long time since Marlon Branda made his mov ie riding a motorcycle but th er e's still a large segment of the population that perceives mo torcyclists as bad guys , and some of the people who feel that way make th e decisions in . big com pa nies ripe for racing sponsorship programs. You have to have nice -looking leathers. You r ' bik e has to be painted spiffy. That's your image . Your visual im pressi on is im po rta nt. Before - you even ge t a cha nce 10 talk to a possib le spo nsor , he'll ofte n make up his m in d abo ut you by th e way you look . If he doesn't like the way you look , or if you hav.. sloppy handw riting on some fu nky piece of stationery. you' re neve r go ing to ge t a nywhere with th em . Every t hi ng tha t Tea m Hammer does , fro m our statione ry to our busin ess cards , the pa int job on th e t ruc k, t he mot orcycle , th e leather s... everyt hing looks professiona l. It isn 't enoug h to go fast on a mot or cycle . It is im porta nt to go fast , a nd if you do n't you'll event ua lly run out of peop le wh o beli eve you 're worth sponsoring. But 10 do well wit h spo nso rs you must be mor e th an F st . a T he th ing is, you ca n be a real grub a od still go fast . But it's easier to go fast on good eq ui pme nt. a nd good eq ui pme nt takes mon ey, and th e wa y to ge t money is through sponso rsh ip help a nd th e way 10 get sponsors h ip help is by having a professional program . One last question. Why is it that Chevron is sponsoring Team Hammer on one hand and on the other hand tore down O n ta rio Motor Spe edwa y to build a business park? I sho uld add that a nybo dy looking for publi city sho u ld be ready 10 a nswer qu esti on s like that on e . It's an obvious q u estion. Yes. it is. You see. th er e a re not one but manv Ch evrons . In 19S1 T eam Hammer ' was sponsored by Ch evron USA Inc . While T eam Hamm er was USA, negot iating 'with Chevron unknown 10 us and Chevron USA . rem ember , .thi s was in fall 1980 . Ch evr on Land and Development was negotiating for Ontario. The companies are owned by the same I giant holding company but have no normal contact and operate inde pendently from ea ch other and from the parent company. Ontario Motor Speedway had never made money a nd had been for sa le for quite a whil e and somebody else almost ' bought it, As it turned out , Chevron La nd and Development bought it and tore it down to bu ild a business pa rk and condos, The purchase set off a boycott Chevron movement among.c lub racers in Cal ifornia . I don't know if there would have been a Home Savings boycott if Home Savings had bo ught it, but they didn't . Anyway, Chevron Land and Develop ment didn't barge ' into the place and b uy it at gunpoint. It was for sale, they put u p $42 million nobody else matched or topped that price, and they took the speedway. We can't help it . Chevron Research can't help it. And Chevron USA , Inc. ca n' t help it , Onl y Ch evron Land a nd Development co uld h ave helped it. but th ey di d n' t. It's not a case nf o ne big co m pa ny. Next q uestion , please. That' s it . Great! T his medi a stu ff is lin e. but I'd rather go ride' m y m otorcycle. Thank you . •

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