Toyota signs on as first “Daytona Rising” sponsor (Update)
02/06/14
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| Daytona International Speedway Toyota entrance |
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Daytona International Speedway has its first major sponsor for its $400 million “Daytona Rising" project, an exhaustive overhaul of the nearly mile-long front stretch grandstands.
Toyota has signed an 11-year agreement to secure the naming rights for one of five new fan entrances into the Speedway’s 100,000-seat grandstands. Toyota will also take over 20,000 square feet of space around the entry that will span four concourse levels in the newly built grandstands.
The announcement was made Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show, where Toyota revealed plans more than 10 years ago to participate for the first time in NASCAR as part of the Camping World Truck Series.
“When we started drafting the designs of Daytona Rising, we envisioned partnering with equally forward-thinking organizations like Toyota to bring forth the very best experience for our fans and guests," said International Speedway Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy. “Toyota has been a great partner for many years, and we will continue to work together to enhance the fan experience at many of our facilities across the country."
Additional sponsorships are expected for the remaining four gates the Speedway calls fan injectors, large openings that will each feed thousands of people into the facility via steps, escalators and elevators. When the overhaul project is complete in two years, the entries will prominently feature company names, logos, slogans and signature colors.
Financial terms of the agreement with Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., which will begin in 2015, were not disclosed.
This is a unique opportunity for Toyota to elevate our brand in the motorsports community, especially through the Daytona Rising project," said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. “ISC and Daytona International Speedway will provide strong platforms to interact with our guests and, most importantly, our race fans."
The Toyota entry area is not under construction yet. Work crews creating 11 sprawling new concourses that will reach to the top of the grandstands are starting at the eastern and western edges of the front stretch grandstands. Construction began in July.
The Toyota entry will be located between the fourth turn of the track and the start/finish line. The Speedway’s architectural firm, Rossetti, is still working with Toyota officials on the design, said Speedway spokesman Lenny Santiago.
A conceptual rendering shows the Toyota name in large letters in four places at the entry, its logo in four places and its slogan “Let’s Go Places" in two areas around the gate.
“It will be quite an entrance statement," Santiago said.
The Toyota brand will also have a presence in the new concourse that will be dubbed the World Center of Racing zone, an area that will overlook the start/finish line. The World Center of Racing zone will be the size of about two football fields, and it will be a place that celebrates the history and legacy of racing at the 55-year-old motorsports venue that is ISC’s flagship facility.
Ten additional concourses where fans can socialize before, during and after races, each the size of a football field, will be located throughout the new front stretch. The concourses will include custom bar, retail and dining areas as well as dozens of video screens to give fans continuous views of on-track action while they mingle with friends.
The project will also double the number of restrooms and triple the number of concession stands.
Toyota, which maintains it has built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America over the past 50 years, will have branding rights to one of those concourses near the Toyota fan entry.
Toyota, which operates 14 manufacturing plants in North America where it directly employs nearly 40,000 people, will also serve as an official partner of the Daytona 500 and will receive official pace car rights in 2015.
“From Day One, Toyota really understood our vision," Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said in an interview. “We’ve had great dialogue for well over a year. … These are the kinds of partners Daytona wants; someone who understands the fan. It’s really about finding someone who’ll take care of our brand the way we take care of it."
In addition to becoming a founding partner on the Daytona Rising project, Toyota also extended sponsorship rights at other ISC venues. That includes race entitlement sponsorship of the spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series races at Richmond International Raceway; pace car rights at Auto Club Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, Richmond International Raceway and Watkins Glen International for each NASCAR major event weekend; and official vehicle status at Route 66 Raceway.
Stay tuned for more sponsorship deals for the other four entries over the next two years.
“We are definitely talking to a number of other blue-chip companies about participating," Chitwood said. “We’re excited to create some things people haven’t seen before."