Pegasus Marketing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing join forces for IndyCar season
"We are thrilled to be able to work with Sarah Fisher, team partner Wink Hartman and the entire SFHR team to provide commercial partners that not only bring the resources to the mix that any competitive team needs, but that also make sense and are in harmony with the team's philosophy," said Ralph Hansen, president and CEO of the Lake Forest, Illinois-based marketing firm.
SFHR Team Principal Wink Hartman warmly welcomed the arrangement.
"Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing is pleased to welcome the Pegasus Marketing team to our ongoing business development efforts. As a major effort to highlight our progress as a team, from our podium with Josef last year, to the anticipated excitement of the 2014 season, we feel this commitment is a step towards the overall growth of SFHR and will promote the success of our off-track product. After productive testing this off season, we look forward to making strides on track this season. While at the same time, we are also committed and engaged to facilitate and support new and continued partnerships."
True Heroes Initiative
Pegasus President Ralph Hansen's creativity has resulted in more than $350 million in motor racing sponsorships, but his philosophy isn't that of an ad salesman who simply sells decals on the side of a car.
"I think those days are gone," Hansen said. "In a time when corporations are scrutinizing where their promotional and marketing resources are deployed, they need to know that the program produces measurable results and often contributes to a greater cause. It's because of that — and because of the family and civic pride of the SFHR team — that we have constructed 'The True Heroes Initiative.'
"'True Heroes' will help provide patriotic-minded corporations with an exciting means of not only increasing awareness for military and veteran-centric charities, but to also give those organizations a rally point around which off-track and pre-race programs can be built to increase funding in addition to the activities surrounding a race weekend."
Participating charities are being finalized for the 2014 season, and all are "incredibly worthwhile and squeaky clean," said Hansen. "With the drawdown of troops that our nation is experiencing after 12 years of deployments, our nation will need to find better ways to help those who have stood in defense of our freedoms. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing recognizes the sacrifices that have been made by hundreds of thousands of military families and embraces this means of helping to pay them back with the support they deserve."
The 2014 IndyCar season kicks off on March 30 in St. Petersburg, Fla., with subsequent stops in Long Beach, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., and then a first-ever two race set in May at the world's most storied race venue, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Both Indianapolis' road course and 2.5 mile oval configurations will be used. 13 events will follow Indianapolis' offerings through Labor Day, providing North America's most exciting open wheel, road and street course racing.