Beer, Gatorade, and auto parts are the kinds of sponsors you usually see plastered on NASCAR race cars. But many companies are willing to pay for that advertising exposure…even when it seems a little weird.
- From 2001 to 2005, Mark Martin, one of the oldest drivers on the NASCAR circuit, drove a car bearing stickers promoting Viagra.
- Driver Kevin Harvick’s car in 2002 sported ads for the 20th anniversary DVD re-release of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.
- In 2010, Mike Bliss drove a pink racing car decorated with pictures of reality star Kim Kardashian advertising her line of perfumes.
- In 2002, driver Kurt Busch’s car was sponsored by Little Tikes—a company that makes toys for babies.
- Juan Montoya’s 2013 car bore ads for Depends adult diapers.
- In 1997, Tammy Jo Kirk—one of only about a dozen female NASCAR drivers—drove a car advertising Lovable brand bras.
- In 2004, NASCAR forced Arnold Motorsports to remove car decals promoting a company called RedneckJunk.com. The website sold classified ads for people buying and selling hunting equipment and old truck parts. A NASCAR spokesman said the organization didn’t feel that “RedneckJunk projected the proper image of our sport.”
- The Muppet Show’s 25th anniversary was commemorated with a series of NASCAR ad placements in 2002: Dale Jarrett drove a car with Kermit and Miss Piggy stickers, Casey Atwood had a Rowlf car, and Jeremy Mayfield’s car featured Bunsen and Beaker.
- NASCAR drivers compete while sitting down, so it’s actually fairly logical that in 2008, one of the sponsors was the anti-chafing product Boudreaux’s Butt Paste.
- It seems unlikely that any government agency—especially one charged with keeping people out of the country—would have to advertise. Still, in 2007, the U.S. Border Patrol sponsored a car.