CORONA, Calif. — General Tire and Team Lucas have long worked together to support live, “family friendly” Lucas Oil motorsports events and engaging programming on MAVTV, NBC Sports Network, CBS and CBS Sports. That relationship will enter its 10th year in 2016 as General Tire once again steps up to support a wide array of competition around the United States through an agreement with Team Lucas.
To kick off 2016, General Tire will be the presenting sponsor of the 30th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals held in Oklahoma at the Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the River Spirit Expo Center. This legendary gathering for Midget racecars takes place on a clay, quarter-mile oval and features top drivers from many different racing disciplines. The multi-day event concludes Saturday, Jan. 16 with exciting and highly competitive Feature Races covered “live” on MAVTV and available on smartphones, tablets and smart TVs on the brand new (Jan 2016) LucasOilRacing.TV app.
Moving further into 2016, General Tire will again be the “Official Tire” of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, as well as sponsor of the General Tire Off Road Nationals. The tire company has involvement with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, too, as title sponsor of the General Tire Late Model Nationals. Additional sponsorship support from General Tire will go to the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series and Lucas Oil Modified Series.
General Tire will also play a role in the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League as sponsor of the General Tire Pro Pulling Nationals. And on the water, General Tire will support the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series as title sponsor of the General Tire Drag Boat Nationals
To round out support for live racing events, General Tire will retain a major presence at Lucas Oil Speedway, the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks,” in Wheatland, Mo.
On the programming side of the agreement with Team Lucas, General Tire will support “King of the Cage” MMA broadcasts on MAVTV, and sponsor the network’s General Tire Power Programming Block featuring two of MAVTV’s top-rated shows, “Full Custom Garage” and the “Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car.” Also, the tire company lends support to the “General Tire Best in The Desert Presented by the Lucas Oil Series” program.
As an innovative marketing initiative, Lucas Oil Executive Vice-President Bob Patison said Team Lucas creates an alliance between Lucas Oil Products Inc. and select marketing partners that enhances brand awareness, maximizes television event coverage and heightens live, family-friendly event experiences. Team Lucas’ fan and media exposure includes the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League, Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series, Lucas Oil Speedway, Lucas Oil Modified Series, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship and the Indianapolis Colts Lucas Oil Stadium.
“General Tire and Team Lucas have been committed partners in constructing a mutually beneficial program and we’re again thrilled to have General Tire aboard as a very valued partner,” Patison said. “General Tire shares our passion for motorsports and appreciates the inherit marketing value of the sport.”
Travis Roffler, General Tire’s Director of Marketing, said his company increased its sponsorship level with Team Lucas back in 2014, partially due to the fact that Team Lucas staff are second to none when it comes to making the most of a marketing budget.
“The Lucas Oil Off Road Series is the perfect example of why General Tire continues to work with Team Lucas,” Roffler said. “The fans and television audience have an interest in light trucks, so the platform is a terrific way to show our tires can take an off-road pounding. If our product can stand up to the rigors of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, then they’ll wear well and hold up on someone’s everyday truck. And remaining involved with MAVTV programming and the exciting, new LucasOilRacing.TV is a very cost-effective way of having a large presence on television that reaches our core audience.”
