Larry Dixon: Learning The Sponsorship Side of Racing

dixon
Drag racer Larry Dixon seemed to have a strong grip on the reins of the Top Fuel class in the early 2000s.
 
At that time it was hard to imagine that anyone could surpass him in any way.
 
Dixon seemed to have it all, with back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003, leading the standings the entire 2002 season, winning the Bud Shootout and sweeping the 2003 Western Swing. The question was how many titles would be in his streak before somebody could stop him.

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

He even knew how to prepare his race car, if he had to, for he had worked for nearly a decade in anonymity at Prudhomme’s Snake Racing as a crew member. Dixon knew the whole operation, it seemed.

But he didn’t, really. He had no experience in the realm of sponsorship procurement.
 
He’s making up for that these days. The three-time champ (who added another title, in 2010, perfect in 12 final rounds for Al-Anabi Racing) truly is becoming the racer who can do it all.
 
“When I was with Alan Johnson or Don Prudhomme, they were the ones handling all the funding,” Dixon said, “and I was just a puppet in the puppet show.”
 
Dixon’s current status simply is driver, but that’s an oversimplification. Team owner Santo Rapisarda has found funding for about half the events on the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, but if Dixon wants to compete in more, he has to help secure more sponsors.
 

When I was with Alan Johnson or Don Prudhomme, they were the ones handling all the funding. I was just a puppet in the puppet show.

He is seeking additional deals so the Australian-owned, Brownsburg, Ind.-headquartered Rapisarda Autosport International can make more than the planned 14 events this year.

 “I’m learning. It’s a process. I just started this last January, so it’s been 13-14 months. So I’m the newest guy on the block. So now I’m taking on anther role besides driving the car,” Dixon said. “For me, that’s exciting, too. I’m expanding my portfolio on hopefully what I can bring to the table.”

Dixon isn’t the puppet any longer, but he’s discovering that working the strings has its frustrations, because not everyone responds as he’d like.

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

 He’s not frustrated. “Slap me if I ever complain,” he said. “I’ve got it good. Compared to what so many other people are going through, this isn’t that hard. I’m thankful for all the opportunities I have.”

Actually, Dixon has learned that “if you’re going to be in this sport, I think [being marketing-savvy] is going to be more important. John Force has been doing it for 35-40 years. It’s crucial. Once you get a sponsor, keeping that sponsor and giving the return they’re looking for, whether it’s from the branding side or if it’s actually selling product, it’s important, especially in our sport, in motorsports.

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

“A football team, a basketball team are trying to line up their marketing partners, but if they don’t get their marketing partners lined up, they’re still going to play. In our sport, in motorsports, if you don’t have your sponsor, you’re not going on the field. So it’s imperative,” he said.
 
“And it’s tough times. I don’t think it’s impossible. You see Force shut down one of his Funny Cars. Icons in our sport, like Bernstein and Prudhomme, they’re not out here anymore,” he said.
 
In a sluggish economy, Dixon is anything but sluggish.
 
“It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible, either,” he said. “You’ve just got to go out there and keep working, working hard. You’ve got to be creative. You see [seven-team owner Don] Schumacher — he lost a few sponsors over the wintertime. But he’s working on gaining one. He got Rocky Boots deal. He lost three major sponsors over the wintertime, and that’s a lot. That puts some guys out of business, and he’s fortunate he’s able to keep all his cars running right now.”
 
So if Schumacher can do that for seven teams, Dixon likes his chances for one.

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

 “It’s no different than [finding] your partner in life. It’s just lining yourself up with the right company,” he said. “And it’s a timing thing, being at the right place at the right time. You hear that story about when deals are done: How did that deal get done? Well, I know this person and that got us in the door. I happened to go here and met this person. And it’s always a timing thing. There’s always a story behind one of these deals. I can hardly wait to hear mine and get to tell mine.”
 
He said he has “a few deals I’m working on for this year: two-race deal, four-race deal, six-race deal. It’s less money [for a potential sponsor].

 
He needed to look only as far as his brother-in-law’s race shop to recognize that partial-season packages could be the answer in a weak economy: “Tony Pedregon’s one you can probably talk about, where he’s been able to piece together a bunch of deals to keep him out here an entire season. You see that a lot in NASCAR. There’s not too many cars — I can think of the Miller car and the Lowe’s car — but those are the only ones who run one paint job all year long. It’s rare.”

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Dixon said something that made him sound more like a successful entrepreneur or college business professor than an underfunded race-car driver: “Whatever you have to do to make your business successful, it’ll tell you what to do if you listen to it.”
 
He’s all ears, “working every angle,” in his words. He said he’s talking both to companies and to agencies that often act as influencers.

“I’d like to think that we haven’t left any stone unturned,” Dixon said. “I’m at the race shop every day, working. I’m spending as many hours as the guys on the crew are but I’m not touching the car. I’m on the opposite side of things, working deals and trying to network. You’re working every resource that you know of.
 
“You rely on close associates. Steve Johnson, I’ve been friends with him for a long time. And he’s run his own show for many years. He’s been a successful motorcycle racer longer than anybody else in the history of the category, and he’s still doing it. He has an unbelievable race shop and an unbelievable house in Birmingham, Alabama. And he’s done it all off of Pro Stock Motorcycle racing. He makes his living off of racing motorcycles. It’s something he should be very proud of. There’s not a lot of guys who are fulltime Pro Stock Motorcycle racers,” Dixon said. “At some races he has Mercedes-Benz. How do you tie that into a Pro Stock Motorcycle? But he’s been able to do it. He’s a great salesman. He does great work for them.

It’s no different than [finding] your partner in life. It’s just lining yourself up with the right company.

“I’m friends with a lot of people. I’ve gotten a lot of guidance and support. John Force, I go over there and when he’s got three minutes, which he rarely has, I keep my mouth shut and my ears open and listen,” he said. “That’s why we’ve got two ears and one mouth. You try to take in more than you spit out.”

As far as driving the dragster that Lee Beard, Santo Rapisarda Jr, and Santino Rapisarda prepare along with the crew, Dixon said he feels comfortable becaue “that’s something I’ve done for the last 20 years.”
 
Alluding to his scary-looking but all’s-well-that-ends-well mishap and spin earlier this month in Australia, Dixon said he’s at home in the cockpit “whether I’m doing 360s in Australia or racing over here. For the last two years I haven’t made a lot of runs, but most of it is like riding a bicycle. I’d like to make more runs, but as the season progresses, I’ll get that opportunity.”

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Testing has become an unaffordable luxury but one he said he always has enjoyed. However, “he said, “The last two years I got zero testing. All my runs have been at national events.”
 
A data-sharing deal would be nice, but even if that happens for him, it’s not the complete answer to his dilemma, for it can be a two-edged sword.
 
“It’s difficult. It’s very difficult. Alan Johnson could go over and hand you his log book and you could see all the numbers and all the things he’s done over there [at the Al-Anabi Racing camp]. But he’s not in your pit with your parts and your people and how they’re assembling the car. With the different type of equipment, a supercharger will be different. It could be the same brand or part but it could be completely different.”
 
“It’s hard to walk in and say, ‘Do this.’ You can’t hand a guy a tune-up and expect the car to run 3.75 at 322 miles an hour. It just doesn’t work like that. But we’ve seen with the Schumacher teams that two heads, three heads, four heads are better than one,” Dixon said.

Intangibles help sell one’s program, but he’s fully aware that “there’s no guarantees. Just because I’ve won three championships and 60-some races, that doesn’t guarantee you anything. You’ve got to still be able to produce for that company. It makes a difference what you can do for that particular company.

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au

 “It’s no different than a person looking for a job,” Dixon said. “What you have on your resume hopefully makes a difference. And if it does make a difference, then you hope that what’s on your resume puts you above somebody else. I worry more about the relationship and what you can do for that particular company. And when it gets around to ‘bragging’ or what’s on your resume, you hope that that’s a no-brainer. I haven’t been in trouble with the law. I don’t run around on my family. I’ve been a spokesman for Fortune 500 companies, and I’ve not done anything to disgrace a company. Then you’ve got the on-track performance: winning three championships and winning races and being able to produce on that side of things. You hope that all that stuff adds up.”
 
He said he hasn’t traded on that: “I haven’t. Your past kind of speaks for itself.”
 
Said Dixon, “This is all I’ve done and all I’ve been. I’ve watched my dad [Larry Dixon Sr.] and watched people like Shirley [Muldowney], Don Garlits, and Snake, and such. They’ve been able to make great careers for themselves by being out here. I wanted the same thing. That’s kind of what’s led me down this path.”
 
It’s one that has become more diverse, more challenging, and more educational for Dixon.

About the author

Susan Wade

Celebrating her 45th year in sports journalism, Susan Wade has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with 20 seasons at the racetrack. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, St. Petersburg Times, and Seattle Times. Growing up in Indianapolis, motorsports is part of her DNA. She contributes to Power Automedia as a freelancer writer.
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