Associate sponsors important to Benson.

Johnny Benson, driver of the #10 Valvoline Pontiac, and his team-mates know the importance of the sponsorship game in NASCAR Winston Cup racing.

In 2000, Benson's sponsorless Pontiac nearly won the Daytona 500. In 2001, Benson and team joined with Valvoline as the Lexington-based company became the first consumer products company in NASCAR to co-own a team.

But sponsorship is more than just that big decal you see on the hood and the side of the Winston Cup cars. Race fans know their favourite driver's primary sponsor, but teams work just as hard selling associate sponsorships. Valvoline and its owner-partner MB2 racing are typical of all teams in their pursuit of additional funding through associate sponsors that can bring a team between $1million to $250,000 a year.

"Associate sponsorships are income streams to our race teams," confirmed Jay Frye, general manager of MB2 Motorsports, "It's very important. If the primary sponsor hasn't purchased the entire car, the rest of the income has to come from associates so we can have adequate funding to compete.

"We took an ad out in several trade magazines to attract associates. We have had a lot of attention, and I think that it will payoff soon. A lot of associate sponsors are still evaluating the economy."

Having run without a backer, Benson is himself fully aware of the need to attract as many sponsors as possible, just to get out on the track.

"There's no doubt we couldn't do what we want out here each Sunday, and the fans wouldn't get to watch what they like to watch without our sponsors." he said, "I think our fans understand that better than any other sport. In football or basketball, you can still have a game if there is no sponsor but, without the sponsors, there is no racing like the way we do at our level."

For Jim Rocco, the senior vice-president of Valvoline and a designated team owner of the MB2 squad, the tie-up with Benson is an exciting extension of the brand's promotional activities.

"Valvoline is committed to high performance in the way we go to market as well as in the way we go racing," he explained, "Valvoline integrates its racing involvement in every aspect of the marketing process.

"We offer associate sponsors a marketing platform, a B2B platform - and the opportunity to be players in NASCAR Winston Cup racing. Team ownership means there is no middle organisation between the team and its fans which are our customers."

Charity connections also do not go amiss in sponsorship and, this weekend, Benson is racing for the Ocean County (Lakewood) Chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters Of America.

Each week, Valvoline donates money to the national Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America organisation, as well as an individual local chapter based on Benson's on-track performance. Valvoline matches Benson's performance by donating $5000 for a win, $2500 for a pole, $1000 for a top ten finish, $500 for a top 20 finish and $20 for each lap led. The three-year programme has so far raised over $750,000.