Yes, that NRA. NASCAR's 500 mile race on April 13, 2013 at the Texas Motor Speedway is being sponsored by the NRA. In the past this event was called the Texas 500. Title sponsorship deals for a NASCAR race are most likely well into the seven digit range.
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Sponsorship agreements for races are negotiated and signed by the tracks and not NASCAR, but are ultimately subject to NASCAR's approval. And in a statement on Monday, NASCAR said that the agreement between Texas Motor Speedway and the NRA fell within the sanctioning body's guidelines for approval. So, in other words, there's no issue as far as NASCAR is concerned.
But should there be? It didn't take a soothsayer to see how controversial this sponsorship would be in the wake of Sandy Hook, even without the Newtown tribute car running at Daytona. But its presence in NASCAR's biggest race, and the attention that it was given when it was unveiled at NASCAR's media day preceding the Daytona 500 adds a layer of contradiction.
At the Daytona 500 this year there was a Sandy Hook memorial sponsored car and NASCAR donated a large sum to the cause. But it seems that NASCAR would rather live up to its stereotype as the sport for drunken rednecks and Southern Good-Old-Boys. Having the NRA as a sponsor isn't going do anything to broaden their base of support. In that sense, NASCAR has a lot in common with the GOP. They get most of their support from the same demographic groups and as a result, the popularity of both is declining. NASCAR ratings have been steadily falling and they have a lot of empty seats at races.
While the NRA sponsorship of this race is new, the race has a long running tradition that the winner fires handguns into the air (with blanks) to celebrate. This is still part of the plan. However, there are some advertisers that are going to be very uncomfortable with someone wearing their logo, wildly waving six-shooters around in a crowd as a "celebration."