Century 21 Real Estate LLC’s branding will go screaming around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds in excess of 200 mph in May, with the franchisor signing a deal to be the primary sponsor for IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden’s car in the 97th Indianapolis 500.
The open-wheeled, ground-hugging Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing IndyCar will carry Century 21’s yellow-and-black branding and sport the No. 21 instead of its usual No. 67.
Photos via Century 21.
Bev Thorne, Century 21’s chief marketing officer, said sponsoring an IndyCar "provides another outstanding opportunity" to highlight the company’s "Smarter, Bolder, Faster" ad campaign.
Century 21 bought TV airtime during the last two Super Bowls and last summer sponsored U.S. Soccer through the 2012 Summer Olympics and ran 100 TV spots on NBC throughout the two-week event.
"Whether it’s the Super Bowl, the Olympics, U.S. Soccer, or the Indy 500, we want to showcase the capabilities of our sales professionals in front of the largest audience possible," Thorne said in a statement.
The Indianapolis 500 is said to be the world’s largest single-day annual sporting event. In addition to the event’s television audience — estimated at nearly 7 million viewers last year — more than 300,000 show up at the track in person to see which car will be the first to circle the 2.5-mile oval 200 times.
Newgarden’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone IndyCar will make its public debut on May 12, when the track opens for practice. Newgarden, 21, posted one of the fastest-ever lap speeds — 222 miles per hour — in a practice run before last year’s Indy 500 race. This year’s race will be broadcast live May 26 on ABC.
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing is owned by businessman Wink Hartman and Sarah Fisher, the youngest woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the first to run a full IZOD IndyCar Series schedule.
