Stater Bros. 300 - David Starr Notes

Team Enzyte Enjoying Off-Track Success Each Week
‘Marketing Company That Has Gone Racing,’
Racing’s Most Unique Sponsorship Eyes California

DALLAS, Tex. – While the #50 Enzyte Chevrolet NASCAR Busch Series team of driver David Starr has undergone a few growing pains the early part of this season, owner Michael Holigan has already started seeing plenty of success.

“We have some pretty high aspirations as far as competition is concerned but, as a first-year team running a 15-race schedule, we are realistic too,” said Holigan, the only person in NASCAR who has seen the sport from the perspective of both a primary NASCAR Cup Series sponsor and a car owner.

“We’ve billed ourselves as a ‘marketing company that goes racing,’ and that’s what we are,” he continued. “Some good things will happen on the track for us, and we know we’re headed in the right direction there, but we’re very solid off the track, and that is what is propelling us forward right now.”

Team Enzyte, along with its sister Samsung/Radio Shack AMA Motocross team, is the subject of television’s most-watched motorsports reality show, The Reality Of Speed, which airs at 10:30 a.m. Eastern and Pacific times, and 9:30 a.m. Central time, on Spike TV. There has been a new show every single week since it debuted Saturday, Jan. 3.

“For our regular viewers – and there are a lot of them – they have certainly already seen the highs and lows of motorsports,” Holigan said. “There has been conflict, raised voices and some tension. At the same time, there has been some laughter, some exhilaration and some excitement with success.

“The one thing you know is you are seeing our race teams, the good and the bad,” he continued. “We’re the only show that doesn’t hold back, that shows you everything. That was our deal from the very beginning, and we’re going to continue doing just that. You won’t miss anything of importance that goes on with our race team.”

The basis of the team from a sponsorship standpoint has been The Reality Of Speed. Holigan created a unique opportunity for sponsors, primary and associate, to utilize their television budgets for sports marketing results; or their sports marketing budgets for television results. The unique arrangement is still bringing associate sponsors into the Holigan Racing camp.

Holigan, who hosts his own nationally-syndicated home-building show, brought the idea of motorsports reality television to motorsports, and was easily the first to actually try it. The show follows the triumphs and travails of Holigan’s Enzyte Chevrolet team with Starr and the Samsung/Radio Shack AMA Motorcross team, both fielded from the same shops.

“I’ve been a sponsor and I know most sponsors wouldn’t necessarily want a start-up Busch Series team,” said Holigan. “But when we are able to put a nationally-televised show behind it, all of the sudden it becomes pretty viable to a lot of advertising budgets.”

“Motorsports marketing is a tough sell in a lot of areas, especially with the way the economy has been,” Holigan said. “To be successful, we knew we had to take a creative approach. Putting this television show together did just that.

“Enzyte has been thoroughly pleased with how things have gone on the marketing standpoint so far, and that’s because the show has been relatively successful already,” he added. “Once the success on the track starts picking up the way we know it will, that’s going to make them even happier.”

Team Enzyte scheduled 15 NASCAR Busch Series races for this season (its next race is the May 8 event at Gateway) but already has the pieces in place for a full-season Busch Series run in 2005, and an eventual multi-car team.

It all starts with a succinct and simple basis – Holigan Racing is a marketing company that has gone racing. Team Enzyte, as well as the Samsung/Radio Shack AMA Supercross team, have been successful from a marketing standpoint almost from their beginning; now, it is only a matter of time before the same type of success shows up on the race track too.

“The fans really like the show. Some of these (crew) guys have been surprised with the way they have become celebrities,” Holigan laughed. “We have a pretty loyal viewership, plus we are seeing more and more new viewers tune in each week. Nobody has ever shown a race team like this before and it has really captivated people.”

Holigan is a former volume home-builder and contractor with his own nationally-syndicated television show. He purchased the assets of TKO Motorsports, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. Starr, one of the top names from NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, drives the Busch car, and continues driving the NASCAR Truck Series entry of Spears Racing. Todd Myers, a veteran who has worked previously with such names as Jamie McMurray, Brendan Gaughan and Starr, is crew chief.

Lifekey Healthcare, Inc. is sponsoring the Busch team through its brand of Enzyte, the once-a-day tablet for natural male enhancement. The show follows the lives of drivers, riders and members of both the NASCAR and AMA Holigan Racing teams as they prepare and compete on the grueling circuits.

The Busch team’s sponsor Enzyte is the non-prescription, once-a-day tablet for natural male enhancement. Its proprietary blend of natural ingredients enables men to reach their full potential, achieving stronger, fuller, better quality erections. As part of a man’s daily regiment, Enzyte is not situation specific, promoting spontaneity. Enzyte is a brand of Lifekey Healthcare, Inc. (www.enzyte.com; 1-800-ENZYTE).