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No. 1 vs. No. 2, on track and off

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - As chief executive of Lowe's Cos., Robert Niblock has plenty of numbers to worry about in his battle with Home Depot Inc.: sales and inventory, revenue and earnings, how many stores to open and employees to hire.

But this weekend, Niblock is focused on just one: the points difference in NASCAR's championship chase between second-place Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, and leader Tony Stewart, whose No. 20 Chevy is sponsored by Home Depot.

"We've got one race to go and we need to make up 52 points, so it looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Niblock said.

The winner not only gets bragging rights at the track, but also in the arena where they're worth so much more: the multibillion=dollar competition between the home-improvement retailers.

Experts in sports marketing said this week there is no better return on the company's marketing investment in NASCAR than Stewart and Johnson's likely 1-2 finish.

"They battle every day for every customer, and the sport they spend the most money on is NASCAR," said sports marketer Marc Ganis, head of Chicago's Sportscorp Ltd. "This tells you this is so much more than just a car race. It tells you how important this is to them."

Lowe's and Home Depot spend millions to tie themselves to stock car racing and two of its most successful drivers. Johnson and Stewart are featured on billboards and in television commercials, host promotions and visit sales meetings, all to help pitch the thousands of products available inside the companies' huge stores.

"The demographics of fans and our employees and customers line up perfectly," Niblock said. "There's a tremendous overlap. The guys (Johnson and his crew) come to our national sales meeting every year, and it's typically the highlight of the meeting."

Neither company reveals how much it spends annually on NASCAR sponsorships. But Bill Chipps, senior editor of the IEG Sponsorship Report, said it costs $15-million to $20-million per year to sponsor a top Nextel Cup team.

"The smart companies like Lowe's and Home Depot who want to get the most out of their sponsorships will also spend another one to two times more on top of the primary sponsorship fee," he said, meaning the companies could be spending as much as $60-million annually on NASCAR-related marketing.

Like all NASCAR drivers, Johnson doesn't miss any chance to promote his chief sponsor, taking care to mention Lowe's in his postrace interviews. Johnson's face is all over the company's advertising; the "When Jimmie Wins You Win Sweepstakes" - with a top prize of $48,000 in store credit - is among the latest promotions tying his success to customers.

It's no different at Home Depot, which was Stewart's sponsor when he won his the NASCAR title in 2002. This year, after Stewart scaled the fence after winning at Daytona and New Hampshire, the retailer offered a discount on ladders and fencing with a campaign named "Hey Tony, we've got ladders."

After his August victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - also known as the Brickyard - Home Depot offered customers a 10 percent discount on bricks.

Expect even more tie-ins and advertising featuring Stewart and Johnson should one win the title on Sunday in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Obviously, if one of these drivers wins the championship, it will bring a lot of extra publicity and visibility," Chipps said. "They already get a lot from the advertisements and promotions with show cars at Home Depot and Lowe's stores around the country."

[Last modified November 19, 2005, 01:07:13]