National Guard, senator defend funding for military NASCAR sponsorships

The National Guard defended its sponsorship of NASCAR
Wednesday as a senator from one of the biggest auto-racing states indicated he
will fight a ban on the sponsorships that passed the House Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday
that Congress should not be micromanaging the funds that the Guard spends on
recruiting.

{mosads}Coats comes from Indiana — home of the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.

“My preference has always been we direct money for
recruiting to you, and you decide how best to utilize that money,” Coats told
the heads of the Air and Army National Guard. “And you do that in areas I think
where the potential for recruiting is very high and a lot of attention is paid
to that sport.”

The House Appropriations Committee voted to strip out $80
million in funding for sports sponsorships this year, the majority of which
goes to auto racing. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), had attempted unsuccessfully
to kill the funding last year, but this year she had the help of Rep. Jack
Kingston (R-Ga.) to push it through.

Coats’s statement Wednesday was the first indication that the
cut could face resistance in the Senate, which has yet to mark up its defense
appropriations bill.

McCollum argued that the NASCAR sponsorships are “wasteful
Pentagon spending” at a time when budgets are tight, and says that sponsoring
race cars does not help recruiting.

But Army National Guard Director Lt. Gen. William Ingram Jr.
said at Wednesday’s Senate Appropriations hearing that the sponsorships were an
effective tool for the Guard, making a comparison to Tide laundry detergent
sponsoring NASCAR.

“The Army National Guard, because of the target audience
that we’re looking at for our band of recruits, that is an interest to those
people,” Ingram said. “When they watch sports on television, they see the Army
National Guard. It’s a national branding opportunity that is of great value.”

After the Appropriations Committee passed the sponsorship
ban last week, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. took
aim at Kingston. Earnhardt, whose car is sponsored by the National Guard,
said that Kingston needed to do his “homework” about NASCAR.

“I think the Republican from Georgia that is heading the
bill hasn’t even been to a NASCAR race,” Earnhardt said.