Hombres, start your engines
South Florida Business Journal - by Alexis Muellner Miami Bureau Chief
Mike Vazquez wants to fill a void in the high-speed lane.
Along with his Dallas-based entrepreneurial cousin, Rudy Rodriguez, the Miami developer builds more than bricks and mortar. The son of a Cuban chemical engineer, turned butcher, turned home builder, strives to create the first Hispanic-owned NASCAR racing team.
Vasquez, Rodriguez and established NASCAR team owner North Carolina's Larry Hedrick, formed Miami-based HRT Motorsports. The HRT stands for Hispanic Racing Team.
The group plans to spend $100,000 to enter a car, driven by veteran driver David Green, in NASCAR's Busch Grand National at Homestead Nov. 13.
NASCAR's attendance has rocketed 63 percent since 1990. There's bigger television deals. There's more tracks. More races. And NASCAR merchandising has roared to $1.2 billion this year from $80 million in 1991.
But that market will plateau, and NASCAR will need new markets to zoom ahead, Vazquez said. He sees a fertile territory in the U.S. Hispanic population and the Americas to grow a sport that has a "good ol' boy" image.
International racing, by its nature, has a more ethnically diverse make-up among drivers and owners.
But NASCAR, an American-grown entity, headquartered in Daytona, has little ethnic diversity, according to Fortune magazine. The racing league has taken some heat for its lack of diversity, both on the track and in management positions.
Only one African-American driver, Wendell Scott, won a Winston Cup race. And, according to reports, he had to pass for being white on the Southern racing circuits of the 1960s and 70s.
"We haven't felt any racism even within NASCAR," Vazquez said. "They've been cordial and professional."
Cruising along
HRT Motorsports wants to drive change. The plan is to sign on sponsors with brands familiar to Hispanics and fly their decals on the team cars. But the team, several dozen drivers and mechanics, also wants to attract mainstream sponsors, looking to reach burgeoning Hispanic markets.
Miami coffee maker Cafe Bustelo -- a company with strong ties to the Cuban-American community -- has already signed on as an HRT sponsor. It will create a concession to sell Cuban coffee at the November race.
Royal Caribbean International Cruises in Miami also has signed on for HRT's first race.
Sponsorship fees range from $5,000 to $60,000.
"We're tying sponsors together and showing them what we can do besides putting them on a race car," Vazquez said. "Bustelo gets exposure and a relationship with a concession company and we are trying to get them on board all [Royal Caribbean] ships."
The cruise line sponsorship is part of an overall Hispanic-American marketing outreach, said the company's Michelle Smith.
"We were also interested in the NASCAR demographic, which has significantly high male involvement and that's a key market for us, 34 and older," she said. The company, which launches its newest ship Voyager this fall, will bring its 18-wheeler road show theater to the race.
"We're expanding our base, which traditionally has always been a older female demographic," Smith said.
It hasn't been all coasting for HRT.
Brands such as Goya Foods and Bacardi, which enjoy strong loyalty among Hispanics, haven't warmed up to HRT.
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