Sponsorship

[lululj]

Sponsors have been instrumental in racing since the beginning, with corporate sponsorship a major factor for any racing team today. Normally, these corporations sponsor a car, or team of cars, from the same car owner.

In 1978, however, ( three years after sponsoring their first car in 1976 ) 1st National City Traveler's Checks, sponsored the cars of Al Unser, Johnny Rutherford, and Johnny Parsons, giving them three top ten finishers, including the winning car of Al Unser.

What gives here?

Also, after winning on only their third try, they dropped out of racing in 1979

[Doctorindy]

I can't be sure, but from what I vaguely remember, First National City Bank went through ownership changes in the late 70's, and might have even split its assets to two other companies..National City Bank, and First USA Bank, but I'm not 100%...anyway, a big change-up for the corporation probably meant that sponsorship was out the window until things settled down, and by then, they didn't want to do it anymore...

I'm sure somebody else can add more...

[lululj]

I kinda thought that there might be some corporate reorganizing here, but I guess my main question would be, why would they be sponsoring more than one team, teams that were competing against one another?

[lanciaman]

I seem to recall the CEO of 1st National City Traveler's Checks
was a real fan; they also were involved as an F1 sponsor. They came out of the box running, made a big racing splash for a few years, then disappeared through the mergers and acquisitions door.

They helped write the book on hospitality by getting busloads of bankers to the track and wining/dining them royally.

[DaveL]

First National City was also Cale Yarborough's NASCAR sponsor in 1978 so they had their hand in every form of racing.

[beyondnascar]

They were also big in Formula 5000 IIRC with Penske.


-------------------------------------------
Please visit the tributes to 2 of my childhood favorites.
http://swedesavage42.tripod.com &
http://artpollard.tripod.com

[MM658]

Weren't they also the USAC champ-car series sponsor back in '78?

I believe the championship trophy was "The Citicorp Cup."

[bigred]

Originally posted by Doctorindy
I can't be sure, but from what I vaguely remember, First National City Bank went through ownership changes in the late 70's, and might have even split its assets to two other companies..National City Bank, and First USA Bank, but I'm not 100%...anyway, a big change-up for the corporation probably meant that sponsorship was out the window until things settled down, and by then, they didn't want to do it anymore...

I'm sure somebody else can add more...

First National City Bank (of New York) was the name of what is now called Citibank. This name was in effect from 1955 until apparently 1976 (which doesn't explain why another division kept the 1st National City name for another few years).

National City Bank is an entirely separate financial institution based in Cleveland, concentrated in the midwest, with far less international and Wall St. presence.


Also according to Grandprix.com:

The history of First National Bank can be traced right back to 1791 when the First Bank of the United States was established. Twenty-one years later when the bank was on the verge of collapse it was taken over by Colonel Samuel Osgood, who had fought alongside George Washington in the American War of Independence and later served in Washington's cabinet. He renamed the bank the City Bank of New York and built up the business again. In 1856 the bank's name was changed to become the National City Bank of New York and, by working closely with the US Treasury, became the biggest US bank in 1893. Four years later it opened its first foreign branch and by 1918 was a global company following the purchase of the International Banking Corporation. The bank moved into retail banking in the 1920s and was one of the few to survive the Great Depression. After World War II it merged with the First National (New York) and in 1968 became the First National City Corporation and under president Walter Wriston began a major drive for international growth. It was decided that the company would sponsor the Penske team when it entered F1 in 1974 and in the years that followed the company (which was renamed Citibank in 1976) supported the Penske, March (1976) and Tyrrell (1977-78) teams. The company also backed racing in the United States, notably Al Unser's victory for Chaparral in the Indianapolis 500 in 1978.