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NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 14, 2019

Marcus Lemonis

THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by Marcus Lemonis, representing Gander Outdoors.
Gander Outdoors officially kicks off the season as the series entitlement sponsor for Gander Outdoors Truck Series tomorrow night. Tonight Gander RV is sponsoring the Duel here at Daytona.
Talk about your team's decision to go all in with NASCAR and the Gander Outdoors brand this year.
MARCUS LEMONIS: 12 years ago we decided to get heavy into the sport with our brand Camping World. We saw what it did for that business. It literally put it on the map.
As we went into track after track, we saw when there was a Camping World store nearby, there was a connection to NASCAR, the stores did better.
At some point we felt that Camping World has seen its return on investment. About a year and a half ago we bought Gander Outdoors, Gander Mountain at the time, a brand out of bankruptcy.
As we've reengineered the brand, it really is an RV company that has outdoor products. We know that the consumers love it. So we use this as a platform to literally go all in.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions for Marcus.

Q. Looking back, are you a car guy? What first attracted you to the sport of NASCAR?
MARCUS LEMONIS: I grew up in the car business. But what actually attracted me to NASCAR was what you see in the infield. I was very fascinated when I first got introduced to NASCAR in 2004 of how companies actually make decisions to sponsor the sport.
I would look at Lowe's or Home Depot or Coca‑Cola, and I understood Budweiser, even Coca‑Cola made sense to me. I couldn't figure out why somebody hadn't figured out that the RV and outdoor space was more prevalent at these tracks than, quite frankly, anything else.
It made sense for us to put our name in front of millions and millions of people. But the key was, you didn't want to be a one‑and‑done sponsor. The on‑track piece, while we still do some of it, we felt we needed to make a long‑term commitment and people see us for years, not for months.

Q. When you look at NASCAR, obviously there's no secret that it's had its ups and downs, we're currently on the downside, do you consider NASCAR for sponsors still a good investment?
MARCUS LEMONIS: First of all, I'm surprised to hear that you think NASCAR is on the downturn. I don't see it that same way. I think it's definitely evolved.
I think consumers have definitely changed in the way they digest information. They may not watch the races live as much as they did. Their schedules have changed.
From a sponsor standpoint, the best advice I've ever given anybody that's asked me that is, What are your goals? What are you trying to accomplish with NASCAR?
You have to understand who the audience is. I've had some healthy arguments with people about who they think the NASCAR fan is. They think the NASCAR fan fits into a particular box or they look a particular way or they live in a particular area, eat a particular type of food. I think it's a terrible misnomer.
For our company, the NASCAR fan is somebody that loves competition. They love to see that competition. They love the individual sport model. They love to go outdoors. If you don't like the outdoors, you probably don't go sit in the stands or sit in the infield.
I think if a sponsor is leading with their checkbook and their business plan, not their ego, they're going to be okay. If a sponsor comes in, they want to have a beautiful suite, they want to hang out, they don't actually see the connection or interact with the fans, I think it's going to be a one‑and‑done scenario.

Q. NASCAR has introduced a rule where they're now disqualifying illegal cars after races, taking away the win. From a series entitlement sponsor, do you like that rule? If you were sponsoring a car that lost a win from a disqualification, how different is that from a sponsor point of view versus having a win that has some penalties?
MARCUS LEMONIS: As a series sponsor, we don't get involved in how the organization runs or what the rules are. We rely on people that are experts in the space.
I'll use the word 'cheating' or doing something that isn't compliant, there should be a consequence to that. I'm not the one to determine what that consequence is, I rely on NASCAR to do that.
As a sponsor, it definitely wouldn't be something that I would like, if a team or the car that I was sponsoring ended up becoming disqualified for not complying. I think ultimately it's a reflection of the sponsor that's on there. While you and I know that not to be the case, I worry that the consumer doesn't necessarily draw that parallel.
It would concern me, for sure. If somebody is not complying, I don't know that they should not be dealt with.

Q. Would you be angry at the team or that NASCAR policy?
MARCUS LEMONIS: First of all, if the NASCAR policy exists, it exists for everybody, right? They're all playing on a level playing field. If somebody chose not to comply with whatever the rules are, they may change where you have to have purple lights, I would be upset with the person that didn't comply.

Q. When you acquired Gander, was the intention to rebrand the series with that? Did you know that was something you wanted to do? Had you not acquired them, were you comfortable going forward with Camping World as the entitlement sponsor?
MARCUS LEMONIS: When we first made the acquisition of the bankrupt assets from Gander Mountain, in that moment we didn't think about the NASCAR connection. What we knew we wanted to do was to create a competitor to Camping World, which we owned. We felt like the marketplace needed to have more than one option to buy an RV or their outdoor stuff.
As the concept evolved, as we picked the locations, as we decided that Gander was going to be in the RV business, it did make sense to transition the Truck Series to Gander.
I think what happened for Camping World, maybe it happens for some other sponsors, there is some diminished return after a period of time. You've made your message, people have it. They almost auto tune you out at some point.
We felt like the series needed a jolt. I found out earlier today there's actually 39 trucks competing for 32 spots. First time it's happened in a very long time. I joked and said, Maybe we should change series sponsors every year.
But had we not done Gander, Camping World is committed to the sport. Our company is committed to the sport.

Q. The Truck Series has always been a vehicle for a lot of young drivers to make their way up through the series, get their careers started. Looking at it from an entitlement sponsor perspective, what does that mean to you?
MARCUS LEMONIS: Look, selfishly I've always argued that the truck racing is the best racing in NASCAR. It's where those drivers are fighting for their career lives. It's also a good platform for small companies to actually invest in, as well.
With all the changes that have happened with the Truck Series in the last year, it's made it affordable for teams to submit trucks, it's made it more affordable for teams to sponsor.
I like the grittiness and aggressiveness that the Truck Series has. I don't know if Monster and Xfinity will like this, but I think we're the best. I think we bring up the raw talent. I don't know, if I gave all of you lie detector tests, you would probably say the truck racing is the best. See, you just admitted it right there (laughter).
THE MODERATOR: Marcus, thank you for joining us.
MARCUS LEMONIS: Appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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