NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, grew out of a time-honored tradition of running “moonshine,” or bootleg whiskey.
Even before the American Revolution, the authorities sought to tax alcoholic drinks, and people sought to avoid those taxes by distilling their own whiskey by the light of the moon, hence “moonshine.” The moonshiners threw off the British, but the first thing the new American government did was tax alcohol; hence George Washington found himself having to put down a “whiskey rebellion” carried out by some of the same men who fought under his command during the revolution.
Prohibition began a new phase in the moonshine saga. Each illegal “still” needed delivery drivers to distribute the booze to its customers, and those drivers needed to drive something that looked like an ordinary automobile anyone could buy—a “stock car.” But of course those cars were packing extra power under the hood (bonnet) to outrun law enforcement, and when you add horse power you have to make the whole vehicle more robust—shocks, springs, suspension, tires, etc.
The drivers, or runners, were good, knowing every country road and cowpath in their territory, so that they could drive it without headlights at night. They also became known for high-speed maneuvers, such as the bootleg turn: turning a car 180 degrees in a controlled skid. The tradition of that kind of driving is still alive and well, especially in the south, as seen in the movie/cultural artifact “Smokey and the Bandit.” (Or, more recently, the “Fast and Furious” series.)
When the drivers weren’t running moonshine, they spent their time racing other drivers for bragging rights. Prohibition was finally repealed in late 1933, and demand for bootlegged alcohol waned. Most of the drivers eventually got out of the moonshine-running business, but they still had those fast “stock” cars, and they still loved to race them.
On December 14, 1947, one of these old moonshine runners, Big Bill France, called a meeting of drivers, car owners, and mechanics to establish some rules for the races and standard specifications for the “stock” cars—thus NASCAR was born. The first official race was held two months later.
Today, NASCAR is big business, a business that the Seventh-day Adventist-affiliated “AdventHealth,” has seen fit to advertise with in a very big way. AdventHealth, an Adventist hospital chain whose largest facility is Florida Hospital in Orlando, is the primary sponsor of a NASCAR team, which has a minimum of two cars and two drivers, plus scores of mechanics, engineers, pit crew and other supporting crew.
Although some big-time owners may have only two cars on the track, owners usually have an average of 13 or 14 cars under construction. They will have a team of skilled mechanics, as well as purchasing agents who handle the purchasing, stocking, and inventory of hundreds of parts required for the cars. To take care of billing, payroll, and other details, you need an administrative team, and a logistics team is necessary to arrange the racing schedules and travel for the cars, trucks, mechanics, drivers, and pit crews. Then there are the public relations people, the legal staff, the secretaries, and others to support the effort for putting the cars on the track. An entire racing team consists of almost 100 people.
As you can imagine, this is a serious financial commitment, and owners look to sponsors, advertisers, to defray the costs. There are levels of sponsorship that look something like this:
$500,000 to $2 million for an Associate sponsor – A logo on either the lower rear quarter panels, the rear deck lid, or one post.
$2 to $5 million for a Major sponsor – A logo prominently displayed on either the rear quarter panels or the rear deck lid, and the uniforms.
$10 to $20 million for a Primary sponsor – Logos on the entire hood and quarter panels, the signage below the quarter panels, most of the two posts, the equipment, the uniforms, as well as the color scheme of the car and team uniforms.
It might be even more than twenty million dollars; according to Business Insider, over the 38 race NASCAR season, primary sponsors will pay between $5 and $35 million dollars. As you will see from the video, AdventHealth is a primary sponsor, meaning that they are spending up to $35 million to sponsor a NASCAR team.
Beyond merely sponsoring a car and a team, AdventHealth has now sponsored an entire event, the “Advent Health 400,” a 400 mile race at the Kansas Motor Speedway, near Kansas City, KS. AdventHealth and Kansas Speedway announced in February, 2022, that AdventHealth would become “the official health care provider of the track and gain naming rights for the May races.”
“We share AdventHealth’s commitment to improving the lives of those in our community,” Kansas Speedway President Pat Warren said in a statement. “We look forward to helping AdventHealth amplify that commitment as we embark on this long-term partnership together.”
“We are thrilled to extend AdventHealth’s relationship with NASCAR here in Kansas City,” AdventHealth Mid-America Region CEO Sam Huenergardt said in a statement. “Our whole person care approach to health care includes us supporting community organizations like Kansas Speedway that bring families and people from all walks of life together. We look forward to the impact this partnership will have on our community.”
We cannot find anything stating the dollar figure that AdventHealth paid the Kansas Speedway for the naming rights of this event; it might not have been publicly disclosed. But it was likely in the millions.
AdventHealth, the article said, already serves as the presenting sponsor of Speedways at Daytona International Speedway and as the primary sponsor for Ross Chastain’s car in the Cup Series.
Which brings us to the incident with Ross Chastain that happened during the running of the AdventHealth 400 last Sunday. It appears from the video footage that Chastain ran Noah Gragson, who was driving the “Sunseeker Resort” car, into the wall. Gragson apparently did not appreciate this tactic and went to have words with Chastain when they were both out of their vehicles. He was a little too demonstrative for Chastain’s taste, and Chastain threw a right hook that connected with an audible crack.
The AdventHealth-sponsored driver, Ross Chastain, punches Noah Gragson at the Advent Health 400
There isn’t much to say about the fight itself, but there’s a great deal to say about the direction of AdventHealth.
First, do hospitals even need to advertise? Instead of spending millions on advertising, why not lower your prices? Word of mouth would spread rapidly, and every bed and operating theater would be full every day.
Second, even assuming that hospitals need to advertise, do they need to advertise with NASCAR? (It isn’t just Adventist hospitals that are doing this; Baptist Health is doing it, too.) It is a dangerous sport in which some 30 people have been killed, although none since Dale Earnhardt was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500. Why would an Adventist hospital chain advertise with NASCAR, to the tune of possibly $35 million per year?
What kind of message does that send about the values of Adventists?