How to Get Sponsored by Holley

Holley's decals are on cars in NASCAR, NHRA, NMCA, ARCA, World of Outlaws, late models and plenty of small series, and the company owns dozens of brands, from Holley EFI and MSD to Racepak, Flowmaster and Hooker. That visibility fools a lot of racers into thinking Holley hands out sponsorships to anyone with a fender. Bill Tichenor, Holley's corporate director of marketing, has joined my Sponsorship Summits and PRI seminars several times, and his message has never changed: Holley is in racing to sell parts to racers, and a decal is the least interesting thing you can offer.

Holley sponsors series, not individuals

Most of Holley's money goes to sanctioning bodies and contingency programs, because that reaches the most racers at once. "We're not a brand that's trying to go out there and get awareness to that fan or that racer. Our goal is to sell products to racers, so we'll sponsor a series and post contingency so we can sponsor a lot of racers at once," Tichenor said. He has a soft spot for the people who run those series: "We love sponsoring sanctioning bodies because they give racers a place to race, and then we have a place to sell products." ▶ Watch Bill Tichenor explain this

Individual deals do happen, for a specific reason: "If we're trying to break into a new series with a particular product, or we need to prove something out, we need to test it, we'll do that with individual racers." ▶ See the full answer

At a PRI seminar he added: "Don't give away old products. Try to seed some new products, because that's our lifeblood, is selling new stuff." ▶ Watch the seminar

Expect product or a discount, not cash

Be realistic about what a Holley deal looks like. "We don't do much cash," Tichenor said. "The best of the best might get a little product support, more than likely just maybe a discount kind of thing at best." The reason is simple: "We just got too many products to be running around promoting all of them with dollars to put a decal on a car." ▶ Watch the clip

And don't lead with the decal. "Never just send me anything that says I'll put a decal on my car. That's the worst," he said. Holley likes decals, "but that's just a part of a bigger program that we typically have with some sort of sanctioning body to try to get those decals on a lot of cars." ▶ Watch Tichenor on decals

Be an extra set of hands for tech support

What Holley actually values is help it can't buy. Tichenor's favorite example is Chad Henderson, an early adopter of Holley's EFI in small-tire radial racing. "He helped us kind of prove it out, test it out, give us feedback, and became just a great friend and partner," he said. Henderson learned the system so well that he could support other racers at his tracks, "because we can't be everywhere." ▶ Watch Tichenor tell the story

That's the job description. "We look for racers that can help us more than just exposure, a decal on a car or something of that nature. What other added value can you do? Will you be out on forums helping us with tech, and are you a good enough dude to help your competitor out there?" Holley's own tech staff "can't be everywhere. There's tens of thousands of all types of racers." ▶ See the full answer

He wants the relationship to run both ways and to last: "It's not like what can you get from Holley and what can Holley get from you. We like to build long-term partnerships that sometimes start really small." ▶ Watch the clip

Love the parts first

Tichenor's rule: run the parts that are right for your car, not the parts you can get free. "Don't ever build a car based on what you get free," he told a PRI audience. "The best people for us is when a guy loves our parts because he really loves our parts, and then he promotes them for us." ▶ Watch the seminar

Off-road racer Ryan Beat shows how that plays out. "He wasn't pushy... met him a couple times, got to like him, got to know him, stayed in touch with me," Tichenor said. Before he had any deal, Beat offered to bring his truck to Holley's LS Fest West and do donuts in the burnout contest. Later he lost a race to a burned plug wire in a tight engine bay. "I showed him a product that could solve a problem, gave him some plug wires, and now I'm using him in ads for the plug wires because we truly solved his problem." ▶ Watch Tichenor tell it

Tell a real story online

For young racers, Tichenor's advice is to build a following by being honest. "Just be real. Show them the ups and the downs. They don't expect you to win. In fact, they don't want you to win all the time." His example is YouTuber Cleetus McFarland: "We joined up with him when he was like a nobody, and he came to our EFI training classes." Holley met him at LS Fest, and over time McFarland "organically incorporated our stuff into what he does." ▶ Watch Tichenor on young racers

At a later PRI seminar he summed it up: "Build your social groupies, even if it's a small group of groupies." Then be the local expert, like desert racer Darren Parsons, whom Holley met at LS Fest West. "He really loves the parts. He knows it, knows how to help us help racers everywhere they go. So kind of be that guy in your area." ▶ Watch the seminar

How to reach Holley

Tichenor pointed racers to Holley's sponsorship email address, sponsorships@holley.com, and to the people Holley sends to the races. Keep it short. "Don't be too wordy. Use bullet points, because we read a lot of this stuff," he said. "Just tell us what you can do for us. What can you bring to the party to help us sell products, instead of what you need." ▶ Watch the clip

Don't expect a fast yes. "Don't think you're going to walk up and 10 minutes later walk away with a sponsorship," he said at PRI. "Show me, tell me what you're about, and stay in touch with me for a few years, and we'll see what might happen." Holley budgets on a January-to-December year, so anything off-budget "better be really great." ▶ Watch the seminar

His last piece of advice was about attitude: "A racer that has like an awesome attitude and is having fun and pushing, and doesn't matter if he's winning or losing, that's kind of contagious, and I think that's something that sponsors want to be associated with." ▶ Watch his closing advice

Your checklist for Holley

• Race in a series Holley supports and use its contingency program first.
• Run Holley parts because they're right for your car, then learn them well enough to help other racers.
• Look for new Holley products you can test and prove. That's where individual deals come from.
• Offer tech support, forum help and real-world feedback, not a decal.
• Send a short, bulleted email that says what you'll do to help Holley sell parts.
• Meet Holley people at events like LS Fest, stay in touch, and expect it to take years.