Catchfence

As a long time Bobby Labonte fan, I admit to being concerned as last year drew to a close and his presence on the 2009 driver roster was not secured. All of a sudden, I was reading about Ask.com, Bobby Labonte, Hall Of Fame Racing, in association with Yates, and was trying to learn more. At that point none of us had seen him on track behind the wheel of the #96 Ford Fusion, but, I just had a feeling this was going to be a good pairing of sponsor, driver and team, and that this match could just be one of “the” stories of 2009. Now after seeing him driving the Ask.com car, I am sure this is going to be a fantastic year for all involved. 

 

Before Daytona, the work began on getting the information together for this article. Questions were submitted for Bobby since there was not time for an interview. Things were lining up well, but, some things went wrong, and then all of a sudden Daytona was over.  I was devastated. This project was too important to me to let it go. To that end, I was recently able to speak with Andrea Riggs, Vice President of Consumer Public Relations for Ask.com and found her to be genuinely excited and positive for this racing season. “We’re so lucky to have him,” she began, referring to Bobby as their driver.

  

“We feel like we have lucked out with Bobby,” Andrea continued. “He is such a class act. He fits with our brand so well. He is a family man, and he just stands for good values. The folks that support Bobby are really loyal to him and we’ve already seen that loyalty translate over to Ask.com, so, we feel super lucky to be working with him.”

 

So how did all of this come about? How did it all come together in such a short amount of time to get this team race ready for 2009? And why pick racing to promote Ask.com?

 

“Ask.com was looking for an opportunity to find people who could really relate to our brand, and relate to the kinds of things that we have to offer,” Andrea continued. What that means is we have special way of delivering people answers. When you type in your questions you’ll see an answer pop up right in the middle of the page the first time you ask it. And, you can ask natural language search questions, the way you would ask of anybody else. That tends to be really useful for people who are asking everyday questions, like how long can you drink milk after the expiration date, or what’s the weather going to be today in Atlanta, Georgia? Things like that. And because we used to be Askjeeves.com, a lot of families with children identified with Jeeves, the butler. We have a heritage of families using our site, and so we took a look around and said who matches our brand? And we found NASCAR and the incredibly passionate and loyal 70 plus million fan base.”

 

“We felt it would be a great fit, so, we started talking to several teams and found we were a great fit with Yates, who led us to Bobby, which has been a match made in heaven. It came together pretty late last year and we knew it was just right, so, we jumped on it. We tend to be the kind of company that takes opportunities when other companies are hunkering down, and not aggressively moving forward. That’s when we tend to see opportunities that others aren’t taking and we will make our move. That’s what happened.”

 

“We decided if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right. We are going to embrace this sport and let the fans know that we are here to do something good and big. We are going to support NASCAR and all we ask in return, is that the fans support Ask.com and that they use us. We are very excited. If the fans use Ask.com for their Internet searching we can continue to support NASCAR. “

 

I still have not had the opportunity to speak directly to Bobby, but, I do want to share the questions and his answers with our readers. I do plan to speak with him sometime soon but until then this is what he had to say pre Daytona:

 

#1. Wow Bobby, it’s a good thing you like going fast. Perhaps that has prepared you for this whirlwind you’ve been riding since leaving PE. With several options what made you choose this team to go with for 2009?

 

Answer: You’re right – it’s definitely been a whirlwind month, but I’m glad I landed with Hall of Fame Racing.  The two main reasons I made the decision were because I felt the HOF/Yates partnership would make the organization a contender and that they had an exciting new sponsor in Ask.com who is ready to do big things in the sport.

#2. Tell me about your expectations for this team this season. You certainly are an experienced, very proven talent, and it sounds like ASK.com is excited to be on board.  So, with key people in place does all of this make this transition easier for you?

Answer: It absolutely makes it easier.  While I’m aware there will be a transition period where everyone gets to know each other, I expect to be competitive immediately with the Ask.com Ford Fusion and have my sights set on reaching Victory Lane.

#3. You have such a strong fan base. Can you speak to your fans about this season and opportunity?

Answer: I have great fans and truly appreciate them.  I’m pumped about this year in particular, because Ask.com has some awesome programs lined up that will really let me interact with fans in cool new ways on their site and in-person.  We’ve got a great new opportunity this season and fans have my word I’ll be racing as hard as humanly possible.

#4. This year and last has been so tough for the American people and our country. It seems everyday, we read about thousands of hard working people losing their jobs.  This, of course, has affected NASCAR, its teams, owners and those who have worked in racing for so many years. Can you say anything about how that has affected you as a driver and friend to some of those people.

 Answer: It’s tough – there’s no way around it.  I’m not a business expert so I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I really feel for the folks who were laid off.  It certainly makes me even more grateful to have Ask.com on the hood this year.

#5. There are always going to be diehard NASCAR fans as long as there is NASCAR. Do you see the competition being as great this season as in seasons past?</B>

Answer: Yep.  And you better believe I plan to be a part of it.

 

On March 6, just in time for the Atlanta race, Ask.com along with Bobby Labonte introduced a new program called the Ask.com Safe Search Schools Program. Because Ask.com is a search engine, they are fully aware of the need to teach children how to stay safe online. Atlanta was the first market for this program. Ask.com asked the schools in Atlanta to inform them how they teach children to be safe online. The children were also asked what kinds of creative things they would do to teach others about Internet safety. In this first program, there were nearly 200 entries. Cotton Indian Elementary School was chosen for its commitment to Internet safety education. And student William Starr, whose creative board game was chosen as the winner, was given a ride to school in the #96 Ask.com Ford. Additionally, Ask.com provided the school with a computer lab donation of $10,000 and special visit from Labonte. Everyone had a great time while addressing the importance of Internet safety and children.

Bobby had this to say about the whole experience, “We’re trying to help raise awareness of Internet safety. I got the chance to meet with a bunch of 5th graders, so they were all smarter than I am, I know that. As a dad with 2 kids at home, and a big computer sitting there, I know how important it is to have Internet safety at home.”

“The young man I took to school this morning, William, he was here when I won the race in 2003. That was his first race-so that introduction went really well because he knew who I was. It was great to see him and I think we had (kindergarten)-through-5 standing at the curb when I came driving up, so that was good.”

“It’s great to see children my own kids’ age engaged in learning about and safely exploring the worlds available to them online. It was a pleasure to drive to Cotton Indian with an honored student passenger and meet specialists and students responsible for such compelling Internet safety program entries.

The next market for this program will be in the Dallas area the week of the Texas race. Be sure to look to Catchfence.com for the results of the winning school and student.

The Atlanta race ended up being a dismal day for Labonte and the #96 Ask.com team. They suffered an engine failure, finished 40th and lost 13 positions in the points standings. That is pretty depressing, BUT, this team has so much going for it. Great team, great driver, great crew chief and crew members and a very supportive and great sponsor all equal a winning combination. This team will win this season. Multiple wins are certainly possible. They are dedicated and focused on that goal. The pairing of this driver, team, and sponsor just may be one of the biggest stories of the 2009 Cup season.

I choose to describe the Atlanta race as having dealt and dispensed with those new team racing gremlins. Now that those are out of the way, the winner’s circle should be well in sight and reach. Go get ‘em Bobby. And we will both be sure to say “I told them so”!

So, if you are a Bobby Labonte fan, and who isn’t, be sure to use Ask.com as you search engine. I have been using it instead of the search engine my isp, uses and the results really are different. Try it! You will like it! It is awesome.

 

Be sure to check out

www.ask.com

www.bobbylabonte.com