Dale Earnhardt Jr., Navy Team Up To Promote Boot Camp
The U.S. Navy and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Friday announced the formation of the Dale Jr. Division, an 88-person boot camp division at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois. To launch the division, Earnhardt Jr. will drive the JR Motorsports No. 83 Navy Dale Jr. Division Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 24. The national recruiting effort will be supported by a national advertising and marketing campaign. Recruits who sign up for the Dale Jr. Division will be commissioned by Earnhardt, who will again visit the recruits upon completion of their seven-to-eight week course. Also, Brad Keselowski, driver of the JR Motorsports’ Nationwide Series No. 88 Navy Chevrolet, will join the division during training to learn the boot camp basics (Navy).
CALL TO SERVE: In Birmingham, Daniel Blank noted of the 10,000 people who will pass through a display on a typical race weekend, the Navy "anticipates on developing approximately 300 leads for recruits." The Navy spends around $6.5M from its publicly funded general advertising budget to sponsor JR Motorsports' No. 88 car "and to set up the interactive displays." Navy Motorsports Program Manager Andrea Ross, who estimated the Navy has "already received nearly $6[M] worth of advertising exposure after eight races," said, "What we're looking for in this program is brand awareness, recruiting and retention. At the end of the day, we look at all these metrics to decide if our participation in the sport is worthwhile. Where we are right now with our partnership with JR Motorsports, we feel it is." Chief of Naval Personnel Capt. Jack Hanzlik said of the Dale Jr. Division, "It's the first time we've ever partnered with a celebrity, industry leader, in a call to action service"
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