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Effort paying off for Ambrose and JTG/Daugherty In the midst of the worst U.S. economy since the Great Depression, the husband-and-wife team has launched a start-up NASCAR Sprint Cup team with driver Marcos Ambrose and co-owner Brad Daugherty, the former star center with University of North Carolina and then the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association.
But to say the Geschickters have launched the team is faint praise. They didn’t just launch the team; they have succeeded on every measurable level.
In his first full season in NASCAR’s top division Ambrose is 18th in driver points, with the No. 47 Toyota Camry holding the same position in car-owner points.
No other first-year driver is ahead of Ambrose in Sprint Cup points; no other single-car team is ahead of JTG/Daugherty Racing. That speaks volumes about not just the speediness of the No. 47 Camry, but of the team’s skill at building relationships both with sponsors and fellow racers.
The team has forged a successful technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing, one that will continue through at least the 2011 season, and the No. 47 is already fully sponsored for next season – this at a time when sponsorships are in critical demand throughout NASCAR.
On Nov. 6 at Texas Motor Speedway, the team announced that McKee Foods, a family bakery best known for its Little Debbie brand, would again be one of Ambrose’s primary sponsors for 2010. Along with Bush’s Baked Beans, Clorox and Kingsford, among others, the team has a powerful support group of sponsors.
It’s a long way from 1994, when the Geschickters started their first NASCAR team in what then was known as the Busch Series and is now the Nationwide Series.
“We sold souvenirs, we pulled show cars, we built shocks, worked on the pit crew, and did our own car painting and decal work,” says Tad Geschickter. “We’ve really learned the business intimately through the years because we had to build it from scratch and do many of the jobs ourselves along the way.”
As a driver, Ambrose has a tremendous amount of respect for what the Geschickters have accomplished.
“It’s an amazing story and I think Tad and Jodi Geschickter are probably the ones I have to thank the most, because they gave me the time to grow into the sport,” says Ambrose, who has accumulated four top-five and seven top-10 finishes this season. “You see guys who come in too hot, too heavy, too hard, too early at the top level and they just don’t make it. You’ve got to grow into the sport and I think being given the chance is something that you can’t forget and I think it’s the major ingredient to this being successful, me sitting in here today talking about 2010 in the Cup Series is primarily because of that – I was given time to grow.”
Jodi Geschickter knows all about needing time to grow. “We’ve had to be patient and build our company a step-at-a-time,” she says. “It’s been a long time coming.”
But now that they’re here, Ambrose already has his sights faced squarely ahead.
“Our performance is getting better and better each week,” says Ambrose. “For us, I think its all blue sky. We’ve got sponsorships locked in for 2010; we’re really excited about that. We’re working on 2011 already. I’ve got a great relationship with my team owners. I feel like I’m getting to a point where I’m starting to pay them back for the faith they had in me in the first place. It’s a tough road; not every step is going to be forward, you’re going to take some back, but in general I think we have a great thing going. We have a great partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing. Sponsors are in play, money is in play — we're just really going to do it.”
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