Jamie McMurray and the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team will run Chevrolets again next year. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Q: What do you think of NASCAR’s decision to change to ethanol-based E15 fuel next year in its Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series? Are you pleased with that, or wish NASCAR would have gone further to E85?

TD: “I think you have to remember that we’re an invited member to participate in the sport of NASCAR racing. We’re proud of our achievements and what we’ve been able to bring to the table. We’re pleased that NASCAR is looking at other solutions for sustainable technology within the sport. We think E85 is a great step to the future in getting there.

“There’s a number of things surrounding the whole aspect of sustainability they’ve been able to do between recycling oils, recycling some of the tires and the products that go into it. I think there’s a deeper story than they’ve been getting credit for. Longer-term, we want to continue to be a partner in those endeavors and look on how we can amplify things, even on a consumer marketing standpoint.

“It’s important for our core culture as a car company to be perceived as a leader in the green space. We’re really excited about bringing our new Chevrolet Volt to the public. We’ll start building those and putting them in the hands of consumers in the short-term. And it’s another way to show the technology we’ve brought to automotive transportation through a non-traditional solution.”

Q: Given Chevrolet’s marketing of alternative fuels for street cars, do you feel NASCAR’s initiative is basically overdue?

TD: “We’ve actually been collaborating with NASCAR on what can be done from a fuel standpoint and its impact on performance on-track. So our GM Racing colleagues have worked hand-in-hand with the teams and with the NASCAR technical experts evaluating potential fuels, running dynamometer tests, what will be the impact on durability with core components of the engines.

“And then our findings from fuel system handling – what’s necessary based on how we’ve adapted our production cars, the type of products that are able to sustain the involvement with a more corrosive-based fuel and do so successfully to perform well on the track. So we are pleased. We feel it’s a step that helps support a greater connectivity for the fan base and the automotive manufacturers.”

Q: With NASCAR’s TV ratings down a bit – and what you’re seeing as far as your display area being impacted by attendance – are you still getting out of this sport what you want?

TD: “What’s really important about what NASCAR provides is scale and reach to the public for us to have a marketing opportunity. While it’s true ratings and attendance have been impacted, our actual connectivity with the consumers – and we do measure our traffic and our display footprints and the amount of consumers that connect with us looking for additional product information.

“Our numbers are actually up here over a year, so we’re pleased about that. Would we like to see TV ratings and attendance go forward? Absolutely. But that’s not any different than what other sports have experienced this calendar year. It’s the results of pretty tough economical conditions that have impacted the core fan base.”

Q: Any idea why foot-traffic is up at Chevrolet Racing displays? Are you doing more in the area of experiential marketing?

TD: “Our overall footprints are pretty much consistent year-over-year from the volume that we have. We’ve worked very hard, and our teams have been a big partner in helping us solve this. On Sundays, we’ll (typically) have four of the NASCAR drivers coming through our display. That’s a big aid in building traffic. The consumers have a chance to hear Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, etc.

“So through a matter of our models we’ve been able to adjust so end results are tracking at an above year-over-year performance, and that’s our yardstick in measurement on sales success. Those people will result in a higher sales conversion rate, selling more Chevrolet cars and trucks.”

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Q: After a five-year absence, Chevrolet recently announced plans to return to the IZOD IndyCar Series as an engine supplier with Ilmor Engineering in 2012. Did that decision basically come down to ROI – return on investment?

TD: “We’re always evaluating the various series that we’re participating in and looking at a long-term portfolio for where we race and the technological benefits that it brings back to our production cars. We still have a great presence with Indianapolis (Motor Speedway). In fact, we continue to be a marketing partner at the Indy 500 for a number of years. We’ll be there in 2011. We provided the (Camaro) pace car this past year in 2010, so it’s still a great venue for us to market and sell cars and trucks.

“You know, we have to have a return on investment. So as we go in motorsports we look at three key elements. First, can you race competitively and can you win races and championships? Then we look at the target audience and does it align with our target – who’s buying our vehicles? And then finally, we have to look at it from the standpoint of developing a return on investment.

“We have a very disciplined financial approach. We’re able to model returns in the series we’re participating to show that the business case makes sense to the leadership community to enable us to continue to do what we do. We run this like a business. We’re proud of the results not only on-track but how it helps us accomplish our core objective of selling new vehicles. So we feel we’ve got the right balance. Any new series we look at, we look at it from those standpoints to make sure that it accomplishes core business objectives.”

John Sturbin covered college sports, baseball as well as the NHL and Dallas Cowboys while working at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. He was their fulltime motorsports beat writer from 1995 to 2008. John can be reached at jsturbin@racintoday.com.