Hornish Finishes 1st at Phoenix, 7th at Homestead, but Alliance Feels Its NASCAR Sponsorship is a Consistent Winner

Alliance Truck Parts hopes its NASCAR marketing involvement will help propel its growth, and believes it's starting to see results, said John O'Leary, a senior vice president at Daimler Trucks North America who manages the builder's aftermarket arm.

Alliance revenues this year are up 19% over 2010 as it uses the slogan, "a pit crew in every part."

Alliance backs Penske Racing's Number 12 Dodge, driven by Sam Hornish Jr., who won at Phoenix last week but finished seventh at Homestead Miami Raceway yesterday. The car and coveralls worn by Hornish and his pit crew carry Alliance's circle-A logo and black and yellow colors, and Alliance people believe that a lot of potential and actual customers care a lot about this, so are more likely to buy parts from Alliance.

A recent survey of 300 truck owner-operators found that 70% of them are fans of the venerable, ever-evolving National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. They are among 75 million Americans and Canadians who enthusiastically follow NASCAR competition, O'Leary said at a briefing in an infield conference room the day before the Homestead race.

This past summer, the company was the main sponsor of the Alliance Truck Parts 250 race at Michigan International Speedway. Alliance brought in about 200 customers representing large and small fleets to be happy spectators.

Alliance is part of NASCAR's Nationwide Series, whose cars are lighter in weight and cost less to build and run than Sprint Cup cars, so sponsorship is less expensive. Alliance is spending something over $1 million for the 2011 season's eight races, he said. This is coupled with tied-in advertising in trucking trade magazines and other marketing efforts.

"I come from the financial side," O'Leary commented. "I looked at the numbers and I signed off on this," he said of the NASCAR sponsorship.

Alliance continues to expand its "value" line of all-brand truck parts, from chrome accessories, brake shoes and jugs of coolant to replacement transmissions and engines, he said.

Dealers for Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses and Petro and TA truck stops sell Alliance parts. The line includes items for DTNA trucks as well as competitors, including International, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Mack, Volvo and others.

DTNA's total parts sales generate revenues of $2.2 billion annually; Alliance's revenues are lumped in with that and are not divulged separately.

In addition to the "pit crew" motto, Alliance claims to "box a better part at a good price," as in good, better and best: A good part might be imported from China, the best part would be from original equipment manufacturers, and Alliance's parts, most of which are sourced in North America, are in the middle.

There's not much cannibalizing of OEM parts sales, O'Leary said, because customers visit DTNA dealers to inquire about lower-priced Alliance parts and end up buying them as well as OEM parts.

2012 will be the "year of Alliance," O'Leary declared, with more parts introduced and continued involvement with NASCAR. Because Alliance's agreement with Penske Racing runs for three years, the same will probably be said for 2013.