NASCAR Car Wash opens first locations in Chicago

Dan Dyer, CEO of NASCAR Car Wash, doesn’t personally know Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon – but he does have a license to wash.

Effective this month, Dyer will be using his license to reach tens of millions of car care enthusiasts who call themselves NASCAR fans. Just last year, Dyer secured exclusive rights to use the NASCAR logo to market car washes across North America and the U.S. Territories. In the coming weeks, the first of several NASCAR Car Wash locations will open in the Chicagoland area.


That could mean a huge boon for business because when it comes to car care, according to July 2011 NASCAR Fan Council research, more than three-quarters of fans take their cars to an automotive facility that is affiliated with NASCAR.

NASCAR has the most brand loyal fans in all of sports, which is a competitive advantage. According to Ipsos research, fans’ connection to NASCAR sponsors is actually rising in hard economic times.

In terms of car care, NASCAR fans are 30% more likely than non-fans to own three or more vehicles; and 30% more likely to have shopped at automotive-focused stores in the past year (according to Experian Consumer Research, Simmons National Consumer Survey, Fall Full Year 2010). According to Ipsos Brand Tracker 2010, 84% of avid NASCAR fans agree that when they see the NASCAR logo on something, they know it will be a quality product.

That kind of avidity and fan behavior is exactly what Dyer is banking on, especially as NASCAR enters its version of the playoffs – the Chase for the Sprint Cup – in mid-September. The grand opening of the first NASCAR Car Wash location will take place in Romeoville, Ill., on Sept. 15, just a few miles from Chicagoland Speedway, where NASCAR will begin the Chase.

With reflagging and groundbreakings in Chicagoland and across the Midwest in the coming months, the company expects to wash 10,000 cars per location each month; will employ an average of 40 people at each wash; and has projected growth of approximately 30-50 locations in the Midwest markets of Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Upper Indiana by 2016. That kind of expansion puts the company on pace to be the largest car wash chain in the nation.

With Patrick announcing her full-time switch to NASCAR in late August, Dyer hopes to leverage the added star power to drive his business and convince local operators to partner with him on new locations throughout the region.

Whether or not he actually gets the opportunity to rub elbows with Danica, Dale, Jimmie or Jeff still remains to be seen. In the meantime, Dyer has his sights set on opening up NASCAR Car Wash locations across North America…and all begins in Chicago on Sept. 15.

| Nascar