Lord Of The Rings

Scott Dixon in the Target sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar. [John Wiedemann Photo]

Oh my God, Becky!! Look at that Target-car…go.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s going to miss the Target mark on its IndyCars once the 2016 season ends. Target, the Minneapolis-based purveyor of retail goods grand and not-so has decided to break its 27-year long open-wheel sponsorship on the No. 9 and No. 10 cars (actually it’s only been No. 9 since 2014, driven by New Zealander Scott Dixon) to focus solely on a NASCAR entry from the same team with Kyle Larson at the wheel.

Target has sponsored the Ganassi IndyCar team since 1990. Current Ganassi driver and four-time IndyCar champion Dixon has been sponsored by Target for absurdly-long tenure of 15 years. To fully appreciate the length of Target’s IndyCar involvement, eight of the drivers at the wheel of this weekend’s race in Mid-Ohio were born after the red and white circles began their relationship with Ganassi. “It’s the greatest sponsorship in racing, ever,” Ganassi said before the one hundredth Indianapolis 500 in May this year of the tight affiliation he has enjoyed with Target and its circular signature signage.

Target’s move was foretold in 2014 when its longtime CEO—an avid racing fan— was replaced. Under its new CEO, Ganassi’s IndyCar budget was slashed and Target’s two-car entry was trimmed to one. Target chairman Brian Cornell says he’s reshaping the company’s marketing, and wants to try something “new.” Apparently, eleven open-wheel championships and four Indianapolis 500 rings aren’t enough for Brian to see his way to writing another check to keep winning them anew.

Of course, the elephant in the room is the unanswered question about the famous Target logo and its future as a marketing icon for the Target Corporation. Some have speculated that the unwinding of the famous concentric red and white rings from the side pods of IndyCar is part of an overall progression of the parent company to a different brand identity altogether. Some have gone so far as to speculate that the Target exit from IndyCar is a “New Coke” sleight of hand move to highlight a coming inversion of the white and red concentric rings—a flippant reversal that is secretly being test-marketed to select cities in the Midwest. The logo moves may also shed light on, and partially explain the intrigue around, another Target-made icon, that in the character of “Bullseye.”

Bullseye, a solid-white male bull terrier, is the canine representative and children’s plush-toy whose right eye anatomy is defined by red circles, and the so-called “official” mascot of Target Corporation. The dog is featured in Target’s commercial campaigns and in-store sale signage, and is used in various marketing campaigns. Bullseye lives on a ranch just north of Los Angeles, which is also home to another Target dog named Nikki. Rumors persist that Nikki is the “original” Bullseye, but that she (yes, a female bull terrier) was retired in recent years in deference to a younger and more vigorous male canine. There is evidence to support these “dog-switch” assertions, in particular an episode in July 2015 when the Target dog brought in for the opening of a new store was overheard to have been referred to as “Gigi” by her photographer.

Okay, so maybe you’ve figured out that I’ve wandered off into slapstick here….and I will let you figure out where the humor starts. As a long-time fan and a more-recent journalist of the IndyCar Series it’s imperative that we all say “Thank you” to the Target Corporation for its unwavering support for nearly a generation of sponsorship, and wish them well with their new marketing plan for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Larson. If a time comes that they want to return to the glory of the Indianapolis 500, and the technological superiority of IndyCar to other American racing series, they are welcome back with open arms.

Until then I personally am going to do what every one of us can do and should be doing year-round —bring a friend or friends who have never seen an open-wheel battle in person to the race track. I already have a friend, who has five male sons (all of whom are nuts about cars) lined up to come to Pocono with the boys in tow. With a little luck one or more of them will become (as I was at a certain age) fascinated by this magnificent, sometimes heartbreaking, sport and launch a renewal of passion for the spectacle and speed of IndyCar racing.

Allan Brewer

Allan Brewer covers IndyCar and other racing series for RacingNation.com. Allan is a fixture at the race track, armed with keyboard and camera, eager to take you inside open-wheel sport where the news is being made. He comes to RacingNation.com with multiple professional awards from the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AWWRBA). He began his motorsports writing career at FastMachines.com; and solely published IndyProRacer.com and A1GP.com, two award-winning websites for open-wheel racing’s junior leagues, prior to becoming IndyCar correspondent at Motorsport.com. He has also covered Formula 1, NASCAR, Formula E, the Indy Lights Series and its predecessor Indy Pro Series, NHRA events and major auto shows. His major interest outside of competition is automotive technology and its application to the cars we drive every day on the public highways.

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