A national study of 1,340 Latinos has yielded some key insights into the potential for NASCAR in the Hispanic community.

Of those queried, 38 percent said they are at least "casual" fans of NASCAR. But, just 7 percent said they were "very interested" or avid fans of auto racing.

The report, conducted in November 2008 by sports marketing and media services agency rEvolution and online survey research firm Knowledge Networks, was the first to examine Latino NASCAR fans.

According to Knowledge Networks CMO Patricia Graham, her firm's Latino panel was used to conduct the surveys. Among the panelists were Hispanics who were given a laptop and had their internet charges paid for by Knowledge, in cases where there was no home access to the 'Net.

With the theme "Breaking Through to Deeper Engagement," the NASCAR Latino study questioned 680 Hispanic non-fans and 661 Latinos who like NASCAR for a variety of acculturation and language-preference levels.

Going on the basis that, with other sports, Hispanic fans have a higher-than-average emotional attachment to sponsors and a greater-than-average desire to reward them with their business, the researchers asked questions that yielded the following results:

• Sixty-seven percent of Hispanic NASCAR fans are only "a little bit" interested in the sport.

But the research showed that growing NASCAR's fan base by catering to existing Hispanic devotees won't work. The reason - Latinos who are casual fans are much different than the avid Hispanic NASCAR fan. The differences range from acculturation to language-preference and socioeconomic status.

• Hispanic fans relate to NASCAR in a more isolated way.

This was a key insight for NASCAR, Graham says, because auto racing tends to be a highly social sport. For the Latinos queried, watching NASCAR was done at home on television. Some purchased NASCAR-themed video games and played them in the home.

"The sense of community that the NASCAR organization has been able to draw from Caucasian fans hasn't been there in the Hispanic community," says Graham.

Thus, the more one can do to socialize the NASCAR experience for Hispanics, the better the growth prospect will be, she says.

The next step is the "socialization" of NASCAR with Latino fans. "It's the ability to talk to your friends and buddies about it that gave us a big 'a-ha!' moment when looking at the research," she says."

• Awareness is one thing. Knowledge is another.

Graham says that for the majority of Latinos surveyed, watching NASCAR and having general familiarity with the sport was most common. But, she adds, "NASCAR wasn't part of their repertoire."

Thus, NASCAR is now developing ways in which it can best-explain the sport to Latinos.

• Hispanics don't have a favorite driver.

Even with the high-profile presence of Colombian race car driver Juan Pablo Montoya, "being Hispanic was secondary to following a winning driver," Graham reveals.

The reason, the research suggests, is simple — since Latinos are much less engaged with the sport, most follow a winning driver. "This is a major difference from NASCAR fans in general," Graham notes.

• Latinos have a need for speed.

The speed of stock cars racing around the track is one of NASCAR’s main draws for Hispanic fans.

Fifty-nine percent say they were first attracted to the sport by the speed of the cars.

Thus, Graham says the message of "amazing speed" needs to be part of NASCAR's brand communications strategy targeting Latinos.

"There were a number of critical learnings that will inform our multicultural strategy and stakeholders going forward," said Brian Moyer, NASCAR’s managing director of market and media research.

How Moyer and his colleagues at NASCAR will use the day remains under wraps.

• Juan Pablo Montoya is currently featured in Hispanic market advertising for Powerade. In 2007, Montoya was featured in a 30-second commercial that promoted Sprint Nextel's Walkie/Talkie service (HMW Archives 6/18/2007. A Racy New Spot For Sprint). Montoya switched  from Formula One racing to NASCAR in July 2006 (HMW Archives 9/24/07. NASCAR Starts The Engines On Spanish-Language Website).

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Viewing Latinos as crucial to the growth its fan base, NASCAR has boosted its efforts to reach Hispanics. And advertisers have climbed aboard for the ride.

Ford in 2008 signed on as the presenting sponsor of NASCAR's annual Street Tour. The tour appears at more than 100 events a year in Southern California, including Fiesta Broadway and Carnaval Primavera. Last year saw the Street Tour add stops in Dallas, Miami and New York.

Since 2002, Cerveza Tecate has sponsored the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and its musical entertainment portion, "Fiesta Friday," held in April. Tecate will host several cantinas and "playas" near the track that serve cold beer and the Chicas Tecate will be on hand.

Launched in 2007, NASCAR's Spanish-language website, www.nascar.com/Espanol, includes racing highlights and daily news updates from Carolina Escobar, anchor of the "En Familia" and "Adelantos" programs on CNN en Español. There's also "Where's Juan?", a weekly update on Juan Pablo Montoya.