Finding sponsorship is a universal goal in the racing business, but landing and retaining sponsors requires a specific skillset completely apart from the qualities that win races. Drivers, teams, series, and tracks all need to focus on the bottom line, and there are challenges inherent in financing a racing program. That's where CHARGE (chargesponsorship.com) comes in to assist with the intricacies of sponsorship. CHARGE President and founder Ken Ungar said, "We don't consider ourselves sponsorship experts. We're problem-solving experts who specialize in sponsorship."

CHARGE is not racing-specific, and that's a strength. Because it helps clients in sports, automotive, mobility, healthcare, technology, and other industries, it has a broad vision that finds solutions that a narrowly focused enterprise might miss. We sat down with Ungar to find out how that works.

PRI: Your background is diverse, starting as chief of staff for the governor of Indiana and then going into racing. How did that happen?

Ungar: I must have pissed God off! A lot of people want to go into racing, and my story is not a template; it's an accident. Before I was in the governor's office, I was a practicing attorney. A very, very young, 25-year-old practicing attorney. One of my clients was the young vice president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), Tony George. It was a corporate law matter. We had a successful outcome, and he remembered me. Fast forward, I'm leaving the governor's office, and I found out through a friend that Tony had created a job called chief of staff at the Speedway. So I connected with him. He said, "What do you know about racing?"

And I said, "Nothing."

But he said, "Well, it sounds like you have a similar job to what I'm creating here, so help me run my business and I'll teach you about racing."

That's how I got into racing.

PRI: What did you learn at IMS that led you to marketing and sponsorship?

Ungar: I always had an interest in marketing and communications, and I fell in love with sports marketing. I love it because the purpose of sports marketing is to help people get more enjoyment out of their lives. Sports is discretionary, but it's important to everybody in some way. And I loved that the work that I did produced smiles.

PRI: What exactly do you do at CHARGE?

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