May 9, 2007

It's not just big companies, with their household names and logos and equally big advertising budgets, that sponsor cars in the Indianapolis 500.

Ordinary geeks do it, too.

Bob Moore, a Carmel computer programmer, is running an online fund- raising campaign to sponsor an Indy Racing League car at the 500. He wants to put a bigger penguin, the logo for the Linux computer operating system, on the car.

For as little as $11,000, it's possible to place a small logo on an IRL vehicle. For $350,000, becoming a primary sponsor is within reach, with a massive logo along the side of the car.

The driver won't be a superstar like Danica Patrick or Dan Wheldon. A multiyear deal can cost millions of dollars for a high-profile driver.

But even logos on cars driven by lesser-known drivers are seen by millions of eyes.

Linux, an increasingly popular alternative to Microsoft's Windows, is hoping to go mainstream.

It's a type of software known as open-source, meaning the code is open to everyone. It was developed by programmers all over the world working cooperatively and for free.

Moore is taking the same approach to raising money to sponsor an IRL car.

In a couple of weeks, he and colleague Ken Starks have managed to raise about $11,000 from online donations. That's enough to secure a minor associate sponsorship -- or small logo on the car.

So far, Moore said 35,000 to 40,000 people have visited tux500.com, where he is collecting donations. He has set a deadline of May 21.

The owner of the car, Chastain Motorsports, has a lot riding on Moore's effort.

Indianapolis electrical contractor Miller-Eads has agreed to be an associate sponsor, but the team still doesn't have a primary sponsor. That will cost $350,000 to $600,000.

"We're hoping the Linux team will come through for us," said Ted Woerner, principal of Acceleration Marketing, which represents Chastain Motorsports.

The team hired seven-time Indy 500 driver Stephan Gregoire to drive its car.

With less than three weeks until the Indy 500, securing a primary sponsor might seem like a long shot. But last year, Acceleration Marketing found a primary sponsor, EFFEN Vodka, in about the same amount of time.

The Indianapolis 500 is an ideal place to promote a brand, said Eric Wright, vice president of research and development at Joyce Julius & Associates, a Michigan company that studies corporate sponsorships.

"Definitely it is a vehicle," he said. "Just think about the amount of media and exposure."

Moore said the Linux penguin logo might resonate with executives attending the race or watching it on television because many corporations already use Linux.

But it works for someone with a home computer, too.

"It's not so much getting people to know everything about Linux," he said. "It's really to start the process of getting people to investigate what Linux is and get it in the mainstream vocabulary. They'll make the association that: 'Oh yeah, I saw that in the 500.' "

Although the goal of exposure is the same for Linux as it is for repeat sponsors such as Target or Jim Beam, the grassroots approach is unusual for a racing sponsorship.

Developers and fans of the open-source Web browser Firefox floated the same idea of sponsoring an IRL car, but it never got off the ground.

"Typically, it is corporate sponsors," Wright said. "It costs money to do these sponsorships, and they're looking to get a return on their investments."

The returns differ based on the league and the prestige of the race.

The only constant is that the fees for sponsorships go up every year, Wright said.

NASCAR, in particular, is known for its lucrative sponsorships, as the league's fans are particularly loyal...