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For both 1997 and 1998, TMI had more than one major sponsor.
Mr. Menard testified that Quaker State was the primary sponsor of
the Robbie Buhl car in 1997, which assertion is consistent with
the placement of the Quaker State logo on the race car. In 1998,
the same placement and prominence was true of the Johns Manville
logo on Mr. Buhl’s race car and uniform. Additionally, during
1997 and 1998, Glidden’s logo was featured most prominently on
the Tony Stewart car and, in 1997, on Mr. Stewart’s uniform.
Despite the significant exposure Glidden, Quaker State, and
Johns Manville received through logo placement and naming, we
cannot say that, in comparison, Menards’s involvement was smaller
in scope or more akin to an associate sponsorship. We find
persuasive evidence of Menards’s involvement as similar to a
primary sponsor in the inclusion of “Menards” in both race car
names, strategic placement of Menards’s logo on the race car and
drivers’ uniforms, and the prominence of Menards’s name on Indy
promotional materials. Moreover, Menards’s use of its
association with TMI for purposes of Menards’s business is more
consistent with the privileges of a primary sponsor: The TMI
drivers attended store grand openings at which they signed
autographs; TMI provided an Indy car for display at the grand
openings; Menards’s Race to Savings sale ads featured TMI’s Indy
cars and logo, as did Menards’s employees’ uniforms worn for the
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