‘Cowboys’ use race circuit to boost Technicoat business

The fastest billboards in the construction industry belong to Bob Coffman and Glen Williams, owners of Las Vegas-based Technicoat.

The mainstays of NHRA professional drag racing are called the "cowboys" at races from coast to coast because they always wear Western hats near the starting line, as they will this weekend during the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"We really are lifelong cowboys," Coffman says of their zest for riding horses.

The natives of Southern California also are lifelong drag racers -- both on water and asphalt -- but gave up racing 20 years ago to focus on developing Technicoat, a company that specializes in using a urethane and epoxy product for flooring, roofing and waterproofing.

In the late 1990s, they were introduced to legendary drag racer and team owner Connie Kalitta, whose Kalitta Air is the fourth-largest air-freight hauler in the world.

"We had a love for drag racing, and getting involved with Connie was a blessing," Coffman says.

Like other major sponsors in motorsports, their involvement goes beyond slapping their logo on the side of 320-mph race cars. That surely helps get exposure to crowds of more than 20,000 on race days and national televised coverage, but Coffman says it is more important to be able to host employees, customers and distributors for a day at the races that includes feeding and catering to their needs.

Race hospitality is not exclusive to NHRA and Technicoat. Coffman and Williams will host employees and distributors this weekend from as far away as Spain and Australia. NHRA race-team sponsors U.S. Army, Copart and Lucas Oil are among others that will have hospitality chalets adjacent to the pit area during the Las Vegas event, which begins professional racing today and continues through Sunday's championship eliminations.

"Any advertising and sponsorship needs to make sense," says Coffman, who said his union shop employs about 120. "It's very important that our guests are able to mingle with the drivers, crew and Connie."

Technicoat (technicoat.com), which is located in the industrial park adjacent to the speedway, is the primary sponsor for 10 races this year for the Top Fuel dragster driven by David Grubnic, who ranks ninth in points. The company also has a presence on Kalitta's other Top Fueler driven by nephew Doug Kalitta and a Funny Car driven by Jeff Arend.

"Having the cowboys around is always fun. We know when they're at a race we're going to have a good time," Connie Kalitta says.

"Bob and Glen are a good fit for us. Sure, having Technicoat as a sponsor is a big financial help for our team, but just having the cowboys around and hanging out in our pits is a big morale booster for the team. They put a lot of smiles on people's faces, including mine."

Neither Technicoat nor Kalitta would disclose the cost of the sponsorship. Comparable deals range up to a $1 million a year, according to those inside the drag racing industry.

Coffman says his partnership with the Kalitta program involves cross-marketing, or what he calls "scratch your back" marketing.

"One of the benefits with Connie's sponsor is we all try to help each other. Red Line Oil backs his cars, so we're always trying to promote their products and they promote ours."

Technicoat has worked on most major hotel-casino projects on the Strip over the past 10 years, mostly recently City Center.

The sponsorship benefits gained importance a few years ago when Technicoat expanded its business to include a retail, consumer line of its floor-covering products.

One of its most popular divisions is devoted to applying the urethane/epoxy finish to floors that has included all of the hangars used by Connie Kalitta for his fleet of jumbo-jets and his race-team shops.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.