KEY POINTS:
There's money in V8 Supercar races. Lots and lots of money - container loads in fact.
Regardless of race, creed, religion or age, fans of the V8s proudly wear their favoured team/driver on their sleeve, head, back, front or naked flesh. You name it.
Merchandising sales of racing apparel are big business, as the amount of money generated helps finance most if not all the teams. And we're talking a turnover of hundreds of thousands if not millions.
Just walking around the Hamilton400 circuit it was amazing to see the vast majority of the 58,000-plus spectators wearing one form or another of clothing with a team or driver's name emblazoned on it.
What really bought it home though, was seeing 58 fans lined up outside a closed Holden Racing Team tent at 8.30am waiting to part with their money.
"I've been doing this for seven years now," said Keith Phillips, one of the HRT merchandisers. "We've already done three to four times more stuff than we ever did at a meeting at Pukekohe. We bought three container loads down with us, and this morning we're down to the last one."
In most of the other tents the story was the same with some items selling out on Friday. Some teams had to ship more stuff in overnight. "I'm really surprised what's happen but it's been well worth it," said Craig Haydon, the merchandising manager for Stone Brothers Racing.
"We knew we would be coming up short so we flew some more over Friday night," said Ford Performance Racing merchandising manager Kerry Anderson.
Moving further into the large retailing area the story was repeated time and time again. Seeing ten's of thousands of people wearing various bits of kit costing between $20 and $400, it's easy to picture V8 Supercar teams rubbing their hands in glee.
Even the event's own apparel was selling like hot cakes with all caps selling out by Friday afternoon.
"Everyday has been flat out," said Jo Smith in the Hamilton400 tent. "We've been bringing stuff in every night."
