Every year, normally around late August, the NASCAR atmosphere intensifies, and when it does, Heath Cherry is in his element.
While not a familiar name outside the halls of Joe Gibbs Racing, Cherry is one of the driving forces behind the success of the organization, both on and off the racetrack. Wearing two completely different hats Cherry’s duel roles go a long way in ensuring Joe Gibbs not only has four fully funded cars on track each weekend, but that one ends up in victory lane.
By day, he’s the Vice President of Sponsorship and Partner Relations for Joe Gibbs Racing. Every weekend he’s carrying (rear) tires for Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota. He’ll also pit 15 XFINITY Series races during the year.
So perhaps it comes as no surprise Cherry is most comfortable with a fast-paced, busy lifestyle. With now being the time when the Chase starts to pick up steam, with Hamlin in the mix, Cherry is not only focused on competing for a championship but is keeping his business suit as well.
Not only because he has to, but he also wouldn’t have it any other way. There is still work to be done. Deals to be finalized. There are plans that need to be put in place for 2016 and beyond. Time off? It’s just not possible. With his responsibilities, Cherry would wind up further behind than his driver following a spin on Lap 2.
“I could not physically take off 10 weeks and say I’m just going to focus on pit stops because I would be so far behind leading into 2016 and preparing our company for initiatives that we have coming up,” Cherry told POPULAR SPEED. “Whether it’s sponsorship for not only next year but also 2017. We’re working that far out, and you just can’t afford to lose that kind of time.”
It all started for Cherry in a small marketing agency in Davidson, NC where he gained experience not only in sponsor management but dabbled in PR work as well. Ironically, Cherry worked with Matt Kenseth, now a Gibbs driver, who at the time was competing in the then Busch Series.
Having gotten his start on pit road with Bill Elliott and the MacDonald’s team, Cherry was already an established crewmember, but looking for more. It came from a curiosity of what other talents he may have and what else he might enjoy doing.
By the time he arrived at Joe Gibbs Racing eleven years ago, he had a stacked resume, and it was only a matter of time before he asked to take on additional roles. It started simple enough with Cherry working on pit road for the FedEx team while managing the FedEx account. At the time, FedEx and their executives were new to the sport, which gave Cherry the opportunity to educate them week in and week out.
It has since evolved to his current role within the company, overseeing all sponsorship accounts. While overseeing a group of account managers who work with Joe Gibbs Racing partners on a daily basis, Cherry will not only grow new business but remain hands on to ensure each partner receives what they need.
Or as he calls it, making sure Joe Gibbs Racing is buttoned up ahead of the race weekend. How can they deliver a great experience or a great return? Are there any special needs guests at the track will need?
“It’s everything behind the scenes that at the end of the day you want people looking at their program and you want them to be able to say, this is great,” Cherry revealed. “We got a ton of exposure on our race cars, however, it was the business pieces that we got before the race ever started our relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing was a win. So the winning stuff and the performance stuff is gravy.”
From top to bottom, all involved in the Gibbs organization understand the importance of sponsorship. It’s their lifeblood and at Gibbs, sponsorship and performance go hand-in-hand.
“We have to go out and compete because the sponsorship piece is tied to performance,” Cherry said. “So we get the performance and other things that we do on the backend to help endure sponsors to us, and we have to keep our sponsorships here. It’s a lot easier to keep a sponsor then it is to go out and find a new one.”
Considering the company is one of the most funded across both the XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series, it’s safe to say under the guidance of Cherry and others, the mission is being accomplished. Being able to showcase their extensive sponsorship family always brings a sense of pride for Cherry, who also notes their longevity.
The average length of sponsorship at Gibbs is eight plus seasons, with Interstate Batteries going on 25 years with JGR next season. It’ll be 11 for FedEx. GameStop is quickly approaching their ninth anniversary and Dollar General is about to hit five.
To keep those partners on board Cherry’s schedule typically consists of working in the office Monday through Thursday until about mid-afternoon. On the days he’s required to work out or practice with the No. 11 team, Cherry heads there around 2 p.m., but once that’s done, it’s back into the office for a bit.
Sometimes, he admits, he’s excused from practice because he might be out of the office working with a sponsor.
“It’s very tough for me to mentally switch gears from working on a deal or thinking about a partner or strategizing on another partner,” Cherry said. “I carry that out to practice with me a lot of times, so sometimes the first part of practice or the first couples stops I’m still (in my head). Mentally I’m still in the office and so that disconnect is probably the toughest.”
Even on race weekends Cherry is splitting his time.
First priority upon arriving at the track is representing Joe Gibbs Racing and checking in with their partners. When it is time to get down to the racing side of the business, just as he is in the boardroom, Cherry focuses on winning. He wants to beat the competition in signing deals and to victory lane. He also sees the strategy and teamwork that takes place on both sides.
“I want to win, and I take that same approach. But that’s a good thing,” he said. “The good and bad of it is the high that you get from winning but you also when you lose you get salty. Anybody that tells you that’s not a big deal, I’m not upset about either losing a big deal or losing the race, they might want to question what they’re in it for because if you’re bought in then it gets you.”
Right now Cherry has bought into the fact he could win a championship with Denny Hamlin. At 37 years old, with 16 years in the sport, he still enjoys going over the wall and competing. Eventually, that will be gone but here and now he feels he’s a part of one of best teams that have been put together.
For those who want proof, Cherry would point to numbers thrown down each weekend on pit road. All four Gibbs teams have been lauded, especially recently, for the lightning fast stops they execute. And the attention hasn’t been lost on some of them.
“It comes down to pride. We take a lot of pride in wanting to whip people. That’s just all it comes down to,” Cherry said. “I want people when they come down (pit road) and the 11’s behind them, I want them to know that they have increased pressure put on them because they know that they’ve got to rip off a good stop to either maintain position or not lose the position or it may be a crucial point in the race. That’s what I want. I want that pressure to be applied.
“You don’t do that just having a good stop here or a good stop there, you do that over years or seasons worth of just performing at a high level and I think we’ve gotten to that point now and I think we truly enjoy the competition on pit road and putting it on folks.”
A mentality like that, from individuals like Heath Cherry, is why Joe Gibbs Racing is thriving in every area.