The DSMtuners Driver Sponsorship was created in order to help give back to those DSMtuners members who are passionate about racing (and performance). DSMtuners is looking to offer an incentive for members to take their cars to the track and get involved in legitimate forms of racing - Autocross, Club Racing, Rally Racing, and Drag Racing. We want to do our small part to help keep racing on the tracks and off the street.

For 2005, we will have a simplified and fairly modest sponsorship program where we hand pick the member(s) to be sponsored. This sponsorship will be meant to assist a driver who would have otherwise competed in a sanctioned racing series on their own merit, or with other sponsors (sponsorship will include parts or money to help the driver better compete in the series they choose). In the future, we plan to offer a more robust sponsorship, supporting more drivers.
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In order to be considered for the DSMtuners Driver Sponsorship, you must meet these requirements:
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<li> Must be a registered member of DSMtuners.com and have a minimum of 50 posts in our Tech forums.

<li> Sponsored car must be a DSM (Mitsu Eclipse 90-99, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, or Mitsu Galant VR-4)

<li> The sponsored driver must have competed in and finished in the points standings for a legitimate racing series for 2004, having participated in the minimum number of races required to have been eligible to win the series. The more race series you've participated in, the better chance you have of being sponsored for this coming year.

<li> Eligible series include SCCA Club, SCCA Rally, SCCA Solo, any NASA Pro Racing series, NOPI Drag Racing Association (NDRA), NHRA Sport Compact series, and IDRC series. We may consider other series, but we must be able to easily verify that the sponsored driver actually participated in the series.

<li> The sponsored driver must agree to participate in the minimum number of races required in the series they choose to race in. For example, if the series you compete in requires you to participate in at least 10 races to be eligible to win the season points championship. If the driver is unable to compete in the required number of races, the sponsorship will cease when that determination is made.

<li> The sponsored driver should not depend solely on the DSMtuners Driver Sponsorship program to fund their entire racing season. This sponsorship is meant to help drivers who have other means of support for their race season.
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All we ask in return is that you slap a DSMtuners.com decal on your car, so that it's clearly visible to spectators, and let others know who is helping fund your racing obsession. We will likely choose a member for this program near the end of January. The level of sponsorship will be determined once a candidate(s) is chosen. If you haven't participated in any sanctioned events last season, by all means, start participating this season! This way you'll be eligible for sponsorship next season. Find out <a href=http://www.dsmtuners.com/tuning-guide/racing.php>how to get started</a> racing legally. It's not as difficult or expensive as you think.


WINNERS ANNOUNCED:

We'd like to congratulate the winners of our 2005 DSMtuners Driver Sponsorship program, <a href=/forums/member.php?u=15378>Greg Collier</a> and <a href=/forums/member.php?u=331>Sean Caron</a>. They'll each receive a sponsorship from DSMtuners to help cover race expenses throughout the 2005 race season. Sean will competing in the SCCA Solo2 North East region and Greg will be competing in the NASA Pro Racing Super Unlimited series in Southern California. They'll be keeping an online race diary with photos for all of us to follow - we'll have more details on that soon. Be sure to show them your support and let them know how much you appreciate them representing our community out at the track!