How Fly Alliance is racing to the checkered flag

In a world where private jet providers spend significant money and flight hours to connect with prospects via sponsorships, Fly Alliance says it is seeing a 30-to-1 return on investment from its motorsports activations.

Co-founder and President Chris Tasca says his success is a blueprint for others.

That includes his target customers, who he says are mainly self-made entrepreneurs.

Tasca says Fly Alliance’s ability to hyper-monetize its investment in the world of fast cars is achieved by combining a research-driven approach, good old-fashioned sales strategies, and a genuine shared interest.

Tasca says it started in 2018, when he and CEO and Co-founder Kevin Wargo (pictured below, right) were invited to a NASCAR event and given a behind-the-scenes tour.

Experts in luxury marketing dismissed the audience as not being the right demographic for private aviation.

The common wisdom, he says, was to target golf, tennis, polo, equestrian, fine dining, and so forth.

However, Tasca recalls that the field trip revealed that, for an industry in which the dozens rather than the hundreds often measure the growth of new customers, there was plenty of opportunity down in the garages.

In talking to drivers, he saw a network that included wealthy team owners, crews who needed to arrive rested and ready for high stress, families of drivers and owners, schedules that were set months in advance and didn’t change, plus the need to reduce the stress of travel, often from and to places without nonstop airline service or that required lengthy and tiring drives.

Tasca says:

The boxes that were checked off in my mind are that these people are financially qualified, travel to and from the races was a pain point, there are 40 cars per race, and the expenses are approximately $250,000 per race. So you’re looking at 40 times $250,000. You’re looking at over $10 million in spend to participate in the race.

From there, Tasca and Wargo moved on to sponsoring a driver.

Taking The Next Step

However, it wasn’t until August of 2022 that the bigger picture—and payoff—came together.

“One of the drivers we were sponsoring said to me, ‘I thought you were going to give this a try,'” Tasca recalls.

Busy with a family and two young children, he demurred.

But the driver persisted.

He said, “Why don’t you go down to Skip Barber’s driving school and see how you do?”

Tasca, a former Division I college baseball catcher and recreational hockey player, took the bait and enrolled.

Tasca recalls, “I went down to the school, I participated in Skip Barber’s 5A advance program, and I excelled…(and) was also non-hazardous to the other drivers.”

Tasca now competes in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

Lapping The Competition

In turning his passion into revenue for Fly Alliance, he says that as he became a fellow owner and driver with family and team responsibilities, everyone was “fixated on being involved in their race weekend that they don’t want to deal with travel.”

His first move was to lead by example.

“I fly my own product in and out because I want them to know I practice what I preach,” Tasca says, adding, “We’re home within two hours while other teams are packing their cars up.”

Because he knew the race schedules of fellow drivers, their personal, family, and team travel needs, and where they lived, Tasca says his proposals were tailored to their specific needs.

In the competitive arena of selling private aviation, Tasca says he made the decision easy.

Tasca says, “We had already laid out trip-by-trip cost, aircraft type, airports, and departure times. All they had to say was yes.”

Tasca notes that his circuit teams are spending over $25,000 per race, yet at every level from F1 to NASCAR, the community of teams is composed entirely of qualified private aviation prospects.

Of course, anyone who has ever sold anything knows that successful sales teams have a structured approach.

Tasca says:

The number one key separator, and this is important, is that the driver’s see our car there on the race weekend. Every single race weekend, I’m printing out the entries. I print out the entries, like a boiler room sales team, and I pass out the entries to my sales team, and I say, ‘These are the drivers that are gonna be there. These are the teams that are gonna be there. These are the principles that are gonna be there. These are the sponsors that are gonna be there. Prospect them. Use pictures of my car. Tell them to look for my car at the paddock. In the last three years in what Fly Alliance has spent to participate in motorsports, we’ve seen a 30 to 1 return.’

Tasca continues:

Whether it’s F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, or IMSA, what really resonates with the other teams, the drivers, the owners, is that I’m the driver. This isn’t just another company sponsoring a car. This is the president and co-founder of Fly Alliance, who’s participating and understands the stresses and emotions of a race weekend.

Walking The Walk

Who else is doing a good job connecting with prospects?

Tasca praises Flexjet’s Kenn Ricci.

“Kenn Ricci, every time you see him, he’s on one of his airplanes. Ricci is always traveling to nice places. He is showing people who enjoy luxury travel how private aviation improves their lives.”

He also points to fellow driver and Vista Global Chairman Thomas Flohr.

“I imagine he is getting the same type of return. It puts you on a different level when you share such a strong bond with your potential customers,” Tasca says.

Tasca says the racing insider strategy has helped Fly Alliance gain clients at all levels.

Who are some of Tasca’s notable fellow drivers who have become customers of Fly Alliance?

He points to two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden, NASCAR active wins leader Kyle Busch, and F1 driver Colton Herta.

Since its 2019 launch, Fly Alliance has grown to the 16th-largest charter/fractional operator in the U.S.