Microsoft's "Small Business" logo will adorn the hood, bumper and rear quarter panels of the Toyota Camry-based race car. Microsoft is also promoting its Small Business Specialist Community -- a slice of the extensive partner network through which Microsoft gets most of its sales.

The company has set up an opportunity for partners to "tap into a marketing venue not seen as financially available to many before," Eric Ligman, U.S. senior manager of small business community engagement, wrote in a blog announcing the NASCAR promotion.

For $3,995, partners can buy a package of promotional opportunities from BAM Racing, including their logo on Microsoft's space on the No. 49 car, driven by Ken Schrader. One element is the chance for a partner to win a primary sponsorship (its brand is the "primary one on the car for a race"). That's worth more than $300,000, Ligman wrote.

The sponsorship "provides a connection to approximately 75 million NASCAR fans," he noted.

The Microsoft sponsorship first appears Sunday, March 30 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

I first spotted coverage of this at the Puget Sound Business Journal.