Truck Series Gets Their New Sponsor

NASCAR announced today that Camping World will be taking over the title sponsor spot of the Truck Series starting in 2009. Camping World takes over from Craftsman, who's been the series title sponsor since the Truck Series was conceived in 1995.

The title contract will be for a seven-year span, giving Camping World the exclusive rights to sponsor the series.

The 2009 Camping World Truck Series (Feels weird writing it.) will feature 25 points races at 23 tracks in North America.

All the Camping World Truck Series races will be broadcast live on SPEED or FOX which will result in over $100 million worth of exposure for the new title sponsor.

source: NASCAR Press Release
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The FCC Wants To Remind US About Digital TV

Just in case you aren't aware, or remember, the FCC has taken it upon itself to remind us of the impending switch to digital airwaves next February in 2009.

The FCC is sponsoring the No. 38 Ford Fusion of David Gilliland in the Cup series for 3 races.

They are banking on the draw of the NASCAR being the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television and being the leading spectator sport to help get their message across to those they hope haven't seen it yet.

Surprisingly to some of the critics of the moonshine origined sport, NASCAR is one of the 17 of the top 20 highest-attended sporting events in the U.S. annually.

source
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The Army Joins Ryan Newman

Nice... Someone actually coughed up the money for a three year sponsorship deal on the No. 39 Chevy of Ryan Newman under Stewart-Haas Racing.

The U.S. Army will be adorning Ryan's car from 2009 and onwards.

It's a unique deal. The contract is for 23 races this year. The three year deal is actually a renewable option at the end of each year. This way the Army is not locked into the contract if they feel they're not getting what they need from the business relationship.

SHR said they're real close to finding a sponsor for the remainder of the races this year.

source.

Stewart AND Newman to HAAS-CNC?

As noted on sirius-speedway.com, the sponsor dominoes are falling.

Heck, usually it's driver silly season, but this year the dominoes are the multi-million dollar contracts on the hoods of the cars.

Tony Stewart is expected to announce his 2009 move to Haas-CNC, with Office-Depot and Old Spice.
Ryan Newman is being rumored to hop on board with Stewart, with Jack Daniels on his hood. (Damn, does this invalidate every Alltel diecast I've ever purchased?)

UPS is headed to the No 07 of Clint Bowyer. That's how Jack Daniels is becoming available for Newman.

And as noted in the post quoted, we have a number of other drivers whose driving contracts are up and due or are in question:
Scott Riggs, Johnny Sauter, Martin Truex Jr., David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Paul Menard and Dave Blaney.
It's nuts and we're only in July of the year.

Truck Series Sponsorship Wanted!

Winston is gone and NEXTEL is changing it's name. The Busch series is becoming the Nationwide series.

Now the Truck Series is going to be looking for a new sponsor for the 2009 series as Craftsman is departing it's long association with the trucks.

The truck series is some of the best racing there is, as the season championship has been determined in the final race of the year in 12 of 13 seasons — including 2007. That's without having to muck with their points system to make it close!

Craftsman has been the sponsor of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since its inception in 1995.

See details at FoxSports

Natiowide to Replace Busch in 2nd Series

It'e been reported that Nationwide is making a bid to take over what is now known as the NASCAR Busch Series.

Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal reported in the Daily that Nationwide submitted an offer last Thursday, as did Subway, the sandwich franchise operation that had been considered the frontrunner all summer.

Officials at NASCAR say that it does not have a deal with a new sponsor, but sources say an agreement with Nationwide could be finalized in the coming days.

See the article at scenedaily.com

M and M's to Gibbs in 2008

Jim Utter, over at ThatsRacin.com, writes that Mars Inc., which has sponsored both Nextel Cup teams at Robert Yates Racing this season, is finalizing a deal to become the sponsor of driver Kyle Busch in the Toyota 18 car at Joe Gibbs Racing next season. (That was weird to write)

thatsracin

Budweiser to Kasey Kahne

by Bruce Simmons
Ok, it's not new news, but it is now OFFICIAL news and I would be remiss to not post it:

BUDWEISER TAPS KASEY KAHNE AS NEXT DRIVER OF ITS LEGENDARY RACE CAR

Labonte, Waltrip, Elliott and Earnhardt. In addition to being among the most celebrated names in motorsports, these drivers share in the proud tradition of racing for one of NASCAR's most successful sponsors – Budweiser.

Today, Budweiser announced Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne will become the next world-class racer to take the wheel of the iconic red Budweiser car when the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season kicks off in February.

"The fan in me is thrilled because driving for Budweiser is the kind of opportunity you dream of when you break into this sport. I'm excited about getting behind the wheel of a car that's been driven by some of the best this sport has seen," said Kahne, who has seven wins, 31 top-fives and 46 top-10s in three and a half years on the Cup circuit. "We'll be out to win races and championships, and everyone involved with our organization feels we can do that."

See the entire announcement over at evernhammotorsports

The splash page over at http://www.kaseykahne.com/ also has a visual clue...
and if you go over to the Budweiser Website, I RECOMMEND checking out the wallpapers.
(The site didn't have any Kasey stuff on it yet.)

Kasey Kahne and Budweiser

Kasey Kahne said a deal with sponsor Budweiser would be "awesome," but that nothing has been signed yet.

Kahne said he'd love to get a deal done with Bud. The Anheuser-Busch brand is parting ways with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after this season. See the whole article at Scenedaily

~~~

Additionally, the ever insightful & well connected Terry Blount over on ESPN reports that:

"As expected, Budweiser will become the primary sponsor for Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Dodge in 2008, sources confirmed Thursday."

Gillett Evernham Motorsports officials will make the announcement Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET at team headquarters in Statesville, N.C.

The deal for Budweiser to sponsor Kahne has been in the works for more than two months. GEM officials first had to make sure Dodge representatives were OK with the change. The Dodge dealers sponsor two GEM cars -- Kahne and the No. 19 driven by Elliott Sadler.

The entire post is at ESPN

So basically, he stays in red!! I think this is a cool combination and after Jr., there weren't that many options that could have rivaled the Jr / Bud combo, but this is it!!

Dale Earnhardt Jr - New Number, New Sponsor Being Announced

It has been announced by Hendrick Motorsports that Dale Earnhardt Jr will be revealing his new car number and sponsors for the 2008 season in a news conference at the Dallas Convention Center next Wednesday, September 19th, 2007.

According to the ESPN post by Terry Blount that [Sources confirmed earlier that Mountain Dew and the Amp energy drink, both PepsiCo Inc. products, will become two of Earnhardt's primary sponsors next season.]

The announcement is coming from Dallas because it seems that PepisCo Inc. executives are having an annual conference there next week.

[ The National Guard, which now sponsors the No. 25 Chevy of Casey Mears for the Hendrick team, is also expected to move to Earnhardt's car in 2008.

The No. 25 is being eliminated and Mears is moving the No. 5 Hendrick Chevy, which is sponsored by Kellogg's. ]

See all the details at ESPN

Finally, the wait is over for this new chapter in Jr's story.

Rick Hendrick has a Sponsor for Earnhardt Jr

Hendrick Motorsports has a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but Rick Hendrick isn't saying who it is. (Oh come on!! Now he's just torturing us!)

"We're all done, we just can't announce anything right now," Hendrick said Friday. "There are some more little pieces and parts to it ..... ..... Hopefully we'll be able to announce everything in the next couple of weeks." (I wonder if he was drinking a Pepsi product when he made that statement? Did anyone out there see him when he made that statement??)

As far as the car number for Dale Earnhardt Jr, despite everyone clamoring to find out, Hendrick stated "It's not going to be 8," Hendrick said with a smile. "Nor the 25.".

And then to torment us some more, he said, "We're just trying to look at all the options and look at cars all decaled up and see which one we like the best." (All decaled up!? So .. aarrgghhh... I guess we will just have to wait while he has his fun with us. I say FAN VOTE!!)

See the entire article at SCENEDAILY

Dale Jr on New Number, New Sponsor

In an article over on FoxSports, Dale Earnhardt Jr, more focused on the real issue at hand, said the following about his new car number at Hendrick Motorsports:

"I don't think there is a reason to make a big deal out of it.

"The bigger deal to me is the people that we partner with and the sponsorship that we put together. That is where the main excitement lies for me in the next announcement we make. The number, it will be fun to have a new number and to being doing something different." Jr indicated they are probably about 2 weeks out from making an announcement.

Rumors that swirled regarding this new sponsor for Jr were Pepsi type products, but those were rumors and HMS has been tight lipped about the process, unlike Kyle Busch making himself the apparent spokesperson for the team he isn't on yet. (Gibbs to Toyota)

Dale Jr. said he believes the more important issue is who will replace current sponsor Budweiser on his new car.

"I think the attention that has been placed on the number is a little bit over the top," Earnhardt said.

There has also been speculation that current DEI crew chief Tony Eury Jr. will go with his first cousin to Hendrick.

"We don't have any announcement yet, but Tony Jr. is working in that direction," Earnhardt said.

Details about this and a few other items over at foxsports.com

Earnhardt Jr - Unsubstantiated Sponsor RUMOR

RUMOR

I've come across tidbits that Hendrick Motorsports is in conversation with Pepsi (Mountain Dew Product) and Monster Energy about sponsoring Jr for 2008.

Monster Energy is sponsoring JRMotorsports late Model car of Jeremy McGrath, so that could make more sense, and it would be a perfect soci-economic fit with the young Dale Jr, as he represents all that is new, and fresh in the industry today, across differing markets of auto sales, jeans, 'beverages' and such. (Or at least I think so) (See captainthunderracing)

It's also been seen that sponsorships for Daytona need to be in place by August of the previous year, so this type of news should start shaping up into some form of reality soon, so I can quit using my RUMOR disclaimer when I report these things.

But as you may know, I don't want to mislead anyone, so I like using the RUMOR tag when and where it seems necessary to not get up too many hopes of the fans.

Bruce Simmons, the Fan Reporter

New Sponsor for Roush Fenway

According to Scenedaily.com, Roush Fenway Racing is close to signing a multi-year deal with "The Duck"! The Aflac Duck!! That could be an entertaining sponsor, like Yates M & M's paint schemes that is always changing.

The article also goes on to say that Biffle's troubled Ameriquest sponsor is looking to sell it's hood space for the final 2 years of it's sponsorship.

Check out the link to the article.