NASCAR Monster Energy Revamped League Logo

via press release

NASCAR today unveiled a new official brand identity which will replace the bar mark used by the sanctioning body since 1976. The announcement was made in conjunction with the news that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ will be the new name of the sport’s premier series beginning January 1, 2017.

The new brand mark and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series mark, which prominently features the iconic Monster Energy logo, together represent a new era in NASCAR and were first shared today across NASCAR social and digital media channels.

The NASCAR brand identity has been in development since early 2016 as part of a broader effort to refresh the NASCAR brand. It was designed to pay tribute to the storied history of NASCAR, incorporating elements of all four previous marks since the company’s inaugural season of 1948.

“Our new NASCAR mark is modern, timeless, and embraces the heritage of our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “It was important for us to recognize our history and implement a piece of each previous mark in the new design. Our goal was to evolve the sport’s visual identity to make it concise, relevant and functional, while respecting and maintaining the unique qualities of the original mark.”

The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points race will be the 59th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 26 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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NASCAR Announces NEW Cup Series SPonsor

via press release

NASCAR Announces Multi-Year Partnership with Monster Energy for Premier Series Entitlement
Brand Becomes Official Energy Drink of NASCAR, NASCAR All-Star Race Title Sponsor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 1, 2016) — NASCAR and Monster Energy announced today a multi-year agreement for the premier series entitlement as well as the prestigious annual NASCAR All-Star Race. Monster Energy, which will begin its tenure as naming rights partner on Jan. 1, 2017, will become only the third company to serve as the entitlement sponsor in NASCAR premier series history, following RJ Reynolds and Sprint/Nextel.

As part of the agreement, the brand also becomes the Official Energy Drink of NASCAR.

“Monster Energy is a brand built on excitement and enthusiasm, qualities that align with NASCAR,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “This sponsorship position is the most unique in all of sports and entertainment, and we are thrilled to have a partner that will help us further elevate the series. Today’s announcement is the culmination of a thorough search, one that resulted in the right partner at this important time in our sport’s history.”

NASCAR premier series races long have been a bucket-list destination for sports fans throughout the country, and starting next season, Monster Energy will elevate the event experience to an even higher level.  As part of the agreement, Monster Energy will engage with fans in creative, innovative ways at all race tracks where the premier series will race.

“Monster Energy has an established and versatile history in motorsports, and we’re thrilled to take this historic next step,” said Rodney Sacks, Monster Beverage Chairman and CEO. “We feel strongly that our brand is a perfect fit for this sport and its star athletes. We look forward to interacting with the millions of passionate NASCAR fans week-in, week out.”

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Mars Chocolate and NASCAR Announce Partnership Renewal

Mars Chocolate and NASCAR Announce Sweet Partnership Renewal
Long-Standing Relationship to Continue through 2019

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 6, 2016) — In the midst of a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the iconic M&M’S® Brand, NASCAR, and Mars Chocolate North America announced today a renewed agreement that will extend their Official Partnership through 2019. As part of the renewed relationship, Mars Chocolate will continue its designation as the Official Chocolate of NASCAR®, ensuring its various brands remain a race day staple for millions of fans.

Since entering NASCAR as a team sponsor more than 25 years ago, Mars Chocolate has steadily increased its level of participation in the sport. In 2000, the company expanded its sponsorship by becoming the “Official Chocolate of NASCAR,” emphasizing to fans its dedication to the sport. In the spirit of thanking its loyal NASCAR fans, M&M’S will celebrate race fans during Richmond International Raceway’s inaugural Fan Appreciation Weekend. To help honor its 75th Anniversary, the brand will roll out the red carpet and give fans a VIP welcome at the Front Stretch Gate on Saturday.

“Our association with NASCAR has proven to be a true win-win partnership and we’re excited to continue the relationship for the next several years,” explained William Clements, vice president, sponsorships and sports marketing, Mars Chocolate North America. “From helping M&M’S celebrate their 75th anniversary to energizing the thousands of Mars Chocolate Associates coast to coast, NASCAR is the perfect platform to fuel our business.”

With more than 15 consecutive years of Official Partnership and a historic championship run as the primary sponsor of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota last season, Mars Chocolate is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable brands in the sport. Mars Chocolate continues to execute a fully integrated strategy that includes advertising, event marketing, social media, business to business, and associate engagement.

“Mars Chocolate has delivered creative and engaging activation that our brand loyal fans have embraced throughout the past 15 years,” said Steve Phelps, executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer, NASCAR. “As the Official Chocolate of NASCAR, Mars Chocolate has made race day more enjoyable for millions of fans and we are proud to continue our successful partnership.”

As the Official Chocolate of NASCAR, Mars Chocolate encourages fans to “Celebrate Race Day with M.” The campaign reminds fans to include irresistible and colorful chocolate in their race day rituals. Many of Mars’ most iconic brands belong to the category, including M&M’S®, and SNICKERS®. Additionally, Mars/Wrigley and Petcare iconic brands are also included, such as SKITTLES® and PEDIGREE®. 

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NAPA Dropping Out Sponsoring Michael Waltrip Racing

Call it what you may, but it seems that what I'm seeing is that NAPA has had enough of the scandals that come with backing Michael Waltrip.  NAPA is ending their relationship with MWR as the 2013 season comes to a close, all within the wake of the Chase manipulation move the teams tried to pull at Richmond.

That, despite their present contract set to expire after 2015.

NAPA statement:

"NAPA believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR.  We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports."

Which is a shame for MWR, considering how much of a long-term relationship they've had with Waltrip himself.

In reply, Waltrip himself made the following statement

“NAPA has been with me from winning two Daytona 500s, to missing races with a new start-up team, and back to victory lane again. The relationship grew far past that of just a sponsor, but more of a partner and a friend. We will not be racing a NAPA car in 2014, but I have friendships that will last a lifetime.

“To the fans and those who made their voice heard through social media, as the owner, I am responsible for all actions of MWR. I sincerely apologize for the role our team played and for the lines NASCAR has ruled were crossed by our actions at Richmond. NASCAR met with the competitors in Chicago and we all know how we are expected to race forward.”

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To be honest, someone made an interesting statement to me last weekend.  During the long Chicago race, there was one shot with a few of the drivers that were in question with this Richmond scandal in the same TV shot, and someone tweeted me, saying something to the effect:

It's sad to see that all the drivers who were involved in all the Richmond troubles are all still wearing their sponsors' suits.  I guess the sponsors don't care what happened.

And to be honest, that's an interesting perspective to put on the image they were talking about.

But one thing is for sure... 

If you are going to cheat, try not to advertise it or make hugely obvious radio chatter about what it is you're up to.  Let's try being a bit more clandestine next time guys.  And mark my words, I'm betting this won't the last time a Waltrip tries something fishy.  But it will be a while before he or his team gets comfortable enough again to try something.

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Sponsor & Driver News That's Come Out Over the Last Few Weeks

So last week was the annual gala of news that came pouring out of NASCAR.  And dang, there was a lot of it.  But it isn't all restricted to last week.  More and more is coming out in the upcoming weeks leading up to the Daytona 500.  Let's check it out...

Austin Dillon will be driving a Hendrick powered car at Vegas for James Finch... the No. 51 car.

Kyle Busch officially resigned up with Joe Gibbs Racing.  And in that renewal, I believe are terms that will keep him from racing against JGR in the Nationwide series.

Rumors say Kevin Harvick is going to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

For some reason, Jeremy Mayfield says he'll do anything to get back in to the fold.  Good luck with that one buddy. After all the hoopla and lawsuits you've lobbed, I'd be very surprised if anyone takes you up on your hopes.

Going into the 2013 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking at an unsponsored car for 13 races.

Golden Corral is staying with Tommy Baldwin Racing.

CSX Transportation is getting on the metal of the Front Row Motorsports team for 2013.

Hertz is creating a collaborative association with Penske Racing.  Also, Shell and Pennzoil are sticking with the team in a multi-year deal.

Chip Ganassi Racing has Cessna and Textron as sponsors. 

I find Cessna an odd sponsor.  The usual fan in the stands and watching TV, I thought, isn't one to run out and buy an airplane.  If you believe the damn ads on TV (And now on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, NASCAR fans eat Viagra for breakfast, lunch and dinner!)

Any way, those are the latest news bits from NBaP.

NASCAR and Featherlite Trailers Extends Their Partnership

If you're a fan of both NASCAR and Featherlite Trailers... or wonder why there are so many Featherlite Trailer ads during the races, it might all be coming together pretty soon.

NASCAR and Featherlite have officially extended their contractual relationship with each for another 6 years.  That's something that in this economy, is a good thing for all involved.  Plus, as it's always said, with NASCAR fans being the most sponsor loyal sports fans out there, is a good thing for Featherlite.

Check out news, via press release, below:

NASCAR And Featherlite Trailers Announce Six-Year Partnership Extension

The Official Trailer Of NASCAR Continues Its 20-Year Relationship With The Sport

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2013) — NASCAR® and Featherlite Trailers announced today that the Iowa-based company has agreed to extend its long-term partnership with NASCAR. The six-year extension ensures that Featherlite Trailers will be the Official Trailer of NASCAR through 2018. Entering its 13th year as an Official Partner, Featherlite Trailers built its first race car transporter for owner Richard Childress 20 years ago, dating its relationship with the sport back to 1993. 

Currently, Featherlite Trailers plays a vital role in facilitating high-quality NASCAR race events each weekend. Ninety percent of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ and NASCAR Nationwide Series™ teams rely on Featherlite transporters to move vital race equipment to every event. Additionally, approximately 10 transporters manufactured by Featherlite Trailers serve as official office and meeting spaces for NASCAR race officials and personnel each weekend across the country. 

"Featherlite Trailers is pleased to extend our partnership with NASCAR," said Terry Carlson, chief executive officer of Universal Trailer Holding Corp. "As a long-time NASCAR partner, Featherlite is committed to the sport and its fans, as well as providing world-class support and services to NASCAR and its race teams."

In the second half of the 2012 NASCAR season, Featherlite Trailers introduced its newly redesigned custom "T1" NASCAR support and media trailer. The transporter, featuring larger and more efficient work spaces, is utilized by NASCAR broadcast partners at the track each weekend.

 

"The return of Featherlite Trailers benefits our entire industry, including our tracks, drivers, teams and partners," said Jim O'Connell, NASCAR chief sales officer. "The extension of this 20-year relationship ensures that our sport will continue to have the most technologically advanced race transporters and meeting spaces, critical to facilitating high quality race events each weekend."

Featherlite Trailers is a leading designer and manufacturer of aluminum trailers, including specialized 53-foot race car transporters and highly customized specialty trailers for virtually every business purpose. The company also manufactures car, recreation, utility, horse and livestock trailers. Featherlite is part of Universal Trailer Corporation's family of brands.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 175 countries and in 25 languages. In the U.S., races are broadcast on FOX, TNT, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, SPEED, Motor Racing Network Radio, Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Radio. NASCAR fans are among the most brand-loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as three international series. Also part of NASCAR is GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series, featuring competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., NASCAR has offices in eight cities across North America. The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be The Sprint Unlimited At Daytona on Feb. 16 on FOX at 8 p.m. ET. For more information and a complete schedule, visit www.nascar.com. Follow NASCAR on www.facebook.com/NASCAR or on Twitter: @NASCAR.

About Featherlite Trailers

 Featherlite specialty trailers are sold through the company's corporate headquarters in Cresco, Iowa. In addition, Featherlite has highly diversified product lines offering horse, livestock, car, utility and recreational trailers through an extensive international dealer network. In addition to its "Official Trailer" status of NASCAR, Featherlite is a sponsor of many equine, livestock and motorsports organizations. Featherlite is part of the Universal Trailer Corporation's family of brands.

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A Sponsor Surprise: Dale Jr's Pepsi Sponsorship Is Cutting Back

News on the street is that Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Pepsico (Pepsi based products, aka, Mountain Dew, AMP) are going to be cutting back on how often they back NASCAR's most popular driver.

In previous years they had adorned the hood on 20 races for Earnhardt Jr., and 2 races for Jeff Gordon, under the Hendrick Motorsports roof.

But now they seem to be cutting back and wrangling a deal for next year that will be valued at around $10 million where they will only be on Earnhardt Jr.'s car 5 times in a year, twice on Jeff Gordon's car and once on Kasey Kahne's car.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm surprised by the actions taken by a sponsor.

In all the other race teams, I've not been too surprised when sponsors change up their terms/appearnaces on the metal of a car.  Even when they leave a team or the sport.

These economic times dictate shrewd financial tactics to keep an organization's money used in the best way possible.  The bottom line is profit vs. costs.

For some companies, the money spent to advertise is well spent.  Ask the TV advertising industry, where they spent $19 billion in fees on TV ads for the present season alone.  All to push ads in the viewers faces while watching either basic of cable TV.

It's worth it to the advertisers so they do it.  So too, do advertisers drop bucks to put their logos on car hoods.  Heck if it weren't for sponsors, I'm not sure how NASCAR would survive in the world of TV.  It costs more money then they make with racing prize funds to keep teams afloat.  Which in and of itself, is a precarious business model if you step back and look at it the whole picture.

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But I never considered any of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsors to be in such a state that they would not stick with NASCAR's most popular driver.  Dale Jr.'s fans, Junior Nation, are part of the NASCAR fan package.  The sport known for having the most loyal fans to sponsors, because we appreciate their monies, keeping our favored drivers in the race.

But when PepsiCo starts restructuring their sponsorship with Dale Jr. and the team in general, I'm not sure if that's saying something about Dale Jr., HMS or the sponsor themselves.

Dale Jr. is in the Chase for the Cup, but he's out of contention due to his concussion  But he was in contention.  That was great for his fan-demographic of the sport.  And this year was looking good for Dale Jr., but now I wonder how folks are feeling about him and his future.  Will concussions end his driving career?  Or will he keep going?  If he stops driving, what happens to NASCAR?  I only ask that because his product sales make up a huge bulk of the novelty sales.

Or is PepsiCo feeling unsure of Dale Jr. and wants to spread the love around on other drivers, while saving money cutting back on Dale Jr.'s sheet metal time?

Or is PepsiCo in enough trouble to warrant this change?

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At the moment, this leaves over 10 (I think 13) races that are not covered by a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt Jr..  I can't imagine someone won't jump on this exposure opportunity.  But then again, I've been surprised by sponsors.

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[aol.sportingnews]

5-Hour Energy Donates To The Fight Against Breast Cancer In NASCAR

 -From October 1st and running through to December 31st 2012, if you buy a bottle of the new 5-Hour Energy Lemonade PINK LEMONADE flavor, & Living Essentials, LLC (The distributor of 5-Hour Energy) will donate 5 cents from each bottle sale, to the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade.

Living Essentials, LLC is already committing a $75,000 minimum donation, but hey, if NASCAR fans can help, lets dig in to help fight the fight against breast cancer, or any cancer for that matter.

There are 9 million bottles of 5-Hour Energy sold each week.  Being that NASCAR fans are dedicated to the sport's sponsors, and accounted for 20% of that number with Pink Lemonade sales, that adds up to $90,000 a week of donations.

If NASCAR fans stepped up for the next 10 weeks, we can get Living Essentials donation up to $900,000 to the fight.

And we all know that 5-Hour Energy sponsors Clint Bowyer under the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) banner.  And Clint's car will be pink at 4 races to highlight breast cancer awareness month of October.

    October 7: Talladega, Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500
    October 13: Charlotte, Bank of America 500
    October 21: Kansas, Hollywood Casino 400, Clint Bowyer's home track
    October 28: Martinsville, Tums Fast Relief 500

On top of any effort fans will make, MWR is going to be donating a portion of their proceeds from all trackside Clint Bowyer pink merchandise sales to the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade.

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BTW

I have given 5-Hour Energy a try and it did not jack me up like I had feared it would.  In fact, it actually made me feel awake or alert without the jazzed up side affects.

Considering I'm a light-weight and some additives can jack me up pretty bad, I was pleased to see that 5-Hour Energy did not.

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If you can, give the 5-Hour Energy Pink Lemonade a try.  If if doesn't disagree with you, maybe a bottle a week?  It's for a good cause.

But if not, that's OK too.

Breast cancer hits 1 in 8 women.  Cancer hits 1 in 3 people.  Something to think about, because if you haven't been impacted by it, I bet someone close to you has been.

5hourenergy

Related Post:  Check Out All The Pink on the NASCAR Broadcasts

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Sponsor News for Truex Jr and Stewart: Some Good, Some Bad

There was some mixed sponsor news this week... some good news came out earlier in the week and some not so good sponsor news came out this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr. Renews with Michael Waltrip Racing

First up, Martin Truex Jr., along with NAPA, reupped with Michael Waltrip Racing.  For Truex and/or MWR fans, that's great news.

I had a chance to chat up Michael Waltrip a few weeks back at Sonoma.  We were just sitting around on pit road and I was taking pics of him and he gave me a funny look and said "Whatch'yoo doin?"  He was in jest of course and I asked him how it felt to have his cars at the front of the qualifying pack and he said that it was less stressful to have the cars up there.  It was a nice change of pace and that he could get used to it.

I presume he's still getting used to it as his teams keeps showing up in the front of the pack more and more.

Truex Jr.'s contract renewal is for a three year contract extension.

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Tony Stewart Loses Office Depot

That was the good news.  The bad news is that Tony Stewart's team is losing Office Depot as their primary co-sponsor.  Though Office Depot is backing out of their co-primary position, it's said that the two organizations are exploring other possible associations between them.

Stewart-Haas Racing had this to say on their Facebook page:

"A quick note to all of our fans regarding Office Depot…

When we formed Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of 2008, Office Depot was the first partner to join our team. We became immersed in their business, and they became equally engaged in our business. Strong B2B relationships were fostered off the track, and on the track our partnership culminated with the 2011 Sprint Cup championship.

We remain proud of all that we accomplished together, and are committed to seeing this relationship through by defending the championship we won together and by continuing to act on Office Depot's behalf in the representation of small businesses everywhere."

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Does this say something about the financial environment when the defending champion can't even hang on to a sponsor, or do you think this is just a move on Office Depot's part that signals they may be having troubles we don't know about?

-B

Will Kenny Wallace Lose His NASCAR Nationwide Ride?

Did you know that if Kenny Wallace can't get any additional sponsor dollars after the fifth race of the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2012 season, he may be out of a ride?

It's sad to ponder that, but that's what is being reported over on Dave Moody's Soapbox article.

Right now, Kenny has sponsor money for the first five races of the season from American Ethanol and Family Farmers sponsors on his RAB Racing NNS entry.

If they get no money beyond the fifth race, team owner indicated he would be selling the ride.

Kenny Wallace said that sponsoring him costs $100k a race and you can use his likeness for a year, in any way you want, if you bring the sponsor bucks for a single race.

Sounds like a good deal, if you can afford the costs of a single-race sponsorship.  And sounds cool...  I'd love to see my logo on his hood!  LOL...  I gotta go play the lottery...  I'm sure my wife will understand that if we come into a huge monetary windfall, that I'll be spending it in a mere 7-day time period.

[ motorsports-soapbox: kenny wallace sponsor ]

-Bruce Simmons

Ryan Newman Gets WIX Sponsor For Four Races

In this era, when sponsors can be hard to nab, some NASCAR teams are doing OK.  In this case, Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevy will have WIX Filters as a primary sponsor for four races in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

We'll see them debut on Ryan's hood in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, then at Phoenix, Darlington and Michigan.

WIX has been with Stewart-Haas Racing since it became an entity in 2009.  Hence, they're coming back and supporing the team again, in 2012.

Miller Re-Upped With Penske and Brad Keselowski

In case you had not heard, Miller Lite renewed its partnership with Penske Racing and will continue to be the season-long primary sponsor of Penske’s No. 2 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski.

Which is pretty awesome, being that this particular alliance started way back in 1991 and seemingly through thick and thin, has remained with the team.

Also, Coors Light has decided to continue it's relationship with NASCAR and has ponied up to continue to be the Official Beer of NASCAR!

The Coors Light partnership with NASCAR includes the Coors Light Pole Award for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

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Reutimann and Aaron's Together for 2009

In one of the longest running associations between a driver/owner and sponsor in NASCAR racing, it was announced on August 22 that Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership will be the 2009 sponsor of the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine for 18 races. The No. 00 is driven by David Reutimann.

Aaron's will also be sponsoring the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine in the Nationwide series for 10 races. The No. 99 will have it's driving duties split between Reutimann and Michael Waltrip.

2009 season will be the 10th year that Michael Waltrip represents Aaron's.

source

Aaron's: The nation’s leader in the rental, sales and lease ownership, and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances and accessories.

Chevron Says 'Later! to NASCAR

After 20 years of being in NASCAR, Ganassi has ticked off Chevron and away they go!

OK, that might be a bad joke, but this can be chalked up to more signs of the times. One more, thought to be mainstay sponsor of NASCAR is taking it's leave or changing how it's spending it advertising dollars, to be more exact after the close of their 2008 contract.

Chevron said it would pursue new marketing strategies for its Texaco and Havoline brands, with a focus on local and regional marketing programs.

Ouch, and here I thought national exposure would be the kicker. Actually, from what I've learned of recent months is that some oil companies actually have regionally demographic named products that don't even seem related, but they are.

For instance one company has Chevron, Texaco and Caltex.
Then there's Exxon, Mobil and Esso.

These are the mainstream names... a few months back I came across an article, and I can't for the life of me remember the company, but they market under a couple of different names per region in one state, so I guess we gotta accept the deal and hope everyone makes out OK in the long run.

I guess that means that the most dedicated sponsor supporting fan base gets to take their business to Sunoco or Shell... then we'll see where Chevron stands after this decision. My guess, they'll be back in late '09 or 2010.


source

Biffle has Sponsor for 2008

Roush Fenway Racing has obtained a sponsor for Greg Biffle and the No. 16 Sprint Cup car for the 2008 season!! scenedaily.com

Budweiser and Evernham

It may seem, according to Ray Evernham, that the rumors of Evernham Motorsports being close to signing a deal with Budweiser for next season are unfounded.

"We have talked to Budweiser, but they have also spoken to five or six other teams in the Nextel Cup garage."

See DaveMoody's blog for the entire snippet.

Budweiser will not by Primary for Jr

brigning you the latest updates in the NASCAR world - by Bruce Simmons

Budweiser will not be Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsor next year, Hendrick Motorsports confirmed Friday morning.

"We have agreements in place with sponsors for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season which prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser," team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement.

Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch, said Budweiser will remain "an active sponsor" in NASCAR.

"Budweiser has sponsored Dale Jr. for nearly a decade, and we wish him the very best," Ponturo said. "We look forward to building upon the legacy of the iconic Budweiser red car in 2008 and beyond."

And the fan crowd hangs it's head in despair. It is going to be an odd sight to see Jr in a car that is not all red with Budweiser as the primary sponsor on the sheet metal.

Read the whole article by David Poole at:
http://www.thatsracin.com/247/story/5431.html

Earnhardt, Budweiser, Kahne

Over on ESPN, Terry Blount and David Newton put together an article addressing the issue that Budweiser is possibly looking at Kasey Kahne's red #9 car to sponsor next year.

On top of that, it would seem (Or expected, as they write) that PepsiCo Inc., possibly with the Mountain Dew brand or a combination of Pepsi products, will sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. next season in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick.

The Dodge dealers, Evernhams sponsor would have to sign off on the move to allow Budweiser to move to Kahne's car.

One source close to the negotiations told ESPN.com that it's still possible Budweiser could stay at Dale Earnhardt Inc., depending on whom DEI signs to replace Earnhardt.

Budweiser officials now have targeted four other drivers they would consider sponsoring next season, including Kahne. The other three drivers are not known.

The aritlce, in it's detailed enirety is here on ESPN, because this writer is taking this with a grain of salt.