Sponsorship drives NASCAR. Turning the cars into racing billboards gives teams the funding to compete, advertisements at the track keep the doors open, and commercials on TV support the broadcast.
But a struggle to find sponsors is nothing new for NASCAR. The days of season-long primary sponsorship mega-deals are all-but gone, and just getting sponsors at all is a challenge.
But one team that hasn’t appeared to struggle at all ahead of the 2024 season is Legacy Motor Club. That’s a bit of a surprise for a team whose cars finished 27th and 32nd in owner’s points last season. But it hints at the high growth potential for the small team.
On Thursday, the team announced that Gearwrench was joining the team, leaving the more-established Stewart-Haas Racing. And in December, the team announced a major sponsorship with Dollar Tree and Family Dollar.
And the Dollar Tree isn’t a small deal either. The brand will appear on one of Legacy Motor Club’s cars – the full time Nos. 42 and 43 driven by new driver John Hunter Nemechek and veteran driver Erik Jones and the part time No. 84 driven by seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson – for all 38 races.
“We are thrilled to sponsor Legacy Motor Club and spotlight our brands to fans of the exhilarating and high-octane sport of NASCAR,” said Rick McNeely, Chief Merchandising Officer for Dollar Tree, in a statement. “Watching Dollar Tree and Family Dollar take off into one of the most-watched sports in the country is a great start to the year.”
A big part of these deals is surely Jimmie Johnson, the owner and face of the team. The seven-time champion was just inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, but his legacy has never been doubted. To have such a well-known commodity as the face of the team cannot hurt, and he brings his own partners like Carvana to the team.
He’s not just the face of the team, though. Johnson has been a hands-on team owner, bringing wholesale changes to the team and supporting efforts to run up front. When I spoke to him early in the season at Richmond Raceway last year, he explained his hands-on approach.
“Everywhere,” he said when asked about his focus. “We want to be way up there at the front, so in order to do so we’ve got a little bit of work to do in all the areas.”
Couple Johnson’s work ethic and name recognition with fellow team owner Maury Gallagher as chairman and CEO of the Allegiant Travel Company, which means guaranteed sponsorship from Allegiant Airlines and subsidiaries such as Sunseeker Resorts that the team has enjoyed since its Petty GMS days.
But the biggest move of all: a move from Chevrolet to Toyota. Jimmie Johnson, who competed in a Chevrolet throughout his career, will be racing for and owning a Toyota team next year. Johnson has complained about the ‘third-tier’ support given by Chevrolet and expects better results from Toyota, according to Autoweek. That suggests much better performance for the team as well.
Not only is Legacy Motor Club getting these sponsor deals, but some are coming at the expense of bigger teams that are already losing sponsors. Gearwrench has helped Stewart-Haas Racing over the past few years, and the loss is a void for the team to fill.
Another recent deal for Legacy Motor Club is taking Advent Health from Trackhouse Racing. That’s not a big loss, though. Instead, Trackhouse has too many sponsorships to deal with, a good problem to have. Star driver Ross Chastain recently took Busch Beer sponsorship from Stewart-Haas, and all Trackhouse drivers, a group that now includes Australian Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen, also has a new deal with Wendy’s.
Stewart-Haas is in especially bad position. The team lost its star driver in Kevin Harvick and his longtime sponsor in Busch. Now the team has a rookie driver with sponsorship from Harrison’s western clothing and SunnyD punch alongside Noah Gragson whose racially insensitive social media activity makes him hard to stomach for sponsors.
Gragson left Legacy Motor Club to head to Stewart-Haas even as his old team makes big sponsorship deals. A total rebranding and a new logo won’t necessarily bring in the cash for SHR. Still, CupScene editor-in-chief Greg Engle pointed out in his Forbes column that the team still retains plenty of old sponsors as well so it’s not time to worry just yet.
Money is always a problem in NASCAR, but it’s two smaller and newer teams that are doing the best job of getting it so far this year.
- Denny does Dover after surviving hard-charging Kyle Larson to tame the Monster - April 28, 2024
- The Monster Mile brings short track style to high banking - April 25, 2024
- Sam Mayer scores Xfinity win by an inch in photo finish at Texas - April 13, 2024