The NASCAR Cup Series era is officially upon the racing world. On Thursday, NASCAR revealed the new logo for the series and its four primary partners that will rotate sponsorship through the 2020 season. Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity will serve as the premier partners.
“This has been a monumental year for our sport, one highlighted by significant changes in our business model to ensure long-term viability and growth,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps stated. “As we begin this new chapter, we are joined by four incredible brands with deep-rooted histories across all levels of our sport. We are honored to have this elite group represent our NASCAR Cup Series for years to come.”
After spending the last three seasons as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR dropped Monster Energy‘s sponsorship following 2019 in favour of a tiered model; the brand will remain involved in the sport with Chip Ganassi Racing and Kurt Busch. With the top level now simply called the Cup Series, Busch, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity will take over naming rights. Under the new model, the four will share the presentation, including being featured on social media and other branding, with Coca-Cola also sponsoring the regular season trophy.
“This new model will provide our Premier Partners with a heightened level of integration and visibility across all aspects of our sport,” Executive Vice President Daryl Wolfe said. “Each of these partners have demonstrated their commitment to our brand-loyal fan base and we are excited about how these brands will elevate the NASCAR Cup Series.”
The four partners have been longtime names in NASCAR. Busch and Xfinity have both held naming rights to the sport’s second series, currently known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with Busch also sponsoring Kevin Harvick‘s #4 Stewart-Haas Racing car and the Cup Series Pole Award. Coca-Cola has long been involved in the sport through its Coca-Cola Racing Family, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. GEICO, the official insurer of NASCAR and sponsor of the GEICO Restart Zone, is also a close partner of Germain Racing‘s #13 driven by Ty Dillon.
With the tier model, NASCAR will also presumably feature other companies as second- and third-level partners. Monster Energy has been rumoured as a potential lower-tier sponsor, enabling them to remain involved in the sport beyond Ganassi.
As part of the new deal, Xfinity and Busch will also sponsor races on the 2020 Cup schedule. The former has been confirmed as the title sponsor of the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway, while Busch’s round will be revealed at a later time.
Competing brands against the four partners are also reported to be allowed to sponsor Cup cars. In previous years, rival companies were prohibited from doing so under the so-called Viceroy Rule, which will be ditched starting in 2020.
