Sponsor stories

The sponsors who stayed.

Some of racing's best-known partnerships lasted ten, twenty, even thirty years. How they started, what kept them going, and what a racer hunting for a first sponsor can take from each one.

Carl Edwards's blue and white No. 99 Fastenal Ford on track at Martinsville — Photo: Nascar1996 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Fastenal × Carl Edwards · 1999–2014

Carl Edwards walked into a Fastenal

Before he won in NASCAR, Carl Edwards was a substitute teacher asking a hometown hardware store for help with his race car. That ask became a partnership that reached the Daytona 500, and it outlasted his time on the team.

Read the story → 4 min

Richard Petty's red and blue No. 43 STP Dodge Charger on display — Photo: dodge challenger1 · CC BY 2.0

STP × Richard Petty · 1972–2000

Petty Blue, Day-Glo red and a $250,000 handshake

In 1972 Richard Petty nearly walked out on the biggest sponsorship offer NASCAR had seen, over the color of his car. The compromise became one of the most famous paint schemes in racing, and a partnership that lasted nearly three decades.

3 min read

Kyle Busch's green and white No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota at Daytona — Photo: Steven Straiton · CC BY 2.0

Interstate Batteries × Joe Gibbs Racing · 1991–today

The sponsor that signed before there was a team

In 1991 Joe Gibbs had no shop, no cars and no driver. Interstate Batteries signed anyway. Thirty-five seasons later, the partnership is still running.

4 min read

The Rainbow Warriors pit crew servicing Jeff Gordon's No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet in 1997 — Photo: Darryl Moran · CC BY-SA 2.0

DuPont × Jeff Gordon · 1992–2015

The race car was the paint sample

DuPont didn't just put its name on Jeff Gordon's car. The rainbow was designed to show off the paint DuPont sold to body shops, and that idea carried a partnership for more than two decades.

3 min read

Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet at speed at Auto Club Speedway — Photo: Raniel Diaz · CC BY 2.0

Lowe's × Jimmie Johnson · 2001–2018

Lowe's bet on a rookie, and hedged the bet

In 2001 Lowe's put its money on Jimmie Johnson, a driver without a Cup win. A second, smaller deal on Jeff Gordon's car was the insurance. Seven championships later, nobody needed it.

3 min read

The yellow and blue No. 3 Wrangler Jeans Chevrolet Monte Carlo on display, seen from the front — Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wrangler × Dale Earnhardt · 1980–1987

One Tough Customer: how Wrangler found its driver

Wrangler had a slogan before it had a race car. Dale Earnhardt turned out to be that slogan in person, and the jeans company backed him through three teams to get there.

3 min read

Ernie Irvan's yellow No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet Lumina, the 1991 Daytona 500-winning car, on display — Photo: Chad Sparkes · CC BY 2.0

Kodak × Morgan-McClure Motorsports · 1986–2003

Kodak Yellow: a small Virginia team and a giant sponsor

Morgan-McClure Motorsports ran out of Abingdon, Virginia. For 17 seasons its No. 4 carried Kodak, and it won three Daytona 500s along the way.

3 min read

Kyle Busch's yellow No. 18 M&M's Toyota at speed at Las Vegas — Photo: Brian Neudorff · CC BY 2.0

M&M's × Kyle Busch · 1998–2022

Twenty-five years of candy-colored race cars

Mars stayed in NASCAR for a quarter century by treating the race car as a product-launch platform. Then it left while the partnership was still working.

3 min read