My favorite driver in NASCAR just lost his primary sponsor effective at the end of the NASCAR season.
From ESPN: Crown Royal will end its sponsorship with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the year, and parent company Diageo will not renew its deal as an official NASCAR partner.
Crown Royal has sponsored Matt Kenseth for the last two seasons, and the company sponsored Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray before that. Going forward, Crown Royal will only sponsor the Sprint Cup race at Richmond.
"In shifting our strategy, we will end our sponsorships with Roush Fenway Racing and NASCAR upon the conclusion of the 2011 season," Yvonne Briese, Diageo North American Whisky vice president of marketing, said Tuesday in a statement.
"We have developed strong relationships with the people at both organizations -- they have not only been fantastic business partners, but have also become our friends. We thank them for working with us throughout the years to showcase the importance of our social responsibility initiatives."
Crown Royal has no competition in NASCAR right now because Jim Beam and Jack Daniel's have left the series. NASCAR only allowed distilled liquors in as sponsors beginning with the 2005 season. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=6713903
I don't think Crown Royal was a good fit with Kenseth. First, Kenseth is from Wisconsin, a beer state, not a whiskey state. And how many people think of whiskey when you mention Matt Kenseth's name? Perhaps Tony Stewart but not Kenseth.
I am sure Kenseth will find a sponsor for next year. It would be nice if Miller sponsored him, but they are sponsoring a barely legal Brad Keslowski.
It would be nice if a Wisconsin based compan would sponsor Kenseth, like S.C. Johnson or maybe some micro brews like Sprecher and the beer made in Middleton can get together. American Girl dolls probably won't cut it, though.
So, next year, the #17 will have new colors and a new sponsor. It will be interesting to see who it is.
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