Great Clips returns to Braun Racing to sponsor Jason Leffler, Kasey Kahne in 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Braun Racing officials announced Friday that sponsor Great Clips will return to the team’s No. 38 NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota for the next three seasons, and Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne will join the team in a part-time role in 2010.
Assuming the 2010 schedule would be 35 races, Kahne will drive the No. 38 in eight races next year with Jason Leffler in the car for the other 27 Nationwide events. Leffler will run for the drivers title by driving Braun’s No. 10 Toyota in the other eight races.
“Jason Leffler and Kasey Kahne are both extremely talented drivers and we are very proud to have them both as representatives of our brand,” Great Clips Inc. Vice President of Marketing Terri Miller said. “We have a great relationship with Jason, who has done an amazing job for us over the last three seasons. His performance this year has given us a lot to brag about and it is exciting that he is still in the championship hunt.
“The return of Kasey to the team adds a unique twist to our program, given that he was the driver to give us our first victory as a primary sponsor in the series. It is time for Nationwide-only team to claim the championship and we intend to be that team.”
Great Clips has been a sponsor in the series since 2000, when it backed Akins Motorsports. Team owner Doug Stringer then hired Kahne in 2003.
In 2006, Stringer merged his team with Braun Racing, putting Leffler in the team’s No. 38 entry.
“We are very pleased with the three-year extension of the Great Clips sponsorship, which will make it one of the longest running sponsors in the industry,” said Stringer, who has a minority ownership role with the team. “We have a great program in place that we feel is going to meet all of Great Clips marketing goals and bring excitement both on and off the race track.”
