Penske Racing moves Alltel sponsorship to Nationwide team
CONCORD, N.C. – Verizon, the wireless communications company which just completed its purchase of Alltel earlier this month, will move its sponsorship from the No. 12 Sprint Cup car to Penske’s No. 12 Nationwide Series car driven by 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series champion Justin Allgaier, Penske Racing announced Monday.
The organization pledged to continue to run the No. 12 Sprint Cup car with David Stremme as its driver. No sponsor was announced, and the team said it would unveil a new paint scheme for the 2009 Budweiser Shootout.
When Nextel became the Cup series sponsor in 2004, existing team and track relationships with wireless communications companies were allowed to continue, but those relationships were not allowed to change teams or companies.
Because of that policy, Verizon, which is phasing out the Alltel brand, could not put its logos on the Cup car.
“Penske Racing enjoyed a productive, winning relationship with Alltel over the last decade,” Penske Racing Chairman Roger Penske said in a statement. "We look forward to building on that solid foundation and in sharing many future successes with our new partner, Verizon Wireless."
Verizon had sponsored Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ Nationwide car for a partial schedule last year. It will now sponsor Allgaier for an entire season in 2009.
“Innovation, reliability and technology are the cornerstones of our business, and we know our partners at Penske Racing value those same ideals,” said Mike Lanman, chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless.
The only relationship left that was grandfathered in before Nextel (now Sprint) took over the Cup series sponsorship is Samsung’s race entitlement with Texas Motor Speedway for its spring race.
Cingular, which had a relationship with Richard Childress Racing, was bought by AT&T, which filed a lawsuit against NASCAR to remain on Jeff Burton’s car. The lawsuit was settled in September 2007, with AT&T being allowed to remain through the 2008 season. AT&T opted not to participate in any other NASCAR series.
