Added on December 20, 2016  The News Wheel   , , , ,
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Monster Energy is the New Sponsor of NASCAR

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Monster Energy used to just sponsor racecars, but now it will sponsor the entire NASCAR Cup Series

Could Monster Energy help bring a younger audience to the NASCAR Cup Series?
Photo: © Royal Broil

There isn’t much of an offseason for the NASCAR Cup Series.

It was only about a month ago that Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson earned the seventh championship of his career, tying NASCAR greats Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. for the most wins of all time. However, the 2017 season kicks off in about two months at Daytona, which means NASCAR officials only had a short window to sign a new series sponsor.

The good news for racing fans is that NASCAR found new sponsorship and it’s none other than Monster Energy. Darren Rovell, who works for ESPN, reported the deal is worth $20 million, which is down significantly from the $50 million that Sprint dished out in 2016. Sprint had announced back in 2014 that it would not sponsor the NASCAR Cup Series past 2016.

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With Monster Energy on board, the title of NASCAR’s premier series will now be the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Furthermore, Monster will now be the “official energy drink” of NASCAR and no other energy drink company will be allowed to sponsor a racecar in the series, unless it already had an existing contract with a race team.

It was important for NASCAR to sign a new series sponsor before the start of the 2017 season. That way it could avoid the cost of having to market the series all by itself. In addition, it’s thought that Monster’s connection with youth culture could help attract more fans to the sport.

Monster was previously involved in the sport through its sponsorship of both Kurt and Kyle Busch. Kurt races with the Monster Energy logo on the hood of his car, while younger brother Kyle receives sponsorship from Nos.

NASCAR also unveiled a new logo for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The new logo replaces the old bar mark that’s been used since 2016.

The first official race for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series takes place on Feb. 26, when the drivers visit Daytona International Speedway for the 59th Daytona 500.

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News Sources: NASCAR, ESPN