Menard's Deal Headed To Wood Brothers NASCAR Team; Penske Going To Three Cars

NASCAR driver Paul Menard and his family's eponymous hardware store chain are "taking their NASCAR program to Wood Brothers Racing next season," according to Dave Kallmann of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Menard, who is in his seventh season with Richard Childress Racing, will "drive the Woods’ No. 21 Ford with the Menards home-improvement chain serving as primary sponsor for 22 races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/27).

THREE'S COMPANY: Team Penske yesterday formally announced that it will run a third car in next year’s Cup Series with driver Ryan Blaney, who is being touted as one of the sport’s upcoming stars. Sponsorship for the move was not announced as the team is still finalizing the moves, but team owner Roger Penske is unlikely to have orchestrated such a move if he was not confident it had requisite sponsorship lined up. NASCAR team owner Gene Haas recently told The Financial Times that it still typically costs about $20M annually to run a top-level car, though many teams now often patch that money together through multiple sponsors. Verizon is a sponsor of Team Penske on the IndyCar side, and with Sprint now out of NASCAR and the telecommunications category open, Verizon could come into NASCAR. However, Verizon Manager of Sports & Entertainment Marketing Steve Williams told THE DAILY in early June that the brand was "happy" with its IndyCar relationship and was "not looking at any other motorsports opportunities." Other options for Team Penske would include moving up one of the team’s other sponsors such as Discount Tire, which has sponsored Blaney in the Xfinity Series, or bringing in new business (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).

