Report: Craftsman to drop NASCAR sponsorship of Truck Series-CONFIRMED
10 Comments Quote selected text Published December 4th, 2007 in NASCAR News
UPDATE 2:
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has begun marketing entitlement sponsorship of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series beginning with the 2009 season. This follows a decision by Sears that its Craftsman brand will forgo its sponsorship rights following the 2008 season.
“Craftsman has been a great, longstanding partner and intends to remain in the sport,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer, in a joint announcement with Sears. “The current series name will continue through the 2008 season with the same great commitment Craftsman has demonstrated throughout its 13-year history as the series’ entitlement sponsor.”
“The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series represents some of the world’s best racing; the season championship has been determined in the final race of the year in 12 of 13 seasons – including 2007,” Phelps said. “The series continues to attract some of NASCAR’s most avid fans because of its intense, side-by-side competition.” “Craftsman has been the sponsor of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since its inception in 1995 and since then we have developed strong relationships with millions of loyal NASCAR fans we value greatly,” said Scott Howard, Manager of Marketing Partnerships for Sears. “While we will be relinquishing title sponsorship of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the end of 2008 we continue to explore new opportunities within NASCAR.”
[NASCAR PR]
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UPDATE:
Craftsman, which has sponsored NASCAR’s truck series since its inception in 1995, plans to pull out as series sponsor following the 2008 season.
Sears, Craftsman’s parent company, had most recently renewed its sponsorship in May 2005 in a three-year deal starting in 2006 that included options through 2010. The company opted not to pick up the option.
“We’re going to have a new sponsor come 2009,” NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Tuesday morning. “We’re really optimistic. This is an incredibly great series with a rock-solid fan base and great competition, so we think that there is going to be a number of sponsors that will be interested in signing up.
“And, of course, you can’t say enough about Craftsman about what they’ve meant to this series in giving it its identity in terms of toughness and reliability.”
Poston said Craftsman, which has sponsor status as the official tools of NASCAR, is looking to remain in the sport in some capacity. Scott Howard, manager of marketing partnerships for Sears, echoed that sentiment in a statement.
“Craftsman has been the sponsor of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since its inception in 1995 and since then we have developed strong relationships with millions of loyal NASCAR fans we value greatly,” Howard said. “While we will be relinquishing title sponsorship of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the end of 2008 we continue to explore new opportunities within NASCAR.”
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Multiple sources have informed us that Craftsman Tools will pull its NASCAR sponsorship of the Truck Series when their deal ends after the 2008 season.
No word on any official statement as of yet…stay tuned.
well that would suck! since the rateing have been up this year.
The truck series was best in 95 and 96 when they went to short tracks. NASCAR turned it into another busch series.
I wonder if Brian france will blame this on JR. like he did with the Cup ratings being down, or will he posibily wake up and see that he is the problem ——- ya right!
Fisha695 wrote:
Ummm….. no they haven’t. They cam on board for the 2006 season. The 95 season the series was just known as the NASCAR Supertruck series. Seems like NASCAR is forgetting its history again… or maybe its Jr’s fault….
l0l
Ummm fisha….it was 1996..not 2006 that Craftsman came on board.
will ya’ll just stop bickering fer once? bottom line the truck series
is the truck series regaurdless of when they introduced it in nascar.
and the craftsmen sponsor it had a huge impact when sears brought it
to life ya’ll. i have at least $1000 if not more in craftsmen tools.
not just me but my family has trusted craftsmen.
Scott wrote:
Don’t worry Scott the Fishy/69 always gets things wrong, this is just another instance of mouth over-riding intelligence.
To bad Sears is dropping out as a major sponsor in the truck series as they have been a real stable force behind the trucks development.
i think the fur is going to fly!
Sears actually let truck teams use their auto centers to work on the trucks the first year of the series. Hornaday even let the guys use his body shop/ repair shop when they were out that way. But I probably should’ve checked with Fisha before I posted this information. He knows EVERYTHING. Just ask him.
this is better than high school kid smack talk!