In the world of NASCAR, sponsors will often switch race teams for a myriad of reasons, from a lack of inventory at their current team to a better deal with a new team. In the 2024 off-season, a few Cup Series sponsors have switched race teams. Here is a list of them all.
Kevin Harvick was one of Anheuser-Busch’s longest-standing ambassadors. The company started sponsoring him in 2011 with their Budweiser brand, and they switched to Busch in 2016. When Harvick retired in 2023, Busch Beer decided to join a new driver, Ross Chastain on a multi-year deal with 18 races as the primary sponsor in 2024.
Chastain is one of NASCAR’s rising stars, and nabbing Busch Beer gives him sponsor security for years to come. However, this leaves SHR in a tough spot as they try to find sponsorship for their new driver Josh Berry. With the next sponsor on our list, at least SHR has a start.
The first sponsor for Josh Berry’s 2024 season is SunnyD, which moves from JTG Daugherty Racing and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD used to have a larger presence on Stenhouse’s car, but it was only a primary sponsor for the Chicago Street Race alongside Mariano’s. With Kroger and its’ brands helping fund the majority of the season, this was likely an inventory thing.
One team with plenty of inventory is Stewart-Haas Racing, and SunnyD joined to sponsor Josh Berry at the Clash at the Coliseum, the Daytona 500, and “multiple” other races. Having Busch Beer and Smithfield leave left SHR with a lot of sponsorship space for 2024. While SunnyD is a start, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Again, this was an inventory issue more than anything. With Busch Beer coming in to sponsor Ross Chastain, there was not enough space on the schedule for AdventHealth to continue sponsoring Trackhouse. AdventHealth sponsored Trackhouse for 6 races in 2023.
Legacy Motor Club, on the other hand, was looking for sponsorship as team co-owner Maury Gallagher had been primarily footing the bill with his companies, Sunseeker Resorts and Allegiant Airlines. AdventHealth will sponsor Erik Jones in 6 races in 2024, including the Daytona 500, along with sponsoring Jimmie Johnson in three starts.
This was likely another issue of inventory. Legacy Motor Club signed DollarTree to a major, full-season sponsorship, and they signed AdventHealth to a sizable deal as well. Air Force has been a loyal sponsor of NASCAR for over two decades.
23XI Racing is a good fit for the Air Force because Bubba Wallace was previously sponsored by them back when he drove the 43 car for Richard Petty. Now, the Air Force is back for an undetermined amount of races for 2024.
Trackhouse Racing announced on January 16th that Wendy’s will sponsor both Daniel Suarez and SVG at select races in 2024. Wendy’s sponsored Noah Gragson at Legacy Motor Club. It is unclear whether or not Wendy’s left as a result of the Gragson suspension, but, LMC has gained plenty of sponsors this offseason. They will be fine.
In a roundabout way, this does make things look more grim at Stewart-Haas Racing. It shows just how little sponsorship Gragson brought to the team. As of this writing, Gragson does not have a sponsor for 2024.
Stewart-Haas Racing continues to lose sponsors, and Legacy Motor Club continues to gain sponsors. Gearwrench moves to the team, but, nothing specific was said about how they will partner with the team.
This is another loss for SHR in the wake of Kevin Harvick leaving. However, they have begun to rebound by gaining sponsors like Harrison’s and SunnyD.
Some Internet sleuths noticed that Erik Jones had a couple of new logos in his most recent diecast renderings. GearWrench and Mobil 1 have logos on the car. Both companies were sponsors of SHR in 2024.
This has not been officially announced, but, it would be another major loss for SHR. Mobil 1 has been with the team since Tony Stewart was racing.
This article will be updated as the 2024 season progresses.
