Hills Bros leaving Donlavey UPDATE 2 Officially Leaving: Hills Brothers Coffee and Donlavey Racing are parting ways at the end of this Winston Cup season. Team owner Junie Donlavey stayed in Virginia to fulfill an obligation to visit a school and wasn’t at Kansas Speedway this weekend, but Donlavey does seem to be making plans to have sponsorship next season. Hills Brothers could be close to signing a deal with an established Winston Cup team. Driver Hut Stricklin and veteran crew chief Philippe Lopez, both employees of Hills Brothers’ parent company Sara Lee, plan to remain with the sponsor next season. Stricklin said the sponsor wanted Donlavey to move his team to the Charlotte, N.C., area, but Donlavey remained loyal to his hometown of Richmond. “I really have to commend Junie for being very loyal to the city of Richmond and to the state of Virginia because, let’s face it, this is big business and he didn’t turn his back on his homeland,” Stricklin said. “It’s a deal for me that I felt like I had to do what I had to do to survive.”(Richmond Times Dispatch)(9-29-2001) UPDATE: Petree and Nemechek could have different colors the rest of the season, if Petree can finish a deal with Hills Brothers Coffee, to replace Oakwood on the car the last two months of the season(Winston Salem Journal)(9-29-2001) AND Phillipe Lopez, team manager of Donlavey’s #90 and of the Sara Lee NASCAR endeavor, confirmed Friday that Hills likely will move up a step or two. “They’re talking to every team without a sponsor,” Lopez said. “They have a lot of meetings scheduled over the next two weeks. After that, I don’t know what they’re doing. They may narrow it down to two or three for call-back meetings.” The catch is that Sara Lee apparently intends to package driver Stricklin with the deal, although that is not beyond negotiation. “That’s what they’d like to do,” Lopez said(SpeedVision)(9-29-2001) UPDATE 2: Sara Lee Coffee & Team Consumer Brands announced today that Hills Bros coffee will not return as the primary sponsor of the #90 Donlavey Racing NASCAR Winston Cup Series team in 2002. Our experience with Donlavey Racing during the past two seasons has been every bit as exciting as we thought it would be, said Henk de Back, President and CEO of Hills Bros Coffee, Junie Donlavey is every bit the NASCAR statesman and gentleman that everyone in the sport knows him to be. We are honored to have had the chance to work with him and we wish his team continued success. Hills Bros Coffee is committed to participating in the Winston Cup Series and to being an active sponsor in NASCAR. To that end, Sara Lee Coffee & Tea Consumer Brands has announced its intention to continue racing with Philippe Lopez, NASCAR Director for Hills Bros Coffee racing team, and Hut Stricklin, team driver. Currently, Sara Lee Coffee & Tea Consumer Brands Board of Management is actively researching for top performing racing team sponsorship options and will make its decision in early November.(Hills Bros Racing Site)(10-9-2001)
