NASCAR officials are on the verge of announcing a new series sponsor, according to NASCAR sources. Visa, Nokia, Motorola and Nextel have been mentioned. However NASCAR itself may try to handle the bulk of the PR operation when a new sponsor takes over. Also, there are reports that NASCAR executives are preventing present PR men from joining the new sponsor in order to keep more control of the sport inside the Daytona headquarters.( Winston Salem Journal ), past news on my NASCAR Sponsors page .(6-8-2003) UPDATE: some ‘sources’ have told me it’ll be ‘Nextel’….we’ll see.(6-10-2002) UPDATE 2: Depending on the day and the source, either VISA, Nextel, Motorola or Nokia will replace Winston as NASCARs primary sponsor, perhaps as early as next year. Nextel was the most-rumored sponsor at Pocono, a week after sources at Dover said VISA had the inside track. Coca-Cola and McDonalds, previously the top rumored companies, have dropped out of the running.( Autoweek ), so much for the ‘Big Mac Cup’.(6-11-2003) UPDATE 3: Nextel, a Reston, Va.-based provider of wireless communication services, is in negotiations with NASCAR to become the title sponsor of stock-car racing’s premiere series, now known as Winston Cup. Several sources confirmed the negotiations to The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday, but cautioned that no deal has been signed and that major issues must be worked out before Nextel takes over the sponsorship deal that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco has had since 1972. One source said the deal could be worth as much to $90 million per year, a figure that would include about $40 million for television advertising and other media buys. Two other sources, however, said those numbers were too high. Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president for corporate communications, said Wednesday it would be accurate to say that the sanctioning body’s search for a replacement for RJR has moved from efforts to find companies that might be interested to talks with companies that have expressed interest. Hunter would not say whether Nextel is one of those companies. Word of the talks with Nextel, however, has begun to reach other teams in the sport who may have conflicting sponsorship issues.(more at ThatsRacin.com/Charlotte Observer and some info: The Nextel Cup? )(6-11-2003) UPDATE 4 DENIED: A report that wireless giant Nextel Communications is the leading contender to become the title sponsor of NASCAR’s top racing series is “fundamentally premature,” NASCAR chairman Bill France said Wednesday. France said that discussions are still ongoing with four or five companies to replace R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which sponsors the Winston Cup. “It is fundamentally premature to say we are in final negotiations with anyone,” France told The Associated Press. “We’re still talking to several people and have not finalized anything with anyone.”( USA Today/AP )(6-12-2003) UPDATE 5: however, sources tell me it is gonna be VISA, not Nextel.(6-12-2003)
