There’s a chance the annual running of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway could play the name game. The non-points race has been the season starter for NASCAR’s premiere series since 1979 when it was known as the Busch Clash. Sources tell News 13 that routine negotiations are underway for naming rights to the 2009 race, and it’s not yet certain that Budweiser will return as title sponsor.(News 13), well….Coor’s Light took over as the official beer of NASCAR and the Bud Pole Award is now sponsored by Coor’s Light and called the Coor’s Light Pole Award. It could end up the Coor’s Light Shootout, but when the sponsorship was announced last season it was mentioned that NASCAR’s agreement with Coors does not include the Bud Shootout race, which is a separate entitlement with Daytona Interntional Speedway.(7-8-2008) UPDATE: The sale of Anheuser-Busch Inc. to Belgian brewer InBev will not affect its NASCAR marketing program. And in fact, the Budweiser motorsports program is expanding in 2009, according to the company’s senior marketing team. Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch vice president of sports marketing, told ESPN.com on Thursday that A-B has signed a multi-year extension to continue its longstanding tradition as sponsor of the season-opening Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. The length of the new deal was not disclosed. Budweiser will also upgrade its sponsorship of Kasey Kahne’s World of Outlaws team from secondary to primary, Ponturo said.(ESPN.com)(7-18-2008)
