After the smoke cleared, Tony Stewart emerged from his #14 Chevy in the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World to a thunderous ovation from about 600 fans who gathered to hear confirmation of what many already suspected. ‘I want to introduce you to Tony Stewart, new driver of the Bass Pro Shops Chevy,’ Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris said late Thursday afternoon. And with that, a day before complete details are revealed at Talladega, the reigning and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion had a new primary sponsor for 2013. Stewart-Haas racing was in the market for a sponsor after Office Depot announced earlier this year it was leaving the sport. And Bass Pro was in the final year of a sponsorship agreement with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray. Mobil One is staying as the second primary sponsor, Stewart said. Morris said Bass Pro also plans to continue as a sponsor for brothers Austin and Ty Dillon in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, respectively, and that he appreciates the bond with Joplin native McMurray over the last three seasons.(Springfield, MO News-Leader)(10-4-2012)
UPDATE: Bass Pro Shops, America’s most popular outdoor retailer, announced it will join Mobil 1 as the primary co-sponsor of Tony Stewart and the #14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) beginning in 2013. Bass Pro Shops will adorn the hood of Stewart’s #14 Chevy for 18 races, including the Daytona 500. Mobil 1, the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, will be on the hood for 11 races. Nine primary races remain available for a brand to partner with Stewart, the three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion. Bass Pro Shops joining the Sprint Cup team Stewart co-owns with Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world is the culmination of a more than decade-long partnership between Stewart and Bass Pro Shops. Stewart has been a brand ambassador for Bass Pro Shops since 2001, beginning with a personal services agreement that morphed into sponsorship of Stewart’s dirt Late Model stock car that he campaigns at various short tracks across the country, including the annual Prelude To The Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where Stewart is a three-time winner (2006, 2008 and 2009). It continued via a primary sponsorship of Stewart’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series team beginning in 2005, and as an associate sponsor of SHR since the team’s inception in 2009.(Stewart-Haas Racing), see an image of the car on the 2013 #14 team paint schemes page and see earlier updates about Bass Pro moving on the #14 team news page.(10-5-2012)
