Sunoco is tracking toward a renewal as the exclusive fuel sponsor of NASCAR, according to people familiar with the matter, but questions about the category’s long-term future could remain even with the extension. The sides first entered into the current agreement in 2004 but went into a contract year in 2025 with no renewal having been reached. That allowed NASCAR to explore its options with other companies in the category, SBJ previously reported.
One of the scenarios that NASCAR considered was having one company take over both the official fuel category and the official motor oil designation, sources said. Those are currently split between two companies, with ExxonMobil brand Mobil 1 being the other. Sunoco’s deal expires after 2025, but it was unclear when Mobil 1’s goes through. NASCAR was seeking in the range of $10M annually for control of both categories, sources said. It was unclear how much Sunoco pays, but its original deal was 10 years for $8M-$10M annually, SBJ reported at the time. The full list of companies that NASCAR spoke to hasn’t been learned, but the racing sanctioning company was expected to talk to major fuel companies already in racing like Shell and Exxon-Mobil.
Sunoco has reduced its retail presence in recent years and become more reliant on B2B fuel sales following a $3.3B deal in 2017 to sell 1,100 convenience stores to 7-Eleven, lessening its need for consumer advertising.