Nationwide Insurance Restructures NASCAR Sponsorship

Nationwide Insurance have restructured their deal with NASCAR and will remain the official auto, nurse home, life and business insurance partner of NASCAR through 2017.

The insurer, in its sixth year of a seven-year agreement as title sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will pivot from its series entitlement sponsorship and focus its NASCAR marketing programs on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2015.

As part of the new contract, Nationwide Insurance also will become the presenting sponsor of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.

“As a series entitlement sponsor and savvy marketer, Nationwide Insurance has been an ideal partner to our sport and we’re proud to have them continue to be part of our family of Official NASCAR Partners,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR chief marketing officer. “The company has been highly successful in using our sport as a platform to enhance its brand and drive its business and has stated publicly how much value they glean as a series sponsor. The fact that Nationwide will continue its investment across our sport – in a variety of ways and for many years to come – is encouraging and speaks to the power of NASCAR as a marketing platform.”

The insurer began its 15-year motorsports history as a hospitality sponsor with targeted race tracks and progressed to the Official Insurance Partner of NASCAR and the title sponsor for the U.S.’s No. 2 motorsports series. Nationwide Insurance will look to build a more consistent presence in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enabling its message to reach an even larger NASCAR audience.

“The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a great proving ground not only for drivers and crew members, but for sponsors too,” said Nationwide chief marketing officer, Matt Jauchius. “We’re proud of the success Nationwide Insurance has attained through our relationships with NASCAR and the Nationwide Series. It’s a natural evolution for Nationwide Insurance to move our marketing investment to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we’ll continue to put tremendous effort behind all of our NASCAR marketing platforms in the years to come.”