Pushing past the moniker of a dying sport, NASCAR’s popularity has seen a steady rise in recent years. The 2023 season alone managed to garner unmatched attention from all around the globe, pulling in newer fans and drivers from other realms of the motorsport world. 

Although NASCAR’s recent success has managed to make enough noise, there is one area where the sport has been struggling. NASCAR insider and VP of Partnership-Sales at RKF Racing, Jacob Wyne, in a recent interview exposed NASCAR’s biggest hurdle.

Is NASCAR embroiled in money troubles?

The backing of sponsors plays a major role in teams continuing to buy the charters. They are a backbone of sorts. Be it Budweiser or Coca-Cola, almost every major brand has had a slice of NASCAR’s pie. While earlier a team only had one or two sponsors for their machines, the recent trend has witnessed a drastic change.

Now most teams have one primary sponsor, while also adding part-time or event-specific sponsors to their arsenals. This trend has seen an influx of challenger brands in NASCAR, leaving less room for market leaders. Also, many brands which were full-time team sponsors have now lowered their appearance on NASCAR’s oval, feeling a full-time run to be less feasible.

With these developments in mind, Jacob Wyne revealed NASCAR’s behind-the-curtain struggles to SBJ’s Adam Stern. “The state of sponsorship and sponsorship sales [in racing]—I think it’s harder than it’s ever been because there’s so many options in the marketplace.

“15 to 20 years ago, I felt like finding sponsorship in NASCAR was like shooting fish in a barrel. Now you have jersey patches in the NBA. Specifically at FSG, we’re in the market trying to sell a helmet position for the [Pittsburgh] Penguins, a [Boston] Red Sox jersey patch deal. Those [pieces of inventory] didn’t exist 15 years ago.”

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Once boasting of over 60% Fortune 500 companies in its sponsor arsenal, NASCAR now cites that only 25% have stuck around.

Which brands did the organization lose? 

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Having retained back Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Xfinity, and the Gieco brand, NASCAR lost numerous Fortune 500 companies between the 2005 and 2023 seasons. Caterpillar, Home Depot, Mountain Dew, Mars, GoDaddy, and Subway were among the major brands to have cut ties with the motorsports organization.

It’s also worth mentioning that brands like Miller Lite and FedEx which sponsored Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing respectively have recently cut down the number of races they sponsor. On the bright side, NASCAR has further cemented its ties with Coca-Cola and even brought in tire manufacturing giant Goodyear as one of its primary sponsors. The Busch Light brand too will be sticking around with NASCAR, jumping camps from Stewart-Haas Racing to Trackhouse Racing for the 2024 season. 

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As NASCAR’s popularity reaches new heights, what the future holds for sponsors in the sport remains to be seen.