A Familiar Name Returns To Nascar In 2023

What’s old is new again as a familiar name will be returning to NASCSC
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R in 2023. NASCAR and Stanley Black & DeckerSWK
Inc. announced Friday that the Craftsman brand will return at the title sponsor for NASCAR’s Truck series starting in 2023.

Craftsman was the first title sponsor of series when it debuted in 1995. The series remained the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series until 2009 when Camping World took over the entitlement sponsorship and rebranded the series several times until announcing earlier this season they would depart after 2022.

Stanley Black & Decker acquired Craftsman from Sears Holdings in 2017. Stanley and its associated brands have been sponsors for teams such as Joe Gibbs Racing for several years. NASCAR always keeps in touch with the sponsors in the sport and were aware of Camping World’s withdrawal early on.

“It’s our job to have constant and frequent dialogue for our partners, right?” said Darrell Wolfe, executive vice president and chief revenue officer for NASCAR said after the press conference at Daytona International Speedway Friday. “Camping World is no different. Understanding where their business is going, understanding where our business is going, business, climate changes, alterations in their objectives. That dialogue is frequent and like any partnership you’re going to have ebb and flows in that dialogue.

“Earlier this year, there are some days where we thought maybe we were continuing down a renewal road. There are some days that we thought maybe we weren’t. At some point in time during that conversation, it became pretty clear that maybe they were going to go a different direction and maybe we were going to go a different direction.”

Wolfe said because they are in constant contact with sponsors NASCAR was able to turn to Stanley shortly after the Camping World and not long after a deal was done.

“It was an easy fit, “Stanley president Tabata Gomez said. “The fit with NASCAR, not only from the history with the truck series, but from what we can do going forward, it was a very easy decision. So, when the negotiations came and we said, is this the right fit? Absolutely.”

NASCAR, and the world, is a much different place then 15 years ago when Craftsman was last in the sport to this degree. Gomez said that they while they have the experience with the teams in these last 15 years, of course the business climate has definitely changed.

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“We were talking about this earlier,” Gomez said. “There are so many opportunities on how we’re going to activate.”

Gomez added that they have already reached out to drivers in the Truck series for ideas on how they will promote the brand starting in 2023.

“I think there’s going to be a ton of opportunity,” she said. “Obviously social media’s going to help. And I do believe the business world has changed, but it makes our fans even more engaged because they have so much access to a ton more content behind the scenes what’s happening on the race.

“We’re definitely planning to partner with NASCAR with some of the drivers for ideas as well so we can capitalize and make this the best experience for our fans and our users out there.”