International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which owns and operates many of Nascar's venues, has announced an 11-year, multi-faceted agreement with Toyota.
The deal, which will begin in 2015, makes the Japanese car manufacturer, which has competed in Nascar for ten years, the first founding partner of the Daytona International Speedway. The venue is undergoing a US$400 million renovation, dubbed 'Daytona Rising', and Toyota will be a naming rights partner of one of the five new planned entrances when the project is completed in January 2016.
It will have an activation space of 20,000 square feet within the facility. Toyota will also be an official partner of the season-opening Daytona 500, Nascar's showpiece event, from 2015 and will be a sponsor of the official pace car.
Other rights acquired by Toyota include naming rights for the spring Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at Richmond International Speedway and pace car rights at six other ISC-owned Nascar venues across the United States.
“This is a unique opportunity for Toyota to elevate our brand in the motorsports community, especially through the Daytona Rising project,” said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations of Toyota Motor Sales, USA. “ISC and Daytona International Speedway will provide strong platforms to interact with our guests and most importantly, our race fans.”
ISC chief executive Lesa France Kennedy added: “When we started drafting the designs of Daytona Rising, we envisioned partnering with equally forward-thinking organisations like Toyota to bring forth the very best experience for our fans and guests.
“Toyota has been a great partner for many years and we will continue to work together to enhance the fan experience at many of our facilities across the country.”
ISC promotes over 100 motorsport events per year and owns and operates 13 circuits in total, including Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Source: SportsPro
