Wheels & Deals: Valvoline Signs With Evernham Motorsports

Valvoline has signed a sponsorship and equity deal with Evernham Motorsports after leaving a similar arrangement with MBV Motorsports last week, according to Godwin Kelly of the Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL. Valvoline will become part-owner of Evernham, and will serve as sponsor of the No. 10 Nextel Cup Dodge, as Evernham “will inherit the team number that Scott Riggs has used the last two seasons” with MBV. (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 7/6).

HISPANIC PUSH: USA TODAY’s Gary Graves reports IRL team owner Adrian Fernandez will appear in four more NASCAR Busch Series races this year for Hendrick Motorsports. Fernandez will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in Busch races at California Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix Int’l Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Fernandez finished tenth at the Busch road race in his native Mexico in March in his first Busch race for Hendrick (USA TODAY, 7/6). In Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern writes Fernandez is a “key figure” in NASCAR’s strategy to market itself in Mexico and is a “major player for Lowe’s in its bid to crack the Mexican market.” Also, the Hispanic communities in the four aforementioned markets are “very large, and largely untapped by NASCAR” (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 7/6).