Wheels & Deals: Childress Lands Hershey’s For Harvick’s Ride

GM Goodwrench and Hershey’s Reese’s brand will team up to serve as co-primary sponsors of Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Nextel Cup No. 29 Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick for the ’06 season. GM Goodwrench, the primary sponsor of the team since ‘88, will sponsor 24 races, including the Daytona 500, and Reese’s will sponsor 12 races, including the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard 400. Hershey’s is currently an associate sponsor of the No. 29 team and primary sponsor of RCR’s No. 21 Busch Series team. Hershey’s has also signed on to title sponsor the season-opening ’06 Busch Series race at Daytona (RCR).

Childress (l) And Harvick Unveiling Co-Primary Sponsors For No. 29 Car

GORDON: SportsBusiness Journal’s Scott Warfield reports in a special to THE DAILY that Georgia-Pacific has signed a multi-year associate sponsorship deal with Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team. Industry insiders peg a deal like this in the low- to mid-seven figures per year. The GP brand and its Sparkle brand of paper towels will be featured on Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet, as well as on his uniform and driving gloves (THE DAILY)....In Atlanta, Rick Minter reported that at the grand opening of the Jeff Gordon Racing School last week, drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler did not show up as advertised. Their team reps all confirmed that the function “wasn’t on their driver’s itinerary.” Tickets to the event were $350-5,000. Gordon: “That was a mistake. That was something that slipped by me and certainly will be rectified in the future” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/29).

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart has joined Richard and Kyle Petty in a new ad campaign for Goody’s Headache Powders. The campaign features a series of ads that provide a glimpse into “Mr. Petty’s Neighborhood,” including Stewart’s move-in day and his reaction to the fast-paced life there (GlaxoSmithKline).