Go Daddy To Be Primary Sponsor Of Martin's Cup Ride Next Year

Go Daddy To Serve As Martin's Primary Sponsor For '10 Sprint Cup Season

Go Daddy Friday announced a deal with NASCAR driver Mark Martin making the company his “new primary sponsor at the Sprint Cup level in 2010” on the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevy, according to Matt Crossman of SPORTING NEWS. The new deal “will be a major step for the Web site hosting company,” as Martin leads the Sprint Cup standings entering the first Chase race. Go Daddy also has sponsorships with fellow NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide Series and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, but "neither of those deals would come close to the exposure" Martin can generate. The marks the "rare emergence of a new Cup sponsor in recent months in NASCAR" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 9/18). Go Daddy is serving as an associate sponsor for Martin this season (THE DAILY). In Charlotte, Jim Utter reports the Go Daddy deal, which is for 20 races, came in conjunction with Hendrick Motorsports announcing Martin "has agreed to another contract extension ... through the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season" (THATSRACIN.com, 9/18).

DINGERS AND DRIVERS: NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Colin Braun all attended Thursday night's Angels-Red Sox game as part of Roush Fenway Racing Night at Fenway Park. Braun threw out the first pitch (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/18). Red Sox John Henry prior to the festivities said the partnership between the MLB team and Roush Racing “was really in some ways a dream come true.” Henry: “Imagine getting into NASCAR at that level at Roush Fenway. Jack has been a tremendous partner. He and I have a lot of fun” ("NASCAR Now," ESPN2, 9/17).

THE THRILL OF THE CHASE: With Kurt Busch’s No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge making the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Penske Racing will debut new coverage and a fan contest at PenskeRacing.com. The team Friday launched its '09 Chase coverage, featuring an interactive graphical display on its home page with statistical analysis of the 12 Chase drivers, as well as Chase coverage through Twitter, including behind-the-scenes tweets from the No. 2 team. The contest calls for fans to tweet their prediction of where Busch will finish in each week’s race. Up to 10 winners will be selected for Penske merchandise (Penske Racing).

MOBILE UNIT: Samsung has inked a multi-year extension to continue title sponsoring the April NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The race, known as the Samsung 500 for the past three years, will now become the Samsung Mobile 500 and will have a new logo. Samsung title sponsorship dated back to '02. Terms were not disclosed (Samsung/TMS).