Wal-Mart Will Not Be The Primary Sponsor For Gordon's Car In '11

Negotiations have “broken down between Wal-Mart and Hendrick Motorsports over sponsorship of the No. 24 Chevrolet driven by Jeff Gordon,” according to Michael Smith of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Wal-Mart’s interest in a primary sponsorship on a single car “has waned." A source said that Wal-Mart is “in a re-evaluation process to determine the right place for its sponsorship spending and that it could still develop personal-services deals with an array of drivers, instead of going with a primary sponsorship of a single driver.” The NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust, NASCAR’s licensing body, “remains confident that a deal will be struck to make Wal-Mart the exclusive mass retailer for the sport’s apparel.” Industry sources said that talks between the trust and the Wal-Mart “are ongoing” and that a deal “is expected to be in place in time for the 2011 season” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/6 issue). HMS Owner Rick Hendrick on Saturday confirmed that negotiations with Wal-Mart “broke down.” Hendrick: “You talk to a lot of people [about sponsorship], and they were someone we talked to. We got down the road a bit but timing is one of those things -- possibly we’ll do something down the road with them but it won’t be next year.” Hendrick would not say “how many races are left for the Hendrick stable to sell” on the 24 car for '11. Meanwhile, Hendrick did announce Quaker State has extended its contract with the team and will also be “the primary sponsor for four races” on Mark Martin’s No. 5 Sprint Cup car next season (SCENEDAILY.com, 9/4).

SPONSOR CONFLICTS: ESPN’s David Newton reported there were some “conflicts with some other sponsors at Hendrick Motorsports that prohibited” a deal with Wal-Mart, but the retailer will be a “big player in NASCAR next year.” Meanwhile, the Quaker State deal includes becoming the official motor oil of Hendrick Motorsports. Newton: “That's significant because Hendrick was talking to Mobil 1 about possibly using them as a sponsor for Gordon's car next year. That frees Mobil 1 to go over to Stewart-Haas Racing and be on one of those cars over there” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN2, 9/5).