Speed signed a multi-million dollar advertising deal with Sunoco that will see the official fuel of NASCAR become the presenting sponsor of the net's "RaceDay" broadcast. The Home Depot previously held that advertising position but dropped it last season. The show, which takes place at the track prior to each Sprint Cup race and is similar to ESPN's "College GameDay," will be rebranded "RaceDay Fueled by Sunoco." Sunoco Dir of Brand Marketing Drew Kabakoff said, "It's their signature program, and now, from Sunoco's perspective, we start the day on 'RaceDay' before the race and present the Sunoco checkered flag at the end of the race. It brings our message directly to the consumer." In addition to the ad deal with Sunoco, Speed has brought on DirecTV, Geico, NAPA, Goodyear, Toyota, Golden Corral, Coors Lite and others as major advertisers during its Daytona Speedweeks programming. The cable channel will begin 100 hours of programming from Daytona tomorrow with a special live two-hour edition of "NASCAR Race Hub." Fox Cable Sports Exec VP/Ad Sales Todd Siegel said sales are up for Speedweeks programming from last year. Siegel: "What we've really had is a lot of people step up. Nationwide is spending more money on us than ever before. Goodyear has stepped up to double, triple what they spent historically."
