The AARP Foundation has signed a one-year extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will take its 22-race co-primary sponsorship of Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Sprint Cup car through '14. Financial terms of the extension were not available. The foundation’s previous deal covered '11-13. The AARP Foundation will continue to use the sponsorship to promote its Drive to End Hunger campaign, which is designed to raise awareness of and money for seniors who do not have enough food. AARP Foundation President Jo Ann Jenkins said, “We’re very excited about our initiative that we have. It’s turned out to be more than a contract for us. Both Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon have bought into our issue of solving senior hunger in this country.” Jenkins said that over the last two years, the Drive to End Hunger campaign has raised more than $17M in corporate sponsorship and individual donations. The AARP Foundation has used the money to serve over 13 million meals across the country. Jenkins said the foundation estimates that its Drive to End Hunger message has reached more than 1 billion people, which surpasses what the AARP Foundation expected when it signed the sponsorship in '10. Jenkins: “We’ve learned a lot about the sport. One of things we’ve just done is used some of the money we raised and funded 10 non-profits nationwide that believe they have a solution to hunger. We’ve funded some research institutions that are working toward solutions. We’re going to work with track owners to take food from races and donate it to local communities."
SUPERSIZE ME? Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is in discussions with McDonald’s about increasing the number of primary races it sponsors on the No. 1 car driven by Jamie McMurray. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Teams President Steve Lauletta said, “We’re fairly confident that’s going to happen based on the discussions and their excitement on being able to take some of the races they’ve historically taken an associate role on like the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the Bristol night race and some of the marquee events we haven’t been able to deliver to them.” Lauletta said he expects to have 10-12 primary races to sell on the No. 1 car next year, and he first will offer those open races to associate sponsors across Ganassi Racing’s seven cars in three different series (NASCAR Sprint Cup, IndyCar and Grand Am). Lauletta said, “There are folks that are part of the team that have asked about being a primary partner and we haven’t been able to do it. Now we can offer a different opportunity for them. Will all of them do it? Probably not but enough will that I’m not that concerned with how the car will look next year.”
