Scotts Miracle-Gro has confirmed to THE DAILY that its Ortho pest-control brand will not return next season as the primary sponsor of Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 Ford driven by Greg Biffle, and the brand will instead sit out the year as a NASCAR team sponsor. Scotts Dir of Marketing Promotions & Communications Chris Strunk in a statement said, “We evaluate our sponsorship portfolio on an annual basis and have decided not to renew our partnership agreement with Roush Fenway Racing. Roush Fenway and Greg Biffle have been terrific partners, and we wish them the best. We are extremely appreciative of their participation and support of the Ortho brand.” RFR declined comment. The brand this season sponsored about half of Biffle’s 36 Sprint Cup Series races, but will not be on the car for the Sunday's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Bleacher Report will be on the car). Ortho was one of the main brands to step in and fill the void when 3M left after a nearly 10-year relationship with Biffle, switching to Jeff Gordon’s No. 24. Prior to deploying its Ortho brand to the No. 16, the Ohio-based Scotts had sponsored other RFR cars from ’05-11.
HOLDING STEADY: NASCAR overall has had an attrition rate for team sponsors this year that has probably been about equal. While brands that were primary sponsors like Ortho, GoDaddy and Aaron’s will not be back in ’16, brands like Microsoft, Avaya, Arris and Nature’s Bakery entered, and ones like Mars and Axalta extended.
