Wheels & Deals: GoBowling.com Taking Over Sponsorship For Kansas Speedway NASCAR Race

Kansas Speedway today announced GoBowling.com is taking over naming rights for the track's May 7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. A source said that the ISC-owned track was asking $700,000 for the race, which will be called the GoBowling.com 400. GoBowling, owned by Strike Ten Entertainment, gets at-track signage and activation space, plus digital promo rights. The race last year was sponsored by Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon plans to return to NASCAR this year, but has not revealed details of its plans in the sport. GoBowling.com previously title-sponsored the summer Sprint Cup race at Pocono from '13-14 (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).

TOUGH LOVE: Panasonic Toughbook will become a primary sponsor of the No. 5 Sprint Cup Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne in ‘16, continuing its nearly decade-long relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. Panasonic will be featured as primary sponsor for two Sprint Cup races -- Feb. 28 in Atlanta and Oct. 2 in Dover. The brand also will be an associate partner for all other races. Panasonic became an HMS tech partner in ‘07 and expanded its program in ‘14 by adding on-car sponsorship. Its current three-year agreement runs through ’16 (HMS).

BUILDERS SURPLUS: Daytona Int'l Speedway today announced that Dow Chemical and Ducharme Seating are the two newest partners of the We Built Daytona platform, which is for companies who have worked on the track's $400M front stretch renovation. The platform now has at least 15 companies, including Sherwin-Williams, Rossetti, Honeywell and Big Ass Fans. Dow provided insulation for structures going up as part of the renovation, while Ducharme provided the track's new wider seats (Stern).

RING IN THE NEW YEAR: In Daytona Beach, Clayton Park notes DIS President Joie Chitwood III and Invesco PowerShares Managing Dir & Global Head Dan Draper yesterday “rang the opening bell” at NASDAQ to celebrate the investment firm's multiyear deal as title sponsor of the NASCAR Xfinity Series' season opening race (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 1/13).