Great Clips “will end its sponsorship of struggling” Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne after the '17 season, leaving Hendrick Motorsports “needing an anchor sponsor” for its No. 5 car for '18, according to Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com. The company has “exercised an option to end what was announced” in '16 as a two-year extension to sponsor 10 races a year through '18. Farmers Insurance already had “decided not to renew its 12-race deal after this season.” Kahne, who failed to make the Chase in '15 and '16, is currently 20th in the Cup standings. He is “on a 95-race winless streak” dating back to August '14 (ESPN.com, 5/31). YAHOO SPORTS’ Nick Bromberg noted Farmers Insurance, Kahne’s primary sponsor since he joined Hendrick Motorsports in '12, is “slated to be on Kahne’s car for a third of the season” in '17. Without Farmers and Great Clips, HMS “has to fill” 24 races in '18 that it had sold for '17. The race team is “currently working to re-up” with driver Jimmie Johnson and his primary sponsor, Lowe’s. The driver and sponsor contracts expire at the end of the '17 season, but it would be “nothing less than an absolute stunner if Johnson and Lowe’s didn’t return” for '18 and beyond. HMS also will be “working to find a driver and potential sponsorship” for the No. 88 in '18 following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/31).
