Coca-Cola has extended its partnership with NASCAR that will "see the continuation of Coke being the 'Official Soft Drink of NASCAR' that it has held" since '98, according to Maury Brown of FORBES. The deal, which includes ISC, will "continue the long-standing partnership" through '23. The extension will "move from separate agreements between ISC and Coca-Cola and NASCAR and the soft drink giant into a singular inclusive deal." Coca-Cola will "retain the pouring rights for 21 race tracks" in '18. Coca-Cola has had a 50-year relationship with NASCAR, and the extension "looks to build off it where they they have built a significant relationship" with NASCAR. A core focus of the extension is "building off the Coca-Cola Racing Family, a group of drivers that includes Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suárez and Darrell Wallace Jr." A key part of the new agreement that the sides see as important will have NASCAR and Coca-Cola "extend the NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola imitative that was activated" in '17 in the last year of the prior agreement. That program will now be extended and "supports U.S. Armed Forces where Coca-Cola honors and recognizes service members at race tracks annually" (FORBES.com, 1/17). NASCAR Exec VP & Chief Global Sales & Marketing Officer Steve Phelps said that the deal is "one of the longest the companies have agreed to during their two decades of partnership." Phelps: "Towards the end of this we’ll re-assess what’s working and what’s not, and we’ll make changes to it, or they will make changes and we’ll be off to a new agreement" (USATODAY.com, 1/17).
