Faith-based health care company AdventHealth is switching its NASCAR team affiliation, going from Trackhouse Racing to the newly Toyota-backed Legacy Motor Club beginning with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The deal will be announced this morning with AdventHealth in 2024 set to buy six primary paint scheme positions with the No. 43 Toyota driven by Erik Jones, including the Daytona 500, and three additional primary paint schemes with the No. 84 Toyota driven by team co-owner Jimmie Johnson.
The team, now in its second year under the Legacy banner after formerly being known as Petty GMS, won a competitive bidding process for AdventHealth’s business that saw several teams in the garage vie for the program. AdventHealth left Trackhouse because the team’s new sponsor, Busch Beer, was set to take up a significant portion of the season, leaving little inventory for AdventHealth, which “had to try to find a new team that would allow us to be a part-time sponsor as opposed to a full-time sponsor,” according to company President and CEO Terry Shaw.
AdventHealth is a Florida-based, Christian-focused non-profit that has more than 50 hospitals in nine states, and it’s doubled in size to $18B in revenue in recent years, caring for over seven million patients each year through 92,000 employees. It’s been a sponsor in NASCAR since 2015.
Legacy was able to win AdventHealth’s business in part by putting together a plan for growth that is centered around a switch this upcoming season to Toyota from Chevrolet. Johnson also is a fit athlete who participates in several other sports in his spare time, and the culture of focusing on being in good shape was something that felt like a cultural fit to AdventHealth. As part of the deal, AdventHealth will be providing support through its employees like nutritionists and physical fitness experts to help the team’s pit crews, drivers and business-side employees with their health. AdventHealth will also support the Erik Jones Foundation and its work to donate to melanoma research.
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Seen as far down the Chevrolet pecking order, Legacy struggled this past season on the track, with Jones finishing 27th in points and the other car having a mid-season driver change. But Shaw saw that Legacy “is focused on building themselves into a high-caliber team, and I think the move to Toyota is going to be really good for them.” The company is going to focus its marketing efforts -- including paint schemes and hospitality -- on races where it has some of its hospitals nearby, including Atlanta, Bristol, Texas, Kansas, Chicago and Daytona. AdventHealth works with Bespoke Sports & Entertainment on its NASCAR marketing, and it is one of five “injector” partners at Daytona with large, branded entrances that were purchased on 10- to 15-year deals for $2-2.5M annually. As the official healthcare partner of Daytona, AdventHealth helps care for more than 6,000 people at the venue annually.
AdventHealth is a major player in Florida sports sponsorship, also carrying deals with the Magic, Buccaneers, Lightning, Florida Citrus Sports, Orlando Solar Bears and others. Shaw said the company has a third party “analyze all our sponsorships and tell us, based upon the investments we’ve made, what the return is … and as we have done that work, NASCAR is one of the best investments we have made from a fanbase and consumer knowledge base standpoint.” The company is seeking to grow its revenue to $35B over the next 10 years “and care for as many people as we possibly can,” Shaw said. Andrew Feit, Legacy MC’s VP/Business Development, helped lead negotiations for the team.
