Rolling Stone "plans to co-sponsor a U.S. team in one of the prototype divisions of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans auto-endurance race," according to Jim Peltz of the L.A. TIMES. The magazine "would join Patron Spirits in sponsoring the two Honda ARX-04b cars fielded by Patron's Extreme Speed Motorsports team in the race in Le Mans, France, on June 13-14." The cars "will carry the Rolling Stone livery, and it's the first time the magazine has made such a marketing effort in motor racing." Wenner Media Head of Digital Gus Wenner, whose company publishes Rolling Stone, said, "It felt like it made sense for our brand." Patron Spirits, led by billionaire John Paul DeJoria, "already is active in motorsports, especially sports-car racing." The company "also backs the drag-racing team" of DeJoria's daughter, Alexis DeJoria, in the NHRA Mello Yello Series. The Rolling Stone/Patron Spirits cars "will compete in the LMP2 division." Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson "will take turns driving one of the cars, while the other will be driven by Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty" (L.A. TIMES, 3/4).
