MoneyLion will become a primary sponsor of Team Penske in '19 for three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races and will serve as the primary sponsor of Penske’s Xfinity Series car for 18 races. The online financial services company joined Penske earlier this year with a handful of primaries on the No. 22 Xfinity car driven by Austin Cindric, but it is expanding its presence significantly in its first full-time season in the sport next year. In addition to 18 races on Cindric’s ride, the company has bought two primaries on Penske's No. 22 Cup car driven by Joey Logano and one on the No. 12 driven by Ryan Blaney. The company, which announced the news Thursday night at a team event at the Penske Racing Museum in Phoenix, also will give its members 1,500 NASCAR tickets in '19, as well as 5% cashback on NASCAR tickets and purchases of products at NASCAR tracks and on NASCAR.com.
IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL: MoneyLion CMO Bill Davaris said the company is expanding its NASCAR presence to take advantage of untapped business in Middle America, which is part of NASCAR’s core demo. Most of MoneyLion's competitors are focusing on consumers on the coasts. The company has also received pitches from ISC and SMI tracks and is in talks to buy track assets, though Davaris was not ready to reveal with whom. MoneyLion, which has 3.2 million members, is trying to position itself as a next-level bank with a lifestyle marketing vibe and offers to its members like no fees on ATM withdrawals, minimum balances or overdrafts. MoneyLion is also working on B2B opportunities with Penske and its partners, and it has already worked out an arrangement with team owner Roger Penske to offer its premium model to all of his 60,000-plus employees across the world. Davaris: “We saw a huge opportunity to connect in an authentic way with the middle of the country and not just the bi-coastal approach. I come from helping to build Americana brand like Cabela’s when I worked with Ogilvy, and I’ve always understood the power of that demographic.”
