FedEx said that sponsoring Hamlin's No. 11 car has generated over 1 billion impressions each yearGETTY IMAGES
FedEx has been NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin's main sponsor for the entirety of his 14-year career, and FedEx Senior VP/Integrated Marketing & Communications Patrick Fitzgerald said the company has "more than a billion brand impressions generated" from sponsoring Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota each year. Fitzgerald talked about the partnership on a podcast with NBC's Nate Ryan and said those impressions are "one of the reasons why it was really important for us to be the sole sponsor of the No. 11 car when we did the extension of our last deal." He said the impressions come "across everything," including "eyes on the brand at the track, on broadcasts, on digital and just really every place that we're able to activate our sponsorship." Fitzgerald said of Hamlin, "He's become a genuine extension of our brand and a real ambassador, and we're proud of that." He added that FedEx is aware of NASCAR's ratings declines causing other sponsors to decrease their commitments or leave the sport entirely. Fitzgerald said FedEx measures its sponsorships on "so many levels very precisely (and) we would not have entered into the extension that we announced without having metrics that are all pointing in the right direction." Hamlin said of FedEx, "We have a sponsor that believes in the business and believes in NASCAR and ... things are trending up for us." Hamlin said that he is "lucky" to have FedEx as a sponsor because "some of the best drivers in our series struggle to find sponsors and I've just been blessed to have one that's been super loyal to me and Joe Gibbs Racing" ("NASCAR on NBC," NBCSPORTS.com, 5/15).
