Whether under the old name of DuPont or its current one, Philadelphia-based coating company Axalta has long been synonymous with Jeff Gordon. But that will change next year, when it switches its primary NASCAR sponsorship to the No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The company has been with Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports for 23 years as he heads into retirement after this season. Rebranded after private equity firm The Carlyle Group bought DuPont in 2012, Axalta also decided to extend its deal, which was set to end in 2016, through 2018, and has increased its primary paint scheme total from 10 to 13.
The extended commitment comes on the heels of Axalta a few weeks ago announcing that it will build one of its finishing centers on Hendrick’s expansive campus in Concord, N.C.
Throughout the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, there had been speculation as to whether Axalta would stay with the No. 24 when Chase Elliott takes over next year or switch to another driver in Hendrick’s four-car stable. Nigel Budden, vice president of Axalta Coating Systems’ North America region, said the company would have been fine staying with the No. 24, which is going to be primarily sponsored by Napa Auto Parts, but it ultimately could not pass up the opportunity to align with Earnhardt, NASCAR’s most popular driver.
“We’re in this because we’re a B2B business; we make, essentially, paint,” Budden said. “And we’re trying to get to our target audience, which is the body shop owners in North America. … The decision was made purely on our growth trajectory and our customer base, and we like the fact that Dale brings the most popular driver title with him.
“It’s almost a marriage that we couldn’t design any better.”
Budden, whose company is seeing a 3-to-1 return on investment in NASCAR since it rebranded, added, “We can use Dale in [Axalta’s hospitality program] and that’s such a draw for us.”
From Hendrick’s perspective, the team is particularly pleased with Axalta increasing its number of races considering DuPont used to sponsor all or nearly all of Gordon’s races, said Pat Perkins, vice president of marketing for the race team. Perkins said the figures Hendrick asks for primary sponsorship of the Nos. 24 and 88 are “very similar” but noted that the added number of races means Axalta’s rights commitment went up.
In general, Hendrick asks $1 million per race for primary sponsorship of Earnhardt, sources said, but details of Axalta’s deal are unknown.
