Lowe’s will not return as a sponsor next season with Hendrick Motorsports, marking the first time in 18 years that the home improvement chain will not be involved in the business of NASCAR. Lowe’s has been the full-season sponsor of the No. 48 Chevy driven by Jimmie Johnson since '01. Johnson signed a three-year HMS extension through the '20 Monster Energy Cup Series season, but Lowe’s only signed a one-year extension through '18. The loss is a sizable one for HMS, which likely earned around $20M annually from Lowe’s, as well as NASCAR on the whole. The departure of Lowe’s marks another loss of a major B2C brand in NASCAR, joining the likes of Target and Dollar General. However, HMS said that the situation is an opportunity to try to find a new company to align with Johnson for the first time in his career. Lowe’s works with GMR Marketing on its sports marketing. Lowe's Chief Customer Officer Michael McDermott in a statement said the company is ending the deal because it is "evolving" its marketing strategy, but he added the deal "has been valuable." Lowe's has faced stiff competition in recent years from Home Depot. The chain's Kobalt Tools brand was title sponsor of the Cup Series race in Las Vegas from '11-17 (Adam Stern, Staff Writer). Johnson yesterday tweeted, "It's been an incredible partnership and I'm so thankful to have been part of the @Lowes family for 18 years." Team Lowe's Racing's official feed tweeted, "We'd like to thank @JimmieJohnson, Chad Knaus, @TeamHendrick, and all of the amazing fans for making this such an amazing ride. Now, let's stay focused on #chasing8."
UNCERTAIN TIMES AHEAD: The AP's Jenna Fryer noted for Johnson and HMS, it means the "best NASCAR driver of his generation has a blank slate of 'inventory' for the first time in nearly two decades." For Lowe's, the decision is "simply business." A full season sponsor is now "almost unheard of in any racing series and one by one the Fortune 500 backers have altered their marketing spends." Target is "out of racing." So are "Home Depot and Sprint," along with UPS, Subway, Great Clips and Dollar General. Aaron's and Best Buy "are gone, too." It is a "different world, and only a handful of companies come anywhere close to the commitment Lowe's has had with Johnson." Lowe's probably "stayed in the sport longer than expected because rival Home Depot left NASCAR" after the '14 season (AP, 3/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote there is "no way to spin it; one of the longest-serving and most prominent sponsors leaving the Cup Series is a very clear sign that the NASCAR sponsorship game isn’t a thriving one" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/14).
MONEY TALKS: In an ESPN.com roundtable, NASCAR analysts discussed Lowe's departure, and Ricky Craven wrote, "Never in the history of NASCAR has the economy been this strong and the viability of sponsorship been this weak. It's not because NASCAR no longer offers value, it's because corporate America -- in the wake of the Great Recession -- has become very specific in where it spends advertising dollars." He added, "That said, I'm amazed Lowe's didn't show the honorable allegiance to the greatest driver our sport has ever seen ... Very disappointing." Ryan McGee: "The departure is just a bad look for the sport as a whole. The shocking part to me is the complete withdrawal." Alisha Miller: "I can't help but now wonder: Which major sponsor is next to bail?" Scott Page: "It's a bit of a black eye to the sport for Johnson to not be able to keep them involved. If Lowe's can't justify staying, is any sponsor safe?" Bob Pockrass: "There's no way to make this look pretty." Scott Symmes: "These are tough times financially for NASCAR teams, and the decision by Lowe's hammers that point home" (ESPN.com, 3/14). NBCSN’s Parker Kligerman said he is "not very surprised," noting Lowe's has had "multiple decades of sponsorship in the sport." Kligerman: "When you think about the current times with social media and such, people are not measuring in marketing initiatives in decades but in seconds or days." Kligerman: "Is there a NASCAR fan in the entire world that doesn't know Lowe's is a part of NASCAR and associate them with Jimmie Johnson and the 48 car? It’s impossible and they have got everything they need out of this sponsorship” (“NASCAR America,” NBCSN, 3/14).
