Old Spice, which has been a sponsor of Tony Stewart for 11 years, will not renew its sponsorship of his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team following the 2010 season.
The company, a division of Procter & Gamble, was the primary sponsor for 14 races for Stewart, whose car’s primary sponsor for the majority of the year is Office Depot.
Old Spice Brand spokesman Mike Norton said in a statement.
"Based solely on a change in our marketing strategies, the Old Spice contract with Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing will expire at the end of 2010 and will not be renewed. Old Spice has enjoyed an 11-year relationship with Tony and supported him as he became a very successful team owner in NASCAR. We wish Tony and Stewart-Haas Racing continued success in the future."
The Old Spice departure means that neither the car of Stewart nor teammate Ryan Newman is fully sponsored for 2011. Newman has sponsorship this year from the U.S. Army and Tornados but still has some races unsponsored.
Team's spokesman Mike Arning announced:
"Old Spice has been a great partner of Stewart-Haas Racing since the team’s inception [in 2009], and the brand was instrumental in helping the organization achieve so much success in a very short period of time. It was a relationship that began with Tony Stewart more than a decade ago, and as Tony’s stature grew, so did Old Spice’s brand equity. We look forward to creating a new and equally powerful brand synergy between Tony and another dynamic partner at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2011."
