3M to Sponsor Jeff Gordon

3M to Sponsor Jeff Gordon

Three-Year Commitment to Kick Off in 2015 with Jeff Gordon CONCORD, N.C. & ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 12, 2014-- 3M will join 11-time Sprint Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports beginning with the 2015 NASCAR season when it will become a primary sponsor of driver Jeff Gordon and his No. 24 Chevrolet SS team.

The new relationship will feature 3M as a primary sponsor in 11 Sprint Cup races annually and as an associate-level partner in all other events. The agreement covers the 2015, 2016 and 2017 NASCAR seasons.

All five of 3M's business units, which comprise more than $31 billion in annual sales, will use the sponsorship in consumer promotions, product launches and business-to-business opportunities.

"At 3M, we play to win, and we push hard every day to do just that," said Jesse Singh, senior vice president, 3M Global Sales and Marketing. "With this deal, we align with champion driver Jeff Gordon and an organization at the top of its game in Hendrick Motorsports. What they do in the garage and on the track exemplifies what we're all about in our labs, plants and business teams around the world."

With more than 65 of its products used in the construction and maintenance of Sprint Cup Series race cars, 3M for decades has played a key role in the success of NASCAR teams. The company manufactures more than 80,000 different products and has been an official NASCAR partner across several categories since 1995.

"The range of 3M's business is just incredible," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "It's an amazingly diverse company that spends billions in research and development to continue rolling out new and innovative products. We're already using many of them throughout the organization, and when you consider the potential for both consumer and business-to-business programs connected to our sport, the possibilities are endless.

" One of the most accomplished drivers in NASCAR history, Gordon is a four-time Cup Series champion, and his 90 victories rank third on the all-time wins list. Currently second in points, he has two victories, one pole position, seven top-five finishes and 15 top-10s in 22 Sprint Cup races this season.

"Innovation is what 3M is known for," said Gordon, 43, who has a lifetime contract with Hendrick Motorsports. "We've seen that approach throughout their involvement in NASCAR, and it's a terrific fit for what we do at Hendrick Motorsports and with the No. 24 team. I'm personally excited about the opportunities and thrilled to represent a company that's so passionately supported auto racing for such a long time."

Over the years, Rick Hendrick has proven a master at stealing both sponsors and drivers from Ford. It started when he hired Ken Schrader. Ford thought they had the youngster safely parked in Elmo Langley's #64 for seasoning back around 1984 before getting him in a competitive Winston Cup Ford the next year. But, along came Rick Hendrick and snatched him away right out from under Ford's eyes.

And while Ford was reveling in the success of young Jeff Gordon in the Bill Davis Ford Busch car, the brain trust in Dearborn let him slip into Hendrick's hands for a Cup ride.

Now, thanks again to Rick Hendrick, I guess "The Biff" and "The Cat in the Hat " will be looking for an alternate brand of tape besides Scotch when they buy their upcoming school supplies!

If this were a ball game, the score on Ford's side of the board against Hendrick would be goose eggs!

HMS taking a sponsor from Roush? Kinda tacky if you ask me.

Biff just signed an extension with RFR so this is a sticky situation for him.

All comes down to money, momentum, and manipulation.

Probably another angle to this deal.......following the trail of the late DuPont "automotive finishes" back in the day, there's likely an agreement whereby the vast Hendrick automotive group will (now) be exclusively using 3M products. 3M is deep into the automotive body/paint products and is a long-time standard of the industry. Great products, complicated cataloging system. 3M' a'int cheap and don't cut prices for nobody, except maybe now. In the NASCAR world of absolute capitalism, the rich get richer.

aha... so this goes beyond 200mph tape on race day....

The move of a sponsor from one team to another never surprises me - esp as RFR continues its decline.

What does surprise me a bit is the announcement of a 3 year deal between 3M and the 24.

• Gordon is apparently prepared to continue for at least another 3 years raising questions again about where Chase Elliott will fit at HMS in 2016. (Attn Kasey Kahne: keep your rsum up-to-date) - or -
• Kahne stays, Gordon exits after 2015 and Elliott steps into #24 with 3M & NAPA deals beginning in 2015.

When Elliott goes to Cup, seems to me HMS will be looking to RPM to procure use of #9. I suppose it's possible the 24 could be be shelved - at least by HMS - after Gordon steps out and Chase steps in to a re-numbered but same-sponsored Chevy.

Ya got yer vertical and horizontal hold controls on yer crystal ball working overtime, Chase!

Methinks Chase is the kind of guy who'd have had Tommy Houston getting in thorny situations when he drove for Roses ,

but rising to the occasion when driving for Southern Biscuit Flour !

Sometimes those big sponsor changes stay with the same manufacturer... aka STP from Ray Nichels/Fred Lorenzen to Petty Enterprises/Richard Petty for the 1972 season, both Chrysler teams.

The #24 has carried some interesting sponsors in NASCAR, though not always the Gordon/Hendrick #24:

Of course, turnabout has always been considered fair play in NASCAR.

Remember the Folgers Coffee sponsorship that once adorned the Hendrick Motorsports #25 of Tim Richmond

later appeared on the Roush Racing #6 of Mark Martin.

And, I'm not sure my calculator can add up all the drivers and teams who've carried Budweiser sponsorship.

I love my history - but I enjoy thinking about the future too. The 3 year term PEAKed my interest.

A 12-pack in Cup?

1. Richie Panch
2. Wally Dallenbach Jr.
3. Ricky Craven
4. Randy LaJoie
5. Terry Labonte
6. Bill Elliott
7. Darrell Waltrip
8. Neil Bonnett
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Ken Schrader
12. Tommy Ellis

There may be more - but those are the 12 cans in my cooler.

Bet you got a KICK out of Kyle's 1st business venture!

Amazing

Baker's dozen?

Whats' a Baker's dozen plus 1? 14?

Bodine was a miss on my part.

Kahne was intentional omission. Only included those who looked old enough to drink!

Actually, neither deserved to make the cut. Though Kahne won 2x for RPM, he never really seemed to respect the King as a car owner. NO BUD FOR YOU.

And Bodine, well King made his feelings known about him after a tangle at Daytona in 1982.

You butter believe it.

!!!

I must post a correction that came my way.... Rick Hendrick didn't "steal" Ken Schrader from the Ford camp until he spent 1985-1987 in Junie Donlavey's Ford. Mea culpa.

Of course, Folgers was with Morgan-McClure before going to HMS.

That, I had totally forgotten.

What? You Folgert about it?

You have an elephant-like memory of stories from the past. What is your excuse for forgetting this one? Ha.

I did discover (did not remember, 'tho I was there ) that Ruttman's final outing for Morgan-McClure in the Folger's ride was his and Morgan-McClure's only venture to the decaf side.

The green #4 Folger's decaf car ran at Atlanta on November 3, 1985. It wasn't too perky , though, dropping a valve and dropping out.

Uncredited photos posted by "Ole School Member" at Randy Ayers site.

I have an excuse for not noticing the green car at Atlanta. That day happened to be my 12th wedding anniversary (also Derrike Cope's 27th birthday) and I was busy with Len & Eddie Wood fashioning a "Happy Anniversary" windshield cover for the Kyle Petty/Wood Bros. ride that got beamed back to our home in Dallas on TV before the race started.

T. Taylor Warren photo

I recall your telling that story a time or two. Great effort on your part to do your race day job AND be the romantic husband from a distance. I bet you were proud as a peacock for pulling off that one.

I guess NBC will be all over it if the Arringtons bring the Peacock sponsor back for 2014!