• January 26, 2012

In the lead-up to the Daytona 500 next month Chicago-based MillerCoors has extended it's official partnerships with NASCAR and and Penske Racing.  

Part of the program makes Coors Light the "Official Beer" of NASCAR’s three national series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks – and continue its Official Status Sponsorship of the motorsports sanctioning body, a title it's had since 2008.

Prior to that the beer brand was primary sponsor of the #40 car for 14 years.

The Coors Light partnership with NASCAR includes the Coors Light Pole Award for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, which rewards the driver with the fastest qualifying time each week.  It also includes the exclusive right to use NASCAR marks on retail point-of-sale and merchandising materials, in advertising and digital marketing, and through other marketing tools, per the company.

It also includes a "Miss Coors Light" program, which began at the start of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup and continued throughout the 2011 season.

Miss Coors Light presents the Coors Light Pole Award to the winning driver, makes appearances during race week at local bars and has social-media responsibilities on the Miss Coors Light Facebook page.

Miller Lite will continue as the season-long primary sponsor of Penske’s No. 2 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski. That alliance began in 1991. Keselowski and his car, dubbed "the Blue Deuce" will be featured throughout the year in Miller Lite-branded point-of-sale materials displayed in on- and off-premise retail accounts across the country, as well as in advertising and digital marketing. The driver and members of his team will make special appearances at retail accounts season long.

Meanwhile, MillerCoors will continue its alliances with seven tracks that host NASCAR races. “The return of MillerCoors to NASCAR not only ensures that the company will bring back compelling activation that continues to engage and excite our fans, but it also benefits our ecosystem as a whole, which is comprised of tracks, drivers and teams,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR CMO, in a statement. 

Said MillerCoors CMO Andy England, “We don’t make investment decisions like this without having a great sense of exactly what the alliance will deliver for our brands.”