Just over a week after Matt Kenseth won his first race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at Dover International Speedway, primary sponsor Dollar General has announced it will be parting ways with the 2003 Cup Series champion at the end of the 2016 season.
According to a report from Sports Business Daily, Dollar General will leave Joe Gibbs Racing, and will not sign on with another team.
“Dollar General has had tremendous success with NASCAR and our sponsorship of Joe Gibbs Racing,” the company said in a release to SBD. “We have enjoyed a great partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and we are excited to see what the No. 20 Dollar General car driven by Matt Kenseth will accomplish during the remainder of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Our strategy to reallocate our future marketing assets into new programs is strictly a business decision to align our priorities to better serve our customer in this rapidly changing retail environment.”
Dollar General signed with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013, when Kenseth made the switch from Roush Fenway Racing. Starting with 17 races that season, the company increased its primary sponsorship to 27 events in 2014, 29 in 2015 and 30 in 2016.
According to the report, the organization will announce a replacement for Dollar General within approximately a month.
Dollar General has been involved in NASCAR with Frank Cicci Racing with Jim Kelly in 2005, followed by Kevin Harvick, Inc., Braun Racing, Turner Motorsports and Kyle Busch Motorsports, in addition to JGR.