Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday morning (July 26) new sponsorship for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Erik Jones and XFINITY Series driver Ryan Preece from Craftsman Tools.
Stanley Black & Decker, owner of the Craftsman brand, already has a relationship with JGR, with its DeWalt brand sponsoring Jones’ No. 20 and its Stanley brand on Daniel Suarez’s No. 19.
“It’s a thrill for us to be a part of bringing the CRAFTSMAN brand back into the sport,” team owner Joe Gibbs said in a press release. “When you mention CRAFTSMAN to somebody it always seems they have a story to tell about how they used CRAFTSMAN tools growing up or around their own home or shop.
Craftsman is a familiar name to NASCAR fans, as it was the title sponsor of the Camping World Truck Series from 1996 to 2008.
“It’s really cool to represent an iconic brand with CRAFTSMAN,” Jones said. “CRAFTSMAN is a brand that I’ve used throughout my entire racing career from when I first started with go-karts, through late models and still have in my shop today. The car looks great, and I can’t wait to get on track with it in the coming months.”
The Craftsman colors will be on Jones’s No. 20 Toyota Camry for four playoff races beginning at Richmond Raceway, and on Preece’s No. 18 Camry for four races beginning at Watkins Glen International.
“To represent an iconic tool company like CRAFTSMAN is very special to me, and I know we will have the same reliability in our Camrys that they have in their tools,” Preece said.
Through 20 MENCS races so far this season, Jones has a win in the July Daytona International Speedway race and nine top 10s, and he is locked into the playoffs.
Preece, driving a partial NXS schedule this season, has a win at Bristol Motor Speedway, a pole at Daytona and four top 10s in five races. The No. 18 Toyota is in second place in the NXS owner standings, 16 points behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford.