Valvoline is increasing its primary sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron from three races to five throughout the 2021-2022 NASCAR Cup Series seasons, the team announced April 27.
For 2021, the lubricant brand will adorn the No. 24 Chevrolet of Byron for two events at Darlington Raceway’s throwback weekend on May 9 and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL playoff race on Oct. 10.
“The events we get to run with Valvoline this year are awesome,” said Charlotte-native Byron in a team release. “We have a ‘throwback’ paint scheme coming for Darlington that fans are going to love. For me, the ROVAL is a special race because it’s my home track and in the playoffs. Valvoline is a major partner of Hendrick Motorsports. I’m looking forward to the chance to work more closely with them and do some fun things together.”
Larson, who has been mostly racing without third-party primary sponsorship thus far in 2021, will run the Valvoline colors for three events in 2021 with the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 20, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 28 and the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol on Sept. 18.
“To be a member of Team Valvoline is really cool for me,” Larson said. “In addition to what they do with Hendrick Motorsports, they’re a longtime supporter of grassroots racing, which is a huge passion of mine. I’m excited to work with a sponsor with so much history, and I truly appreciate the generous commitment they’ve already made to support our foundation and the ‘Drive for 5’ program. That level of confidence and partnership is really meaningful. I hope to repay them with trips to victory lane and important off-the-track work with the foundation and other initiatives.”
Both Cup drivers have already claimed victories in 2021 with Byron winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Larson winning at Las Vegas, which all but guarantees their berth in the playoffs.
“There’s tremendous energy around NASCAR this season,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Kyle and William are having strong years – each with a win already – and we look forward to seeing them in those iconic Valvoline colors. It’s a relationship we are extremely proud to grow.”
Coverage for this weekend’s Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway will be live on FS1 on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
About the author
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
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Throughout HMS life, they have had several different brands of motor oil sponsors. Which one had the best oil?
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