Nascar has been “a little bit behind” on sponsorship, says commissioner Steve Phelps

• Phelps believes race teams and tracks doing well from a sponsorship standpoint
• Commissioner thinks Nascar could potentially expand to five premier partners in future

Nascar has been “a little bit behind” on sponsorship compared to major US sports leagues, according to commissioner Steve Phelps.

Speaking in Nascar’s traditional end-of-year ‘State of the Sport’ address ahead of the championship finale, Phelps praised recent commercial progress among teams and racetracks but admitted the series has lagged behind other sports properties in recent years.

“If you think about where sponsorship lives today versus where we were three, four, five years ago, if you ask our race teams, [it’s] probably the best number of sponsors on cars that they’ve had in probably 15 years as we head into the 2026 season,” Phelps said. “The racetracks are doing great from a sponsorship standpoint.

“I think after a couple years of kind of at the league level, the Nascar level, I think we were a little bit behind. We’re closing that gap quickly with a number of new sponsors that have come on board. There are a number that will be making announcements in the near future.”

Phelps added: “If you think about the importance of sponsorship to Nascar broadly, the revenue is important, don’t get me wrong, but it’s what the sponsors do to showcase our sport to their customer base or their B2B base, bringing them to the racetrack and experiencing this sport. It’s important.

“Nascar’s growth in the 90s and 2000s was largely built on sponsorship and so for us to have this sponsorship come back to the level we’ve had is very gratifying and heart-warming.”

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Phelps’ confidence comes after Nascar secured a fourth premier partner, with Freeway Insurance joining from next season.

Geico’s departure at the end of the 2024 season had left Nascar with three partners in the top tier of its partnership model – the first time it had fallen below four since the system was introduced in 2020.

However, the new multi-year agreement with Freeway restores a full complement of premier partners from next season. As part of the deal, Freeway also becomes Nascar’s official insurance partner and will title sponsor the series’ second visit to Phoenix Raceway next year.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Freeway Insurance to the Nascar family as a premier partner and a race entitlement partner at Phoenix Raceway,” said Steve O’Donnell, president of Nascar.

“This partnership highlights the strong alignment between our two brands – dedication to serving everyday Americans is at the heart of everything we do. Freeway’s commitment further reinforces the strength and growth of Nascar’s commercial ecosystem as we continue to attract top-tier partners who see the value and excitement of this sport.”

Thanks to the success of Nascar’s new commercial model, Phelps doesn’t expect the series to return to having a single naming rights partner for the Cup Series. He also sees no reason to limit the top tier to just four partners.

“I don’t foresee a day where we would go back to having a single brand for our Cup Series,” Phelps said. “Financially and promotionally, it was very strong [going] back to the Winston days and then Nextel, Sprint, Monster, but I think it also inhibited the number of folks that wanted to promote the Cup Series.

“I don’t envision a time when we would go back to a single partner. Could we expand to five premier partners potentially? We’ll just have to wait and see.”