Earlier this week Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, managed to re-sign driver Kyle Larson to a multi-year extension. However, the deal was contingent on him finalizing a sponsorship agreement with Hendrick Cars owner Rick Hendrick.
“This was one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever been a part of”, Hendrick said. “Owning a race team, you know you have to really sell yourself out there—and the way Kyle (Larson)’s been racing this year, it makes him pretty enticing to a corporate partner. But closing the deal with Hendrick Cars really forced me to use every ounce of persuasion I have.”
“We’re really proud of what we’ve been able to do this year, but we don’t enter any partnership lightly”, said Hendrick. “Here at Hendrick Cars, we pride ourselves on giving the customer the best price possible, and we keep costs down by getting the most for our marketing dollar. I know Hendrick Motorsports was expecting us to just open up the checkbook, but we needed to make sure we got value for our dollar.”
Larson’s comeback has been one of the biggest stories of the 2021 Nascar Cup season, sitting second in points on four race wins. Hendrick indicated that he had multiple offers from other sponsors besides Hendrick.
“We’ve had lots of companies show interest in being on the hood of the 5 car”, Hendrick said, “but we really wanted to keep our momentum going with what we have. With multiple wins and a rehabilitated public image, we knew we could present Kyle Larson to Hendrick Cars as the once and future face of the company.”
“Mr. Hendrick had some good points in the negotiations”, Hendrick said, “but I had to take a night to sleep on it. I don’t know if he’d want me telling you this, but Rick wound up texting me a few times that night to see if he could close the deal. By the morning, we had an early meeting where I shook my hand and closed.”
Hendrick said that once a press conference with Hendrick was completed, he would move towards re-signing associate sponsor Nations Guard, owned by Rick Hendrick.