“We obviously anticipate a great deal of interest,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s chief marketing officer. “It delivers solid ratings, we’ve got a core fan base that has been watching the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series for 13 years, and it always seems to have great racing, right down to the last race.”
Craftsman, which manufactures and sells tools and power equipment under the Sears banner, has title sponsored the series since it began in 1995. Scott Howard, manager of marketing partnerships and activation for Sears, told
The Star newspaper that his company had been negotiating with NASCAR for several months but in the end, Sears opted to go in a different direction.
Howard added that Sears is looking to continue its presence in NASCAR.
NASCAR’s two other properties will also have name changes from 2008. The Nextel Cup series will become the Sprint Cup series and that the Busch series will become the Nationwide series.
