07.07
DAYTONA BEACH – Walmart and NASCAR’s fan bases are a perfect match, yet the retail behemoth has never sponsored a race car in NASCAR’s high-profile Sprint Cup Series.
That’s going to change with today’s Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, where NASCAR legend Bill Elliott will drive a Walmart-adorned car.
“Walmart has been a strong leader in the retail market for a number of years, and to have them in the sport and the capacity that they are, it’s a big deal,” the semiretired NASCAR driver said from the Speedway on Thursday as he prepared for his third Sprint Cup race of the year.
Elliott visited several area Walmart stores this week as part of the promotion.
Walmart is sponsoring the car as a one-time gesture specifically to celebrate the retailer’s 50th anniversary — Elliott’s car is No. 50.
The chain has no plans to sponsor a car after this, Walmart spokeswoman Sarah Spencer said.
The sponsorship highlights Walmart’s recent specialized partnership with stock-car racing’s top governing body.
Walmart and Daytona Beach-based NASCAR are in the second year of an exclusive partnership called Race Time. Walmart says it’s the largest retail promotion in NASCAR history, and it was one of the first agreements NASCAR entered into after forming a licensing group called NASCAR Team Properties in early 2010, said Blake Davidson, vice president of licensing and consumer products for NASCAR.
Under the agreement, NASCAR and a large number of race teams consolidated licensing rights around the biggest product categories, ending the fragmented process of individual teams working with stores and product-makers themselves.
Walmart soon after reached its Race Time deal with NASCAR, which allows Walmart to sell merchandise and host NASCAR-related fan events at Walmart stores in cities where Sprint Cup Series races are held. Walmart also offers discounted family-ticket packages in those markets.
NASCAR even has an office across the street from Walmart’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. But still, it never sponsored a car until today.
That isn’t too odd, said Tyson Webber, a senior vice president at GMR Marketing who has worked with NASCAR and sponsorships. There are different routes companies can take to connect with NASCAR and sponsoring a car can be “a little bit narrow,” he said.
“And for a retailer like Walmart that has as large and diverse of a population as you can get — I think they’re well-suited to stay an official partner and doing a lot with their licensing,” Webber said.
Elliott, who has won four times at the Speedway, was chosen partly because of his popularity with fans, Spencer said. Elliott is racing with Turner Motorsports, a team that typically fields cars in NASCAR’S lower-rung circuits. But he’s hopeful that his past success at Daytona will carry on to today’s race in the Walmart car.
“If we can finish in the top 10 of this field, we’ll have a heck of a night,” said Elliott, a 16-time winner of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award. “The main thing is survival.”
By Tom Knox
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
one time deal that is bad news, darn hoping some good outfit would get Bill on the team
9 to go…. take her to the front and win the thing.
You Are The Man!
After what I saw Iast night Bill you are correct to say the least.. what a wreckfest.. Still I wonder why they don’t use a smaller V8 w/out restrictor plates.. ???? Cars bunched up is not good @ Superspeedways !!
Good luck tonight Bill. I hope the term semi-retired does not hurt your chances of a future ride. Be safe be fast.
come on bill lets set another unbeatable record oldest winner in cup history i know you can do it takem to school awesome bill!!!!
Even though it didn’t end the way we all wanted it to, it felt good having a car to cheer for again. I’ll admit that I was skeptical about how this would go, since it was just a one race deal, but that was so much fun to watch. Who knows what the future holds, but if that was it, I’m glad it was in a car fast enough for a legend!….and my fingers are crossed that that wasn’t it. Great job Bill!
Boy, that was fun while it lasted! Just before the wreck, Bill was faster than the leaders and was moving up steadily. If it weren’t for bad luck…
But still, it was so good to see Bill running like the old days in a competitive car. Hope Turner Motorsports and Walmart will team up with Bill and put him in some more races. I’ll do all my shopping at Walmart if they do!
Thanks for the memories, Bill. You should feel pumped about your performance today!
You be sure to tell Bill how proud all of us are on his run tonight. That was like watching the bill from the 80′s and 90′s out there. That move he made up the middle brought more joy and excitement then I’ve had in a while and watching him run tonight was a thrill a minute. This is probably the best I’ve felt when Elliott has got knocked out of a race because it was so great to watch him drive a race car like that. If Turner would give Bill a car at Indy Bill would be a threat for a win. I think he had a top 10 to top 5 car tonight. I also heard he had a vibration and he was still driving the wheels off of that care. GO BILL!!!! He showed some owners some stuff tonight….
Great run tonight Bill. Loved hearing your in car audio. hope the powers that be put up some additional races. You certainly showed your talent and the 50 was strong. Thanks!!!
Way to go Bill!!! You were driving that thang. i was so fired up seeing you run good! You were the reason i watched racing. with out you in the race its nothing. NASCAR needs Bill Elliott!!!! They crazy if they dont put in some more races!! That was good stuff!!!!! i love it! Bill YOU DA MAN!!
great job bill. car looked good, stable and fast. could hug that yellow line for sure. nothing you can do about the wreck other than not be back there. but thats racin. it looked like if that dang field spread out a bit you could have picked you way to the front. but it was a log jam race. kinda promotes the big one. it stink when you got a good car and run good and know you got a good piece, but still you know you gotta get thru the big one.. i dont wanna blame jimmy but heck even i knew they were gonna start to pit, pull down man get out of the way, dont check up in traffic. oh well. hope you opened some eyes. turner should put you in indy and dega. keeping my fingers crossed for something good. like i said great run and cindy ask him to be honest and let us know what he had for a car, and be honest, i would love to know how good it really was. cause it looked like a hot rod and he really could do what he wanted with it.
Awesome run last night Bill.You were right up in there.Looked like car was as good as everyone.That team is ready for cup racing.Great job,Hope you get another op in another good car soon.
I was thrilled to see you back on track. I hated how it ended. I didn’t sleep good, but I was so excited to see you up front. Is every owner in the sport blind??????????????
It was great to see Bill on the track again and with a good ride. I am sure he could have had a top 10 finish if he hadn’t got caught in the daytona reckfest. Daytona seems to be more luck then anything else. Hope see Bill racing again soon. He could make nascar more interesting again. I just can’t get interested in all this new cookie cutter drivers
Bill was Awesome! Ran up front early, made his way back to the front before the final pit stop so he would be in the lead pack at the end. Too bad he was taken out. Kurt Busch tried to drive up the middle and crashed. Bill drove up the middle and passed a lot of cars!!
Looked like Bill got a shove.. I hope you get another chance to drive Darlington or some intermediate track Bill ! A place where you can show your skills. All the best to you, Chase & Cindy/family..
As some of you may know in my posts I have been quite critical of Bill’s previous performances however my motive has never been to discount my favourite driver but to vent my disappointment because I hated to see what was happening. He deserved a better fate.
After watching last nights race I wanted to tell Bill how proud I was of him. As Roger said it was like watching the Bill of old. He stayed up front, was competitive and I strongly believe was waiting to put the spurs to the 50 car.
I also appreciated Kyle Petty for giving Bill so much deserved praise and telling like it is. He is a broadcast professional. I hope Bill gets another opportunity to drive the Turner Motorsports car, in my opinion he earned it.
there is no doubt Bill still has it!!!!!!!!
Bill showed how to come to the front, but rookies always get Bill in wrecks
It was great to see you run well last night. It was the first time I have enjoyed a race this year. I can’t get very interested when you are not in the field. I was really pleased to see how very well you qualified and ran till Busch caused that melee. I hope you will race again soon if you want.
So GLAD to have seen “awesome bill crom dawsonville!!
Concur with everyone! What an awesome night getting to see Bill running in 3rd place for the first 42 laps. And then seeing him bringing it to the front. Man, I’m sick of woulda, coulda, shoulda. I want to see Bill in a Turner car full time or at least 20 races a year and see him win a few races. Last night gives me hope we just might get to see Bill in a competitive ride. Come on Turner Racing, pput Bill in a Sprint car.
Turner motorsports and Bill had a well prepared car,sounded on radio not many changes all night…tho there was talk of vibration a couple times,he thought it was coming from the transfer case….great run Bill that was top 5 material in my book!!!!
Bill it was great seeing you back at Daytona the other night! I loved seeing you run right up front and for the first 40 odd laps you were third right in the middle of the Roush boys so you were proving you still have it! Eventhough everyone loved the way you were racing Saturday night dont let that be your last race even if you have to bring back the old #94. Bill everyone saw you coming to the front on tv you were even driving in the middle of cars passing them. For the first time in years I was on the edge of the couch rooting you on because I knew for once you had a car to match your talent! I am only 16 Bill so I wasnt around when you were tearing everyone up in the 80′s and 90′s but I can see you can do it and if Turner Motorsports is smart they will put you back in the car at Talledega later on this year. Just whatever you do dont let that be it Bill! One more thing is there any t-shirts or hats of your #50 Walmart car being made because I would love one of each?
Walmart racing w/Bill Elliot and the Turner team put on a spectacular race. It was just like old times watching bill run theWalmart #50 up to the front (3rd) . Thus proving they had a car that could win. Bill got hung out to dry while going it alone on the backstrech and fell back a lil (tks restrictor plate) but made a awesome comeback through traffic while passing Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson’ climbing all the way back to 11th b4 all hell broke loose (tks again restrictor plates). Listening to Bills take on the wreck shows what a classy driver he is by just pointing out that someone got under his car from behind, and he wasn’t looking to blame. It was sad for a lot of us fans in the stands who let out a collective sy as the #50 came to rest in front of the grand stands. Bill tried to get her back in the race by firing the #50 back up, but one of te right front wheel was locked up and the car just spun in a half circle b4 Bill had to shut-er down. We had no one else to root for after that, but look forward to next week without the plates where they can really race. P.s. if anyone out there knows bill ask him if he can give our good ol driver (mark martin) a lil push tks, from Daytona
Damn good run ABE!
There is no doubt you were gonna be mixin it up for the win.
It was so nice to see you in a good car again and showing what you can do.
You the man!
Thank you Bill. It was exciting to see you working your way back to the front.
Great run Saturday night Bill. You got to run Indy!!!!!!!!!!
The #22 needs a driver Bill would fit in there
That’s a good idea rsfyj. They need somebody like Bill who won’t wreck every race or fail a drug test. But that was definately the best Nascar race I’ve seen this year. (because Bill was in it and doing great) Too bad somebody always has to ruin it. Hope Bill gets more chances with Turner. Thanks Bill for a great run Saturday.
I hope all goes well for AJ. I like him and he seems smarter than to do something on purpose that could ruin his career, that said. I would love to see Bill in the yellow 22.
I agree with all these fans of yours. You where awsome !!!!! That was the best race I have seen this year. Only wish you could have made it to the end. Im sure you had something for them. But anyways. Great job Bill Elliott. Hope to see you in a good ride at Indy. Best Of Luck Bill & Chase