Another longtime sponsor could be leaving NASCAR.
Denny Hamlin posted a thank you message to FedEx on social media prior to the Cup Series season finale in Phoenix. According to the Sports Business Journal, the company is not expected to return to Joe Gibbs Racing until 2025.
FedEx has been a sponsor with JGR since 2005 and the relationship with Hamlin is the longest-running driver-sponsor combination currently in the Cup Series. However, the move is not a big surprise. Rumors about FedEx’s future involvement in NASCAR had been swirling for months, and the company had scaled back its sponsorship inventory in recent seasons.
The company sponsored Hamlin’s car in all 36 Cup Series races in 2020 and his involvement has since decreased. Including Sunday’s race in Phoenix, FedEx was Hamlin’s primary sponsor in 14-point races in 2024.
Since he began driving full-time at NASCAR’s top level in 2006, Hamlin has racked up 54 wins. All but seven of the victories have come in a FedEx-sponsored car.
Unless FedEx decides to stay with NASCAR and strike a deal with another team, FedEx’s departure would simply be the latest in a long line of major brands to leave NASCAR over the past decade. Companies like Lowe’s, Target, Nationwide and MillerCoors have stopped sponsoring cars after being some of the most recognizable sponsors in modern NASCAR. Their departure followed that of other major brands such as Home Depot and UPS.
