Jack Roush, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Steve Newmark Talk with Media on Sponsor News
Roush Fenway Racing has announced a deal that will solidify its partnership of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team through 2021. Fastenal will continue to serve as the anchor partner of the No. 17 and will increase its number of primary races with Stenhouse and the team. SunnyD and Fifth Third Bank will each continue to play a major role with the team, serving as primary partners with the No. 17 in multiple events over the next four seasons.
Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark
“We want to take a second to thank everyone for trekking out here. I know it was somewhat of a chaotic weekend, but the coverage you guys provided was phenomenal. I think we’d all agree it was an unbelievable showcase by NASCAR and Bristol Motor Speedway to get the track ready.
“We brought you here today to talk about our partners, or more appropriately brag about them. As you can see, we’re celebrating three of our partners. As for a few words on our history with them, I think each partnership is unique.
“The Fastenal Company has been an anchor with Ricky for several years. They’ve been with us since 2010, and although they’re primarily focused with Ricky, if you look at the course of their relationship with us, they’ve been the primary for eight different drivers with us. Our relationship goes well beyond the marketing side. They’ve become part of who we are and what we represent. If you walk through the halls of our shop you’ll see their vending machines as they help us with inventory control. They lend us their engineering prowess on certain projects to get more speed in the car, but most importantly they have become a role model for us in how to become leaders in business ethics and how to act with integrity. We’re very appreciative of having that partnership and relationship and that they’ve been the anchor of the 17 program.
“Our relationship with Fifth Third Bank started a little differently than most you see in NASCAR. They actually came out and earned our business and were a partner with us in handling all of our banking and financial needs before we asked them to be a marketing partner on the car. I think as most of you are familiar, that’s actually the opposite of how you usually see it in the sport. They were integrated into everything we were doing here on the business side before they even became a partner on the marketing side. What’s been special is they’ve gone above and beyond for our employees. They have conducted all sorts of lunch and learns; educations about mortgages, retirement, stuff that’s helped all of us with our personal finances and we’re greatly appreciative of that. And, of course, they were on Ricky’s car for both of his wins last year.
“Last but not least is SunnyD. They are a brand under the Brynwood Partners Portfolio, which is a private equity group led by Henk Hartong. We’ve been extremely privileged to have Henk and his team’s support as they’ve had six different brands on our cars over the years. They’ve been with us since 2010, it started with Zest, then Juicy Juice, some others and ended up with SunnyD. We’re appreciative of that relationship because they’ve really given our team creative license to have fun with it. We’ve taken these brands and done a lot in the social and digital space that I think some of you guys have participated in. There’s no doubt that Henk and his team have become like family for us. With that, I’ll let Ricky take it over and get us across the finish line.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford Fusion
“Thanks to everybody for coming out. Obviously Bristol was a really good weekend for us and it’s always nice to have everybody here after a nice weekend like that. We wanted to announce that Fastenal is going to continue as our anchor sponsor, and SunnyD and Fifth Third will all continue through the 2021 season. That’s something we’ve been working on and are very proud of that we were able to all accomplish together.
“With the three being such different companies, I think it says a lot about what our sport can do and what we can do here at Roush Fenway Racing to help those partners continue to grow their business and get the things and objectives done that they’re looking for, and to also help us continue to get faster on the racetrack. It’s a huge day for us here at Roush Fenway, something that we’re very proud of. We’re looking to get each one of them in victory lane; we’ve gotten Fifth Third there twice, but we want to continue to up our level of competition and get each of our partners in victory lane. They’re all like family to me and it’s been a great partnership, and I look forward to continuing our partnership through 2021.”
