Another longtime sponsor could be leaving NASCAR.
Denny Hamlin posted a thank you message to FedEx on social media before Sunday’s Cup Series season finale at Phoenix. Per the Sports Business Journal, the shipping company is ‘not expected’ to return to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025.
FedEx has been a sponsor at JGR since 2005 and its relationship with Hamlin has been the longest running driver and sponsor combination in the Cup Series. The move, however, is not much of a surprise. Rumors had been swirling about FedEx’s future NASCAR involvement for months and the company had cut back its sponsorship inventory in recent seasons.
The company sponsored Hamlin’s car in all 36 Cup Series races in 2020 and its involvement has decreased since then. Counting Sunday’s race at Phoenix, FedEx has been Hamlin’s primary sponsor in 14 points races in 2024.
Since he started driving full-time at NASCAR’s top level in 2006, Hamlin has scored 54 wins. All but seven of those victories have come in a car sponsored by FedEx.
Unless FedEx decides to stay in NASCAR and sign a deal with another team, its departure would simply be the latest in a long line of major brands who have moved on from 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 departures followed those of other big brands like Home Depot and UPS.
