Verizon named title sponsor of NASCAR Cup race on IMS road course in August
A familiar sponsor is coming back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a major way. After four seasons as IndyCar's title sponsor (2014-18) and after helping equip the Racing Capital of the World with 5G internet speeds, Verizon has been named the multi-year title-sponsor of the NASCAR Cup series race at IMS, starting Aug. 15 with the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
This summer's race will mark the first time the Cup series has run on the IMS road course after the Brickyard 400's nearly three-decade history as one of the series' premier oval races. The event will cap a tripleheader weekend, with IndyCar and NASCAR's Xfinity series running on the same course Saturday afternoon with the Big Machine Spike Coolers Grand Prix and the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, respectively.
“Verizon has been a terrific, longtime partner of IMS, and this mutually beneficial relationship is reaching a new level at the Speedway through the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard,” IMS President Doug Boles said in a release. “Verizon’s 5G technology has enabled IMS to become one of the most connected sports facilities in America, so we’re proud to see the world-class Verizon name on this year’s historic Cup Series race and beyond.”
Along with making IMS the first motorsports facility in the world to offer 5G , Verizon was also a large part of last month's Indy 500, helping support autonomous, contactless retail sales for snacks, drinks and merchandise when IMS hosted 135,000 fans on race day, making it the largest gathering in the world since the onset of the pandemic.
Verizon has been a longtime sponsor with Team Penske, including with its NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski and IndyCar's Will Power, and more recently in Austin Cindric's Daytona 500 debut. Additionally, the telecommunications company will debut as Joey Logano's sponsor on his No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang the week before the Aug. 15 IMS road race when the NASCAR Cup series visits Watkins Glen.
“IMS has always been a crown jewel in our sport, and I think all of us are going to want to win the first Cup race on the IMS road course,” Logano said in the release. “The last couple of years, the Cup Series has put on some great racing on road courses, and if last year’s Xfinity Series race was any indication, I think the Cup race will be just as great."
Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.