Sponsorship support is crucial for any NASCAR team to survive in the sport. Ask Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing, they understand the struggle of locking an anchor sponsor for multiple races. Gone are the days when teams would rely on one brand for the entire year. If a legacy team like JGR couldn’t escape the clutches of the changing dynamics of the sponsorship model, what about the newcomers?
Despite bagging the $7.7 billion media rights deal, brands and sponsors aren’t convinced to put their funds to use. FedEx, GEICO, Hooters, and Xfinity are some of the examples that have pulled their plug on NASCAR sponsorships. And going by the latest reports, Legacy Motor Club, one of the new Toyota teams in the Cup Series, might have to face troubling times due to a corporate-level shake-up with one of their primary partners.
Jimmie Johnson and his team, Legacy Motor Club, received a big shock when the news reached them that its partner, Family Dollar, had been sold to private equity groups Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management by Dollar Tree for a measly $1 billion. Now, you might think that $1 billion is not a measly amount, and you would be right, just not in this case, since Family Dollar was bought by Dollar Tree for a whopping $9 billion back in 2015.
“After a thorough review of potential alternatives for the Family Dollar business segment, the Dollar Tree leadership team and Board of Directors determined that a sale of Family Dollar to Brigade and Macellum best unlocks value for Dollar Tree shareholders and positions Family Dollar for future success,” the company said in a press statement.
Dollar Tree is selling Family Dollar, ending its disastrous merger – @CNN https://t.co/IEJ6ZU1x4z
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 26, 2025
You might be wondering what this has to do with NASCAR. Well, eagle-eyed fans might have caught the connection between NASCAR and Dollar Tree selling off Family Dollar. Dollar Tree is a major sponsor and partner of Jimmie Johnson’s team, Legacy Motor Club. Who can forget the seven-time champion’s iconic Dollar Tree number 84 Toyota? Even his team’s cars are also famously known as Family Dollar Toyota during the race weekends.
This drastic shift in Dollar Tree’s landscape also threatens its partnership and sponsorship in NASCAR. We saw what happened with Hooters and FedEx last year, and this is why fans couldn’t help but speculate how this change could affect the LMC team.
Fans can feel the Exit of another Iconic Brand from NASCAR
When Dollar Tree signed a long-term deal as a sponsor, it was seen as a bold move and as a sign of its commitment to the sport. But with the company’s recent financial conditions, fans are wondering if they can still stay in NASCAR as a sponsor. “And down goes another sponsor in racing,” a fan commented, highlighting the public perception that the sponsorship deal is on its last legs.
While some fans were focusing on the sponsorship deal aspect of this tale, some fans put all the blame of this broken deal on the shoulders of the company with a straightforward comment, “P— companies anyway.” Well, back in the day, you had the likes of Iowes, UPS, Miller, and Budweiser partnering up with teams. But as the sport changed, so did the brands and going by this fan comment, the current partners aren’t suited to be NASCAR team sponsors.
As the blame game was being played, some fans even lamented the loss this is for the Legacy Motor Club, with a short and sweet message, “Legacy Motor Club is COOKED.” summarising the condition that Legacy Motor Club finds themselves in with just one word. Apart from Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, Advent Health, Mobil 1, and Carvana are the only remaining primary sponsors. And in case Dollar Tree decides to scale back, LMC will be a rough spot to find new partners in the middle of a season.
“Another Legacy Motor Club disaster,” a frustrated fan added. We have seen LMC make rampant changes to their operations. This was evident when they made the switch from Chevy to Toyota in 2024. LMC is considered a premier partner for the Japanese car maker. But if we take a look at the on-track performances, this switch hasn’t worked out in their favor. And by the looks of things, they are set to take another hit in terms of finding good sponsors to fund their cars.
So far, Legacy Motor Club hasn’t made any official announcements, and it will be too early to guess how severely this shake up at Dollar Tree will impact Jimmie Johnson’s team.
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