McDonald's Shifts Ganassi Sponsorship Focus To Kyle Larson

McDonalds moves to the #42 for a handful of races

In their 10th year of partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), McDonald’s announces plans to serve as the primary sponsor for multiple races in 2019 on the No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, driven by Kyle Larson, in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS).

McDonald’s has not only been a valuable partner to CGR for nearly a decade on the No. 1 Chevy driven by Jamie McMurray, they have also been a supporter of Larson’s for several years. Although the increased presence in 2019 on the No. 42 Chevrolet will be a slightly new look, Larson has sported the Golden Arches on six occasions in his NASCAR career, having raced a McDonald’s entry in each of NASCAR’s three national touring series.

The partnership with Larson will officially start in Atlanta, with McDonald’s first primary paint scheme of the 2019 season on the No. 42 Chevrolet. The paint scheme will highlight McDonald’s current campaign featuring bacon on several of their Classics: the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, and World Famous Fries. The campaign begs the question, do Classics make bacon better, or does bacon make Classics better? As the paint scheme on the No. 42 Chevrolet shows, Team Larson is all in for Team Classics!

NOTES OF INTEREST:

Â· Through the ranks: Larson has competed in a McDonald’s sponsored car in each of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series, including the MENCS (Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, 2018) the NASCAR Xfinity Series (New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio, 2013) and the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series (Martinsville Speedway, 2016). His two MENCS races in 2018 resulted in a runner-up finish at Bristol and a third-place finish in Kansas.

Â· Would you like dirt with that?: In addition to supporting Larson in the MENCS for the 2019 season, McDonald’s was recently featured on Larson’s entry at the 33rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals, a prestigious dirt midget race held in Tulsa, Okla. Larson won his preliminary night race, and finished second in the feature event driving the McDonald’s No. 01 car.

QUOTEBOARD:

Â· John Lewicki, Head of Global Alliances, McDonald’s: “McDonald’s has enjoyed a partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing for nearly a decade and we are excited to continue that relationship with The No. 42 team and Kyle Larson in 2019. Like Jamie McMurray previously, Kyle embodies many of the same qualities as a family man and a competitor, that are important to McDonald’s and we look forward to having him as an ambassador to our brand."

Â· Chip Ganassi, Owner, Chip Ganassi Racing: “It says a lot about our team, both on and off the track, that we will be celebrating 10 years of partnership with McDonald’s this coming season. McDonald’s has been a great partner over the past nine seasons, and we are looking forward to what this season holds with Kyle as their driver. I am sure there will be plenty of exciting moments throughout the year."

Â· Kyle Larson, Driver No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1: “It’s always great to announce a new partner, and it means a lot that one of our team’s long-time partners will join me and the No. 42 team this season. Along with Credit One Bank, and now McDonald’s, I’m pretty lucky to have the opportunity to represent some great brands. I’ve enjoyed racing a few McDonald’s cars over my career, and I’m looking forward to representing them on track this season. In addition to me, there is also one family member in particular who is pretty excited to see McDonald’s join Team Larson. We came close to a couple wins with them last season, so hopefully we can get the Golden Arches back to victory lane this year."