5-Hour Energy “good” with NASCAR

After questioning NASCAR's integrity last season, the president of 5-Hour Energy said the company's sponsorship extension with Clint Bowyer is an endorsement of the Sprint Cup Series' direction. "We're good," 5-Hour president Scott Henderson said Friday at Kansas Speedway, where the company launched a new flavor that will help benefit the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

"Obviously, we wouldn't have signed up for three more years if we weren't OK with it." Last September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Henderson cast doubt on the sponsor's future in NASCAR in the wake of a race manipulation scandal at Richmond International Raceway. NASCAR levied an unprecedented penalty on Michael Waltrip Racing drivers Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers, but the sanctioning body issued lighter punishments to Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports.

NASCAR chairman Brian France also expanded the Chase for the Sprint Cup field to 13 drivers, which didn't seem to please Henderson. Henderson said Friday he hadn't talked to France since the incident but indicated approval of NASCAR's long-term handling in the aftermath. "I'm not in charge," he said. " I wouldn't change the rules in the middle of the season, but I think we're OK." Henderson said 5-Hour began putting together the extension for Bowyer's #15 Toyota at the end of last season. USA Today