Tequila Patron Becomes Sportscar sponsor
This agreement extends one of the most active and visible partnerships in North American sports car racing over the past decade. In addition, Tequila Patron will continue its primary sponsorship of the two-car Extreme Speed Motorsports team in the Prototype (P) class, as well as its title sponsorship of the TUDOR Championship event on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., on April 11.
“After a proud history with the American Le Mans Series, we’re very excited and honored to continue our support of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and sponsorship of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup," said Stephanie Rivera, motorsports manager at Patron Spirits. “This enormously competitive, energetic world-class racing truly captures what our high quality, ultra-premium luxury spirits are all about."
The 2014 Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup encompasses the four iconic endurance races in the TUDOR Championship: the Rolex 24 At Daytona at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 25-26; the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida at Sebring International Raceway on March 15; the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International on June 29; and the 1,000-mile or 10-hour Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta on Oct. 4.
The Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup rewards the top-performing teams, drivers and manufacturers over 52 hours of endurance racing. This prestigious endurance competition will feature an additional purse of $300,000, with $100,000 going to the Prototype (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) championship-winning teams and $50,000 for the Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) team champions.
“At the outset of the process to merge the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, we established a goal of providing substantial opportunities for our existing marketing partners, and especially so with our title partners," said IMSA President and Chief Operating Officer, Scott Atherton. “Today we are thrilled to announce we’ve accomplished our goal with the confirmation of this title partnership for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
“Tequila Patron played a significant role in the success of the American Le Mans Series over the past decade, and (Patron Spirits International CEO) Ed Brown was instrumental in bringing together (GRAND-AM Founder) Jim France and (American Le Mans Series Founder) Don Panoz to create what we now know as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. With that in mind, we could not be more pleased to confirm Tequila Patron continuing its involvement in a very significant and multi-faceted role. Tequila Patron will continue to have its name on some of our most valuable assets."
The 2014 TUDOR Championship opens at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. with the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 25-26, 2014.