JR Motorsports Makes Deal of a “Lifetime”

Dale Earnhardt Junior’s Nationwide team, JR Motorsports, has just made the sponsorship deal of a “Lifetime.” The team, bearing the name of NASCAR’s most popular driver, will now be partnering with Lifetime Television to promote their series Army Wives.

“The partnership with Army Wives is a great opportunity for JR Motorsports and Lifetime TV,” Kelley Earnhardt, general manager of Junior Motorsports, said.  “As a company, we thrive on partnerships that offer success for all parties involved.”

“We’ve been actively seeking additional partnership for JRM and the Army Wives deal came together at exactly the right time,” Earnhardt continued.  “We were searching for partners, and they were looking for their initial jump in NASCAR and somewhere they could get a lot of exposure for the dollar.

“So a partnership between JRM and Army Wives just made a lot of sense for the Nashville race.”

The sponsorship deal includes wrapping the car with the Army Wives branding, as well as appearances by some of the stars of the hit show at the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide race in Nashville this weekend.

Under this unique sponsorship agreement, Army Wives will be the official sponsor of the No. 7 car, driven for the first part of the season by Danica Patrick.  Scott Wimmer is now behind the wheel of the No. 7 race car while Patrick resumes her IndyCar responsibilities.

Earnhardt is quick to clarify that the Army Wives deal came about separate and apart from Danica Patrick being in the car.  “Danica brings a lot of exposure and value to our race team, but this partnership wasn’t a product of Army Wives wanting to be associated with Danica,” Earnhardt said, especially since Patrick will not be back in the No. 7 car until June.

“This was more a situation of Army Wives wanting to be involved in the exciting world of NASCAR and be associated with one of the top teams in the Nationwide Series and a team that could assist in bringing a lot of eyes to their program,” Earnhardt said.

In addition to the Army Wives branding of the JRM No. 7 car for the Nashville 300, Lifetime will bring the Army Wives Experience to the NASCAR Fan Zone at the Nashville Superspeedway.  Army Wives’ stars Brigid Brannagh and Wendy Davis will join Wimmer and his JR Motorsports teammate Kelly Bires for an autograph session.

“This promotion uniquely ties Lifetime in with NASCAR and JR Motorsports, reflects auto racing’s long-time support of the armed forces and strategically reaches the Army Wives audience,” Alex Ignon, Vice President of Media and Consumer Promotions for Lifetime Networks said. 

“Through the NASCAR and JR Motorsports sponsorship, we will be able to capitalize on one of America’s most popular sports to effectively market Army Wives and inform its fans about the new season in an immersive, exciting and targeted way,” Ignon said.

Earnhardt was equally excited about having the stars of the show appear at the track.  “Well, Brigid Brannagh and Wendy Davis, two of the Army Wives cast members, have been kind enough to join us for the race in Nashville,” Earnhardt said.  “Army Wives will feature a display area that will have our show car and we’ll have an autograph session with the cast members and JRM drivers Scott Wimmer and Kelly Bires.”

Will any of the JRM drivers or any of the Earnhardts for that matter reciprocate and appear on the Army Wives show?  “That would be a lot of fun,” Earnhardt said.  “But there aren’t any plans in place for something like that.” 

In addition to the branding on the car and the Nashville talent promotion, Lifetime will also launch the Army Wives Race of a Lifetime Sweepstakes.  Participants can enter this contest on myLifetime.com this summer to win an all-expenses paid trip for four to a future NASCAR race.

The winners will get the NASCAR experience of a lifetime, including a meet-and-greet with a JR Motorsports driver.  Additionally, the lucky contest winners will also be given a ride in the pace car, a behind-the-scenes tour of the pit and garage, and tickets for the entire NASCAR race weekend.

Army Wives returns this season for its fourth year and is one of cable’s highest rated dramas.  The season will kick off at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, April 11, with 18 all-new episodes to follow.

The series follows the struggles, dreams and friendships of several women and one man, all of whom have spouses on active duty.  In addition to Brannagh and Davies, the series also stars Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brian McNamara, Sterling K. Brown, Drew Fuller, Terry Serpico, Katelyn Pippy and Catherine Bell.

The NASCAR Nationwide race, the Nashville 300, will take place at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, April 3 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.  The race will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on MRN/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.