By Toby Christie 
For the last several seasons, JTG Daugherty Racing has featured sponsorship from Kroger and a plethora of their brand partners. Wednesday, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame the race team announced their sponsorship strategy with Kroger for their two fully-funded cars in 2019.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender Ryan Preece will have Kroger grocery shipping and delivery options plastered on his No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this upcoming season. Kroger has been bolstering this part of their business in recent years. As of now they have curbside pick up, delivery from near by stores to homes and a ship to home service where you can have groceries shipped anywhere in the country.
“I can’t think of a better team to start my Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career with,” Preece said. “Kroger’s new services make it easy to access Kroger groceries anywhere we travel and is available to race fans across the country. I’m excited to get the season started with JTG Daugherty Racing, and I am proud to showcase the Kroger Pickup, Delivery and Ship services on our No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this season.”
It’s a really clean, concise message that will be delivered with the No. 47 car in 2019. As for Chris Buescher’s No. 37, the message will be to highlight all of the brands that you can shop for at Kroger stores.
There will be seven-different schemes that will highlight different product lines within Kroger stores for specific times of the year. The categories — courtesy of a press release — will consist of:
- Flavor Fill Up: the month of March focuses on when sporting events such as the NCAA Basketball tournament encourages a snacking occasion, and when Kroger is highlighting National Frozen Foods Month. Corporate partners include Unilever, Kraft-Heinz, Conagra, General Mills, and Kellogg’s.
- Speedup Your Cleanup: the month of April will highlight the spring-cleaning season where shoppers are focused on buying from corporate partners such as such as Clorox, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
- Personal Pit Stop: personal healthcare brands take center stage on the hood in May with corporate partners Procter & Gamble and Unilever.
- Thrill of the Grill: June and July highlights everyone’s love for summer grilling with relevant brands from Clorox, Unilever, Kraft-Heinz, General Mills, BUSH’S Beans, and Southeastern Mills.
- Fast Start: theme will occur during back-to-school timing when families are stocking up on partner product for their change of schedule and the new school year.
- Fast Lane to Flavor: focuses on healthy meal solutions for families on the go with brands from General Mills, BUSH’S Beans, Clorox and Conagra.
- Simmer Like a Winner: as the weather turns cooler, fans will enjoy shopping for their crock pot recipes with brands from BUSH’S Beans, Kraft, ConAgra and General Mills.
“I’m really excited to showcase our brands in a really unique marketing approach this season on the No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1,” Buescher said. “JTG Daugherty Racing has always had a one-of-a-kind sponsorship strategy, and this just amplifies it as we head into a new year with our brands. I’m looking forward to winning races and selling cases in 2019.”
This is a unique way of branding a racecar throughout an entire season. Another cool thing is that Kroger and JTG Daugherty Racing will be embracing technology to help consumers take advantage of the message on the car from week to week. The race team will have unique key words each month that fans will text to a phone number. From there fans will be given tips and ideas about groceries as well as sweepstakes info and more.
“We are fortunate to work every day with innovators in the retail industry,” Tad Geschickter, JTG Daugherty Racing team owner, said. “I’m excited about the new marketing plan we have developed together. I know that this new approach will deliver great engagement with our NASCAR fans and will create positive sales results for Kroger and our brand partners. I can’t wait to see the whole thing come to life on the racetrack. It’s time to win races and sell cases in 2019.”
JTG Daugherty Racing has one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in their history, which came at Watkins Glen International in 2014 with AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel. However, it seems the organization is hell-bent on being a more consistent contender for wins.
The sponsorship news comes on the heels of news this off-season that Allmendinger was replaced with newcomer Ryan Preece who has won multiple NASCAR Xfinity Series races over the last couple seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
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