CitiFinancial, a leading community-based lender, first appeared on the NASCAR scene as an associate sponsor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2004. The sponsorship grew into a partial NASCAR Nationwide Schedule in 2005 and a full time NASCAR Nationwide Series Schedule in 2006 and 2007. The persistence paid great dividends as CitiFinancial Racing visited Victory Lane for the first time in 2007 at Kentucky Speedway.
This season, CitiFinancial announced they will be the primary sponsor on a variety of Roush Fenway Racing entries in all 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series events. The sponsorship is part of Citi’s new multifaceted, strategic marketing partnership with Roush Fenway Racing, one of NASCAR’s premier racing teams. As part of the relationship, CitiFinancial will tap into Roush Fenway’s all-star driver lineup to pilot the CitiFinancial Ford. In addition, Citi will become a major associate sponsor on all Roush Fenway Racing teams, including the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries of Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, and David Ragan.
"We are thrilled to expand and enhance our incredibly successful presence in NASCAR," said Mary McDowell, President and CEO of CitiFinancial North America. "Our customers and employees are huge fans of this great sport, and we could not be happier teaming up with Roush Fenway Racing and its tremendously talented roster of drivers."
In the Nationwide Series, Biffle, Kenseth, McMurray, Erik Darnell, Colin Braun, and 2007 series champion Carl Edwards will split seat time in the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion – which will rotate among the Roush Fenway Nos. 16, 17, and 60 Fords throughout the season. In addition to displaying the CitiFinancial logo on the quarter-panels, the Citi logo will adorn the hood.
CitiFinancial Racing will continue to run its
"Crew Chief for a Day" sweepstakes, promote and sponsor its branch show car program, and partner with Citi to promote the Citi brand throughout the race season.
Added McDowell: "By partnering with this exceptional organization, we can support our brand through one of the most exciting and popular sports in the world. We look forward to a great 2008 season.”
"We are entering into a completely new type of sponsorship with the team-wide Citi program," said owner Jack Roush. "The relationship is one I expect to be equally beneficial to all parties involved. I also look forward to on-track success with the CitiFinancial Nationwide Series program. Most of our veteran drivers as well as our talented rookies will get a chance to drive the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion this season. We hope to take CitiFinancial to victory lane many times this season."
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brands include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.
