Jimmy John’s Leaves Stewart-Haas Racing, Subway Fills the Opening

 

Stewart-Haas Racing/Subway

      Longtime sponsor of Kevin Harvick, Jimmy John’s sandwich shops, has failed to renew their sponsorship with Stewart-Haas Racing, and will no longer be appearing at the race track. Now the one of Jimmy John’s biggest competitors, Subway, is stepping up to fill the sponsorship opening on the No. 4 Mustang. The green and yellow Subway colors will adorn the side of the Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 for two races this season, Bristol (September 18th) and Kansas (October 24th).

Since 2009, Jimmy John’s has sponsored Kevin Harvick in some shape or form, and for the first time in 12 seasons, Harvick has no relationship with the national chain of sandwich shops. Originally Jimmy John’s joined forces with Kevin Harvick to sponsor the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Nationwide Series Impala SS. Eventually the company would find their way into the NASCAR Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing, to sponsor the No. 29 of Kevin Harvick. When Harvick left Richard Childress Racing in 2013 to join Stewart-Haas Racing, Jimmy John’s subsequently followed. Since then Harvick has held a very strong relationship with the company, as they sponsored 15 races for the No. 4 team in 2018. 

Many factors may have played a factor in Jimmy John’s decision to halt sponsorship with Kevin Harvick (including the pandemic), but likely one of the biggest factors is the struggle that Stewart-Haas Racing has faced in 2021. In many ways, what was one of the Cup Series’ most successful teams in 2020, has essentially become a back-marker team in 2021. After Kevin Harvick’s 9-win season in 2021, his 0-win season this time around may look bleak to sponsors. While Subway has stepped up to fill Harvick’s sponsorship vacancy, next to Jimmy John’s contract, it likely came at a discount.

While far less notable in this current event, Subway is making their return to NASCAR, but they are not new sponsors. The nations largest chain of sandwich shops, Subway, for many years sponsored Roush Racing with their driver Carl Edwards. As Carl Edwards moved from Roush Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing, the sponsor followed, and when Edwards retired Subway remained with the No. 19 team to sponsor Daniel Suárez. This sponsorship at Joe Gibbs Racing lasted until a young Daniel Suárez was seen handing Dunkin’ Donuts products out to fans at a race. When Subway caught wind of that situation, they terminated their sponsorship with the team, and pulled out of NASCAR completely. Subway also sponsored races such as the “Subway Fresh Fit” 500 at Phoenix Raceway, and the “Subway” 400 at Rockingham Speedway. After nearly 5 years away from the sport, Subway returns for more action. 

Keep an eye on Stock Car Media’s homepage to see the new Subway No. 4 paint scheme for Kevin Harvick, as it will be posted here on the website as soon as it is released.