Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday both partial sponsorship for Matt Kenseth in 2013 and that Brian Vickers will compete in the Nationwide Series for the team next season.
Kenseth, the 2003 Sprint Cup champion who joins the team next season, will compete with sponsorship from Dollar General in the No. 20 car in 17 2013 races. The company will be on the car for the Daytona 500 in February. Kenseth, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, is the current defending winner of the race.
In addition, Dollar General will return to the Nationwide Series and will join Gibbs and Brian Vickers for the full season.
“We are very excited about growing our partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “NASCAR effectively reaches our customers, and our racing program has proven to be successful in helping us build our brand. We’re thrilled to have Matt Kenseth and Brian Vickers driving Dollar General branded race cars next season.”
Vickers will return to the Nationwide Series on a full-time basis in 2013, 10 years after he won three Nationwide races and became the youngest driver to win the series championship at the age of 20.
This season, Vickers has run a partial Sprint Cup schedule with Michael Waltrip Racing, which he has already announced plans to continue in 2013. Both teams compete with Toyotas.
"I’m very happy to stay in the Toyota family, and when you look at the Nationwide Series over the past several years, no team has dominated like Joe Gibbs Racing," Vickers said.
The 2013 season will mark the sponsor’s ninth year in NASCAR. It's programs will continue to include two NASCAR Nationwide Series race sponsorships: the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Dollar General 300 powered by Coca-Cola at Chicagoland Speedway.
