POCONO, Pa. — Mavis Tires & Brakes, fresh off a deal to buy 595 retail stores from TBC Corp., made a rather auspicious debut recently as sponsor in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin piloted the Mavis-liveried No. 11 Toyota Camry to victory at the Pocono 500 on July 23 in just the second race of a five-race sponsorship package with JGR featuring tracks predominantly in Mavis's stronghold in the Northeast. Mavis is based in Millwood, N.Y.
"How exciting it was to see Denny Hamlin cross the finish line for his 50th career win wearing Mavis colors," Mavis co-CEO David Sorbaro said, referring to the teal and yellow livery on Hamlin's car at Pocono.
"It is a privilege to be Denny's primary sponsor for this segment of the season; we couldn't be more excited for the Joe Gibbs Racing team, Denny Hamlin and all the passionate race fans across America celebrating this historic win."
Sorbaro earlier called the sponsorship deal a "perfect fit --- as the largest independent tire and vehicle service in the U.S., we are thrilled at the possibilities our partnership can bring."
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to partner with Mavis," JGR founder and owner Joe Gibbs said. "It is an exciting time right now for Mavis as they continue to grow and expand their national footprint. We are looking forward to working with their team to build a successful program."
With the victory at Pocono — Hamlin's seventh at the Pennsylvania track — the 42-year-old driver became just the 15th racer in in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series to win 50 Cup races. It also was the 600th NASCAR national series win for Toyota.
Mavis joins Discount Tire/America's Tire and Black's Tire Service as leading retail tire dealerships using NASCAR to promote their business.
Discount Tire is in its 14th year as a sponsorship partner of Penske Performance Inc. on the team's NASCAR Cup Series cars. This season it is considered the primary sponsor for Austin Cindric's No. 2 Ford Mustang for multiple NASCAR races this season as well as on Ryan Blaney's No. 12 Ford Mustang at select NASCAR races this season.
Black's Tire Service struck a deal earlier to be the primary sponsor for one race of driver AJ Allmendinger's No. 16 Camaro ZL1, at Darlington Raceway on May 14.
