McDonald's Sponsorship. A Misfortunate NASCAR Legacy

[Music] [Applause] [Music] the golden arches in addition to being pioneers in the fast-food industry the company has seen great successes in the sporting industry the iconic Big Mac land in st. Louis the official fast-food partner of the Olympics and deals with the NFL and NBA make them a leading advertiser for sports names such as Mark McGwire Michael Jordan and LeBron James have shaped the restaurant into the place for hamburgers and fries on the nascar side of things the Empire has had a successful campaign within the sport as the company has had some great paint schemes and promotional drivers to grow the brand with that said however the fast food chain finding Victory Lane on the track has been as rare as finding the McRib so many chances to finally break through have come and gone and unfortunately the misfortunes of coming in second have built up over time so anyways let's dig into this juicy Mick fortunate legacy and hopefully this work can fill your youtube appetite this weekend the fast food corporations NASCAR sponsorship started in 1993 when they signed a deal the sponsor Junior Johnson's number 27 entry behind the wheel was NASCAR veteran Hut Stricklin who was able to put together a solid campaign a few years prior for the Golden Arches the pairing with Junior Johnson was going to succeed and become the greatest combination since French fries and ketchup that is until the race team saw its performance on the track stuck in a pickle and unfortunately couldn't build success during the campaign Strickland season only saw him net one top five two top 10s and the McDonald's team finished an abysmal 24th place in the season standings in 1994 Junior Johnson fired Hut Stricklin and added as much excitement as a large cup of coffee from the MIT cafe Jimmy Spencer would pile at the number 27 McDonald's entry and hopefully get the operation up and with that said mr. excitement provided exactly what his nickname advertised as the team was able to win two races at Daytona and Talladega as Jimmy Spencer made the restrictor plate races his play place certainly a top-tier race team for the top-tier fast food giant right yeah unfortunately there is indeed a catch the team was as greased up as a deep-fryer and had crashes and mechanical issues plagued the golden arches the team netted a whopping 11 DNFs and finished 29th in the season standings as a result McDonald's took their monopoly a money elsewhere in the NASCAR Cup Series garage for the 1995 season McDonald's arguably found their Big Mac as NASCAR Cup Series champion Bill Elliott would sport the company's colors on his race car what more can I say the driver from Dawsonville Georgia earned 39 wins and was a recognizable name on the tour the 94 should hopefully become number one much like its new sponsor and the duo could truly become iconic and find Victory Lane frequently and often despite the brand recognition bill Elliott's time with the McDonald's colors on his car was fairly mediocre as driving for the golden arches for a staggering a hundred and seventy-six races the sports most popular driver at the time went winless during that time frame and only placed top ten in the season standings twice it's almost incredible that he never won with McDonald's as his primary sponsor as the paint schemes have become iconic over the years and my goodness the MEK tonight and the golden designs were fantastic for the 2001 campaign McDonald's would align themselves with PPI Motorsports and partner with rookie driver Andy Houston he wasn't an awful development driver at the time as he earned three wins in the NASCAR Truck Series and earned a third-place points finish during the 2000 campaign unfortunately this move was as successful as the mick pizza as in Houston and the 96 team once again created a McFlurry of issues for the McDonald's race team in only 17 starts Houston earns 0 top tens nine DNFs and finish an abysmal 43rd place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings in the least surprising outcome McDonald's pulled their sponsorship and left the series because of the high popularity of companies sponsoring the NASCAR Cup Series the fast-food giant was ultimately sidelined for the foreseeable future ultimately the iconic red and yellow McDonald's colors would return to the sport late in 2006 as the Golden Arches found their way to KC Kane's number 9 dodge charger for everett ham motorsports this was a smart business decision because Kasey Kahne was coming off of six NASCAR Cup Series victories that season and was arguably one of the sport's top prospects in the long run over the next two seasons McDonald's sponsored a handful of events such as Chicagoland Atlanta and Bristol with the best performance coming at the 2007 Sharpie 500 as I was taking in my first Bristol night race Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis put together a bigmac of a performance leading 305 laps and arguably having the dominant car at the new Bristol a few moments later unfortunately Carl Edwards was able to gain momentum and the number 9 McDonald's team finished the night as the first loser while was a crushing defeat at least the McDonald's name was relevant in NASCAR once again as long as they stick with Kasey Kahne eventually they will get their day in the spotlight absolutely nothing will ruin the momentum for the fast-food giant and they will certainly break their 13-year losing streaks sooner than later with that said Kasey Kahne earned full-time sponsorship from Budweiser which meant Mickey D's was moved over to one of everyn hams other rides which meant they were going to Elliott Sadler's number 19 my goodness this was essentially downgrading to a happy meal in McDonald's terms as Elliott Sadler and the number 19 had nor the speed or talent level that Casey Kane's team had [Music] 12 seconds later as a result the 10 McDonald sponsored races found a lack of Victory Lane and Elliott Sadler only netted the colors to top 10 finishes during that campaign for the 2009 season Evernham motorsports merged with Petty Enterprises to become Richard Petty Motorsports and the McDonald sponsorship was moved to the 43 car a team with an iconic history with Richard Petty but a ton of misfortunes over the last two decades Reed Sorenson was tagged to pilot the machine and hopefully they could end both of their misfortunate legacies with one swoop ultimately Reed Thornton's number 43 team was quarter pounded to the ground by inconsistencies and mik fortunes on the track as the race team finished an abysmal 29th place in points the team's only top 10 was at the Daytona 500 as Sorenson gave the McDonald's cars a solid run during the great American race hey at least they have one thing going for them despite the losing streak extending to now 15 years after the dumpster fire worth of a campaign McDonald's moved its NASCAR budget over to Jamie Mack as the company would sponsor the 2010 Daytona 500 champion for about 10 races annually they were hoping this would be the Fresh Start they were looking for and they can ultimately break that winless drought and get back to Victory Lane unfortunately Jamie max three wins in the Ganassi number one car were with Bass Pro Shops and Cessna as he ultimately went 0-4 a hundred and forty five with the McDonald's powers over a span of eight seasons with a best finish of second in the 2017 Geico 500 if you're keeping track at home it has been 24 years since ray crocks founded company has visited Victory Lane and something needs to change and they need some luck much like the company's shamrock shake to get back on top fortunately Chip Ganassi had some leftover races on the 42 car which meant the hamburger chain would get some events with Kyle Larson and coming off a 4 win season the driver from Elk Grove California was hyped up as a championship contender and surely he would deliver behind the wheel to hype up the deal even more their first race would be the Food City 500 at the last gray Coliseum a track that Kyle Larson excels behind the wheel after Monday we will be debating whether McDonald's was the best thing to happen at Kyle Larson or to McDonald's themselves now go get that trophy the hype is up to oblivion with just seven laps remaining at Bristol look at this Kyle Larson has driven the McDonald's Chevrolet Camaro to the lead and is about to break a 24-year winless streak for the Golden Arches Ronald McDonald is going to Victory Lane unfortunately Kyle Larson's version of the Hamburglar gives him the bump up the racetrack and once again team McDonald's finishes runner-up at the last great Coliseum it's such a shame because Larson put on a clinic around the world's fastest half-mile but don't worry whatsoever he will have some more chances to break the drought in the near future the next mcdonald's sponsored race on Kyle Larson's car would be at the Hollywood Casino 400 where the trick tree when game would grace the hood of his car this is looking more and more like a treat as Kyle Larson has a fast car around the mile and a half track and let's see if he can get the win an advance to the round of 8 unfortunately Kyle Larson cannot catch chase Elliott and Kyle Busch and McDonald's and Kyle Larson see their championship hopes end after the round of 12 despite the heartbreaking loss Kyle Larson is a transcendent talent and he is surely going to excel on the dirt after all that's his wheelhouse his quarter is graced with the iconic restaurant chain and absolutely nothing goes better with Chile than some McDonald's french fries you've got this [Music] unfortunately McDonald's does not serve chili at at US restaurants and ironically Kyle Larson lost the chili bowl on the final lap certainly a heartbreak for the Golden Arches but I mean at this rate they are used to coming up just short of all the glory and they've taken pain and misfortunes over the last two decades on a side note I'm not loving what I'm seeing from the Kyle Larson McDonald's partnership so far I mean they've been close to tasting victory lane but always they've come up dry at the end of the day yeah I hope I'm wrong but the hype is dying out for the combination with that said the 2019 folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 looks to be the end date for the Knick fortunate legacy as Kyle Larson is piloting the classic McDonald's colors out front leading a staggering 122 laps around the Ruff Atlanta surface with a flawless pit stop by the pit crew absolutely nothing is going to prevent Ronald McDonald from visiting victory lane Larson was trying to beat Kevin Harvick out of the pits he beat Kevin Orie gotta piss unless he was beaten to do it so Larson who had only one speeding penalty all last year gets one here and he'll restart at them instead of ordering a race winning trophy Kyle Larson orders a Mick joke with a penalty on the side and once again they screw up another race are you serious again as a result of this penalty Kyle Larson proceeds to get stranded in Atlanta's drive through traffic and finishes a mediocre 12th place after an otherwise flawless performance the perfect opportunity to deliver once again squandered away how Mick fortunate in addition a couple of franchise owners for McDonald's decided to sponsor Bubba Wallace and put out oh my goodness this ugly lazy McDonald's team bacon design and the thing is when you're sponsoring the handshake away you're not expected to run top 25 so I really don't see a personal benefit for this group you know I would suggest liquor to ease the pain but unfortunately McDonald's only serves Coke products so I can't help you on that one so there you have it over 20 years in the NASCAR Cup Series garage and all they have to show for who wins with Jimmy Spencer despite the star power featuring Jamie McMurray Bill Elliott and Kasey Kahne the fast food chain remains without a win since 1994 certainly if there's one thing that is admire well from this sponsorship it's the loyalty as through all the lows and constant losses on the racetrack McDonald's has kept its investment in NASCAR and sees the sport as a profit for its widely successful company and certainly in the 2010s this is a breath of fresh air while I'm not a McDonald's fan by any means I personally hope they can break their misfortunate legacy sooner than later and can get rewarded for their loyalty over the past two decades let's just hope they don't pull a brine Cornell once they indeed get to the top of the mountain and leave the sport so anyways this is NRF signing out just remember life's a beach and then you drive [Music] [Applause]

Channel: NRF Productions

Views: 60,643

Keywords: McDonalds, Kyle Larson, Misfortunate Legacy, Bill Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Jimmy Spencer, 1994, Jamie McMurray, NASCAR, 1994 Talladega, Ronald McDonald, 2019 Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500, 2018 Food City, 500, Chili Bowl, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Chip Ganassi Racing, Hut Stricklin, Racing, Analysis, Legacy of Failure, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Bubba Wallace, Richard Petty, camping world 400, Chicagoland

Id: ABXuldWjwLA

Length: 15min 52sec (952 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2019