Chip Ganassi Racing adds GearWrench as sponsor to No. 1 team – Nascar

In what seems a natural fit for both GearWrench and Chip Ganassi Racing, the NASCAR team announced Tuesday that the innovative tool brand will serve as primary sponsor on the No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray for multiple races in the 2017 season.

GearWrench executives joined Ganassi team officials and McMurray on Tuesday at the prestigious Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas to announce the news. The tool brand ran the announcement live on Facebook on Tuesday, and fans can also sign up for a sweepstakes on the GearWrench Facebook page for a chance to win one of 10 new tool sets to be given away as part of the big news.

McMurray agrees the partnership couldn’t be more authentic for his team.

“It was interesting,” the 2010 Daytona 500 winner told NASCAR.com. “The day I was in the shop and I knew they were coming by (to see the shop), my car chief asked who was coming by. I told him the name of the company and he said, ‘Those are awesome tools.’

“Then he took me over to his toolbox and opened one of the drawers up and he had a whole drawer already of the GearWrench tools. That’s really special when you get to be a part of a brand you’re already using. Guys that work on our cars every day believe in them and they’re using the tools every day. We’re super pumped to have them on board.”

It’s the company’s biggest foray into NASCAR and judging by the excitement from its executives, Tuesday’s announcement about this partnership is welcome and positive news.

“This is the biggest announcement in the history of the GearWrench brand and a significant marketing investment that will deliver significant growth in sales and market share,” said John Constantine, president of GearWrench’s North American Hand Tools, Apex Tool Group. “We are thrilled to be taking GearWrench to the next level by partnering with Chip Ganassi Racing and their top mechanics in 2017.”

Chip Ganassi Racing President Steve Lauletta echoed McMurray’s enthusiasm for this partnership, and the team’s fond familiarity of the brand. The tools also are used in industrial and aerospace work as well as in technical education.

“GearWrench is a brand that understands how our team strives to deliver value to our partners and find ways to grow the business together,” Lauletta said. “They have been associated with the sport for several years from local tracks to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we are excited that we will be able to put their products to work in the hands of our mechanics in the shop and at the race track.”

And the No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet that McMurray will pilot in races next year will be designed to look like the GearWrench distribution fleet vehicles that so many have already seen on the nation’s roads.

“It’s wonderful that a new brand recognizes the value of NASCAR,” McMurray said. “And when you’re talking about a tool, there’s really no better fit than a race team and NASCAR being the most popular form of racing in America makes that a really easy tie-in.”