General Mills will be staying with Richard Childress Racing and moving into a role with Jeff Burton‘s No. 31 car in 2012.
Cheerios, a General Mills’ brand, has been Clint Bowyer‘s main primary sponsor for the past three seasons, but won’t be sponsoring Burton in 2012. Instead, General Mills will advertise Wheaties in “key races” in what’s termed a multi-year “co-primary” partnership.
Before moving to RCR, General Mills had been with Petty Enterprises.
General Mills’ role with RCR was unclear heading into 2012 given Clint Bowyer’s departure for Michael Waltrip Racing, a move that will be official on Friday. Sponsorship had been touted as a main factor in negotiations between Bowyer and Childress, and given that it’s been widely reported that Bowyer had partnered with 5 Hour Energy for his 2012 ride, General Mills’ return may mean that sponsorship difficulties were hardly a reason at all.
RCR will likely field three full-time cars in 2012, with Budweiser (and others) on Kevin Harvick‘s hood and Menards on the hood of Paul Menard‘s No. 27.
General Mills to stay with RCR and move to Jeff Burton
