Checkers Drive-In Restaurants will take over next year as a fast-food sponsor for NASCAR, replacing longtime corporate partner McDonald's Corp., the Sports Business Daily reported Tuesday. The Tampa-based chain, which has more than 400 locations primarily in the Southeast, will join deli sandwich chain Subway in replacing McDonald's, which has been connected with NASCAR since 1993. Checkers is relatively small compared with the Golden Arches, yet its Southern roots match those of the stock-car racing league.

The company's sister chain, Rally's (with another 389 restaurants, mostly in the Midwest), will likely also gain NASCAR rights. Checkers previously signed racing sponsorship deals making it the "official burger" of both the Brickyard 400 and Indianapolis 500. It also has sponsorships with professional and college sports teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, University of Florida and Florida State University. McDonald's will remain connected with NASCAR in a different capacity. It will continue to leverage the sport with a soon-to-be-assembled collection of teams, tracks and drivers. "We are definitely not leaving the sport," a McDonald's insider told the Sports Business Daily. "We'll just be using different assets."

Tampa Bay Business Journal

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