Texas A&M Spent Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars To Sponsor Two Mediocre NASCAR Cars

A new report has revealed, via open records requests, that Texas A&M University spent tens of thousands of dollars to be the primary sponsor on NASCAR race cars in 2024. The Aggies branding appeared on two Stewart-Haas cars at two NASCAR races this past season.

The sponsorship contract, a copy of which was obtained by Sportico, shows Texas A&M spent $160,000 on the deal which was announced by the school on Oct. 14.

“With millions of engaged fans, this partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing represents a fantastic opportunity to put the Aggie Spirit front and center and further show the nation what Texas A&M University stands for,” said R. Ethan Braden, vice president, chief marketing and communications officer at Texas A&M.

“We look forward to cheering on Chase Briscoe in Aggie Maroon at Las Vegas and Josh Berry at the season finale in Phoenix, where we’ll showcase Texas A&M’s appreciation for our country and our military prior to Veterans Day. Texas A&M has a rich history of leadership and selfless service, and we are committed to serving well those who have served.”

In addition to the two Texas A&M-branded liveries on the Stewart-Haas race cars, the university also received “other marketing, promotional and ticket deliverables,” according to Sportico.

According to the sponsorship contract, Stewart-Haas also provided the university with a minimum of four “Texas A&M-specific” social media posts during race weekends, and to tag the school’s social media accounts in all race-related posts. (They didn’t. More than once. Several times, actually.)

Howdy, partner. pic.twitter.com/hhGJ3gkNYy

— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) November 10, 2024

Also as part of the deal, Texas A&M received 20 complimentary “VIP full-access credentials” to each NASCAR race, a race-day tour for university guests at each race, and a race day meet and greet with each driver.

The first Texas A&M branding appeared on Chase Briscoe’s race car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 20. The second Texas A&M wrap appeared on Briscoe’s teammate Josh Berry’s car at NASCAR’s season-ending race in Phoenix. Berry also wore a Texas A&M-branded firesuit. Berry’s car was also the one to have Caitlin Clark’s image on it at the NASCAR Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis.

Chase Briscoe, who won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in the regular season finale, finished 26th and Josh Berry finished 24th in their respective races driving the Aggies-branded cars. Briscoe finished 14th and Berry 27th in the final NASCAR standings in 2024.