Circle K Stores Joins Andretti Autosport's Sponsor Lineup

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Circle K Stores joined Andretti Autosport's family of official sponsors. As a marketing partner of the racing team, Circle K will be a major associate sponsor of the No. 28 car and driver Ryan Hunter-Reay. The new sponsorship program begins with this weekend's IZOD IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway, PaddockTalk.com reported.

The Circle K program will run in a collaborative effort with longtime Andretti Autosport sponsor Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG), which utilizes the team's racing program to market multiple brands, including Sun Drop Citrus Soda, Venom Energy Drink, Dr Pepper and Snapple.

"We at Circle K are very excited to have this opportunity to partner with DPSG, as well as Andretti Autosport. We feel that our brand fits into the IndyCar racing segment very well, and are looking forward to developing a great partnership and a great racing season," stated Jim King, director of national procurement for Circle K Procurement LLC.

John Lopes, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Andretti Autosport, added: "The addition of Circle K to the Andretti Autosport sponsor family is significant and a retail affiliation we are very excited about. Circle K brings a broad national and international reach to our sponsor base and the potential to reach millions of fans through co-promotions and customer-focused sales initiatives. As a team, we have a wealth of experience in running successful programs around both grocery and convenience store platforms. We believe this can become another shining star of sponsorship programs within our industry."

Circle K is a property of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., North America's largest independent convenience store operator in terms of number of company-operated stores. Welcoming some 25 million visitors every week, the company's c-store locations offer a broad mix of food products, beverages, other merchandise and services, and motor fuel.