Wawa Adds New Element to NASCAR Partnership
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Wawa Inc. will be serving as primary sponsor of four NASCAR Xfinity Series teams during the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, taking place Aug. 25 at Daytona International Speedway.
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The teams Wawa will be sponsoring include Natalie Decker of Emerling Gase Racing, Joe Graf Jr. of RSS Racing, Brett Moffitt of AM Racing and JJ Yeley of SSGreenLight Racing. Each of the four drivers will represent one of Wawa's new Recharger energy drinks.
For the past three years, Wawa has served as the primary sponsor for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona. The new elements will incorporate the colors and themes of the Mermaid, Dragon Burst, Galaxy and Island Surf Rechargers into the paint scheme for each sponsored race car respectively.
"We are thrilled to enhance our continued partnership with NASCAR and support one of the Xfinity Series' most anticipated events with a special sponsorship of four very talented drivers! We look forward to fueling the energy and excitement of this one-of-a-kind superspeedway race with the colors and themes of our new line of Recharger energy drinks," said Jim Morey, chief marketing and brand officer for Wawa. "These new drinks match the level of energy and drive that the sport of NASCAR and these drivers, crews, teams and, of course, fans display during these great events."
Wawa isn't the only c-store operator to initiate or expand a partnership with NASCAR over the last few months. Huck's recently rolled out a NASCAR-licensed racing game on its revamped store app while Allsup's Express opened its first grab-and-go concept store at the Texas Motor Speedway recently in April.
Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates 1,000 c-stores throughout the Northeast and Florida. The company has also broken ground on locations in North Carolina and Alabama — Wawa's first forays into those states. The retailer currently has plans to double its footprint within the next decade.
Wawa is No. 7 on the 2023 Convenience Store News Top 100 ranking.