NASCAR has reached a multi-year deal with O’Reilly Auto Parts to become the new entitlement sponsor for NASCAR’s second-tier series beginning next year, sources familiar with the discussions but not authorized to speak freely have told The Athletic.
O’Reilly Auto Parts replaces Xfinity, which has been the entitlement sponsor for the past 11 years but will continue as a premier partner for NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series. An announcement is tentatively scheduled for early next week, according to those sources.
NASCAR and Xfinity announced in February that Xfinity was expanding its role within NASCAR but would not continue as the entitlement sponsor. The change came as the Xfinity Series was entering its first year of a seven-year deal to air races on the CW Network, owned by the Nexstar Media Group.
A new relationship between NASCAR and the CW network has been a boon for both sides, with races on the channel consistently delivering more than 1 million viewers and ranking among CW’s most-watched programming. The rising popularity of the soon-to-be O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on television, combined with it being a series that touts itself as the place where future stars develop, was a key factor in the new deal, according to the sources.
Several team owners recently expressed enthusiasm to The Athletic about the potential deal between NASCAR and O’Reilly, with many citing the fact that the auto parts retailer has long supported NASCAR through race sponsorships and activation across its three national series for years, which should allow O’Reilly to hit the ground running.
O’Reilly, which operates more than 6,000 stores, is set to become the fourth company to serve as an entitlement sponsor for NASCAR’s second-tier series since its formation in the early 1980s. Before Xfinity, Anheuser-Busch (1982-2007) and Nationwide (2008-14) served as entitlement sponsors.
Sports Business Journal first reported the news.
(Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
Aug 16, 2025
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