GANASSI, LARSON LOSING TARGET AS SPONSOR

Retail giant exiting deal with Ganassi Racing, Larson.

Target will leave NASCAR at the end of this season after 16 years with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Target had served as the primary sponsor for Cup driver Kyle Larson since his debut in 2013. The 24-yearold Larson has emerged as one of the brightest young stars in NASCAR and has two wins and nine top-10 finishes this season.

His success wasn’t enough to keep Target interested in racing. The Minneapolis-based retail giant left Ganassi and IndyCar at the end of last season following a 27-year run.

Target says it will focus it sports sponsorship on soccer.

“As we looked to evolve our sports marketing program, soccer provided Target with a unique opportunity to reach our guests in new places, and at all levels of the sport,” Target said in a statement.

Ganassi thanked Target for its support of his teams for 28 years. While many NASCAR teams have run into sponsorship woes over the past few seasons, Larson could be one of the exceptions.

“Kyle Larson is a once-in-a-generation talent. He and the No. 42 Chevrolet will still be on the track for a long time, the only difference is that they will have different colors,” Ganassi said.

Target and Ganassi partnered for 11 titles and four Indianapolis 500 victories in IndyCar.

Scott Dixon — affected when Target left Ganassi last year — enters Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 in Lexington, Ohio, leading the IndyCar standings with 423 points, three more than Penske’s Helio Castroneves. Dixon’s new sponsor is NTT Data.

Kyle Larson has two NASCAR wins this season.