For the love of M&Ms, race at Pocono has a new name
Fans attending the July 24 NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono Raceway will have no trouble finding those colorful chocolate and peanut-covered delights that have been tempting snack eaters for decades.
That’s because M&M’s, the official chocolate of NASCAR, announced on Tuesday morning that the iconic candy will be the title sponsor of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono,
The brand will continue the seasonlong celebration of its more than three decades involved with the sport by using the race to pay tribute to NASCAR fans and Mars Associates.
“For more than 30 years, Mars has inspired moments of happiness through the colorful fun of the M&M’s brand for NASCAR fans all over the country,” said Anton Vincent, president of Mars Wrigley North America in a release. “During our final year and, in our backyard race [Newark, New Jersey is the company’s home base], Mars wants to celebrate one of the best fan bases in the world with a Mars-sized thank you.”
For fans attending the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400, M&M’s will hold a special Q&A moderated by longtime NASCAR pit reporter
Jamie Little in the Pocono Raceway Fan Zone on the morning of the race.
Current and former M&M’s drivers including Kyle Busch, David Gilliland, Ernie Irvan and Ken Schrader will share stories of their M&M’s careers. Fans at home will be able to join the conversation on social media.
In addition, Mars will embark on a nationwide search on social media to identify some of the most passionate M&M’s racing fans who will be invited as VIP guests to the M&M’s Pocono race weekend. The selected fans will serve as M&M’s ambassadors throughout the race weekend and will have a chance to meet NASCAR legends and receive signed merchandise. One lucky fan will have the honor of serving as grand marshal for the race.
“Coming out of our schedule change for this year, we had really three goals,” Pocono Raceway president Ben May said. “One was the fan experience, two was attendance and three was financial health. Obviously, if you do numbers 1 and 2 really well, No. 3 happens. But everything about this M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 checks the No. 1 and No. 2 boxes for us. Aside from the fact that it accomplishes our goals, it’s an honor to help them thank the fans after 32 years of supporting NASCAR. The whole thing is really perfect.”
May said M&M’s, as a family-friendly brand, has had a profound impact on NASCAR.
“Rarely in life do you see anything happen for 32 years,” he said. “I mean their impact is beyond measurable. Everything they’ve done they’ve done it the right way. They’ve done it first class, and they continue to do so as they finish off the year with Kyle and us.”
May said that more details and more events associated with race weekend will be rolled out in the next two months as the event draws closer.
“Everything we’re going to do is going to be focused on the fans and focused on really having a good time when July 24 comes around,” May said.
Race weekend will begin on July 22 with an ARCA Series race at 6 p.m. The track will be really busy on July 23 with a Camping World Truck Series race at noon, Cup Series practice and qualifying in the middle of the afternoon, and an Xfinity Series race at 5 p.m.
The M&M’s Fan Appreciation Cup Series race is set to begin at 3 p.m. on July 24.
May said the track is adjusting to a very different type of summer schedule than it had just a few years ago when there were three big race weekends in Long Pond with two NASCAR Cup weekends and an IndyCar race.
The last two years, NASCAR staged Cup Series doubleheaders at the track, although in 2020 attendance was virtually nonexistent because of the pandemic.
“We looked at this year and said ‘OK, we’re going to give it everything we have, not that we didn’t in the past, to this one NASCAR weekend and then start to build our business in different areas,” May said. “We’ll always be a race track, that’s pretty obvious, and if one day IndyCar comes back, great, but that’s not in the short-term future. We’re just going to continue to find different and new uses for our venue. But we know that NASCAR is our bread and butter and it will always be our focus.”
For tickets for the race weekend, go to www.poconoraceway. com.