In conjunction with the new title sponsorship from Monster Energy, NASCAR unveiled a new logo for the newly-named Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The reveal was performed Monday afternoon.
The new NASCAR logo, which utilizes a different font and removes the purple, replaces the logo used since 1976. It is the fifth different logo used by NASCAR since its formation in 1948. The new Cup logo features traits from each of the previous four logos.
“Our new NASCAR mark is modern, timeless and embraces the heritage of our sport,” NASCAR senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jill Gregory stated. “It was important for us to recognize our history and implement a piece of each previous mark in the new design. Our goal was to evolve the sport’s visual identity to make it concise, relevant and functional, while respecting and maintaining the unique qualities of the original mark.”
NASCAR’s top series also retains “Cup” in its name, a staple of the series name since Winston became the title sponsor in 1973. The Cup name carried on when Nextel took over the sponsorship in 2004 and when Sprint merged with Nextel in 2008, rebranding the series to the Sprint Cup Series. However, Monster Energy breaks the traditional convention of having the title sponsor go after “NASCAR” in the series name, presumably to avoid confusion with Supercross’s Monster Energy Cup.
Monster Energy became the title sponsor of the Cup Series on December 1, ending a 12-year sponsorship with Sprint.
The new series name will go into effect January 1, 2017. The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be the 59th Daytona 500 on February 26.
Featured image courtesy of NASCAR
