By NASCAR Wire Service
Combining a history that stretches more than 65 years with a future infused with a new premier series entitlement sponsor and a next generation of stars, NASCAR unveiled a new brand identity Monday via its social and digital media platforms.
In addition, NASCAR also unveiled the mark and name for its premier series, which will become the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2017.
The new brand identity – which replaces the familiar bar mark that had been in place since 1976 – uses the colors and feel of past marks, while modernizing it to fit with the new era the sanctioning body enters in 2017.
NASCAR began the process of designing a new mark early in 2016. It becomes the fifth mark in NASCAR history.
“Our new NASCAR mark is modern, timeless, and embraces the heritage of our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “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.”
The new mark incorporates pieces of each of NASCAR’s previous marks, including the red, yellow and blue coloring from the first three marks, respectively, and the ‘racing bars’ that accompany the acronym ‘NASCAR’ from the prior iteration.
Monday’s announcement also ended the wait for the highly anticipated name of NASCAR’s premier series. NASCAR and Monster Energy announced a multi-year partnership on Dec. 1 in Las Vegas, one that made Monster Energy the entitlement sponsor of NASCAR’s top series, the title sponsor of the NASCAR All-Star Race and the Official Energy Drink of NASCAR.
