Budweiser will sponsor Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet starting next season, the Sprint Cup series squad announced Tuesday.
Following his third win of the season last Sunday at Michigan, his team unveiled a three-year sponsorship deal, which will see him sport the colors of the iconic beer brand in 20 of the 36 points' races in 2011. Budweiser will serve as an associate sponsor for the remainder of the schedule.
Harvick, the current Sprint Cup series points' leader, has won the non-points, season-opening Budweiser Shootout for the past two years and he will run the red and white logos of his new sponsor for the first time in that very event in 2011, as well as in next year's NASCAR Sprint All-Star race.
"The legacy Budweiser has in this sport is unmatched," said Harvick during the announcement. "Everybody knows the Bud brand. To have it on my car is an honor."
Earlier this year Harvick's current sponsors Shell and Pennzoil announced they were leaving RCR in favor of a move to Penske Racing, where they will sponsor former Sprint Cup series champion Kurt Busch. The deal, however, was on a larger scale as it involved not only Penske's NASCAR operation but also its IndyCar team.
Budweiser currently sponsors Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, but Kahne is now set to move on to Red Bull Racing next year before entering a multi-year deal to drive Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevy in place of Mark Martin in 2012.
Before Budweiser backed Kahne, it had been Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s main sponsor since his Cup debut in 1999 and until he left Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to move to Hendrick Motorsports.