The Sporting News reports that negotiations have broken down between Walmart and Hendrick Motorsports about sponsorship of the No. 24 Chevrolet driven by Jeff Gordon. However, NASCAR's new licensing body, the NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust, remains confident a deal will be struck to make Walmart the exclusive mass retailer for the sport's apparel.
Walmart had been deep into discussions with Hendrick Motorsports to sponsor Gordon's car, but TSN says that Walmart's interest in a primary sponsorship on a single car has waned. It reports that the retail giant is in a re-evaluation process to determine the right place for its sponsorship spending and that it could still develop personal-services deals with an array of drivers, instead of going with a primary sponsorship of a single driver.