Cliff Pennell, the president of Sports Marketing Enterprises division of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said Thursday the company's Winston brand will not renew its contract with Travis Carter Enterprises after the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
Pennell said the Winston brand does not plan future sponsorship of a NASCAR Winston Cup entry at this time.
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Carter, a longtime crew chief and car owner, fields the No. 23 Ford Taurus driven by Jimmy Spencer, as well as the No. 66 Taurus driven by Darrell Waltrip and sponsored by Big Kmart.
``This was purely a business decision,'' said Pennell, adding that performance was not the biggest factor in the company's decision to end its sponsorship after six years.
``The primary reason for this decision is to allow the Winston brand to focus its efforts and resources on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. We are fortunate to be the series sponsor of the largest and fastest-growing series in motorsports, and we simply want to focus our efforts in that direction.''
Carter said, ``This six-year association with R.J. Reynolds and SME has been the best of my career. The people at RJR and SME have been extremely supportive, tolerant and understanding of racing and this team's ups and downs. The last 5 1/2 years have been more like a family relationship than a sponsorship relationship.''
``This decision from RJR was not totally unexpected, and I've actually been looking for a sponsor for quite some time,'' Carter said. ``... I'm very optimistic about the future of this team.''
Spencer finished 14th last season, his best finish since joining Carter in 1995. Both of his Winston Cup victories came in 1994 while he was driving for Junior Johnson.