By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Kyle Larson is in Las Vegas this week testing his number 42 car, a re-designed Chevy Camaro that whizzed around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway track at a speedy rate of 188.403 miles per hour, or 28.662 seconds a lap on the 1.5-mile oval.
Like most of other cars driven by the NASCAR racers testing their vehicles, Larson’s white Camaro didn’t have all those standard sponsor stickers you see stuck all around the race cars.
But Larson’s car did sport the Credit One Bank logo and it’s a significant business deal because Credit One is upping its corporate presence in Las Vegas and also increasing its financial backing of the 25-year-old Larson.
As LVSportsBiz.com walked with Larson from the garage to a media gathering, Larson mentioned Credit One Bank is sponsoring his number 42 car for 16 races in 2018. Credit One Bank, NASCAR’s official credit card, will become Larson’s primary sponsor for 2018.
This year is a big deal for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which begins hosting a second NASCAR weekend event. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sept. 16 will be known as the South Point 400 under a three-year title sponsorship deal. It will mark the debut of NASCAR’s second annual event at the Speedway and serve as the first race in the 2018 Cup playoffs. LVSportsBiz.com has more details of the title sponsorship deal here.
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Credit One Bank has expanded its profile in Las Vegas. It is a major sponsor of the NHL expansion team Vegas Golden Knights and has opened a 154,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in the southwest valley.
Larson, a laid-back north Californian in his fifth year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, said he welcomed Credit One Bank expanding its sponsorship deal with his team, Chip Ganassi Racing.
Part of the sponsorship deal means Larson does meets-and-greets with Credit One Bank executives and major customers, a standard practice for drivers and their primary sponsors.
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