Budweiser to Join Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing Beginning Next Season

ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than 30 years Budweiser has sponsored some of NASCAR's top race car drivers. The King of Beers will continue its rich tradition in the sport by joining Kevin Harvick as he moves to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 to drive the No. 4 Chevrolet SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

"Over the last three years, Kevin has been an amazing ambassador for Budweiser, both on and off the track," said Blaise D'Sylva, vice president of media, sports and entertainment marketing, Anheuser-Busch.  "We value that level of commitment, and we're proud to join him at Stewart-Haas Racing next season."

Under the terms of the deal, Budweiser will serve as primary sponsor of the No. 4 Chevrolet for 20 races as well as the Budweiser Duel during Budweiser Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Budweiser will serve as a major associate sponsor for the remaining races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule.

"I've developed a great relationship with so many people at Budweiser and am very happy it's an association that will continue for many years to come," said Harvick, who has represented Budweiser since 2011. "We've enjoyed a lot of success together and our expectations match right up with those of Stewart-Haas Racing."

With the move to Stewart-Haas Racing next year, Harvick will utilize the No. 4. The transition to the team comes as Harvick enters his 14th year in NASCAR's top series. Thus far, he has earned 21 Sprint Cup Series wins, 96 top-five and 198 top-10 finishes.

"We're very proud to have such an iconic brand in Budweiser and an incredibly accomplished racer in Kevin Harvick join Stewart-Haas Racing," said Tony Stewart, three-time Sprint Cup Series champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. "Budweiser is the leader in its industry and Kevin has proven himself year-after-year in our sport. It's a partnership we welcome as it will make our entire organization stronger."

With eight races remaining before the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Harvick is ranked fourth in the Sprint Cup Series standings with two wins, five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.

"Richard Childress has been a great partner to us and we value the efforts of everyone at Richard Childress Racing," said D'Sylva. "As we enter the second half of the season, we're focused on supporting the No. 29 Budweiser Racing team as they contend for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship."

"I can't thank Richard Childress and everyone at RCR enough for everything they've done for my career," Harvick added. "I was just trying to make a name for myself in the Truck Series and Richard believed in me enough to make me a part of his race team back in 1999. Without him, and without the hard work of so many people at RCR, I wouldn't be where I am today."

While Budweiser adorned the hood of the No. 29 Chevrolet for the past three seasons, the iconic bowtie has been a staple in the Sprint Cup Series garage dating back to its sponsorship of Terry Labonte's No. 44 Chevrolet at Stratograph Racing in 1983. In the years since, Budweiser has celebrated a championship and nearly 60 wins in NASCAR's elite division with the likes of Darrell Waltrip, Geoff Bodine, Bill Elliott, Kenny Schrader, Ricky Craven, Wally Dallenbach, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Harvick.

About Anheuser-Busch

For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America's most-popular beers. Starting with the finest, all-natural ingredients sourced from Anheuser-Busch's family of growers, every batch is hand-crafted using the same exacting standards and time-honored traditions passed down through generations of proud Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and employees. Best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company's beers lead numerous beer segments and combined hold 47.6 percent share of the U.S. beer market. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and operates 12 local breweries, 17 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities across the United States, representing a capital investment of more than $15.5 billion. Its flagship brewery remains in St. Louis, Mo., and is among the global company's largest and most technologically capable breweries. Visitor and special beermaster tours are available at its St. Louis and four other Anheuser-Busch breweries. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

About Stewart-Haas Racing

Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team co-owned by three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. The team fields three entries in the elite Sprint Cup Series – the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart, the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Danica Patrick. Based in Kannapolis, N.C., Stewart-Haas Racing operates out of a 140,000-square-foot facility with more than 200 employees. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing and follow on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch