The war of words between Stewart-Haas Racing and former sponsor Nature’s Bakery doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.
Since rumors began circulating in February about trouble between Danica Patrick and the snack company, the NASCAR driver’s team and its former sponsor have been embroiled in an ongoing legal dispute. As part of a court filing Thursday, SHR provided a letter in which it claimed Patrick brought the health snack foods company nearly $4.5 million in television exposure and roughly $7 million in estimated internet media exposure in 2016, according to ESPN.
After fulfilling just one year of its three-year, $45 million sponsorship deal, Nature’s Bakery backed out of the deal in January, citing Patrick’s promotion of competing brands, among other factors. And although Patrick’s healthy lifestyle seems to align with the products sold by Nature’s Bakery, the company’s small size relative to other NASCAR sponsors caused many to question the deal.
After being in sponsorship limbo for several weeks, Patrick revealed in February that Aspen Dental would assume primary sponsorship of her No. 10 Ford. But while Patrick has resolved her sponsorship woes, her struggles on the track have continued.
Thumbnail photo via John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports Images
