NASCAR fan-favorite sponsor returning for first Cup race since 2021

Panini America, the home for NFL, NBA, NIL, WNBA, WWE, NASCAR and collegiate sports trading Cards, has had a major presence in NASCAR for the last several years, having served as the primary sponsor of entries in the Xfinity Series from 2019 to 2023. However, the brand has not served as the primary sponsor of a Cup Series entry since 2021.

That is set to change in Sunday's Brickyard 400, which is set to be the first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval since 2020.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry is set to compete in this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval with primary sponsorship from the brand on his No. 4 Ford.

This race is set to mark Panini's first primary car sponsorship of the 2024 season, and the paint scheme features Indiana Fever rookie and WNBA All-Star Caitlin Clark.

The paint scheme is focused around “Raining 3s,” a card included in the company's recently released Caitlin Clark Collection that is available now at retailers nationwide and online at Panini America's website.

Josh Berry excited to represent Panini

"The partnership between Panini and Stewart-Haas Racing worked [out] over the last month or so, and we talked about how to put this all together," Berry told Beyond the Flag.

"Panini, this is their first step back in the Cup Series since 2021 I believe, and we’re just really excited to have them on board. Panini has a great presence in our sport. We sign a ton of trading cards and see them all the time, so to see that, have that paired up with their new Caitlin Clark collection that's available, is going to be really cool."

Berry is excited to represent a brand that has become a fan-favorite within NASCAR's growing fanbase.

"We as drivers do work for them throughout the season to sign stuff for them, and we see a ton of those cards over the course of the year," he continued.

"It’s every week in and week out, we see those and sign those, and they're really popular with our fanbase in NASCAR. I feel like we see a lot of people who collect those, and so I think that's what kind of brings us all together. I think it's a great partnership on both sides."

Ahead of the upcoming race weekend, Berry has already gotten to see the Clark paint scheme up close.

"When I was at the race shop earlier this week, they were putting the final preparations on it," he said. "It looks really cool. The colors stand out really well on the race track, and obviously having Caitlin on the hood is going to add some popularity with everything that she's been doing over the last few months, especially.

"It drew a lot of attention, which is what it's about for all this, to raise awareness for that brand and what they're doing with Caitlin, and hopefully we can go out on the race track and have a good run this weekend."

Berry has followed Clark's basketball career going back to her college days as an Iowa Hawkeye.

"I did a little bit towards the end, especially when it was really super popular as they went through the NCAA tournament and everything like that," he said. "It's crazy. She's made a huge difference in that sport, I feel like. Her and several others have really gained a lot of notoriety, and I feel like it's on TV way more than it used to be, you watch it every now and then, so it's been pretty cool to see, and like I said, it's good for all of us in the sports world."

Stewart-Haas Racing's new deal with Panini sees the brand become an associate partner of the team throughout the rest of the 2024 season, and it is expected that they will serve as the primary sponsor in at least one more race after this weekend as well.

"They're going to be an associate partner for us the rest of the year," Berry stated. "I think we're working out, I believe we have another primary race coming later in the year, but I'm not sure if we know which one it is or what we're doing with that yet. But hopefully this is going to be a partnership that we can continue for a long time."

Tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 21 for the live broadcast of the Brickyard 400 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!