AVONDALE, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 31: NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez (L) and Freeway Insurance CEO Cesar Soriano attend at a press conference to announce Freeway Insurance joining NASCAR as the fourth premier partner of the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway on October 31, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
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There was a time when being a premier partner in NASCAR meant having your name plastered across the entire sport. Winston did it first in 1971, and for more than three decades the sport wasn’t just NASCAR—it was the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Then came Nextel, which became Sprint, which eventually handed the keys to Monster Energy. It was a carousel of check writers who kept fans buying cigarettes, switching phone plans, and downing enough flavored caffeine to fuel a small city.
But in 2019, NASCAR decided to get off the merry-go-round. Monster Energy wanted to renew, but NASCAR wanted something fresher. Out went the title sponsor model, in came the “Premier Partnerships” era—four companies sharing the stage: Coca-Cola, Busch Beer, GEICO, and Xfinity. Since then, the sport has simply been the NASCAR Cup Series, with no single brand hogging the spotlight.
At the end of 2024, GEICO quietly exited the group, leaving a trio of partners. But the seat won’t stay empty for long. Beginning in 2026, Freeway Insurance will climb aboard as the fourth Premier Partner. The announcement came Friday at Phoenix Raceway, ahead of the 2025 season finale.
Freeway Insurance isn’t exactly a rookie in the garage. The company has backed Daniel Suárez for five seasons and will follow him to Spire Motorsports next year. Now they’re taking their relationship with NASCAR to the big leagues.
“It was a natural transition and evolution from first supporting Daniel into a broader relationship with NASCAR,” said Cesar Soriano, CEO of Freeway Insurance. “And when you think about our brands, they’re built around supporting people’s lives on the move. When I think about NASCAR fans and I think about our freeway customers, they’re hardworking, they’re loyal, they’re passionate. And that’s what really attracted us. And they’re passionate about what drives them. And so when I started thinking and my team started thinking, hey, what can we do to further expand our relationship? This was a natural transition.”
This new status gives Freeway more than just a logo on a car—it’s front-row exposure. The brand will be woven into the NASCAR Cup Series across multiple touchpoints, including race entitlements, the “Choose Rule” sponsorship on Motor Racing Network and Performance Racing Network broadcasts, digital campaigns, and fan engagement programs.
“The Choose Rule is one of the major assets as well as the entitlement partnership for the fall Phoenix race,” said Michelle Byron, NASCAR’s EVP, Chief Partnership and Licensing Officer. “I think a lot of what we really try to do with these partnerships is not just throw brands on assets. We really take a lot of pride in taking a thoughtful approach to who and how and when we apply brands to these assets that are in our sport. And it’s really all about two things. It’s engaging the fans in really good, authentic ways, and then also having the asset help bring to life a goal and objective that each of our partners have.”
No one seems more excited than Suárez, who’s lived this partnership from a single speaking gig to something much bigger.
“That was pretty much all it was, just a speaking engagement,” Suárez said. “Another speaking engagement, it became a personal sponsor. And then eventually it became a one-race sponsorship, three-race sponsorship, to now being a primary sponsor of myself for a few years, and now a primary sponsor of NASCAR.
“So for me, that’s just the perfect scenario of what an organic partnership can do for you.”
And now, it’s become something even more meaningful.
“For me, Freeway Insurance is more than a sponsor,” Suárez said. “It’s something where we share a lot of values together. As you guys know, for me, diversity and inclusion is something that is very, very, very important and very personal. A very large percentage of customers of Freeway Insurance and employees are Hispanic, so for me, I think this is going to be a very, very big deal—to continue to push the sport into new boundaries and continue to push diversity and inclusion. I’m super, super happy that our relationship just continues to expand.”
