Full Throttle

The Automobile Association of America (AAA) said in January it was dropping its Nascar sponsorships after this season, leaving that role to regional affiliates.

AAA has backed Roush’s #6 driven by David Ragan this year since 2006.

Leaving the door open to regional affiliates has allowed the largest of the regional clubs, the Automobile Club of Southern California, to reenter the sport for a five event sponsorship in 2009.

The auto club will appear as the main sponsor on the Penske Racing’s #77 in five events next season, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based race team said in a statement.

Sam Hornish will debut the #77 Auto Club Dodge in February at the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.

In addition, the motor club will serve as primary sponsor of the #77 Car in Sprint Cup Series events at Kansas Speedway in October and Texas Motor Speedway in November, and as co-primary sponsor for Hornish and the Car #77 team, alongside Penske Truck Rental, at the April Talladega Superspeedway and June New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sprint Cup Series races.

“We are very proud to welcome the Auto Club as a significant sponsor with Penske Racing for 2009 and beyond,” said Roger Penske. “The Auto Club, with it’s affiliation with AAA is a great brand and company and has served as an alliance partner with Penske Truck Rental for the past decade. We look forward to having the Auto Club and AAA brand represented with the #77 team.”

The Auto Club will serve as a major associate sponsor of the #77 team for all other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races with Mobil 1 serving as the primary sponsor for these races.