Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing sign 'multi-year agreement' with King's Hawaiian

Some major sponsorship news has come to light in the NASCAR world, as Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing have added King’s Hawaiian to their rolodex, the team announced via X on Wednesday.

The brand started looking for other drivers after previously sponsoring Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing, following the team’s new partnership with Kroger creating a conflict of interest. Now, Hamlin will be the beneficiary, and we can’t wait to see how that bright orange scheme looks on the No. 11 Toyota in 2025.

🚨 NEWS 🚨 ⁰⁰Joe Gibbs Racing has signed a multi-year agreement with @KingsHawaiian. @dennyhamlin will drive the No. 11 Kings Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE in four #NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) January 22, 2025

“Joe Gibbs Racing has signed a multi-year agreement with @KingsHawaiian,” the team posted on X, revealing the sponsorship news. “@dennyhamlin will drive the No. 11 Kings Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE in four #NASCAR Cup Series races this season.”

Moreover, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal originally reported the news that King’s Hawaiian was looking for a new driver, as their divorce from RFK Racing was due to the aforementioned Kroger sponsorship the team added over the offseason. That deal meant Kroger would have co-sponsored cars with many of their own vendor partners.

Bimbo Bakeries USA, which makes everything from English muffins to hot dog buns, Sara Lee brad, and Entenmann’s donuts and baked treats is a partner of Kroger Racing. We have seen those brands and more on the JTG Daugherty, now HYAK Motorsports, No. 47 car in the past.

According to Stern, King’s Hawaiian was searching for another NASCAR partner for 2025, and they found one in Joe Gibbs Racing and Hamlin. There was a possibility that the company could’ve left the sport if they were unable to find a team to work with, but that won’t be the case.

The owner of King’s Hawaiian is Irresistible Foods Group. That company also owns Grillo’s Pickles which is a sponsor of Front Row Motorsports and Todd Gilliland. Now, they’ll adorn Hamlin’s vehicle in 2025.

Moving forward, Denny Hamlin is hoping this will finally be the season where he rises above and captures a NASCAR Cup Series title. With King’s Hawaiian on the hood, perhaps he’ll be able to get the job done, and officially etch his name into the history books as a champion.

— On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.