NASCAR: Harvick's car switching from Bud to Busch for 2016

Anheuser-Busch has confirmed that it will switch the branding on defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick's Stewart-Haas Racing entry from Budweiser beer to its Busch brand for the 20 of the 38 Sprint Cup races in which it serves a primary sponsor, starting in 2016.

"NASCAR continues to be a priority platform for our beer portfolio," Anheuser-Busch vice president for consumer connections Lucas Herscovici said in a statement. "We will be shifting our brand equity in [Kevin] Harvick's car and team from Budweiser to our Busch beer portfolio for the 2016 NASCAR season. The Busch brand is well positioned for this partnership given the brand's storied history with the sport."

"Anheuser-Busch, and specifically the Budweiser team, has been a valuable team partner for the No. 4 car driven by Kevin Harvick," SHR executive vice president Brett Frood said. "We've had tremendous successes with their logo donning our car and look for that to continue as we close out the 2015 racing season. With that said, we are excited to celebrate the Busch brand not only returning to NASCAR, but returning to the sport on our team."

The move marks a significant return to prominence in NASCAR for the Busch brand, which for many years served as the title sponsor of what is now the Xfinity Series.