Centrix Financial, struggling with a decline of its subprime auto-loan business, could end its title sponsorship of the annual Grand Prix of Denver, officials said Monday.
“We’re reviewing all of our motorsports marketing affiliations,” said Centrix spokeswoman Lauren Baker.
Centennial-based Centrix has been the event’s title sponsor since 2003. Sutton International Motorsports, a company founded by Centrix chief executive Robert Sutton, bought the Grand Prix in 2004.
The race is billed as the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver sponsored by Bridgestone. Last year’s race attracted a crowd of more than 148,000 over three days. This year’s event is scheduled for Aug. 11 to 13 in downtown Denver.
Centrix’s sponsorship deal with the Grand Prix is renewed annually, said Rob Johnson, the race’s general manager and an executive vice president with Sutton International.
Centrix leaders have “to do what makes sense for their business,” Johnson said. “The decision needs to be made in the next couple of weeks so we know what we’re going to call the event and so we can start marketing the event.”
The Grand Prix has yet to discuss the title sponsorship with any other company, he said.
The naming rights to the race could draw considerable interest, said Don Hinchey, an official with the Bonham Group, which specializes in sponsorship deals.
“The summertime activity it draws is significant from a media and marketing standpoint,” Hinchey said. “It generates a lot of fan interest.”
Centrix announced Friday that it cut 300 jobs, 30 percent of its workforce. Over the past year, the company’s employment has dropped from 1,500 to about 700.
The company attributed its struggles to tighter regulations that prevent credit unions from using intermediaries such as Centrix to provide auto loans to borrowers with impaired credit ratings. Centrix receives a significant chunk of its business from credit-union customers.
Separately, Centrix is in the last year of a three-year sponsorship deal with NASCAR that bills the company as “the official auto finance company of NASCAR.”
Baker said Centrix is reviewing that sponsorship as well.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
