The NASCAR industry has announced the official formation of the NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust, an industry operated organization created to provide NASCAR fans with new and innovative licensed products. The Licensing Trust, which along with the sanctioning body is initially composed of NASCAR teams including more than 30 NASCAR national series drivers, will streamline the licensing opportunities and processes for its partners and bring operational efficiency to the entire industry.

The Licensing Trust, which is open to any NASCAR national series race team that chooses to participate, will initially explore merchandising opportunities in four key categories – apparel, collectable die-cast, toys, and trackside retail. The Licensing Trust is structured to add licensing categories in the future. NASCAR and the teams will directly manage their respective licensing rights in categories outside the Licensing Trust.

The NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust has recently formed a joint venture with Lionel Electric Trains to make and sell NASCAR replica die-cast racecars.

The joint venture is not a traditional licensee agreement; both the Licensing Trust and Lionel will actively manage and develop the business, in which it will be partners.

Lionel has plans to offer fans and collectors die-cast models representing all of the teams and more than 30 NASCAR national series drivers included in the Licensing Trust. The joint venture will take over the category from Motorsports Authentics, a Concord, N.C.-based company that will instead focus on its core competency of trackside retail and be the exclusive die-cast car retailer at NASCAR tracks around the country.

The Andy Griffith Show is returning to North Carolina with the debut of an original commemorative racecar that pays tribute to the iconic series. CBS Consumer Products, in conjunction with HLG Licensing, has announced a partnership with Front Row Motorsports and the No. 34 Ford Fusion team. The car, to be driven by NASCAR driver Travis Kvapil, is slated to make its first appearance in the NASCAR Banking 500 during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 16, broadcast by ABC.

The partnership marks the second time that CBS Consumer Products has come together with the NASCAR organization to feature a car scheme based on The Andy Griffith Show. In addition, CBS Consumer Products will be developing a merchandising and promotional program around the NASCAR partnership and will soon be announcing a line of products in the apparel, accessories, gift, and toy categories.

My dad and brother were at the NASCAR race in Phoenix this weekend. (Photographic evidence attached.) They loved it and, when I visit them in the desert, we usually hit the go kart tracks so they can show me how rusty my driving skills have gotten while living in New York City. I know that NASCAR is just a New Jersey-width away in the Poconos, but now it’s even closer, with new NASCAR titles overflowing at local bookstores.

The NASCAR Library Collection continues to celebrate the sport with the following releases for the first half of 2010:

• NASCAR Pop-Up: A Guide to the Sport
• The WEEKEND Starts on Wednesday; True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR fans
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: NASCAR: 101 Stories of Family, Fortitude and Fast Cars
• Bill France Jr: The Man Who Made NASCAR
• NASCAR Yesterday & Today
• And several new releases in NASCAR’s Harlequin Series of romance novels targeted toward women.

Gifts for dad and brother just got easy. I’ll probably avoid the last one, though.

— Bryan Joiner

Get your motor running. NASCAR has started its engines on a new licensing project, hoping to simplify the process of getting NASCAR-branded goods to shelves.

According to NASCAR.COM, the unit will be a one-stop shop for licensees with revenue based on sales and not revenue-sharing. Participation by teams is voluntary, but JR Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, and Dale Earnhardt Inc. are in. The teams will allow NASCAR properties to license their images in certain categories, with apparel being the first to which everyone has agreed.

The new model replaces an older one where the teams, acting as independent contractors, needed to approve every request individually, leading to a cumbersome process for licensees looking to put out a full NASCAR product line.

New NASCAR licensing agency emerging [NASCAR.com]