BLOOMBERG NEWS

Juan Pablo Montoya, who left Formula One for NASCAR two years ago, will need a new sponsor for 2009.

Chevron Corp. said in a statement today that it will end its backing of his car in the top Sprint Cup Series after this season, leaving NASCAR's top division in favor of local and regional programs to promote its Texaco Havoline brand motor oil.

The Havoline cancellation is the latest sponsorship setback for Concord, North Carolina-based Ganassi. The company last month shut down the Sprint Cup Series team of 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti and laid off 70 employees after failing to find backers. Molson Coors Brewing Co. dropped its sponsorship of another Ganassi car last season.

Chevron splits its sponsorship of Montoya's car with Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.'s Big Red and Juicy Fruit chewing gums. Sponsorship for a car on a team like Ganassi's would probably range from $15 million to $20 million a year, according to William Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report in Chicago.

Montoya is 21st in the Sprint Cup Series standings. Reed Sorenson, who drives Ganassi's Target Corp.-sponsored car, is in 30th.