Die Macht » formally unveiled at a media launch at Merthyr

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Target will leave IndyCar at the end of this season after 27 years with Chip Ganassi Racing that included 11 championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories.The exit comes as Target is examining all of its marketing platforms under new chairman Brian Cornell. Target is also the primary sponsor of Kyle Larson in NASCARs top Sprint Cup Series and will return to his car in 2017.Targets relationship with Ganassi is one of the longest in any racing series, and the retail giant was a key player in helping Ganassi build his organization. Target not only sponsored Ganassis first car as a team owner, it eventually became a partner as the Ganassi team grew to one of the top two players in open wheel racing.In discussing the decision to leave IndyCar, senior vice president Scott Nygaard rattled off a list of highlights from Targets run: Jimmy Vasser winning Ganassis first championship, Alex Zanardi adding another two, Juan Pablo Montoya winning Ganassis first Indianapolis 500 and domination over the last decade by Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.It was a really difficult decision that we made -- weve been with Chip Ganassi Racing for 27 years and we are ridiculously proud of the success, Nygaard said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. But the Target brand is about being fresh and new, so we felt like this was the time to make the difficult decision and expand our sports marketing platform.About the NASCAR sponsorship, Nygaard said only that Target is excited for the 2017 season with Larson. Targets contract with Ganassi runs through next year.Chip Ganassi raved about his partnership with Target while noting he understood the company made a business decision after nearly three full decades together in IndyCar.Its the greatest sponsor in racing, ever, Ganassi said. Theyve been nothing but good to me. They developed me personally and professionally. Ive developed lifelong friends and relationships. I understand things change and people have different marketing efforts, and the way they want to stamp their name on things.But its one of the longest running sponsors in racing and they delivered for me and the team, and the team delivered for them.Target walks away from an enormous investment it made in IndyCar and aligning itself with Ganassi drivers as its brand ambassadors. That includes Dixon, who has been sponsored by Target for 15 years and is one of the greatest open wheel drivers in history. Ganassi said Dixon is not a tough sell at all to sponsors, and he expected to announce a replacement on the Target car within the next two months.Dixon is a four-time IndyCar champion and his 39 career victories include the 2008 Indianapolis 500.I cant thank Target enough for their partnership on and off the track over the years, Dixon said. They have been with the IndyCar team for an amazing 27 years, which is unheard of in professional sports, and on the car Ive driven for the past 15 seasons. I have nothing but great memories and much thanks for Target being great partners for so long.Nygaard praised Dixon as a longtime Target ambassador.He is a true class act, a gentleman on and off the track, Nygaard said of the New Zealand driver. Hes always stood tall for the values of Target and the Target brand. 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Former Wales and British and Irish Lions fullback Lee Byrne is switching codes after being appointed director of rugby at South Wales Ironmen RL.Officials say Byrnes appointment will signal the dawn of a new era for the Kingstone Press League 1 club who will change their name after competing for the past decade as South Wales Scorpions and relocate to Wern Sports Park, home of Merthyr RFC.Byrne will be formally unveiled at a media launch at Merthyr RFC on Tuesday attended by Sir Stan Thomas, the main benefactor behind Merthyr RFCs rise to the pinnacle of Welsh club rugby union.The Ironmen describe it as a hugely significant day in Welsh rugby league history and say Byrnes aarrival will be the first of a number of new faces, including players from Australia, New Zealand and a returning Welsh rugby league international, ahead of the 2017 season.ddddddddddddBridgend-born Byrne was capped 46 times by his country, playing his best rugby as Wales claimed the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2008, and was also first-choice fullback for the Lions in South Africa in 2009.The former Scarlets, Ospreys, Newport Gwent Dragons and Clermont Auvergne retired after failing to recover from a shoulder injury in April 2015 at the age of 34. 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