Ameriquest seeks release from Nascar sponsorship

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ameriquest Mortgage Co., a struggling subprime mortgage lender, has asked to be released from its Nascar sponsorship, after last week giving up its rights to name the Texas Rangers' baseball park.

According to Nascar's Web site, the unit of Orange, California-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp. asked Roush Fenway Racing to release it from the final two years of its three-year sponsorship of the No. 16 car, a Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle. Ameriquest had replaced the National Guard as a sponsor after the 2006 racing season.

"It's very clear that they want to reduce their contract exposure to us," Roush Fenway President Geoff Smith told Nascar.com, referring to Ameriquest. "We can assume that we'll have another sponsor for next season."

Roush Fenway did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

ACC Capital spokesman Chris Orlando declined to confirm Ameriquest's plans, saying: "We are evaluating all of our marketing needs, in light of the current market environment."

Once the largest U.S. provider of home loans to people with poor credit, Ameriquest has let go several thousand employees in the last year as borrower delinquencies and defaults increased.

The company is one of many subprime lenders that ran into financial difficulties in the U.S. housing slowdown.

On March 19, Ameriquest severed its 30-year pact to name the Rangers' ballpark in Arlington, Texas, three years after paying a reported $75 million for the naming rights. The ballpark has been renamed Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.