It was a rather busy week for race teams and the press as media week commenced on Monday. Press conferences with Stewart-Hass Racing, Leavine Family Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Team Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Richard Childress Racing. Martin Truex, Jr. was the only driver on at the scene in Charlotte this week. He Skyped his media obligation from Anguilla. Being that it was snowing in Charlotte, reporters and his Colorado teammates from Furniture Row Racing were jealous of Truex’s on-location report.
K-LOVE will sponsor Michael McDowell and Leavine Family Racing in the running of the Daytona 500. The new sponsor will also be on board the No. 95 Ford Fusion for three Sprint Cup races in the 2014 season. It will also serve as an associate sponsor throughout the season.
CSX is returning to Front Row Motorsports to sponsor David Ragan’s No. 34 Ford Fusion for four races, beginning with the Daytona 500 followed by races at Darlington, Michigan and Richmond. CSX, promoting rail safety, will be a major associate sponsor on the No. 34 at Pocono in August and Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.
Richard Childress Racing announced this week a long-term partnership with Lucas Oil Products, an Indianapolis-based company. The racing teams believes this partnership will benefit all RCR team in having a lubricants partner with strong roots in racing.
Richard Childress again discussed the reasoning behind bringing back the No. 3 in the Sprint Cup Series. Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, will be in the driver’s seat of that iconic number this season and has already posted fast speeds while testing at Daytona.
Not only did Roger Penske welcome back the sponsors who have been consistent in being sponsors with his race teams, he welcomed the collective name change to Team Penske. With that comes new partnerships. Team Penske has entered into a multi-year agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., manufacturer of the world’s most advanced business aircraft. EnerSys has also signed a multi-year agreement with Team Penske to become an official partner of the team in 2014. EnerSys’ ODYSSEY Battery brand will be on the b-post of the No. 22 Nationwide Series Ford beginning in Daytona. EnerSys is the largest industrial battery manufacturer in the world.
It was announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Air Force will join Richard Petty Motorsports to sponsor Aric Almirola’s No. 43 Ford for the Memorial Day race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Fourth of July weekend race at Daytona. The U.S. Air Force will also remain as an associate sponsor on the No. 43 for the entire 2014 season. Officials will also continue to hold swearing-in ceremonies of Airmen in the Delayed Entry Program at NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
To end the week, Maurice Petty, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, Jack Ingram, Tim Flock and Dale Jarrett were inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Thursday night. Prior to the evening’s events, the late Chris Economaki was given the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.
