Regan Smith Returns to JRM to Drive No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale Entry at Bristol
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 7, 2016) – JR Motorsports (JRM) and Dale’s Pale Ale, the first craft beer to be featured in a can, have announced a multi-year extension that will see the brand sponsor JRM’s No. 88 Chevrolet in three NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) races in 2016-17. The No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale Chevrolet will make its season debut on Aug. 19 at Bristol Motor Speedway with Regan Smith returning to JRM to drive in the event.
A JRM partner since 2015, the remaining two races and driving duties for Dale’s Pale Ale in 2017 will be announced at a later date. Additionally, the brand will receive associate placement on the No. 1 Chevrolet with driver Elliott Sadler for the 2016 season.
“Our partnership with Dale’s Pale Ale has been fun and rewarding,” said Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager of JR Motorsports. “For us, there is nothing more fulfilling than renewing partners. Dale’s Pale Ale has seen the value in sharing its product, and the craft beer revolution, with our many fans. We’re looking forward to building on that, both on and off the track.”
Dale’s Pale Ale, distinguished as the first craft beer in can form, is produced by the Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, N.C., and Longmont, Colo., with another brewery opening soon in Austin, Texas. Along with its flagship brand Dale’s Pale Ale, the Oskar Blues Brewery offers an extensive line of craft and specialty beers, including Pinner IPA and Mama’s Little Yella Pils.
“We had a hell of a good time racing with JR Motorsports in 2015 and connecting with NASCAR fans over red, white and blue cans of Dale’s Pale Ale,” said Dale Katechis, Oskar Blues’ Soul Founder. “At Oskar Blues, we like to buck convention and do things our way. We see a similar hard-working, hands-on, American-made attitude in JR Motorsports and NASCAR fans and we’re proud to be a multi-year sponsor of the iconic No. 88 Chevrolet.”
The Bristol event marks Smith’s first turn in a JRM Chevrolet since the 2015 NXS season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Smith raced full-time for the team in NXS competition from 2013-15, earning six career victories and finishing second in the 2014 championship standings. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Smith becomes the eighth driver named to pilot JRM’s No. 88 Chevrolet in 2016, joining Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Cole Custer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Kenny Habul and Kevin Harvick. Earlier this season, Elliott drove the No. 88 entry to victory in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
ABOUT OSKAR BLUES BREWERY:
Founded as a funky little brewpub by Dale Katechis in 1997, Oskar Blues Brewery launched the craft beer-in-a-can apocalypse in 2002, using a tabletop machine that sealed one can at a time. In 2008, the makers of the top-selling pale ale in ColoRADo, Dale’s Pale Ale, added a brewery in Longmont, ColoRADo. The brewery has since experienced explosive growth—from packaging 59,000 barrels of beer in 2011 to 149,000 barrels in 2014. In December 2012, Oskar Blues opened the doors to an expansion brewery in Brevard, North Carolina. Oskar Blues has continued craft can innovation by releasing OLD CHUB NITRO as the first American NITRO craft beer-in-a-can and introducing the CROWLER as a canned off-premise growler alternative. The innovative, original canned craft brewery now distributes trail-blazing craft brews to 42 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Canada, Sweden, and the U.K. For more information and social media visit http://www.oskarblues.com.
ABOUT JR MOTORSPORTS:
JR Motorsports is the management company and racing operation for Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s 13-time Most Popular Driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races. Now in its 15th year of overall competition, JR Motorsports races in multiple divisions, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series where it won a championship in 2014. The company also competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and owns two championships in regional late model divisions. To learn more about the organization, its drivers and its sponsorship opportunities, visit www.jrmracing.com.
