Earnhardt Jr. and JRM To Partner With Clean Coal Campaign
Multi-faceted package includes team sponsorship & Dale Jr. ad rights
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 25, 2012) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. has signed an agreement to represent and drive awareness to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) as part of its nationwide campaign to promote the importance of clean coal technology. The agreement is part of a larger sponsorship between ACCCE and JR Motorsports that includes primary branding on JRM cars for four events in 2012 and associate branding for the duration of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season.
This is the first-ever sponsorship of a NASCAR team for ACCCE, which supports energy policies that balance coal’s role in supplying the United States with affordable and reliable electricity.
“We are extremely pleased to announce this new partnership, which includes both elements of our primary assets – Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports,” said Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager of JR Motorsports. “Teaming up with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is somewhat new territory for us, one that we hope will take the Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports brands to new homes and markets. The ACCCE’s initiative to inform and educate about opportunities of powering with clean coal is something we can truly support with coal being such an abundant and affordable natural resource.”
The ACCCE will receive primary logo placement and branding on Cole Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet in Nationwide Series races at Dover International Speedway (June 2), Michigan International Speedway (May 16), Iowa Speedway (Aug. 4) and Kentucky Speedway (Sept. 22). ACCCE will have associate sponsorship placement on Whitt’s car starting this week at Richmond International Raceway and continuing through the remainder of the season. ACCCE will be an associate sponsor on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 5 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on May 5.
“Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team are one of the elite groups in racing and we’re proud to be partnering with them,” said Evan Tracey, senior vice president for communications of ACCCE. “NASCAR is a great way for ACCCE to reach out to American families about the important role that coal plays in delivering affordable power for the American economy. We’re excited to talk to JR Motorsports fans about how coal keeps electricity affordable, reliable and increasingly clean.”
Whitt and the No. 88 team are currently ranked sixth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. The team’s season tally includes one top-five and two top-10 finishes in six starts. Earnhardt Jr. is slated to run his fourth and final Nationwide Series race of 2012 at Talladega. His season-best finish in the Nationwide Series is fifth at Bristol on March 17. In the primary role as driver for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he is currently fourth in points with six top-10s in eight races.
ABOUT JR MOTORSPORTS: Based in Mooresville, N.C., JR Motorsports is the management company and racing operation for Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s nine-time Most Popular Driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races. JR Motorsports competes in multiple racing divisions, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series where the team owns 10 victories. To learn more about the organization and its stable of drivers which include Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt, visit www.jrmracing.com. The JR Motorsports facility also houses the JR Nation retail store, Hammerhead Entertainment and JRM Licensing.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COALITION FOR CLEAN COAL ELECTRICITY The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of companies involved in producing electricity from coal. ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s vital role in meeting our country’s growing need for affordable and reliable electricity with the need to protect the environment. ACCCE also advocates for the development and deployment of advanced clean coal technologies that will produce electricity with near-zero emissions. For more information, visit www.cleancoalusa.org or www.americaspower.org.
The Final Word – If you are not a Hamlin fan, Richmond could be about as much fun as Kansas
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[/media-credit]If you are not a real NASCAR fan, but the kind who doesn’t know a Harvick from a Hamlin, who seeks wrecks not racing, who can’t tick off the boys who have won a race this season, then Kansas probably was not for you. All that venue featured was racing, where positions changed, drivers moved up and fell back, and where the biggest wow moments involved an engine going south.
In the end, Denny Hamlin moved past Martin Truex Jr with 30 laps to go and stayed gone to pick up his second victory of the campaign. Those in the Top Ten in the standings, for the most part, finished among the best last Sunday. Those that didn’t were the pair from Stewart-Haas, with Tony Stewart (13th) and Ryan Newman (20th) not having the best of days, while Kasey Kahne (8th) and Kyle Busch (10th) did as they eye Richmond this Saturday night. Mr. Busch especially so.
One thing fans of the sport notice as we go along is that the best cars during the season tend to be the same that finish up front week after week. It still is a might too early to get all that excited as to who is in and who is not in a Chase place, but Jeff Gordon is 49 out after yet another disappointing run last week. 21st was not where he wanted to be Sunday. Mind you, pick up a win, as Brad Keselowski did at Bristol, and it don’t matter where you are in the standings. Okay, it probably would be better to have two or three victories before one gets too comfortable.
They leave the speedways behind this weekend as they settle in to the 3/4 mile tri-oval that is known as Richmond International Speedway. A dozen races have come and gone since Ford last was in Victory Lane. Kevin Harvick won there last fall for the Bowtie gang, breaking up the Toyota tandem of Kyle Busch (3 wins) and Hamlin (2) who had that venue all to themselves the previous five events. It has been awhile since Jimmie Johnson won his last of three, while even Dale Earnhardt Jr won his second ever Cup race there back in 2000. He has won a couple more there since but, like Johnson and fellow three-time winner Tony Stewart, Junior has not done so lately.
It has been quite some time since Jeff Gordon won there. However, in combing through the stats Gordon has the third best points record at the track over the past five years. In ten races, he has pulled in eight Top Tens. At least there is hope this Saturday night.
However, the smart money would probably be on Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin coming through. Again. Have I ever mentioned that Denny is one of my favorite drivers? No? There might be a reason for that. Enjoy the week.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas
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[/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Greg Biffle: Biffle posted his sixth top-10 finish of the year with a fifth in the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway. He maintained the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now leads Martin Truex, Jr. by 15.
“Whereas I got a cowboy hat and a pair of six-shooters for winning at Texas,” Biffle said, “Denny Hamlin received a pair of ruby red slippers, which I’m sure he tapped together and said ‘There’s no place like Homestead…to blow a points lead and hence the 2010 Sprint Cup title.’”
2. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 173 of 267 laps at Kansas, but lost the lead to Denny Hamlin with 31 to go and held on for second, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish. He jumped two places in the point standings to second, and trails Greg Biffle by 15.
“I made a few desperation moves to pass Hamlin at the end,” Truex said. “But what better time to say ‘banzai’ than while driving a Toyota and attempting to pass another?
“I’m in negotiations to renew my contract with Michael Waltrip Racing. That means I get to sit at a table and talk numbers with Michael. Therein lies the secret to being around Michael—someone has to pay me to do it.”
3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson followed up his runner-up finish at Texas with a third in the STP 400 at Kansas, scoring his fourth top 5 of the year. He improved one spot in the point standings to seventh, and now trails Greg Biffle by 37.
“In the Hendrick Motorsports garage,” Johnson said, “there’s a lot of talk about streaks. Hendrick has been sitting on 199 wins for awhile now. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a 137-race winless streak. The way things are going, it’s a toss-up as to who gets to 200 first.”
“As you probably couldn’t help but notice, the Lowe’s No. 48 Chevy sported the ‘Mountain Green’ color. That was a color made popular by two 1960’s iconic products, muscle cars and ugly toilets.”
4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished fourth in the STP 400, taking his fifth top-5 result of the year. He is now third in the point standings, 17 behind Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle.
“After two cautions at Texas,” Kenseth said, “there were only three at Kansas. That means, in both cases, that the winner’s speed was above average, while the racing itself was below average. As such, electronic fuel injection is no longer the hot topic of discussion—instead, it’s cruise control.”
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Still seeking his first win in 136 races, Earnhardt came up short but finished with a solid seventh at Kansas. In eight races this year, he hasn’t finished lower than 15th, and is now fourth in the point standings, 21 out of first.
“You probably heard me profess that I think I’m the best driver in NASCAR,” Earnhardt said. “It remains to be seen who’s more motivated by that statement—me, or the ten drivers that actually are better than me.
6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin slipped by Martin Truex, Jr. with 31 laps to go and sailed to his second win of the year, taking the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway. Hamlin improved one place to fifth in the point standings, 23 behind Greg Biffle.
“This No. 11 Fed Ex team has a ton of momentum,” Hamlin said. “You could say we’re like a ‘freight’ train. Let’s just hope our 2011 troubles don’t rear it heads, because we were much like a train then as well, in that it often took more than one engine to get anywhere.”
7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started second at Kansas and powered to a sixth-place finish, leading the charge for Richard Childress Racing. He is now sixth in the point standings, 25 out of first.
“The No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet was good,” Harvick said, “but not good enough. We were anything but ‘Rheem-arkable.’ As wordplay goes, that one should be ‘pun-ishable by death.
“But my disappointment with a sixth-place finish is a clear indication that I expect better from myself. I’m the ultimate ‘expectant’ father.”
8. Carl Edwards: Edwards, in the No. 99 Aflac Ford, joined Roush Fenway teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle in the top 10, with a ninth at Kansas, his fifth top-10 result of the year. Edwards is now ninth in the point standings, 61 out of first.
“Sunday was a strong day for the Roush Fenway collective,” Edwards said. “All three of us in the top 10? That’s the first time we’ve done anything together in a long time.
“I must say, it’s tough for me to see myself behind Biffle and Kenseth in the point standings. Kenseth is sponsored by EcoBoost; what I need is an ego boost.”
9. Tony Stewart: Stewart came home 13th at Kansas, the last car on the lead lap after a long day of handling issues. He is now eighth in the point standings, 47 out of first.
“That’s two straight finishes outside the top 10,” Stewart said. “Despite our troubles, it’s no time to make any rash decisions, which should come as a relief to my crew chief, Steve Addington.
10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 10th at Kansas as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin won the STP 400. It was only Busch’s third top-10 result of the year, but it season turnaround could be in order at Richmond, where Busch has three wins.
“Hamlin’s making headlines,” Busch said, “and, in what’s is a complete mystery to me, for all the right reasons. I just haven’t been the same this year. Joe Gibbs said he wouldn’t mind seeing the ‘old’ Kyle Busch or the ‘new’ Kyle Busch, or, for that matter, ‘any’ Kyle Busch.”
