Batteries Announces New Power Play Text-to-Win Promotion through September 30, 2011
OPTIMA® Batteries Announces New Power Play Text-to-Win Promotion through September 30, 2011
Consumers Can Text or Scan On-Pack QR Code for a Chance to Instantly Win One of Hundreds of Great Prizes from Performance Automotive Power Brands
OPTIMA® Batteries, a leader in high-performance automotive and marine batteries, today announced its new 2011 retail promotion that is designed to benefit automotive enthusiasts as they gear up for an action-packed season of high-powered events. Beginning July 1, 2011 consumers will find OPTIMA RedTop® and YellowTop®products with a specially designed on-pack sticker, and will be given an opportunity for text-to-win one of hundreds of prizes instantly from leading automotive aftermarket brands.
“This Text-to-Win program is designed to demonstrate OPTIMA Batteries’ commitment to supporting the lifestyle of performance automotive enthusiasts, and drive a two-way conversation between the brand and our customers while they’re shopping the category at our retail partners,” said Cam Douglass, director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “We like to reward people who spend time learning about batteries and our product in general. We know that the more time people spend educating themselves on the differences in batteries, the more likely they are to choose the Ultimate Power Source.”
When consumers enter the text-to-win code (or scan the QR code that is also provided) they can instantly win prizes from highly-sought-after brands like Superwinch, Red Line Synthetic Oil, K&N Filters and Holley. The promotion will run through September 30, 2011.
To learn more about OPTIMA Batteries and to find your nearest retailer, please visit http://www.optimabatteries.com/. You can also visit OPTIMA on-the-go using your iPhone, Android or Blackberry device for helpful tips on charging, battery care and maintenance and product information at http://www.optimabatteries.com.
Ambrose wins at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Marcos Ambrose passed Alex Tagliani with ten laps to go and won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“I was so happy to have the good fortune to race for Penske Racing and drive the Dodge Challenger car this weekend. It was pretty quick.” Tagliani said. “I’ve very proud, very thankful for all the help I had from Penske Racing. It was great to drive the Hot Wheels Dodge this weekend here in Montreal.”
[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]It was not an easy task for Ambrose to find victory lane at Montreal. Ambrose had to start in the back of the field because he was not able to qualify on Friday due to being at Michigan for the Sprint Cup Series race and arrived in Montreal less than 30 minutes before the race started.
Carl Edwards, Ambrose and Trevor Bayne all arrived via Edward’s helicopter and a speedboat ride along the Olympic rowing basin to the garage. Edwards and Bayne also started in the back. Substitute drivers Billy Johnson (Edwards), Owen Kelly (Ambrose) and Michel Jourdain Jr. (Bayne) qualified for the drivers.
On lap 44, pole-sitter and local favorite Jacques Villeneuve gets off course and then slams into the side of Ambrose on the restart. Villeneuve had to pit two laps later after also making contact with Elliott Sadler.
“On the restart with Marcos, I got caught sleeping. Instead of leaning on him, I gave him too much room, ended up in the gray and lost control of the car. I should have been more aggressive. Our Dodge was very fast. It’s disappointing. We had the car to beat.” Villeneuve said.
Danica Patrick started 25th and finished 24th.
This could be the final race in Montreal. The government turned down a request for $500,000 in funding.
Michael McDowell finished third, Steve Wallace fourth and J.R. Fitzpatrick finished fifth.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the series standings over Elliott Sadler by eight points.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| NAPA Auto Parts 200, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=24 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Points | |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 9 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | 12 | Alex Tagliani | Dodge | 43 |
| 3 | 5 | 18 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | 0 |
| 4 | 7 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Toyota | 40 |
| 5 | 21 | 167 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | Ford | 39 |
| 6 | 4 | 33 | Scott Speed | Chevrolet | 39 |
| 7 | 14 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 0 |
| 8 | 10 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | 3 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 10 | 16 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 34 |
| 11 | 13 | 5 | Ron Fellows | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 12 | 19 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 32 |
| 13 | 15 | 164 | Jason Bowles | Toyota | 31 |
| 14 | 22 | 97 | Kyle Kelley | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 15 | 29 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | 29 |
| 16 | 24 | 9 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | 27 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | 28 | 62 | Michael Annett | Toyota | 26 |
| 19 | 34 | 39 | Luis Martinez Jr. | Ford | 25 |
| 20 | 20 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Chevrolet | 24 |
| 21 | 14 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 23 |
| 22 | 32 | 15 | Timmy Hill * | Ford | 22 |
| 23 | 17 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 21 |
| 24 | 25 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | 23 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 19 |
| 26 | 18 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 18 |
| 27 | 1 | 22 | Jacques Villeneuve | Dodge | 19 |
| 28 | 41 | 52 | Louis-Philippe Dumoulin | Chevrolet | 16 |
| 29 | 35 | 40 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | 39 | 81 | Maryeve Dufault | Dodge | 14 |
| 31 | 6 | 277 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | 0 |
| 32 | 8 | 99 | Patrick Carpentier | Toyota | 12 |
| 33 | 26 | 23 | Alex Kennedy | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 34 | 46 | 141 | Tomy Drissi | Ford | 0 |
| 35 | 40 | 28 | Derrike Cope | Dodge | 9 |
| 36 | 33 | 14 | Eric McClure | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 37 | 12 | 30 | Boris Said | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 38 | 38 | 70 | Blake Koch * | Dodge | 6 |
| 39 | 37 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 40 | 43 | 113 | D.J. Kennington | Dodge | 4 |
| 41 | 11 | 153 | Andrew Ranger | Dodge | 3 |
| 42 | 42 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 43 | 30 | 44 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | 1 |
IndyCar Wants to Return to Mexico in 2013
by Luis Ramírez at La Aficion
The president of IndyCar’s commercial division, Terry Angstadt, revealed to La Aficion that they would like to have a race at the Hermanos Rodriguez track and a Mexican driver in the series.
[media-credit name=”IndyCar” align=”alignright” width=”199″]
[/media-credit]Mexico not only has awaken interest in Formula One to have a race in the medium term, but also the IndyCar Series who is working to bring its show to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City in two years.
In this way they are looking to integrate into the Hispanic market through a project that also includes the arrival of a Mexican driver into the grid of the series as an additional element so the event has more appeal to the local fans.
Terry Angstadt, president of the Commercial Division of the American open wheel series, explained to La Aficion that they’ve started conversations that will eventually bring drivers like the Brazilians Helio Castroneves and Tony Kannan, and the Americans Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, among others, to the race track in Mexico City.
“I was in Mexico City approximately four weeks ago, and I have been there before in the last three years. We are in conversations with strong companies to be able to return to the city and go to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez”, revealed the series executive in an exclusive interview for La Aficion.
The visit however has not been the only one in 2011 by the commercial director of the series. Sources close to the negotiations pointed out that they’ve had at least three more meetings this year in Mexico City to advance the project.
With the arrival of new chassis and engines for 2012, which will represent a revolution for the series, IndyCar does not wish to limit its markets to the USA, Canada and Brazil, and because of that Mexico is an obvious choice for an event: “I think that everything points to 2013. I don’t think the negotiations will allow us to do it by 2012, but it’s still too early to decide.”
Terry Angstadt also mentioned that they had not lost interest in Mexico, however there were needs that had to be taken care of before: “We’ve always had interest but lets not forget that this is a business. We need a motivated promoter, someone on the other side of the table that sees the potential of an IndyCar event, I see the potential, but we need that on the other side and it is something we are working on.
The plan of a Mexican driver
On the list of regular drivers on the IndyCar series only three are Spanish speaking: the Spaniard Oriol Servia, the Venezuelan E.J. Viso and the Colombian Sebastian Saavedra, however the last report given by the US Census Bureau says that the majority of the Hispanic population, which has grown to 50.5 million, are of Mexican decent.
“In my opinion, this is a great opportunity to enter into the Latin market, I think it’s the best. We are in talks to have a Mexican driver, a successful driver, and we are working very hard so he can be in the series. I think we need a Mexican driver”, pointed out the commercial director.
The locals Memo Rojas (Champion of the Grand Am Series with Ganassi) and David Martinez have shown interest in reaching IndyCar and both are working in projects to be able to make that happen.
Angstadt explained that what’s important at the moment is to help the competitors find sponsors and be able to join the series:
“We don’t have to worry about the talent of the drivers, because they have it, we simply need to focus on the commercial side”, he said.
For him, having a race in mexico city requires an necessary element to attract t the attention of the public: “I think that the combination of the race wit ha drivers is necessary and would be the best way of doing things”.
