Posted on December 7th, 2007 by
Coke today extended its association with NASCAR by another ten years putting this deal in an entirely new league. The existing agreement between the two was to expire at the end of the year, Coca Cola spokeswoman Susan Stribling was quoted as saying. Until now all sponsorships entered into by Coke have been for 5 years, making this a new league. Earlier this year Coke entered into an agreement with the International Speed Corporation, being preferred over other soft drink major Pepsi. After that comes this strategic alliance which makes sure Coke has control over most tracks.
Along with using the NASCAR logo in its advertisements this move also allows Coke to market their various products as the official NASCAR drinks. Although exact financial details of the deal were not disclosed, the basic contents of the agreement are out in the open.
The deal means the relationship between NASCAR and Coke continues to flourish with both parties profiting from the alliance. NASCAR earns a lot of money from Coca Cola in terms of sponsorship deals, while adding the NASCAR logo to their products, continues to rake in the moolah for Coca Cola. There’s good news all around.
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Posted on November 29th, 2007 by
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the NEXTEL Cup, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. The 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season began on February 10, 2007 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 18 of that same year at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. The 2007 year has been an exciting year full of drama, action and controversies.
For a second-straight season Jimmie Johnson served up championship numbers — but his 2007 end game was simply superb. Johnson & Co. made the most of a new point system, which placed a premium on winning by scoring 10 victories in 2007, six triumphs coming during the regular season, which vaulted him over teammate Jeff Gordon at the start of the Read more »
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Posted on November 19th, 2007 by
Racing Champion Jimmie Johnson won his second consecutive championship at Miami by finishing a risk-free seventh at the Homestead Driveway on Sunday. His competitive rival from last week’s duel, Matt Kenseth won the race. But Johnson has won the war, being only the first racer to win two consecutive championship since Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon accomplished the same in 1997-98.
When it was over, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus were already looking at the third time.
“We’re just really hitting our stride,” Johnson said. “I think that we have a lot of good years ahead of us and we’ll be fighting for more championships and certainly winning more races as the years go by, and hopefully be a three-time champion in the near Read more »
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Posted on November 16th, 2007 by
Roger Federrer beat Rafael Nadal this summer to win his fifth consecutive championship at the All England Club, tying only Bjorn Borg in the feat. In 1949, the Yankees began a winning streak that ended only after 5 consecutive World Series wins, in ’54.
And now, Jimmie Johnson stands on the verge of winning Hendrick Motorsports five consecutive Cup wins in a row, an achievement no driver has achieved in the modern era. The last time this feat was accomplished was way back in 1971 by racing legend Petty himself. In that same year, Bobby Alison also pulled off the same feat.
But since then, in the 36 years of racing that followed, no one has been able to get past or even equal this achievement. Until now. Even Petty thinks Johnson can pull it off, because racing is Read more »
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Posted on November 13th, 2007 by
Racer Juan Montoya and his wife, Connie, are hosting a one of a kind charity gala like none other in the NASCAR community. BELIVE 2007, the highly anticipated event, will be held in the art district of Miami at Karu & Y restaurant. The guest list boasts of several big names from both within and outside the NASCAR fraternity. NASCAR drivers and hundreds of other celebrities are expected to show up for the event. The proceedings are going to include a silent auction and entertainment by 12-time Latin Grammy winner Juanes — himself a native of Colombia.
Montoya gives most of the credit for the event’s incarnation to his wife, Connie, who wanted to inform people about the situation in Columbia. The couple has been planning continuously to raise funds for this third world country. Connie highlighted the problems plaguing Read more »
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Posted on November 10th, 2007 by
Homestead has aptly been billed as “Ford Championship Weekend,” but the real face-off in the Chase for the Nextel Cup (featuring superstars and favorites Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon) is on Sunday at the Phoenix International Raceway.
And the Hendrick Motorsports teammates seem to be ready to hit the dirt, after two days of grueling practice and qualifying. The session included four on-track sessions and 226 laps of the variably-banked one-mile track preparing for the Checker Auto Parts 500.
Gordon, the flamboyant four-time Cup champion who even won here in April in the Car of Tomorrow’s first visit to Phoenix, is hot on the tail of defending Nextel Cup champion Johnson. He lags in the tables by 30 points. But Johnson has worked towards this lead and top position by winning three consecutive races and both men now know the pressure is Read more »
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Posted on November 5th, 2007 by
Jimmy Johnson proved he’s still the ultimate Nascar daredevil when he hit the dirt here in Fort Worth. So flamboyant was Johnson that team owner Rick Hendrick almost pulled him off the track.
Hendrick watched in horror as one of his leading Nextel Cup championship contenders duelled with Matt Kenseth over the final laps Sunday night, slipping and sliding around Texas Motor Speedway on two new tires. He knew his other driver in the title chase, Jeff Gordon, had a seventh-place finish secured. But the problem was with Johnson, who raced with the recklessness of a teenager.
“I was thinking, ‘We’ve got an awful lot at stake here, and Jeff was running seventh, and we don’t need this,’” the NASCAR team owner said. “But I felt like Jimmie was under control. I was nervous and wanting to hit the button. I was thinking it.”
Johnson himself was upbeat about the contest, in which he finally emerged victorious, and to the relief of Hendrick Read more »
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Posted on October 31st, 2007 by
The Sunday’s race at Atlanta has made the picture quite clear now as for how the standings are going to be, it was the seventh of the ten Chase races and the top 12 drivers so far are:
1. Jeff Gordon: Had nothing all day, then wound up finishing seventh. What other team (outside of Jimmie Johnson) could have pulled that off?
2. Jimmie Johnson (9 points back): Maybe it’s time NASCAR start thinking about handing out two championships this season, because Gordon and Johnson are worthy.
3. Clint Bowyer (-111): Looked like this would be the race he cracked. But he didn’t. He rallied to finish sixth – one spot ahead of Gordon.
4. Carl Edwards (-261): Too bad he didn’t get the chance to battle Johnson. Surely it would have been another bumper-to-bumper classic.
5. Tony Stewart (-322): We’ll lay off Smoke this week. Don’t want to kick a dog while he’s down. Still, you have to wonder how he fell six laps down. Read more »
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Posted on October 28th, 2007 by
The might be the best of friends off the field or boss and employee in the office but they are stealing the show for the Chase of NEXTEL Cup. With less than 3 races left, and no one else within 100 points, it is quite clear that it is going to be between these two. Unlike Formula One, in NASCAR teams don’t have strict pecking orders, so its going to be decided old style, man to man.
May the best man win this one.
“There’s more drama when you have two teammates racing for a championship,” Johnson said. “It’s not like we are out there just giving each other position and pulling by saying, ‘Hi, buddy, go on,’ and ‘No, sorry, you go through.’ It’s far from that, and I think that’s putting a lot of drama in our sport.”
This is a two man show all the way down now, there is no doubt left about that. Read more »
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Posted on October 21st, 2007 by
When Juan Pablo Montoya made his switch from Formula One Car Racing to NASCAR, he had no idea he will be adding a whole new lot of followers to the game as well. Of course, his fans have followed him from Formula One to NASCAR but there are a whole lot of others who have simply checked in because they were interested to know about the shift but then the excitement in every lap in a NASCAR race compared to one in a Formula One Race has just roped them in. Various surveys have reported repeatedly that in the 15 months since Montoya made the transfer.. the number of new NASCAR followers has grown faster than ever.
Recently, Montoya came up with a warning for those considering NASCAR: It’s a lot harder than it looks.
“This is not easy,” Montoya said. “I think the person who thinks that it is easy should look again, because I think this is Read more »
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