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“We are excited to return to NHRA Drag Racing by sponsoring the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at the new Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park,” said Ken Bush, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing, CARQUEST Auto Parts. “Phoenix is a great market for us, and we are looking forward to working with the new management team at the facility and hosting a great NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.”
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, formerly named Firebird Int'l Raceway, is managed by Copper Train Development Partners, which is headed by Paul Clayton and Darren Smith. Dick Hahne has been hired as track president. The multipurpose facility is owned by the Gila River Indian Community.
“Bringing on CARQUEST Auto Parts to help promote our first NHRA Mello Yello event as the management team of Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park is great news,” said Hahne. “We look forward to working together to develop strong activation programs through Arizona and make the stop here in Phoenix among the best on the circuit.”
The CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals will take place Feb. 21-23 and is the second stop in the 24-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season. The event features Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock racing as well as competitors in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
As title sponsor, CARQUEST will have extensive on-site visibility as well as commercial inventory in the ESPN2 telecasts of the event.
“We are thrilled to welcome CARQUEST Auto Parts back to NHRA as a title-rights sponsor of this long-running event in Phoenix,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. “They were very involved in NHRA Drag Racing for many years, and we believe their return to the sport is a sign of the value associated with NHRA sponsorship. We look forward to working with them in the future to build and grow their relationship with NHRA Drag Racing.”
CARQUEST Auto Parts served as a title-rights sponsor for several NHRA events in the 2000s, including the prestigious NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The company also served as a primary sponsor for a Top Fuel dragster during that time period.
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix has been a regular stop on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour since 1985. The facility houses a dragstrip, three road-racing courses, a 120-acre lake, and the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving."
Having recognized the importance of a full schedule event, we have yet to see any importance placed on sportsman competitors. I often ask myself if it is really of any importance to the NHRA other than a fill in between rounds for the professionals. See NHRA
There is no specific time line of television, even though there is vast regional importance across the nation. Where are we going? The ole timers are going to the drag strip in the sky, right after filing a chapter 7 or 13, and there is no loyalty established for any of the new-comers to the pro competitors.
Would really like to get feedback from the single reader of this blog below.
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