|
|||||||
|
NASCAR
champ displays |
|||||||
| POSTED: Thursday,
February 27, 2003 at 10:12 PM PST UPDATED: Sunday, March 9, 2003 at 7:13 AM PST by Gregg DesElms LAS VEGAS, NV - NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour champion Eddy McKean of McKean Racing affixed decals to his car bearing the web address of the Laci Peterson Web Site (this web site) (www.lacipeterson.com) and the Modesto Police tip line number (209) 342-6166 during his NASCAR Busch Series debut race on Saturday, March 1, 2003.
The champion NASCAR driver said he was eager to help get the word out to race fans about Laci's disappearance and wanted to encourage them to visit her web site in hopes that someone may come forward with information that will lead to her safe return. Laci's family was very grateful to have Eddy help them get out the word about Laci's case. Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, sent a letter to Eddy thanking him for his creative act of kindness and generosity. "You have no idea how much this means to us," Sharon wrote. "It is people like you who are helping us get through this terrible nightmare." Terri Allen of Red's Racing out of Concord, NC and Stanton Barrett driver of the #60 Busch Series Racing Ford teamed up with Eddy to assist him with his NASCAR Busch Series debut.   The March 1st race was the first of possibly six Busch Series
touring races that Eddy hopes to enter this season. He is currently seeking sponsorship funds for his #91 Ford
Taurus. The number of the Busch races he will be able to enter, he said, will depend on securing a primary sponsorship
for his car."The starting price to get your logo or message on Eddy's race car is remarkably cheap," said Matt Vaughn, who does marketing for McKean and several other well-known NASCAR drivers. "A small spot can be had for as little as $2,000," he added.
"Race fans are pretty loyal," Vaughn said. "They'll spot a certain brand of spark plug, for example, advertised on their favorite driver's car and they'll run right out the next time they do a tune up and buy that brand even if it costs more. It's a form of advertising that definitely works." Vaughn admitted that Eddy hadn't sold as much space on his car as he'd hoped for the March 1st race. So it was relatively easy to give Laci's cause some "prime real estate." The address of this web site and the Modesto Police tip line telephone number appeared in large yellow type in the upper sides of both rear fenders, and across the back of the car, between the tail lights. "Eddy's gave Laci's web site some pretty expensive real estate on that car for this race," Vaughn said. He estimated the combined total value of the three spots to be right around $45,000 at McKean's current rates.
The qualifiying rounds prior to the race were rained-out before McKean could get his car on the track for any qualifying laps. So whether he got into the race ended-up being based on how many points his car had accumulated under the NASCAR system. There were many tense moments while they waited to learn if the car had earned a spot in the starting lineup, Vaughn said. As it turned out, the car did qualify and McKean began the race in the 35th starting position (out of a total of 43 cars). The race lasted for 200 laps long, and McKean's car ran smoothly for the first 70 of them. But on the 71st lap he got bumped and fishtailed the rear end of the car into the wall. He was uninjured, but he was out of the race. McKean finished 39th out of 43 cars. Joe Nemechek, Kevin Harvick, and Mike Bliss -- all driving Chevrolets -- finished first, second and third, respectively. Click here for race result details. Vaughn could not say for sure whether McKean would be placing decals with this web site's address on his car in future races, though he said he knew that Eddy hoped to be able to find a way. "To be honest, we're hoping to sell all the space on the car in future races," Vaughn said. "We just about have to, or Eddy's not going to be able to afford to continue touring with the series." He added that if space is available in the future it's likely they'll do it again.
"And the cars are a lot lighter, too," Vaughn added. Because McKean is a well-known champion in that particular NASCAR series, it's easier for him to sell most or all of the space on his car before a race. "We're hoping that by getting a little of the sort of exposure that what we did for the Laci Peterson web site helped to get us, perhaps someone with a few dollars to spend might step forward and buy some space on the car's hood or trunklid," Vaughn said. He was quick to point out that that's not why they donated the space to Laci at the March 1st race. But he was candid enough to concede that it would be a nice unintended and unexpected outcome if something like that happened anyway. Vaughn recounted at least one fairly tense moment during the NASCAR officials' inspections of the cars several hours before the race began. He said one official ordered Laci's decals off McKean's car without even bothering to find out what they meant. "Normally they don't allow web site addresses and phone numbers on the cars because they don't want them to end-up being for sex web sites and stuff like that," Vaughn said. "They're pretty strict about it. In fact, officials initially told Eddy to remove the decals. But when he got them to stand still long enough to let him explain what it was all about, they let him keep the decals on the car, no problem. In fact, one offical said, 'Wow! What a nice thing to do!' Eddy said he felt even better about it after that," Vaughn added. For further information about Eddy McKean point your web browser at the McKean Racing web site at www.mckeanracing.com or contact Matt Vaughn Motorsports Marketing by telephone at (760) 912-0150. |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
