Mooresville, N.C. (November 15, 2011) - Germain Racing is closing out the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season by premiering a fresh sponsorship relationship. Driver Casey Mears will pilot the No. 13 Hard Rock Vodka Camry at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season finale on Sunday, November 20th. This will be the first time the No. 13 Camry has raced in colors other than those of long-time primary sponsor GEICO.
“Obviously it’s very exciting to have a sponsor like Hard Rock Vodka come on board our No. 13 Camry for the Homestead-Miami Speedway race. GEICO remains our primary sponsor for 2012 but we’d certainly like to see the Hard Rock Vodka Camry race again for a number of the open weekends on next season’s schedule,” explained Mears, who has competed in eight Sprint Cup Series events at Homestead. “This team has built a lot of momentum in the last few weeks and we hope to carry that into Homestead for a great weekend with the Hard Rock Vodka Camry.”
Crew chief Bootie Barker has prepared chassis 702 for Mears for Homestead competition. The Florida race will be the second event for the fresh Camry chassis.
“This race car is new to our fleet. We ran it at Texas and liked the characteristics we saw. It is a different chassis design than we’ve had in the past and it is truly a joint effort between Michael Waltrip Racing and Germain Racing that went into the build of this race car,” said Barker.
Hard Rock Vodka, launched this summer by Ultimate Beverages of Boca Raton, FL, is a new sponsor in the NASCAR ranks. O.B. Osceola, co-founder, explains that the NASCAR fan base really is the perfect audience for Hard Rock Vodka.
“Hard Rock Vodka has been enjoying a great launch this year. In setting up the product at retail partners such as ABC, Crown, Discount Liquors and several others, what we’ve come to realize is that Hard Rock Vodka is a perfect fit for marketing to the NASCAR fan base. The product is based out of Florida, so putting Hard Rock Vodka on Germain Racing’s No. 13 Camry at Homestead-Miami Speedway was a great opportunity to showcase the brand this season,” explained Osceola, who also encourages fans to enjoy Hard Rock Vodka responsibly.
Hard Rock Vodka…Splashed with Rock ‘n’ Roll: Hard Rock Vodka is a premium, world class vodka imported from England. The vodka is distilled from the highest quality grain and filtered six times for exceptional smoothness and taste. Hard Rock Vodka image: http://piersongrant.com/images/hrv_1.75liter_front.jpg Learn more about Hard Rock Vodka on Facebook.com/hardrockvodka or follow the brand on Twitter.com/HardRockVodka
About Ultimate Beverages: Ultimate Beverages, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., was founded in 2009 to manufacture, produce, promote, and distribute vodka and other spirits. Ultimate Beverages is fully integrated to evolve and redefine the Premium Spirits industry with its revolutionary approach and quality products.
Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.geicogarage.com You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing
Please visit the Casey Mears Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/caseymearsracing
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Mears Quotes: Homestead-Miami Speedway Race Weekend, Race No. 36
On Hard Rock Vodka Sponsorship…
“Obviously it’s very exciting to have a sponsor like Hard Rock Vodka come on board our No. 13 Camry for the Homestead-Miami Speedway race. GEICO remains our primary sponsor for 2012 but we’d certainly like to see the Hard Rock Vodka Camry race again for a number of the open weekends on next season’s schedule”
On Team’s Performance Leading into HMS…
“This team has built a lot of momentum in the last few weeks and we hope to carry that into Homestead for a great weekend with the Hard Rock Vodka Camry.”
On Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway…
“Homestead-Miami Speedway is a fun track to race. It’s really opened up a lot. You can run around the top, bottom or middle of the race track—the progressive banking gives you a lot of options.
Crew Chief Bootie Barker on Setting up for Homestead Racing
“The progressive banking at Homestead-Miami Speedway really lets the driver dictate how the crew chief needs to prepare the race car. The driver has to decide which line he wants to run, and then you setup the chassis from there. Each year, more and more drivers are moving to the higher line as the track gets more wear. We’ll see which one Casey prefers and setup the Hard Rock Vodka Camry for racing in that groove.”
Barker on Team’s Progress…
“NASCAR competition is tight. This Germain Racing team has proven in the last few races we’ve grown into a top-20 race team and that’s the kind of performance we’ll need at Homestead to feel like we’ve had a good weekend.”
No. 13 Hard Rock Vodka Camry—Recent Performance Highlights
At Talladega Superspeedway, Race No. 32: Mears had the No. 13 Camry in the top-ten and top-fifteen for the majority of the race. Coming to the final restart of the race, he was 8th with no drafting partner. The 17th-place finish, at that point in time, tied the team’s best finish of the year—a mark that would be shattered in one week’s time.
At Martinsville Speedway, Race No. 33: Mears and the No. 13 Camry team had practice time cut short due to weather. Still, the team put together a race car that started in 33rd and motored into 7th position just 75 laps into the 500 lap event. At the close of the 263-mile race, Mears finished 12th, earning his best finish of the 2011 season.
At Texas Motor Speedway, Race No. 34: The team debuted chassis No. 702. There were no new-car blues. The No. 13 Camry was within 4/10’s of a second of the fastest car in its first visit to the race track. Mears qualified 33rd in the field of 43 cars, raced just outside the top-20, and logged the important information the crew needed to know about this new racing chassis. Mears finished 25th.
- Germain Racing, Press Release
