NASCAR WCUP: Gordon to kick off Dupont 200th anniversary with commemorative car
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
September 21, 2001WILMINGTON, Del. – DuPont will provide Jeff Gordon the ultimate company car when the 2002 season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway in February.
The marketing excellence that Gordon brings to the partnership with the only primary sponsor of his NASCAR Winston Cup career has earned him a car which dons a celebratory paint scheme honoring the 200th anniversary of the DuPont Company.
The hood and the deck lid of the car will feature the "DuPont 200 Years" logo which is illustrated with a flask that has confetti spouting out of the top. The logo signifies DuPont as a leader in science for 200 years.
"We are so fortunate to have the premier science company in the world as our primary sponsor," said Gordon. "Like my family and the Hendrick Motorsports family, they believe in improving quality of life.
"To our team they have been more than a sponsor. They have been a resource that we can use to improve upon everything from the safety of our cars and team to the engineering, designing and painting of our race cars because of the technology of DuPont products and materials that can be legitimately incorporated into our program."
During Daytona Speedweeks, the No. 24 DuPont 200th Anniversary car will be raced in the Bud Shootout, one of the Twin 125-mile qualifying races and NASCAR's most prestigious race of the year, the Daytona 500 - an event Gordon has won twice.
"I can't imagine what our founder would think of the No. 24 car, but I'd bet he would be proud of the science and innovative products that DuPont has developed for racing and the automotive industry in general," said Stacey Mobley, senior vice president, DuPont. "He would consider Jeff, Rick Hendrick and the Hendrick Motorsports team as terrific representatives of our company and what we stand for.
"In a way, our celebration is like honoring 200 victory laps. Not only do we have a world-class racing organization and driver to celebrate with us, we have a world-class company with an incredible combination of people, products and brands that is poised for its next 100 years. We know that our 200th anniversary car, with an exciting special paint scheme, will remind all of us of the direction and pace we are heading and inspire all of us to succeed."
Gordon has enjoyed special theme cars that have come in several varieties, all designed by renowned motorsports artist Sam Bass, including the famous "Rainbow" car, the current "Fire and Flames" car, the "Signature" car which commemorated the signing of a contract extension that will allow Gordon to compete in a No. 24 DuPont car through 2005, and now the 200th Anniversary car.
"To be able to use our race team to kick off a global DuPont celebration of this magnitude is just incredible," said Gordon. "Hopefully, we can really kick it off in grand fashion by taking the DuPont 200th Anniversary car to Victory Lane."
Victory Lane is a place where DuPont has celebrated 57 times with Gordon. They enjoyed Rookie-of-the-Year honors with him in 1993, have watched him start from the pole on 39 occasions and look now to celebrate a fourth Winston Cup championship with him at The Waldorf=Astoria at the conclusion of the 2001 season as DuPont and Gordon continue to enjoy their long-term partnership.
"I hope to drive a DuPont car until I retire," said Gordon.
Text provided by Kymberly Brantigan
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