Only Two Weeks Left To Vote Online For Ford's NASCAR Sprint Cup Car Design Contest

DEARBORN, Mich., August 24, 2010 – For the last 60 days, JDRF children have entered their own designs in a unique race – a race to be featured on the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Charlotte this October.

All of these children with Type 1 diabetes submitted their designs in Ford Customer Service Division’s Design Contest to Support Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and there’s just two weeks left for the voting public to help decide what design will be featured on NASCAR champion Bill Elliott’s Fusion that weekend.

For the past two years JDRF children have helped design the paint scheme featured on the NHRA Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car. This year, in honor of the Wood Brothers celebrating 60 years of racing Ford products in NASCAR, FCSD has decided to bring the successful contest over to the legendary race team.

The NASCAR Car Design Contest voting started on July 6, and soon, one lucky JDRF artist will see his or her winning design come to life on the famous No. 21 car.

Ford Customer Service Division encourages everyone to visit www.jdrf.org/ford, view more than 50 paint scheme designs, and vote for their favorite children’s design by making a monetary donation to JDRF before voting closes on Friday, September 3.

The top five donation-earning designs will go in front of a panel of judges and be narrowed down to one. The winning design will be unveiled and then featured on the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane sponsored Ford Fusion during the Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 16.

“We have some great designs this year and we’re eager to see which designs the public vote in as their top-five favorites,” said Brett Wheatley, Director of Marketing, Ford Customer Service Division. “Selecting the winner this year will be tough because the children have really come up with some great and innovative designs. I’m pleased that we are participating in the program for a third year and helping raise awareness and hopefully finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes.”

The winning designer will be selected on September 8, 2010 and will be invited with his or her parents for an official unveiling of their paint scheme at the Wood Brothers Racing shop in Charlotte, NC, on Wednesday, October 13. In addition, the winning child will also get the chance to see their car design run at Charlotte Motor Speedway during NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Thursday, October 14.

Last year’s winner was Liam Flanagan, an eight-year-old resident of Williamstown, New Jersey, and a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Flanagan and his family were special guests at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, where his design appeared on Bob Tasca III’s Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car.

In the first two years of the design contest, more than $120,000 has been raised for JDRF.

Diabetes affects more Ford families than any other disease. Ford Motor Company has raised more than $27 million for JDRF since the grassroots campaign started in 1998.

About Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease, which strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications, which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research, including more than $156 million in FY2008. In FY2008, the Foundation funded 1,000 centers, grants and fellowships in 22 countries. http://www.jdrf.org