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NASCAR WCUP: Pennzoil Trucker Gets Own Autograph Card

12 May 1999

(Mooresville, N.C.) - Want to know how popular Winston Cup racing has become? Now even the truck drivers have their own autograph cards.

Beginning this month, #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo truck driver Troy Cole will have his own autograph card much like the one the team's racedriver, Steve Park, signs at appearances. In fact, Cole will join Park at the International Trucking Show in Las Vegas in June to sign autographs and promote Pennzoil's Long-Life Heavy Duty Multigrade Engine Oil, which is designed for commercial trucks.

"I can only imagine what I'm going to hear from all the other guys on the Pennzoil team when they see this," said Cole, a 25-year member of the Charlotte, N.C., Fire Department. "I don't know if any other truck driver has ever had his own autograph card. I'm honored I'm the first, but I also know that I'm probably never going to hear the end of it from all the other truck drivers."

The color autograph card includes a picture of the Pennzoil hauler, as well as an action shot of Cole performing his duties as gas man. On the back is a story about the Whitewood, Va., native's life as a truck driver and as a fireman.

Pennzoil decided to print the cards after noticing the crowds the hauler creates whenever it stops on its way to the race track, as well as the popularity of all Winston Cup hauler drivers as they leave the track after each race.

"I've already signed a couple autographs," said Cole. "This is kind of cool."

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