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Tracks: Kroger returns for 19th year as sponsor of IRP Busch race

2 February 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Kroger Company, sponsor of the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division event at Indianapolis Raceway Park since the inception of the event in 1982, will return as the title sponsor for the 19th consecutive year for the 2000 racing season. This year's race is scheduled for Friday, August 4.

"With the 19th year of sponsorship, Kroger extends their record as the longest-running continuous event sponsor in the NASCAR Busch Series," commented Jeff Dakin, Director of Operations at Indianapolis Raceway Park. "We think this a real mark of prestige for IRP as well as Kroger. Since the inception of the Busch Series, no event has had the same sponsor for so long."

Dakin also noted that IRP believes the Kroger sponsorship may be the longest running continuous such partnership in any of NASCAR's touring divisions.

"We've asked NASCAR to be absolutely sure, but they haven't gotten back to us yet," he explained, "but none of us here know of any longer-running relationship."

The inaugural Kroger 200 in 1982 brought a major NASCAR touring division to Indianapolis for the first time. Area motorsports "experts" predicted that fans in the area wouldn't take to southern-style stock car racing.

"As people like to say," Dakin remarked, "The rest is history. It's our feeling here that IRP proved that NASCAR would sell in Indianapolis, and that, coupled with the tremendous growth of NASCAR through the 1980s and early 1990s, led to the outstanding week of competition we have wrapped around the Kroger 200 today."

The 2000 Kroger SpeedFest(tm) will begin on Wednesday, August 2 with the DuPont 200, featuring the Coors Light USAC Silver Bullet Championship Series. These traditional front-engined cars have captured the hearts of a lot of stock car fans with their competitive nature and wheel-to-wheel racing.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series steps into the spotlight on Thursday, August 3, with the Power Stroke 200 presented by Ford and International. Just as the Silver Bullet cars have earned the admiration of stock car fans, the NASCAR trucks' no-holds-barred, bumper-to-bumper and door-to-door brand of racing has proven popular with the Indianapolis area's extremely knowledgeable racing fans.

All that's left is the Kroger 200 on Friday, August 4, with what has become a traditional visit of the NASCAR Busch Series to IRP for an event which has never failed to provide fans with unbridled action and competition.

Additional information on the events may be obtained by contacting Indianapolis Raceway Park at (317) 291-4090. Tickets may be ordered by calling the NHRA National Ticket Office at (800) 884-6472.

Text Provided by IRP

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.