ALMS: Huffaker/Qvale and Tommy Bahama ink deal
7 August 1999
DETROIT, Mich. (August 7, 1999) Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports, a top contender in the BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series, and Tommy Bahama, an upscale lifestyle apparel company, announced a two-year sponsorship agreement this morning at the Tenneco Automotive Detroit Grand Prix. "We are delighted that Tommy Bahama has come on board," said Huffaker/Qvale president Bruce Qvale. "This firms up our Trans-Am program through 2000, and is just the kind of association that we were looking for. Tommy Bahama will be a great addition to the BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am." Tommy Bahama's island-inspired sportswear is widely available at specialty stores, golf shops and resorts across the United States as well as at the Tommy Bahama retail/restaurant compounds located in Sarasota and Naples, Florida. The Tommy Bahama collection is also sold nationally at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nieman Marcus stores. "We're very excited to have the opportunity to be associated with not only a quality team like Huffaker/Qvale but also a group that totally relates to the Tommy Bahama philosophy, that life is one long weekend," says Tony Margolis, President of Tommy Bahama. "These guys really know how to live life to it's fullest and we're proud to be associated with them." "This is great news for our driver, Chris Neville, too," added Joe Huffaker, vice president and technical director of the Sonoma, Calif.-based team. "We've had Chris on a race-by-race deal so far this year, and it's great that Tommy Bahama will help us give one of the brightest new stars on the Trans-Am scene the kind of job security he needs for the whole season." Neville, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was the 1998 Rookie of the Year in Trans-Am. This year he has lived up to his promise, and comes into the Detroit race leading the season points on the strength of a win at Road Atlanta, the pole at Long Beach, and four podium finishes. Huffaker/Qvale is a reuniting of two traditional names from the racing and automotive industries, Joe Huffaker and Bruce Qvale. Both are sons of distinguished members of the racing community who have ties going back to the 1950s. That association began when Huffaker's father, Joe, joined forces with Kjell Qvale, one of the founders of the West Coast Sports Car Club of America, and owner of San Francisco-based British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd. In 1960, the two established the BMC Competition Department, which designed and developed competition engines and race cars. Now the sons have joined forces again, and Huffaker Engineering is rapidly becoming the place for Trans-Am chassis and engine innovation and performance. Tommy Bahama is a division of Viewpoint International, a privately held corporation. Established in August, 1992, with corporate headquarters in New York and Seattle. Tommy Bahama is a lifestyle company which includes a collection of men's and women's sportswear, footwear, neckwear, accessories and bags. The company also has four Tommy Bahama compounds in Florida and Californian, and a retail only store in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.