Sunoco and Joe
Gibbs Racing have partnered to develop the Sunoco Driven Challenge
where drivers across the country have a chance to compete for a unique
opportunity to test with one of NASCAR’s top teams.
Drivers in
five qualifying grassroots racing series will compete in a uniquely
developed points system throughout the 2012 season to determine one
overall winner. The winner will receive a test in a JGR
NASCAR K&N Pro Series car at the conclusion of
the season, a tour of JGR’s Huntersville, NC headquarters and a
meeting with JGR President, J.D. Gibbs.
There will
also be an opportunity for one lucky fan and a guest to join in the
winning driver’s experience with an all expenses paid trip to
Charlotte, NC where they will tour the JGR race shop, meet J.D. Gibbs,
and attend the test session. Prizes will also include Joe Gibbs Driven
oil products, Sunoco fuel, and the opportunity to attend a driving
school. The consumer promotion will begin in 2012.
"Sunoco is
committed to fueling victories both on and off the track," said
Cynthia Archer, Sunoco’s vice president of marketing. "The Joe Gibbs
Racing partnership helps strengthen that commitment by fueling the
dreams of the next generation of drivers while also rewarding one
lucky fan."
"We’re excited
to have the opportunity to work with Sunoco on the Challenge," said
J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. "Identifying talented young drivers is
obviously something that has always been of interest to NASCAR’s top
teams and certainly when you look at our team there are a lot of great
stories behind the development of our guys. This has been something
we’ve participated in over the past few years through our Joe Gibbs
Driven oil brand and a Sunoco partnership allows us to enhance the
program."
To be eligible
drivers must be entered in one of the following grassroots series:
PASS North, PASS South, CRA, ASA Midwest, or SRL Southwest. Each week
points will be totaled based upon a driver’s finish in their
respective Series’ race and once each Series concludes its season, a
winner will be determined.
All
participating drivers will be evaluated based on a standardized points
system with the top 10 drivers in each race, as well as the pole
sitter, earning points. Points will then accumulate across the season
and will be standardized based on the total number of races in each
series. The driver with the highest average number of points at the
end of the season will be named the Sunoco Driven Challenge champion
and win the grand prize of a test in a JGR K&N Pro Series car.
About Joe Gibbs Racing:
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR)
is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR, currently fielding
three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, three NASCAR Nationwide Series
teams and a driver development program. Its driver lineup consists of
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in the Sprint Cup Series,
while Brian Scott joins those three in the Nationwide Series along
with Michael McDowell, Drew Herring, Ryan Truex. JGR also boasts Max
Gresham in its K&N Pro Series East and Darrell Wallace, Jr. in its
driver development program. Based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by
Joe Gibbs – a three-time Super Bowl winner as head coach of the
Washington Redskins and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame –
JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning three Cup Series
championships, and three Nationwide Series owner’s championship along
with more than 150 NASCAR races, including three Brickyard 400s and
the 1993 Daytona 500.
About Sunoco:
Sunoco is a leading
transportation fuel provider with operations located primarily in the
East Coast and Midwest regions of the United States. The company sells
transportation fuels through more than 4,900 branded retail locations
in 24 states. APlus convenience stores are operated by the company or
independent dealers in more than 600 of its retail locations. The
retail network in the Northeast is principally supplied by
Sunoco-owned refineries with a combined crude oil processing capacity
of 505,000 barrels per day. Sunoco is also the General Partner and has
a 31-percent interest in Sunoco Logistics Partners, L.P., a publicly
traded master limited partnership which owns and operates 7,600 miles
of refined product and crude oil pipelines and approximately 40 active
product terminals. Sunoco has an 81-percent ownership interest in
SunCoke Energy, Inc., (NYSE: SXC) which makes high-quality
metallurgical-grade coke for major steel manufacturers. SunCoke Energy
has facilities in the U.S. which have the capacity to manufacture
approximately 3.7 million tons of metallurgical-grade coke annually
and is the operator of, and has an equity interest in, a 1.7 million
tons-per-year cokemaking facility in Vitoria, Brazil.
