Friday, April 17, 2009

Michael Waltrip Proudly Displays Best Western on his Toyota at Phoenix International Raceway


AVONDALE, Ariz. (April 15, 2009) – Best Western International, THE OFFICIAL HOTEL OF NASCAR®, has been a longstanding partner of Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) and has been a primary sponsor of the No. 99 Toyota Camry NASCAR Nationwide Series team at select events since 2004.

This weekend Waltrip is competing at Best Western’s home track of Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) and will proudly display THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN® on his Michael Waltrip Racing entry in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200.

“I have the best sponsors in NASCAR and they’re fully integrated into our racing program. They know how to effectively activate their sponsorship. Best Western is the perfect example. They certainly have found unique ways to maximize their sponsorship by utilizing our racing program and I love it,” Waltrip said. “My Nationwide team will carry Best Western on the car for a second week in a row. Best Western is headquartered only 30 minutes away from Phoenix International Raceway. So, we really want to leave there with a strong finish for Best Western and all of our partners.”

Waltrip, who has 11 NASCAR Nationwide Series victories since his debut in 1988, has seven starts at the one-mile tri-oval. On Friday, he aims to top his best Phoenix finish of seventh place (2005) as he represents approximately 4,000 hotels worldwide.

In addition to his 11 wins, Waltrip has 14 poles, 59 top-five and 104 top-10 finishes and has led 1,723 laps in 21 seasons of competition. Best Western is a proud contributor of that success and continues to take advantage of the racing program with numerous promotions.

“Best Western comes up with some of the creative, innovative and interactive fan promotions,” Waltrip said. “Not long ago, they executed the first-annual Fan Swap where one lucky race fan was able to do my job for the day and I was able to do their job. More recently, they ran an April Fools' promotion where we played a prank on an unsuspecting NASCAR fan. We’re looking forward to having a lot of fun with it this weekend.”

Waltrip has competed in four of six NASCAR Nationwide Series events this year sharing the driving responsibilities with Scott Speed. Out of the four, his best finish this season is 15th at Auto Club Speedway. Waltrip finished 16th in the most recent event at Nashville Superspeedway in the No. 99 Best Western Toyota Camry and is focused on finishing stronger at Phoenix.

"I'm looking forward to the night race at Phoenix because the track is unique in design," Waltrip said. "The dogleg on the back straightaway and the different banking at each end makes PIR a real challenge to set up a car. I'm sure Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and the guys will figure it out and do a great job Friday night."

Live coverage of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway on ESPN2 begins at 9 p.m. ET and 9:15 p.m. ET on MRN Radio. The event will also air on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

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