Last week No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Martin Truex Jr. opened an e-mail from Joe Keppel, general manager of the NAPA Jacksonville Distribution Center.
The subject heading read “Challenge.”
Keppel posed a contest between his sales force and Truex’s Michael Waltrip Racing team. The first team to earn a NASCAR Sprint Cup victory or a monthly sales record will enjoy a cookout prepared by the other side.
Truex’s reply: “Game On!”
“There are no losers in this challenge as I expect both teams to win this year,” said Keppel who brought 20 employees to watch the No. 56 crew at preseason testing at Daytona on Jan. 13. “I wanted a fun way to drive performance so we are calling this the NAPA Cookout Challenge.”
Truex vowed to win.
“I’m really proud that Joe wanted to use our NASCAR program to get his team charged up for this season,” said Truex. “Obviously, it is an exciting time for his team when they have a record sales month and it will be for us when we get our first win for NAPA. I always like a little friendly competition. To be honest, I look forward to them coming up here and cooking for us.”
The NAPA pit crew is already talking trash to the Florida folks: http://tiny.cc/v7gbi.
MWR
