Auburn Hills, Mich. — Mopar® announced this week an extension of its sponsorship of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, the longest continuous running title sponsorship in the NHRA.
“We are proud to reaffirm our long and historic partnership with the NHRA and the Bandimere family,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “Together, we have made the annual visit to Bandimere Speedway’s ‘Thunder Mountain’ an iconic stop on the NHRA schedule. The Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals is the flagship event for our brand, our fans and our customers, and this agreement reinforces our commitment to our ‘home track’ and to NHRA drag racing.”
The 33rd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals is scheduled to take place July 20–22, 2012, and will kick off the three-race NHRA Western Swing, which includes stops in Sonoma, Calif. and Seattle, Wash., and a five-race sprint to the start of the NHRA Countdown to The Championship playoffs.
“We are excited to extend the partnership with Mopar which represents the longest standing title rights sponsorship in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series,” said Gary Darcy, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, NHRA. “Since 1989, Mopar has been involved with this event which is a testament to not only to NHRA’s value proposition, but the dedicated team at Bandimere Speedway. We appreciate Mopar’s continued commitment and dedication to NHRA.”
“All of us at Bandimere Speedway are thrilled to know that our relationship with Mopar’s sponsoring of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals is continuing,” John Bandimere Jr., President and CEO of Bandimere Speedway. “The Mopar brand has become synonymous with NHRA and Bandimere Speedway. We love working with the entire Chrysler / Mopar Group.”
Renewal marks yet another ramp-up of Mopar’s NHRA presence
Mopar’s renewal of its title sponsorship of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals is another example of the brand’s commitment to the NHRA and drag racing. Mopar expanded its drag racing program this year, with the addition of four-time NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr., who campaigns his Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger. Mopar also has increased its involvement in the sponsorship for 2012 of the Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car campaigned by Don Schumacher Racing driver Matt Hagan, the 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion.
“Involvement in the NHRA is the cornerstone of Mopar’s motorsports program, as evidenced by the increased presence we have for the 2012 season,” said Gorlier. “Mopar customers and influencers are fans of the NHRA, and our participation is an excellent way to demonstrate the power and performance of Mopar parts and products to this audience.”
Mopar-First Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:
- Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
- Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
- Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
- Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
- 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
- Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
- WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. partnership, Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Combined with Fiat S.p.A., Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories which are distributed in more than 120 countries. Mopar is the source for all genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. brands.
Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A.vehicles — a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at http://www.mopar.com.
75 Years of Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s — the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
On The Internet
Visit Chrysler’s Media Services Web site at http://www.media.chrysler.com for additional Chrysler and Mopar news. For additional information about Mopar, log on to http://www.mopar.com or http://www.moparspeed.com.