NHRA officials have announced that Amalie Oil Co. has agreed to a multi-year title rights sponsorship of the prestigious NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville. The Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals is scheduled for March 14-17, and is the third event in the 24-race 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
“We are pleased to see Amalie Oil increase its presence in NHRA drag racing,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. “For many years we have valued Amalie’s sponsorship of Terry McMillen’s Top Fuel dragster. Their desire to expand their role by becoming the title sponsor of the tradition-rich NHRA Gatornationals shows their support and dedication to the sport and is another example of the strong value of association with NHRA at both the team and league levels.”
As title-rights sponsor, Amalie Oil will conduct marketing activities, including themed advertising and promotions, in the Gainesville marketplace. The company also will have a presence on-site at the event, including signage and display space, as well as in the race broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD.
“On behalf of everyone at Amalie Oil, we are very proud to become the title sponsor of the NHRA Gatornationals, one of the most popular and tradition-rich events on the NHRA circuit,” said Dennis Madden, Amalie Oil senior vice president, global sales and marketing. “Throughout our long association in the sport of drag racing, the opportunity to align our company with such an historic and exciting event is truly a dream come true. We are looking forward to expanding our presence in NHRA and we can’t wait to fire up the first pair of cars at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals.”
One of NHRA’s largest events, the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals serves as the East Coast opener for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series featuring Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and the season-opener for Pro Stock Motorcycle. The historic event and venue has been the stage for some of NHRA’s most memorable moments, none more significant than the first 300 mph pass, made by legendary NHRA driver Kenny Bernstein in 1992.
Amalie Oil Co., one of the original “Pennsylvania Crude” oil companies, was founded in 1903 in Franklin, Pa. Today, headquartered in Tampa, Fla. and located on a deep-water dock in the Port of Tampa, Amalie’s state of the art main production facility has more than 25 million gallons of bulk storage capacity and boasts some of the fastest and most sophisticated bottle blow-molding, blending, and packaging equipment available, according to the company. Amalie blends and packages more than 3,000 different products in sizes ranging from 8-ounce plastic bottles through bulk rail transports and distributes to every state in America and more than 100 other countries.