Tue, 11 Mar 2003, 09:23 AM Scali’s Team Trim-Tex and Craftsman Make It Official

Courtesy of Tracy Myers

PALATINE, Ill. -- With the season set to begin for NHRA’s Pro Stock Bike class, Geno Scali’s Team Trim-Tex has additional leverage in their championship quest. Craftsman joins Team Trim-Tex as an associate sponsor for the 2003 racing season.

Scali and partner Joe Koenig, president of Trim-Tex Drywall Products, who formed Team Trim-Tex last November, are glad to officially announce the sponsorship. “I am thrilled about Craftsman’s involvement with this team,” Scali said. “Craftsman has supported me professionally for the past three seasons, so I’m glad that they’re coming aboard with Team Trim-Tex.”

Geno Scali

Koenig echoed Scali’s thoughts. “I am very pleased to have Craftsman in the very important associate sponsor position. I am proud of Geno's long standing relationship with Craftsman, and we are happy to use their high quality tools on our race team,” he said.

Craftsman is the official tool of NHRA and event sponsor of the NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals in St. Louis, to be held June 26-29. The tool company is the primary sponsor of Dale Creasy Jr. and the Craftsman Funny Car with associate sponsorships, in addition to Scali, for Top Fuel racers Rhonda Hartman-Smith and John Smith, and Pro Stock racers Jim Yates, Warren Johnson, and Kurt Johnson.

Like Scali, Koenig is also a life-long user of Craftsman tools. “When I became a motorcycle mechanic in 1979 my first tool boxes and tools were bought at Sears. And since then the only manufacturer of tool boxes I have ever purchased is Craftsman, and I have bought many,” he said.

“We appreciate the NHRA fans who use Craftsman tools. We hope they go out and buy a lot of Craftsman tools to support me and NHRA,” Scali said.

"Like many Craftsman tool users, Geno and Team Trim-Tex depend on Craftsman under the most demanding circumstances," said Touré Claiborne, Motorsports marketing manager for Sears. "As an official sponsor of the NHRA, Craftsman looks forward to Geno contending for the 2003 Pro Stock Bike championship."

In addition to signage on the Suzuki, Craftsman will promote their venture with Team Trim-Tex in a variety of ways throughout the race season, including Scali making personal appearances at Sears stores for promotions and autograph sessions. “I love doing appearances,” Scali said. “It’s a great way to get the word out about the race team and Craftsman’s support, plus I get to spend time with the fans.”

Scali, who is from Sears’ hometown of Chicago, will also run a Craftsman paint scheme at two events, the Sears Craftsman Nationals and the U.S. Nationals.

Recently Scali, who is naturally an animated person, found himself exercising his acting chops when Craftsman invited him to participate in a commercial to promote a Craftsman-brand motorcycle jack. The national commercial, currently airing on a variety of cable networks, features Scali in an action shot leaving the starting line of a drag track then shows him in a shop using the bike jack to lift up the motorcycle body.

He had fun filming the spot. “It was a rather interesting experience since it was my first TV commercial. The acting part wasn’t too hard, though, because I was selling a product that Team Trim-Tex uses for all our motorcycles, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to publicly promote the Craftsman brand in this way.”

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