Jim Dorwart, of Hubert, N.C., was selected as the 21st NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member of the
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series at this weekend's NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord,
N.C.
Dorwart, who owns Dorwart's Garage in Hubert has been a customer of NAPA AUTO PARTS for 15 years
and is also a NAPA AutoCare Center. This was his first visit to an NHRA drag race and "I was quite
impressed," he said as he performed his non-wrenching duties on the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car
driven by Ron Capps.
He is, however, deeply involved in dirt-track racing as a car owner. "I've been dirt-track racing
for 17, 18 years," said Dowart, 42. "Over those years we raced sprint cars, late models, limited
late models and pro stocks. We won three championships over the years and I have always enjoyed
racing on the dirt tracks, although I've never been a race-car driver.
"I love anything that has engines in it and goes fast," he added. "It has been eye-opening for me
to see what goes on out here, and I've been having a good time.
"NAPA has been very good. I've been buying NAPA parts for about 15, 16 years and our shop has been
a NAPA AutoCare center for about seven months. The parts are good, warranties are good, and that's
where I buy my parts."
Kelly Lingerfelt, of Retail Sports Marketing, which handles all NAPA's local activation of sports
promotions in each market that NAPA is in, explained the selection process. "All of our winners who
came to this event won by entering a promotion with their local store owners," she said.
"Everybody had to make a qualified purchase through a program called Pro-Link, which is a new
program that NAPA is trying to introduce to their customers, and by hitting that qualified purchase
on Pro-Link (an on-line automatic ordering system) they were able to get an entry to win a chance
to come to the race.
"On top of that, we have an honorary pit crew member element as part of our sponsorship that we get
to give away as well, so as many entries as you get into this promotion, on top of that you can win
a chance to be the NAPA Honorary Crew Member. And that's how Jim was selected."
Dorwart's non-wrenching crew-member duties included escorting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car
to the staging lanes for the two qualifying rounds on Saturday. He then helped retrieve the car at
the end of the track following Capps' runs.
The side window of the NAPA Dodge sported Dorwart's name as the NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew
Member on Saturday.
He also met and chatted with the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car crew, was a special guest
in the NAPA hospitality area throughout the weekend, received a NAPA team jersey, experienced an
up-close-and-personal view of the NAPA crew as the team worked on the car, and enjoyed a private
tour of the team transporter and pit area.
NAPA AUTO PARTS distribution centers at each NHRA event during the season have different criteria
for choosing the persons who are potential NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Members.
