Sat, 11 Jun 2011, 03:06 PM Digiorno Pizza to Support Hot Rod Fuller's 2011 Return to NHRA Events in the U.S.

Courtesy of Sarah Adams

ROGERS, Ark. -- It was recently announced in Rogers, Arkansas that DiGiorno Pizza will sponsor Hot Rod Fuller’s return to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series in the Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel Dragster from Abu Dhabi. 

At a private rooftop gathering, just miles away from the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, Fuller was joined by dignitaries from the community including his latest sponsor addition, Nestle- the name behind the DiGiorno brand.

Fuller will compete in his Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel Dragster at ten selected NHRA events throughout the remainder of the 2011 tour. These events include Bristol, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., Denver, Colo., Brainerd, Minn., Indianapolis, Ind., Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Texas, Reading, Pa., Phoenix, Ariz., and Las Vegas, Nev.

On behalf of DiGiorno pizza, Fuller and his Top Fuel dragster will make display appearances at four separate Walmart stores in the area of each race he attends.  The schedule will consist of two appearances on Wednesday before each race, with one appearance from 3:00-5:00pm and the second appearance from 6:00-8:00pm.  The same schedule will occur on the following Thursday as well.  Specific store locations will be announced the Monday of race week so fans can plan their participation. All who attend the appearances will receive autographs and DiGiorno coupons.

“Having a corporate entity like Nestle with the DiGiorno brand sponsor us on the NHRA circuit is something that compares to commitments you see in other major league sports.  We feel that the NHRA fan base is a great audience for the promotion, and know that Walmart is a great retail partner,” stated Top Fuel racer Hot Rod Fuller.  “I’m really looking forward to competing for our Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel Racing team in conjunction with Vandergriff Motorsports, and am really excited to be working with Rob Flynn and Mike Gueger as crew chiefs on the car.  I worked with Flynn and Gueger in 2007 and 2008, and with [Bob] Vandergriff at some races in 2009, so that is a good level of familiarity for everyone involved.”

Fuller now works as Chief Instructor at the Yas Drag Racing School at Yas Marina Circuit the spectacular Formula 1 racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He has assembled a team that runs weekly test-and-tune meets, an international Pro Series drag racing championship and two major drag racing festivals. The school has trained more than 20 local racers to take their NHRA licenses and continues to expand.

Richard Cregan, Chief Executive Officer of Yas Marina Circuit, said: “We’re delighted to be back racing in the US after a successful inaugural outing there last summer. Rod is one of the world’s best Top Fuel drivers and proved to be highly competitive last year, qualifying third in Sonoma and reaching the semi-finals in Denver. We’re very pleased to have Nestlé as an associate sponsor for our 2011 summer season. We will be testing ourselves once again against the best drag racers in the world and we’re out to win.”

The Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel Dragster will be housed in Bob Vandergriff’s new race shop in Brownsburg, Ind.  This facility has been operating Vandergriff’s C&J Energy Services Top Fuel Dragster, but will now increase in staff, putting two competitive teams on the track in 2011. 

“Hot Rod Fuller and the Yas Marina Circuit team bring a lot to our team.  There are a lot of things we have been working on together that can now begin to take shape.  I know that a lot of the Cat dealers that supported Hot Rod in the past are very excited about having him with our team since Caterpillar is already an associate sponsor with Vandergriff Motorsports and can help us reach out to a larger fan base of their customers and technicians,” said team owner, Bob Vandergriff.

MORE ABOUT HOT ROD FULLER
• 2008: Claimed only victory of the season at St. Louis; Posted No. 1 qualifying position at Norwalk; Finished Countdown to 1 with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2; Ended Tony Schumacher’s record-setting run with quarterfinal win over “The Sarge” at Pomona 2
• 2007: Narrowly missed earning first Top Fuel world championship when Tony Schumacher clinched fourth consecutive title with final pass of final race of season
• 2006: Raced to victories at Phoenix and Englishtown; Earned two No. 1 qualifying positions, St. Louis and Memphis; Posted runner-up finishes at Bristol, Dallas and Richmond; Clocked career-best performance for speed at Chicago; Earned his second straight POWERade Top 10 points finish
• 2005: Returned to Top Fuel after a nine-year absence; Earned first career victory in three final round appearances; Posted first POWERade Top 10 points finish despite running only 15 races; Clocked career-best performances for time and speed
• Winner of 13 national events in 18 final-round appearances in NHRA's Sportsman classes
• "8.90 Driver of the Year" on the Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team (2002 to present)
• 2000: Division 3 Super Comp Champion
• 1998: Division 5 Super Gas Champion
• 1997: Federal-Mogul All-Star Super Gas champion
• Undefeated in the past 11 final round appearances at National Events