You all have seen this good looking young driver before. He’s been behind the wheel of various race cars in last few years in his quest to land a quality ride with just the right team and sponsor. You have also seen him this season in quite a few different commercials for his primary sponsor Extenze. Earlier this month the announcement was made that Kevin will begin the latest, and most exciting part of his career on October 3rd when he climbs into the #26 Extenze Chevy at Kansas Speedway.
Kevin holds a marketing degree and one thing that has always confused me as far as Kevin’s racing career goes, is the fact that team owners and sponsors alike didn’t seem to realize the dollar value to this talented and good looking driver, who has been instrumental in bringing several companies into the NASCAR racing realm.
Apparently, the exact opposite is the case in this venture and since Kevin always keeps us informed and has been one of our favorites here at CF, I decided to give him a call and get the whole story directly from Kevin himself.
“Obviously in the current economic climate right now there are a lot opportunities for companies to step in to this sport and get connected with great, great teams at a fraction of what it would have cost just a few years ago,” began Conway. “We were evaluating all of our options, first and foremost from a driving standpoint, wondering where we were going to be able to build something for the long term and be able to have a really solid opportunity. It has been really exciting to see the whole attitude and structure of the team that Rob Fuller has put together. Rob has been in Cup racing for a long, long time and has seen all sides of it. Now he is entering the next chapter of his career as an owner along with Robert Richardson, Sr. and Jr. It’s just been really cool and sort of a throw back to what the Nationwide Series is all about. It is a small team but they’ve got some awesome affiliations with 2 different Cup organizations that help us from a technology standpoint to keep us up to speed there and they build really, really good cars.”
“Also the majority of the guys that work on the team are all DEI guys. We joke around and say they’re putting the old band back together, but, the majority are the guys from when Jr. was driving the #8 car. It is cool to see the way they put together this whole organization because it is a small team but it’s a small team with great people. There are so many people out of work from DEI and that created a really good opportunity for us.”
“Rob and Robert are growing their organization by adding our team as a second team with Jefferson Hodges as my Crew Chief. Dale Earnhardt,Jr. actually brought Jefferson to North Carolina from Virginia to start JR Motorsports when they first started running the late model program. Jefferson worked for a company called Townsend Race Cars in Virginia who builds probably 80% of all the late models on the East coast. They took that team all the way to Hooters with driver Mark McFarland. who is now my Car Chief. It’s literally all the JR gang! I think our team may be one of the only Nationwide and or Cup teams where the Crew Chief, Car Chief and Driver are all from Virginia. We’re all from within an hour of each other and we all cut our teeth racing on the short tracks of Virginia. Our truck driver, Wahoo (real name Charles Samson), is from DEI and he used to be the Center for the San Diego Chargers.”
Kevin assures me there are many exciting things in the works and he couldn’t be happier to be a part of something he feels is going to be outright successful and long term. It is great to hear the excitement in his voice. I’m not sure he could mask that even if he wanted to. And truthfully there is no reason why he would. This opportunity is exactly what he has always said he was working and racing for.
Conway knows that some people have made judgements about him as a racer and about his on track performance, but, all of the part time deals he has gone through have made this opportunity all the sweeter. He is more than ready to silence his critics. “In some ways Extenze is a seemingly controversial sponsor,” continued Kevin, “but, man what a great, great sponsor! They are one of the most fun companies I have ever been a part of. They are nothing less than first class in everything they do. They want to do things very, very professionally and make sure things are done right. It’s been awesome to have the opportunity to work with them. We’ve shot an entirely new series of commercials that are airing now. We have a massive, massive media program wrapped around the race program. There is no other sponsor in the Nationwide Series that activates anywhere close to the level they do and they have just launched the Extenze For Women product. When they launched that product 660 Walmarts sold out.”
“They also make Alteril which is an all natural sleep aid. That works awesome! It is made of Melatonin, L-Tryptophan and Valerian Root. It’s a great product that really works and I take it a lot just because when you’re traveling in different time zones it helps a lot. It’s been great to see my family, my friends and even my attorney swear by these products. It has just been fun for me to get Extenze involved with NASCAR and we’re going to have a full merchandising program at the track beginning at Fontana. This has been a great, great partnership and I am looking forward to this multi-year deal. It’s very exciting! We just have some very, very talented people working on both teams, especially as the Nationwide Series transitions to the COT next year. It’s a little bit like old school racing. All the guys that are working in the shop are the ones that are going to the track on the weekends and going over the wall. It’s great.”
I know it is, Kevin!
Conway assures me there are a lot of other exciting things in the works for this team for 2010. I certainly tried to pry some info about this from him but he absolutely wouldn’t budge. I will say this, however, the more he talked about this team, the owners, his sponsor, and his future, the more interested and excited I became for him.
I have interviewed or worked with a lot of young drivers over the years, and right or wrong, many of them have not been able to land the sponsorship to make their racing dream come true. They were talented and deserving, but, it just didn’t happen. Sadly, the heartbreak of this reality is as much a part of racing as the competition in many instances. Thank God Kevin was able to see his dream become a reality. From what I hear, this team is going to be awesome. I am expecting to see great things from them soon and often. Kevin Conway has earned this chance!
Be sure to follow the latest in Kevin’s news on facebook.com by becoming a fan of Extenze Racing. He appears to have quite a fan base there and I am actually one of them!
Good luck, Kevin. You know we will be watching
