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Texas Governor Sponsors Sprint Cup Driver

TRG Motorsports driver Bobby Labonte and his blue No. 71 Chevrolet will be seen at the Sprint Cup race on April 18 at Texas Motor Speedway wearing the rickperry.org logo. The reason behind this is that Rick Perry, Texas governor, decided to sponsor Labonte for the race, giving TRG, as the Ney York Times reports, no less than $225,000.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have Governor Perry on board the No. 71 for the Texas race,” Labonte said according to the source. “It’s always great for me to come back to my home state, and now I’ve got an even bigger reason to be able to connect to all of the fans and my fellow Texans.”

Aside for the aforementioned logo on the side of the Chervolet, Labonte’s car will also carry election slogans for Perry across the state, prior to the race. Labonte himself will be seen dressed with a blue fire suit with “Perry Governor 2010″ on the front at the Texas race.

As you might have figured out by now, it's election year in Texas and Perry's move is meant to give him an extra edge over his counter candidate, Democrat Bill White.

Asked why he decided to sponsor a NASCAR driver, the governor replied the two Sprint Cup races and IndyCar race held near Fort Worth are among the most popular events in the state.

As for Labonte himself, he hasn't won any races since 2003. Apparently, the governor only wants to be visible to fan, not necessarily see his rickperry.org crossing the finish line among the first ten cars or so.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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