SALT LAKE CITY'S REX PEARMAIN SELECTED AS NAPA AUTO PARTS HONORARY CREW MEMBER AT LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS
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<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/IMG_11721.jpg" alt="IMG_11721" />
<br><font color="Navy">NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member Rex Pearmain (left) with NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Ron Capps at the Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.</font>
<P>LAS VEGAS (Nov. 2, 2008) – Rex Pearmain, 69, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was selected as the 24th NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series today at the eight annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Pearmain has owned a NAPA AUTO CARE CENTER for over 40 years in Salt Lake City, opening his store in 1964. He was chosen to be the NAPA Honorary Crew Member by his Salt Lake City area NAPA sale representative, Ralph Bennett, based on his long history working with NAPA AUTO PARTS and his involvement with drag racing over the years.
Having grown up in the sport of drag racing, Pearmain is a former Top Fuel mechanic, driver and crew chief with over 30 years experience. He worked on the Iron Horse NHRA Top Fuel dragster and helped driver Dan Richins become the eighth member of the Crager 5-Second Top Fuel Club in Ontario, Calif., in 1973.
“I drove for a short time until the cars switched to rear engines, then I became a crew chief,” he explained. “I was based in Salt Lake City and raced mostly on the West Coast, running about 20 times a year."
Pearmain’s non-wrenching crew-member duties today included escorting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the staging lanes in the team's Dodge Durango tow vehicle for the first round of eliminations and also helped retrieve the car at the end of the track following driver Ron Capps' first-round run.
“This has been a really great experience," he said. "I can really relate to what the NAPA AUTO PARTS team is doing when they're working on the car. Of course, everything has expanded and gotten bigger, but they still do basically the same things we did when I raced. The same principles are there, it’s just more sophisticated. It’s amazing to see the strength and growth of the sport and how big it has become. This has been a fantastic day at the races and I’m very proud to be associated with NAPA.”
He also met and chatted with the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car crew and was a special guest in the NAPA hospitality area throughout the day. Pearmain 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.
Photo by Bill Walters.
<p style="width:300px;float:right;font-weight:bold;padding-right:0px;">
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/IMG_11721.jpg" alt="IMG_11721" />
<br><font color="Navy">NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member Rex Pearmain (left) with NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Ron Capps at the Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.</font>
<P>LAS VEGAS (Nov. 2, 2008) – Rex Pearmain, 69, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was selected as the 24th NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series today at the eight annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Pearmain has owned a NAPA AUTO CARE CENTER for over 40 years in Salt Lake City, opening his store in 1964. He was chosen to be the NAPA Honorary Crew Member by his Salt Lake City area NAPA sale representative, Ralph Bennett, based on his long history working with NAPA AUTO PARTS and his involvement with drag racing over the years.
Having grown up in the sport of drag racing, Pearmain is a former Top Fuel mechanic, driver and crew chief with over 30 years experience. He worked on the Iron Horse NHRA Top Fuel dragster and helped driver Dan Richins become the eighth member of the Crager 5-Second Top Fuel Club in Ontario, Calif., in 1973.
“I drove for a short time until the cars switched to rear engines, then I became a crew chief,” he explained. “I was based in Salt Lake City and raced mostly on the West Coast, running about 20 times a year."
Pearmain’s non-wrenching crew-member duties today included escorting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the staging lanes in the team's Dodge Durango tow vehicle for the first round of eliminations and also helped retrieve the car at the end of the track following driver Ron Capps' first-round run.
“This has been a really great experience," he said. "I can really relate to what the NAPA AUTO PARTS team is doing when they're working on the car. Of course, everything has expanded and gotten bigger, but they still do basically the same things we did when I raced. The same principles are there, it’s just more sophisticated. It’s amazing to see the strength and growth of the sport and how big it has become. This has been a fantastic day at the races and I’m very proud to be associated with NAPA.”
He also met and chatted with the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car crew and was a special guest in the NAPA hospitality area throughout the day. Pearmain 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.
Photo by Bill Walters.
