[coverattach=1]SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (January 13, 2009) -- Team Wilkerson Racing announced today the addition of associate sponsor T-Shirts Unlimited to the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang Funny Car, for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed, per team policy. The newest Team Wilkerson marketing partner will actively support the LRS Ford Mustang Funny Car and the Team Wilkerson organization, which is led by owner/driver/tuner Tim Wilkerson, as part of their mutual quest for success during the 2009 Full Throttle season.
Wilkerson, who finished second in the Funny Car standings in 2008 after winning a career-best six races during the season, is approaching the 2009 campaign in an aggressive fashion, both on and off the track. A new alliance with Bob Tasca III will provide a shift to the Ford Mustang in '09, while a larger staff and new associate sponsors have been put in place to give the Levi, Ray & Shoup team the best possible chance at making a solid run toward the 2009 Full Throttle Funny Car crown.
"We're very fortunate to have Levi, Ray & Shoup with us as our primary sponsor, and not a day goes by when we're not thinking of ways to make this partnership stronger and more valuable for them and for Dick Levi," Wilkerson said. "We've beefed up our program, in terms of marketing, promotions, corporate hospitality, and sponsor support, and we're actively approaching new associate sponsors to come onboard with LRS, so when Boris Podtetenieff, the owner of T-Shirts Unlimited, let us know they were eager to be a part of our team, we welcomed them with open arms.
"We've gotten to know Boris, and how he runs his businesses, over the years while he was supporting Del Worsham and his CSK team, and we all felt we might make a good fit for each other when that program, unfortunately, went away at the end of last season. I try to be consistent when it comes to how I run my business, and the right chemistry is important, whether it's the crew guys you have working on the car or the sponsors you have with you. To us, it's a key to have the right kind of people involved, and T-Shirts Unlimited is the type of group we want to partner with. They're good people, they make great products, and they believe in the sport."
T-Shirts Unlimited, based in Redding, Calif., entered the NHRA arena in 1998 as a provider of custom-designed apparel, having previously been successful in other forms of motorsports. Relatively unknown at first, the company made a name for itself in rapid fashion by backing the Worsham team while scoring big hits with a number of popular apparel items, and quickly became one of the most highly-respected manufacturers on souvenir row.
"I feel really lucky to have been able to work so closely with so many great people in the NHRA over the last decade," said owner Boris Podtetenieff. "We've really enjoyed the NHRA experience, and it's been great for our business over the years. Right now, things are as economically challenging in our world as they are everywhere else, and it would've been easy to cut way back and just try to survive this downturn, but the chance to partner with Tim Wilkerson was just too good to pass up, and I think this puts us in a perfect spot for growth when the economy comes back around. I've always seen myself and my company as winners, and there's no doubt Tim is a winner, too. We're looking forward to a great year with Tim, the Levi, Ray & Shoup people, and the whole organization."
The 24-race 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season kicks off in Pomona, Calif. on February 5-8, with the 49th running of the Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
Wilkerson, who finished second in the Funny Car standings in 2008 after winning a career-best six races during the season, is approaching the 2009 campaign in an aggressive fashion, both on and off the track. A new alliance with Bob Tasca III will provide a shift to the Ford Mustang in '09, while a larger staff and new associate sponsors have been put in place to give the Levi, Ray & Shoup team the best possible chance at making a solid run toward the 2009 Full Throttle Funny Car crown.
"We're very fortunate to have Levi, Ray & Shoup with us as our primary sponsor, and not a day goes by when we're not thinking of ways to make this partnership stronger and more valuable for them and for Dick Levi," Wilkerson said. "We've beefed up our program, in terms of marketing, promotions, corporate hospitality, and sponsor support, and we're actively approaching new associate sponsors to come onboard with LRS, so when Boris Podtetenieff, the owner of T-Shirts Unlimited, let us know they were eager to be a part of our team, we welcomed them with open arms.
"We've gotten to know Boris, and how he runs his businesses, over the years while he was supporting Del Worsham and his CSK team, and we all felt we might make a good fit for each other when that program, unfortunately, went away at the end of last season. I try to be consistent when it comes to how I run my business, and the right chemistry is important, whether it's the crew guys you have working on the car or the sponsors you have with you. To us, it's a key to have the right kind of people involved, and T-Shirts Unlimited is the type of group we want to partner with. They're good people, they make great products, and they believe in the sport."
T-Shirts Unlimited, based in Redding, Calif., entered the NHRA arena in 1998 as a provider of custom-designed apparel, having previously been successful in other forms of motorsports. Relatively unknown at first, the company made a name for itself in rapid fashion by backing the Worsham team while scoring big hits with a number of popular apparel items, and quickly became one of the most highly-respected manufacturers on souvenir row.
"I feel really lucky to have been able to work so closely with so many great people in the NHRA over the last decade," said owner Boris Podtetenieff. "We've really enjoyed the NHRA experience, and it's been great for our business over the years. Right now, things are as economically challenging in our world as they are everywhere else, and it would've been easy to cut way back and just try to survive this downturn, but the chance to partner with Tim Wilkerson was just too good to pass up, and I think this puts us in a perfect spot for growth when the economy comes back around. I've always seen myself and my company as winners, and there's no doubt Tim is a winner, too. We're looking forward to a great year with Tim, the Levi, Ray & Shoup people, and the whole organization."
The 24-race 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season kicks off in Pomona, Calif. on February 5-8, with the 49th running of the Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
