I like Carl- he is a neat guy!

Red Sox Logo to Be Painted on Carl Edwards's Car in Nascar Race

By Danielle Sessa

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Boston Red Sox logo will be painted on the hood of Carl Edwards's car during this weekend's Nascar Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

``Red Sox'' in red lettering outlined in blue -- the same words that are across the front of Boston's white home uniforms -- will be displayed on the hood of Edwards's No. 99 Ford Fusion in the prime advertising spot for a stock car racer. Edwards is ranked seventh in the Nextel Cup points race and is one of five drivers for Roush Fenway Racing competing for the championship.

Fenway Sports Group, whose parent New England Sports Ventures owns the Red Sox, bought half of Roush Racing in February and changed its name.

``We are not trying to jam it down people's throats, but we do want to get the word out about who our guys are and why our fans should pull for our drivers,'' said Sam Kennedy, Fenway Sports Group's executive vice president.

The Red Sox are following other teams and sports that have used Nascar as a way to reach a new audience. Major League Baseball put its logo on cars in 2000 and 2001 to promote its All-Star Game. The New York Yankees worked with Petty Enterprises to paint pinstripes on a car in celebration of the club's 100th anniversary during a 2003 race in Watkins Glen, New York. The Kentucky Derby sponsored Dale Jarrett's car at Talladega Superspeedway in April to promote the horse race.

`Cross-Over Appeal'

``To have the Red Sox organization cross-promoting with Nascar is extremely important to bringing exposure to baseball fans who might not know a lot about the sport,'' said Andrew Giangola, Nascar's director of business communications. ``That cross-over appeal is quite valuable and quite powerful to our sport.''

Office Depot Inc., Edwards's primary sponsor, agreed to sell its rights for the Loudon, New Hampshire, race back to Roush Fenway Racing. The Red Sox will share space on the car with Toano, Virginia-based Lumber Liquidators Inc., a retailer of hardwood floors, and Gillette Co., a division of Proctor & Gamble Co. that sells razors. Both are Red Sox sponsors.

Edwards was selected from Roush Fenway Racing's stable of drivers because he finished second in last July's race at the track, Kennedy said. The team's other Nextel Cup drivers are Matt Kenseth, who's third in points; Jamie McMurray, 14th; Greg Biffle, 17th; and David Ragan, 25th.

Limited Exposure

The Red Sox can only sponsor a car during the July and September races at Loudon because those are the only two Nascar races within Boston's marketing territory, according to Major League Baseball rules.

Roush Fenway Racing owners Jack Roush and John Henry, who also owns the Red Sox, and Edwards are scheduled to hold a 10 a.m. press conference at Fenway Park in Boston.

Nascar will also help spread the Red Sox brand outside New England. Last year's race was watched by 4.29 million U.S. households on Time Warner Inc.'s TNT, according to Nielsen Media Research. The July 1 race is also being broadcast on TNT.

Red Sox games shown on the New England Sports Network this year are averaging 297,000 households in the Boston area, Nielsen said.

``The biggest thing is to give our fans, the Red Sox fans and consumers overall in New England a reason to root for our folks,'' Kennedy said. ``Getting the connection between the Red Sox and Carl will be a good thing.'