the full press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2017
Bass Pro Shops kicks off 2017 racing season
with Martin Truex Jr. running the Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER
Boats colors in the 500 Sunday, February 26
America’s most popular outdoor store
continues primary co-sponsorship on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota Camry in 2017
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Bass Pro Shops, a leading destination retailer offering outdoor
gear and apparel in an immersive setting, continues its partnership with Furniture Row
Racing as the primary co-sponsor on Martin Truex Jr.’s Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Camry during the 2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season.
The partnership
calls for 17 primary
Bass Pro Shops
paint schemes on
Truex’s No. 78
Toyota, beginning
with two races
during Daytona
Speedweeks – the
150-mile qualifying
race on Thursday
Feb. 23 and the
season-opening
Daytona 500 on
Sunday Feb. 26.
“NASCAR is an
excellent platform for Bass Pro Shops and we are very excited to continue our
longstanding relationship with Martin Truex Jr. while further aligning with our friends at
Toyota,” said Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops.
Bass Pro Shops previously sponsored Truex from 2004 and 2009 while part of Dale
Earnhardt Inc. This stretch included two Xfinity Series championships for Truex – 2004
and 2005.
“I’m thrilled to have Bass Pro Shops return as a primary co-sponsor on the No. 78
Furniture Row Racing Toyota for 2017,” said Truex. “In addition to my passion for
fishing, hunting and the outdoors, Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is a personal
friend and a hunting buddy.”
After the historic finish in the 2016 Great American Race where Denny Hamlin
squeaked by Truex in the closest finish in the 58-year history of the Daytona 500—a
mere one-hundredth of a second—Truex went on to have his best statistical season
since joining the Cup series full time in 2006. His 2016 record included four Cup wins,
five poles, and a series high of laps led at 1809.
Bass Pro Shops’ remaining primary races on the No. 78 will be at Atlanta, Ga., (March
5), Las Vegas, Nev., (March 12), Phoenix, Ariz., (March 19), Fontana, Calif., (March
26), Fort Worth, Texas (April 9), Richmond. Va., (April 30), Talladega, Ala., (May 7),
Charlotte, N.C., (May 28), Daytona, Fla., (July 1), Bristol, Tenn., (August 19),
Darlington, N.C., (Sept. 3), Talladega, Ala., (Oct. 15), Kansas City, Kansas (Oct. 22),
Fort Worth, Texas (Nov. 5), Homestead/Miami, Fla., (Nov. 19).
Bass Pro Shops will have an associate sponsorship status when it’s not a primary on
the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.
About Bass Pro Shops®
Bass Pro Shops is a leading destination retailer offering outdoor gear and apparel in an
immersive setting. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began
selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today 102 retail and
marine centers host 120 million people annually. Bass Pro Shops also operates White
River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands,
and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary
conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is known as a national
leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been
named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.”
Media Contact: Katie Mitchell, Communications Manager, Bass Pro Group,
[email protected]; 417-873-5618
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