LONG POND, Pa. — Jeff Gordon has always experienced strong support at Pocono Raceway, a track where he’s won six NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
This weekend, he’s feeling a little extra love.
Gordon is not only driving a Penn State-themed, blue-and-white Chevrolet in Sunday’s Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400, his team is helping to host more than 100 Penn State students – primarily business and engineering majors — at the track.
“It’s amazing. We had a chance to go over to Penn State and visit with the students and the faculty and the group of engineers that are doing so much to be the future of companies like Axalta and the future of racing,” said Gordon, who is competing in his final full Sprint Cup season.
Axalta (formerly DuPont) is a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of liquid and powder coatings. The Penn State program at Pocono, which includes a garage tour and panel discussion with Axalta, NASCAR, Pocono Raceway and Hendrick Motorsports executives, is designed to drive awareness of and support STEM (science, technology, education and math) and business education.
“Supporting STEM and future business leaders is vital to our future,” Gordon said. “I depend on the mechanical engineers on my team to make sure that my car in in top form for every race. Everything in my car is linked to engineering – drag and drafting, friction and heat, grip, sound, turning and load transfer. That’s why linking STEM education to the technology behind successful racing is so important.
“Having Penn State and those blue and white colors on our No. 24 car, we are certainly going to have more support. The pressure is on, but we are excited about that relationship.”
Last year, Gordon and Axalta teamed to run a maroon car at Texas Motor Speedway with a Texas A&M paint scheme. Axalta chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver says involvement in education and creating interest in STEM research is vital to success, not only on the track but in research, science and business.
“We’re based on engineering, science and innovation,” Shaver said. “We work hard on STEM projects to (reach) students who are in high school and college to get them interested in engineering and, ultimately get them interested in companies like Axalta.
“We have a couple thousand engineers and chemists in the company. We have to continue to replenish them and, as we think about staying ahead of our competition, continue to recruit the brightest and the best. This weekend, we’re exposing them, not just to the sport, but also behind the scenes – how engineering works, how business works in not only NASCAR but for the teams.”
Although Gordon has announced that 2015 will be his final season as a full-time Sprint Cup driver, Shaver says Axalta’s relationships with both Hendrick Motorsports and Pocono Raceway will continue. Axalta also maintains working relationships with Rick Hendrick outside of NASCAR and has already announced a long-term agreement to keep Gordon on board as an adviser.
“We do have a 23-year relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. We will be with one of their drivers (in 2016),” said Shaver, whose company is also hosting more than 50 racing enthusiasts from Brazil this weekend. “That contract continues. Jeff will continue to play a very active role with us in the company. He just won’t be in the 24 car. Later this year we’ll announce with Rick and the team where we’ll be and how that sponsorship will work.
“The sport is important to us, the relationships are important, and being able to build one at what we call our ‘home track,’ right outside our corporate headquarters is even more important.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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