Melling Finds Sponsor for Rest of 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
11 October 1997
MELLING LANDS SPONSOR FOR REMAINDER OF 1997 CONCORD, NC - Melling Racing has picked up sponsorship from Advantage Camouflage for the rest of this season beginning with this weekend's DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 9 Thunderbirds driven by Lake Speed will carry a brand new camouflage paint scheme which will make its appearance at North Carolina Motor Speedway on October 26th. "The Advantage sponsorship coupled with the Cartoon Network for next year has put Melling in the best position to run a competitive team since the early 90's," said team Vice President, Mark Melling. "I am proud of our team who has stuck with us this year. It's been hard on us all but things are looking up." Bill Jordan, owner and designer of the Realtree and Advantage patterns, started Advantage Camouflage which is currently involved with Dave Marcis' Winston Cup effort and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck driven by Jay Sauter and owned by Richard Childress. "With this being our key selling season for Advantage licensees, we felt this was the perfect opportunity to sponsor the No. 9 Ford," said Jordan. "Especially with the number of muzzle loader and bow hunters utilizing camouflage in the west, the Phoenix race will only help strengthen Advantage's marketshare in that area not to mention rounding off the year in Rockingham and Atlanta." Melling Racing has entered the Winston West race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway later this season to give the team time to prepare for next year's inaugural Winston Cup event at the 1.5-mile track.