Scott Speed and Leavine Family Racing Sail into Las Vegas Looking for Gold

Scott Speed and Leavine Family Racing will keep their pirate colors for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 

The team set sail last week with a black No. 95 Ford Fusion at Phoenix, complete with a skull and crossbones designed by Sam Bass on the hood and the words “Surrender the Sponsor” across the trunk.

 

The project got so much positive feedback, including associate sponsorships for the 267 lap event in Sin City, that the team decided to stick with it.

 

“The whole idea to go with a pirate theme was to draw attention to Leavine Family Racing,” Speed said. “We got off to a good start last week at Phoenix, so we decided to keep it on the car for Las Vegas.”

 

Even though the No. 95 Ford will sport a black pirate theme, it will also carry the associate sponsorships from Race Fuel Energy Drink and Sin City Motorsports.

 

Crew chief Wally Rogers said the paint scheme is more than a publicity stunt. The team will make limited starts this season, so it’s important to make the most of every opportunity.

 

“We’ve come so far since we put this program together in 2011,” Rogers said. “We’re confident in our ability to qualify for each race, and we know we’re capable of solid finishes. This allows us to have a little fun while we try to catch the eye of a potential sponsor.

 

“We put the skull and crossbones on the car last week at Phoenix and we’ve added two partners in Race Fuel Energy Drink and Sin City Motorsports since. As they say in racing, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s why it’s on the car again.”

 

After a lead-lap finish at the season-opening Daytona 500, Speed qualified 28th for last week’s race at Phoenix. A brake issue eventually relegated him to a 41st-place finish.

 

“When you have a thousand moving parts on a speeding car, things sometimes break,” Speed said. “We’re confident we’ve got things back on track for Las Vegas.”

 

Speed and Rogers said the pirate theme also represents the team’s willingness to work and think outside the box. It was the right time: after a limited season in 2012, the team was ready to ‘raise the Black Flag’ and challenge the status quo. Their battle flag is raised, a sign that Leavine Family Racing is willing to do battle against bigger teams.

 

“For us, it represents our tenacity,” team owner Bob Leavine said. “We may be a little team, but we’re not afraid of challenges. We close the gap with our work ethic.”

 

Associate sponsor Sin City Motorsports is in the same boat as Leavine Family Racing, competing against the bigger teams in the midway with merchandise. They came on board to magnify efforts to help both the team- and merchandise-side grow.

 

The track will open a day early for testing as teams continue to work on their Generation-6 cars. Practice and qualifying is Friday, followed by another day of practice on Saturday.

 

Sin City Motorsports and Race Fuel Energy Drink aren’t alone in supporting Leavine Family Racing this weekend: The new Tropicana Las Vegas will host Leavine Family Racing during this weekend’s race as another team sponsor.

 

Associate sponsor Sin City Motorsports will have a merchandise trailer set up in the midway at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with new 2013 apparel. Speed is scheduled to appear at the Sin City Motorsports merchandise trailer at the speedway from 9 to 9:30 a.m. before the race on Sunday.

 

The Kobalt Tools 400 is scheduled for a 3 p.m. ET green flag start, and will be televised on FOX.

 

LFR PR