Multiple-meaning words – terms that can have different meanings depending on how they are used in a sentence – can be tricky for students of the English language. “Light,” “crash,” and “oil” are just a few that appear on a very long list of words that can be used as verbs, nouns and even adjectives depending upon the context and conjugation.
Take the word “rush”. While it is typically used in reference to the notions of haste or urgency, rush can be used as a verb, adjective or noun. The word commonly appears in the English language when referencing heavy traffic patterns such as the morning or evening rush hours. As a verb, it appears when explaining that someone has to hurry to an intended designation. The ways in which the word is used as a noun are numerous, from its appearance in historical anecdotes about the California Gold Rush to the “rush” that is achieved through a surge of adrenaline.
This weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Tony Stewart intends to make popular yet another form of the word “rush,” and that is its existence as a proper noun.
Rush Truck Centers makes its sponsorship debut during this weekend’s Auto Club 400 where the premier solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry will serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team. It’s the first of three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in which Stewart will carry the colors of Rush Truck Centers, and while it marks their first time competing in the capacity of primary sponsor for the No. 14 team, Rush Truck Centers is far removed from playing the role of a rookie.
A subsidiary of Rush Enterprises, Inc., Rush Truck Centers is the United States’ largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships, representing industry-leading truck and bus manufacturers. With its vehicle centers strategically located in high-traffic areas or near major highways in 15 different states, Rush Truck Centers operate as one-stop centers offering an integrated approach to the needs of its customers. The company has been a partner to SHR since 2010, playing an integral role in getting the team’s racecars to and from the track.
Rush Truck Centers’ venture into primary sponsorship couldn’t have come at a better time, as Stewart is the defending winner of the Auto Club 400.
One year ago, Stewart drove to his second career win at Fontana in the rain-shortened race. Although the race was not run to its scheduled distance, the fact that Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet was fast couldn’t be negated. The three-time Sprint Cup champion started the race from ninth place and quickly charged to the front of the field, taking the lead for the first time on lap 85. He would eventually be credited with a total of 42 laps led, including the final 22 around the 2-mile oval.
Preceding last year’s victory was a win in the fall of 2010 at Fontana, an event Stewart won from the 22nd starting spot.
In addition to those wins, Stewart has scored six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at Auto Club Speedway. And while he earned an impressive fourth-place finish in his very first start at the track in 1999, it’s since the inception of SHR that Stewart’s stats have soared. Since 2009, Stewart’s poorest Auto Club result is the 13th-place finish he scored during the track’s lone event in 2011. In the six races since 2009, Stewart has failed to lead a lap in only one race, which was in February 2010 when he finished ninth.
After a disappointing outing last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where an early-race crash led to a 31st-place finish and a 24th-place point standing, a trip to Southern California may be just what Stewart and Co. need to get its season on track. While not yet feeling the rush to reclaim his rightful spot among the top-10 in points, Stewart knows the kind of rush a win at Fontana would provide for him and his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 race team.
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