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Graham Campaign Wins NASCAR Truck Debut

Posted on: Sunday, 6 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Sen. Bob Graham's presidential campaign has hit the NASCAR racing circuit in a big way.

The candidate-sponsored Ford truck, No. 50, won its first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, a 250-miler in Kansas.

Graham's campaign signed the deal to sponsor a racing team in a bid to reach rural voters who flock to auto races. He is the first presidential candidate to have his campaign logo emblazoned on a NASCAR vehicle.

Saturday's victory in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., was the first NASCAR truck series win for 21-year-old driver Jon Wood.

Jack Roush, the team's owner, acknowledged in a statement that No. 50's sponsorship is unusual, "but when a distinguished United States senator calls with interest in our program, we're glad to accept the support and participation in the democratic process in a unique way."

Graham's campaign will pay Roush Racing for an undetermined number of races. Terms of the contract were not disclosed but will become public when the campaign files its finance reports later this year.

Graham, former Florida governor now in his third term in the Senate, is among nine declared candidates for the 2004 Democratic nomination for president.

The term "NASCAR dads" became the last election campaign's hot demographic. They are white, working-class men who admire Bush but who can often be persuaded to vote Democratic if the issues are right. NASCAR is particularly popular in the South and Midwest, where Bush generally was favored in his 2000 election and which he must protect for his re-election.

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