What's in a name? For Jim Stewart there's a whole lot

America, get ready for Jim Stewart.

Jim Stewart, get ready for America.

NASCAR fans, get ready for the Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Stewart, a pipeline contractor from Houma, La., was chosen as the first person ever to have a sporting event named for him after winning the inaugural "Your Name Here 400" sweepstakes presented by Crown Royal.

Crown Royal judged the finalists based on written and video submissions chronicling consumers' favorite "Crown-Worthy" moments. A "Crown-Worthy" moment is defined as a memorable moment or occasion deemed "worthy" of toasting with a Crown Royal cocktail in a responsible manner (i.e., big promotion at work, bowling the perfect game, etc.). Stewart's winning entry chronicled his moments growing up fishing with his father and later christening his own fishing boat with a toast to his father.

"When I heard I had qualified as one of the nine finalists, that was a big deal," said the 34-year-old Stewart. "Going to Daytona and spending time with the other finalists, that was a big deal. It took several days for it to sink in that I had won. Imagining what my name will look like all over Richmond International Raceway is very overwhelming, and as it gets closer, I'm getting more nervous."

Stewart will have around 25 guests with him for the race, which is Saturday night at RIR. "When they found out I had won, a lot of friends and family were very helpful," he said with a laugh. He attended Daytona Speedweeks for the first time in February and will get to see a race at Richmond for the first time this week. He and his friends usually attend races at Talladega.

Stewart is even on a media tour of New York this week, preparing for the big weekend.

The promotion, dreamed up by Crown Royal a couple of years ago, has been very successful, according to senior brand manager Jim Lorenz.

"The response to this program has been overwhelming," he said. "We had more than 15,000 entries over the course of the season, and it gave us the opportunity to delight our fans. It's an ideal concept for us to be able to deliver.

"There's a certain 'wow' factor to this. It's really giving Jim Stewart the chance to be King for a Day."

It's also a boon for Richmond, according to senior marketing manager Matt Beacher.

"We're ecstatic about it," Beacher said. "We first started talking to Crown Royal about this two years ago, and once we realized the scope of the resources they wanted to put behind it, we were captivated by it.

"This is an entirely new dimension to our race weekend and to sports in general." (Continued)