Nationwide sweepstakes to gauge title sponsorship

When Nationwide jumped in to its sponsorship of NASCAR's second-tier racing series, associate vice president of strategic sponsorship John Aman said it would take a little while for the company to find out what it had and begin a strong push toward marketing.

That little while is over.

At Bristol last weekend, Nationwide, together with Nationwide Series team owner Kevin Harvick, launched its Switch and Save up to $500 campaign, with the grand prize an "Ultimate NASCAR Experience."

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That grand prize is a doozy, too. Five grand-prize winners and their guests will win a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next spring, tickets for both the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup events, use of a fully loaded Camping World RV in the infield, round-trip flights, $2,000 in spending money and a personal meeting with Harvick, among other items.

In addition to the grand prizes, Nationwide will award 200 fans a first-place prize: a $500 gift certificate to the NASCAR.COM Superstore.

"One of the things that Nationwide wanted to do when we came into the sport was to look for ways to engage the fan and to make this series as interesting or more interesting than it was in the past," Aman said. "This is a way for the fan to engage in the Nationwide Series and also to get a much better price for their insurance."

Fans can call (877) NW-SERIES (877-697-3743) and request a quote on their car insurance, as well as register for the grand prize drawing. By making the switch to Nationwide, fans can also save up to $500 on their car insurance. Fans can also visit www.nationwide.com/switch and do the same.

"This sweepstakes offers race fans the opportunity to be trackside at Las Vegas, in a fully loaded Camping World RV and spend some time with Kevin during the weekend," Aman said.

For Harvick, it's a welcome addition to the Nationwide Series.

"To come in and see all the activation that has been done, I'm proud to be part of the new campaign," Harvick said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to mingle with the winners at Las Vegas."

Harvick stars in the commercial for the new campaign, and even sings Nationwide's jingle -- "Nationwide is on your side" -- at the end. "That number, [877] NW-SERIES is forever going to be in my head," Harvick joked. (Continued)