Toyota announces details on Sponsafier2 contest

Inspired by the success of its most recent contest, Toyota Racing announced the second round of its "Sponsafy Your Ride" contest -- Sponsafier2 -- the quest to take one fan's Cup car masterpiece from online design to real sheet metal. Fans are invited to flaunt their artistic ingenuity at http://www.toyotaracing.com using pre-loaded graphics, paint brushes and even their own personal photos. They are then encouraged to share their work on social networking sites to rally votes from friends, family and admirers of their work. The submission period runs through Aug. 20.

"The Sponsafier contest has really taken on a life of its own, and the feedback we have gotten from fans has been remarkable," said Ed Laukes, corporate motorsports marketing manager for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. "We look forward to seeing thousands more designs submitted from fans and unveiling our second contest winner at Phoenix in November."

The second round of the "Sponsafy Your Ride" contest was introduced with TV commercials during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 broadcast at Infineon Raceway featuring drivers Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, with appearances by Michael Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann.

Busch, last year's Nationwide Series champion, will drive the pink race car featured in the "Kimmy" Sponsafier commercial later this year in the Nationwide race Sept. 11 at Richmond.

"It was a neat commercial and the way that it turned out was really fun," Busch said. "There's been a huge reaction. Everybody has been pumped about the commercials and more pumped about seeing me in the pink suit and driving that car, and that's what we're going to do. Who doesn't like kittens and bunnies and little baby seals? We'll give them a ride to remember at Richmond."

"Getting Kyle to agree to wear the pink fire suit in the Nationwide Series race at Richmond will be a fun way to bring more awareness to the contest, and we can't thank Joe Gibbs Racing and its partners enough for the opportunity," added Laukes.

The second round of the contest offers a host of new features, including:

• An enhanced graphics and logos library to make designing a dream car even easier
• A new stats dashboard to check out the buzz that submissions are generating
• A new categories feature to create better competition and help make searching for a car a breeze
• The ability to download a favorite design as a screensaver
• A new rankings system
• A longer entry period than the first Sponsafier contest

The top 100 approved designs, as determined by popular vote, will compete for 10 finalist positions. From there, an additional round of public voting and a panel of judges comprised of Toyota executives and NASCAR personalities will select the grand prize winner. The grand prize winner's race car will be showcased at the Cup Series race at Phoenix on Nov. 14.

In addition to seeing his or her design come to life, the lucky winner will receive a prize package including airfare and hotel accommodations for two, tickets to all NASCAR-related events during the Phoenix race weekend, exclusive Toyota racing apparel and spending cash. The top-10 finalists will each receive real racing helmets, custom-designed with elements from their entry, and the semi-finalists will receive a glossy picture of their design autographed by one of Toyota's NASCAR drivers.

More than one million votes were cast in the inaugural round of the contest. "Praying for Karson," created by Fay Knape of Danbury, Texas, beat out more than 77,500 submissions to claim the grand prize. A Toyota Camry wrapped in the "Praying for Karson" artwork was featured in the parade lap before the green flag at the All-Star Race on May 22.