Dale Earnhardt Jr. Races Past The Finish Line As The Winner Of The GoBowling.com 400 At Pocono Raceway

LONG POND, Pa., Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- This weekend, two of America's great past times, racing and bowling, came together as GoBowling.com served as title sponsor for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. The race was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr, his third victory of the season and the 21st of his career, and his first season sweep at a track since Talladega Superspeedway in 2002. 

The race honored both the GoBowling.com 400 and the 40^th anniversary of the raceway's first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event where Richard Petty drove the STP Oil Treatment car and became the inaugural winner of the Pennsylvania 500 on August 4, 1974. To celebrate the moment, Petty returned to Pocono Raceway to serve as Grand Marshal. Additionally, in a tribute to both the great sport of bowling and Petty himself, Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM)'s Aric Almirola drove the No. 43 Ford Fusion, which featured an eye catching bowling themed paint scheme and GoBowling.com branding.  

"This weekend was a deeply meaningful opportunity to relive the excitement of that first victory at the Pocono Raceway in 1974," said Petty. "This was a weekend of fun and excitement, and also an opportunity to shine attention on two great sports that bring people together, create wonderful memories, and are Americana at its best – racing and bowling."

For the second consecutive year, the race was renamed the GoBowling.com 400 and featured the branded GoBowling.com No. 43 Ford Fusion. Additionally, Pocono Raceway, RPM and Strike Ten Entertainment initiated a multi-layered integrated marketing campaign that spanned traditional, digital and social channels, and included event activations.

"The incredible resurgence in popularity that bowling has seen in recent years is reflected in the success of the GoBowling.com 400," said John Harbuck, Interim President of Strike Ten Entertainment. "We were thrilled to once again partner with the great teams at Pocono Raceway and Richard Petty Motorsports, and I'm proud to say that we set the bar even higher with this year's race."

The partnership program also included a series of GoBowling.com themed bowling league promotional contests and in-center marketing elements, as well as other initiatives that were rolled out across thousands of participating bowling centers.

GoBowling.com is the website to visit to learn more about the great sport of bowling including information about 2,100+ bowling centers throughout the country. Fans can learn about their local bowling centers, promotional offers, bowling tips and more.

About GoBowling.com 
GoBowling.com is the destination for bowling fans and enthusiasts seeking news and information about one of America's favorite pastimes and the nation's number one participatory sport.  With more than 71 million people taking to the lanes every year, GoBowling.com is a one-stop location where people of all ages can go to satisfy their love of bowling.  Consumers turn to GoBowling.com every day to find bowling fun – discovering new bowling centers, tips and tricks to use on the lanes, event news and great deals at more than 2,100+ family-friendly bowling centers across the country.
 
About Strike Ten Entertainment
Headquartered in Arlington, Texas, Strike Ten Entertainment is the centralized sponsor-activation arm of the bowling industry. Strike Ten Entertainment serves all organizations of bowling by coordinating the industry's sales and marketing efforts. Strike Ten Entertainment's mission is to increase national awareness of bowling and to assist the bowling industry in developing new bowlers and increasing the frequency of existing bowlers each year through promotions, publicity and industry-wide marketing initiatives.

About Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway, also known as "The Tricky Triangle," is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In business for over 50 years, the Raceway hosts multiple, national motorsports events including two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, one Verizon IndyCar Series, one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, two ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and one Indy Lights Series presented by Cooper Tires events each year. The Raceway has added multiple running series events to their annual schedule including the Tough Mudder and the Warrior Dash. Pocono Raceway is the world's largest solar-powered sports facility with a 25-acre, three-megawatt solar farm providing the energy needs of the Raceway, as well as, adding electricity to the local power grid. For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.

About Richard Petty Motorsports
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners STANLEY, DEWALT, Mac Tools and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.  

SOURCE GoBowling.com