Banana Boat® Sun Care Speeds Through The Indianapolis 500 With Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Partnership

INDIANAPOLIS, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Start your engines!  Banana Boat® sun care is racing through Indianapolis as part of its sponsorship with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series racing season.  The two brands teamed up to help Indianapolis 500 fans stay cool and protected from the extreme sun and heat at the upcoming race with the brand's new innovation – Banana Boat® Sport Performance® CoolZone™ continuous spray sunscreen.  The new line instantly cools and refreshes skin while providing protection against UVA and UVB rays.   

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120523/NY12160)

"We are thrilled to be a part of the Indianapolis 500 through our partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams.  It is such an iconic race," said Minna Raffin, Sun Care Group Marketing Director, Energizer Personal Care.  "Through our collaboration, we tie together the skill and coolness of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams and its roster of drivers with the protection and reliability of our Banana Boat® products; and we are bringing that to racing fans in a unique way."

The partnership features a Banana Boat brand themed car that two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Dario Franchitti, drove in the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race in March.  The renowned driver also adorns the brand's logo on his fire suit for the entire 2012 racing season.

"It is great to have Banana Boat® sun care join our racing team," said Dario Franchitti, Target Chip Ganassi Racing Driver.  "With the intense sun and heat at the race track, every member of our team, as well as the hundreds of thousands of fans in the stands, need to stay cool and protected; and Banana Boat® CoolZone™ sunscreen is a great way to help them stay on top of their game."

Banana Boat® sun care also is hosting a fan experience trackside at the Indianapolis 500 where it will provide fans with a break from the sun, offering quick relief and sun protection in the Banana Boat® CoolZone™ Sunscreen Pit Stop.  Here, fans will have the opportunity to receive a "cool-over" with the new sunscreen, play games and nab fun giveaways. 

Banana Boat® Sun Care is keeping fans cool beyond the race track, as well.  Fans can visit the Banana Boat® CoolZone™ brand Facebook tab for exclusive videos from Dario as well as NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray and their respective pit crews.  Fans also can enter for a chance to win a CoolZone™ brand Pit Crew Experience with Jamie at an upcoming race.  For additional information, visit Facebook.com/BananaBoatBrand.

Banana Boat® Sport Performance® CoolZone™ continuous spray sunscreen

For the active outdoor enthusiast, new Banana Boat® Sport Performance® CoolZone™ continuous spray sunscreen provides active UVA and UVB protection that instantly cools skin on contact, for a clean, refreshed feeling.  With a crisp, clean scent, Banana Boat® Sport Performance® CoolZone™ sunscreen is invisible and rub-free for easy application, as well as water resistant for sun protection.  It is available in SPF 30 and SPF 50+ and the Banana Boat® CoolZone™ product line up also includes an After Sun Aloe Gel with Lidocaine, for cooling burn relief to refresh skin after a day in the sun.   

Like all Banana Boat®  products, the new sunscreen underwent testing in seven conditions – sun, pool water, ocean water, wind,  sweat, sand and even 100 degree heat – to ensure broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection that won't break down.    

The new Banana Boat® Sport Performance® CoolZone™ continuous spray sunscreens and Banana Boat® CoolZone™ After Sun Aloe Gel is available for a suggested retail price of $8.99 and is found in mass, grocery and drug retailers.  For more information about Banana Boat® brand sun care products, please visit www.facebook.com/bananaboatbrand. 

About Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.

Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world.  Today his teams include four in the IZOD IndyCar Series, two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and one Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.  Overall his teams have 14 championships and 145 victories, including three Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and four Rolex 24 At Daytonas.  Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Ind. and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.

About Banana Boat® Brand

The Banana Boat® brand offers a wide range of product options that provide today's busy family with reliable sun protection without worry, so the fun can go on and on.  The advanced technology in Banana Boat® sunscreen products provides effective broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection that won't break down in the sun.  Banana Boat® products have carried The Skin Cancer Foundation's Seal of Recommendation for nearly two decades.

SOURCE Banana Boat