Census Bureau Back at the Track for Second Race With Biffle's No. 16 Ford Fusion

After Top-10 Finish at Atlanta, the 2010 Census Car Hits the High Banks of Bristol with Census Participation Message

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Census Bureau will be back on the race track as the primary sponsor of the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

The three-race sponsorship began two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Biffle drove the 2010 Census No. 16 Ford to a top-10 finish — his fourth in as many races this season. He will carry forward his early season momentum in Bristol, Tenn., this Sunday, March 21, and at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Sunday, March 28, in an effort to increase awareness and encourage participation in the 2010 Census.

"With 2010 Census forms landing in mailboxes across the country this week, it is imperative we get the message of participation out," said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. "Greg's impressive run of top-10 finishes this season can serve as a reminder that the 2010 Census form is one of the shortest in history — only 10 questions in about 10 minutes — so we are urging race fans everywhere to fill it out and mail it back."

Monday, March 15 marked the start of "mail out" — the process of sending 2010 Census forms to approximately 120 million mailboxes across the nation. While it costs the government just 42 cents for a postage paid envelope when a household mails back the form, it costs $57 to send a census taker door to door to follow up with each household that fails to respond. The Census Bureau estimates that if every household completed and mailed back its census form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of taking the census by $1.5 billion.

The 2010 Census No. 16 Ford Fusion features the familiar Post-it Brand notes of primary sponsor 3M carrying both the 2010 Census logo and "mail it back!" on the hood, rear quarter panels and rear bumper. Additional elements stemming from the $1.2 million sponsorship include television spots on Fox during the races, 10 show car dates across the country and a public service announcement with Biffle (view the PSA at http://censusspotsource.org/census-psa-1-5).

Biffle, a nine-year veteran of NASCAR's Cup Series, is one of the sport's top performers and is in third place in 2010 Sprint Cup Series points.

For more information on the 2010 Census and the No. 16 team, please visit http://2010census.gov and www.roushfenway.com. Still images of the car are available upon request.

ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States. By law, everyone in the United States, both citizens and noncitizens, must be counted every 10 years. Census data are used to reapportion congressional seats to states and directly affect how more than $400 billion per year in federal funding is distributed to state, local and tribal governments. The 2010 Census form is one of the shortest census questionnaires in history and takes about 10 minutes to complete. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities.

As with all 2010 Census information, the address information collected by the Census Bureau is confidential by law (Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 9). All Census Bureau employees take an oath of nondisclosure and are sworn for life to protect the confidentiality of the data. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.

Editor's note: More information, electronic press kits, news releases, fact sheets and multimedia are available on the Census Bureau's online news room at 2010census.gov.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau