#24 Pepsi Car unveiled: For the first time since 1983, NASCAR fans could see a Pepsi car in a Winston Cup winner’s circle. Beginning this spring, Jeff Gordon will race the #24 Pepsi/DuPont car in two races – the spring race at Talladega on April 22 and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on July 7. In addition, DuPont Automotive has developed a special pearlescent blue paint for the car so fans won’t miss it. For the past four years, Pepsi-Cola has enjoyed a successful relationship with Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports, highlighted by its associate sponsorship of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet in the Cup Series and its two-year title sponsorship of Gordon’s #24 Pepsi Chevrolet on the BGN. But now, the Pepsi car graduates to the Cup, where a Pepsi car has not been seen since Darrell Waltrip’s Pepsi Challenger finished second in points in 1983(actually Ernie Irvan ran a few cars with Pepsi on the hood in the late 1980’s). Last June, Pepsi extended its relationship with Gordon through 2005 and will continue to include him in promotional activities. Pepsi serves its products at 18 of the 23 Winston Cup Series tracks and is the title sponsor of NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in Daytona, Fla. (Pepsi 400), Brooklyn, Mich. (Pepsi 400) and Darlington, S.C. (Pepsi Southern 500).(in part from a Pepsi-Cola Company/Millsport PR). See the image of the car in my 2001 Cup section of my Paint Schemes Gallery(1-9-2001)
