#26 sponsor? UPDATE 3 announcement Sunday: hearing that Discover Card may come aboard to sponsor the #26 Haas-Carter Motorpsorts team, not sure when or who will driver. Frank Kimmel currently is driving the car in select events.(5-14-2002) UPDATE: hearing it could be a six race deal for 2002, no idea of a driver.(5-16-2002) UPDATE 2: Car owner Travis Carter, who lost his sponsor at the start of the season when Kmart filed for bankruptcy protection, appears to be set to race on through the summer. Frank Kimmel, who has driven Carter’s #26 Ford in several Winston Cup races this season, said he’ll run the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 next Sunday, then step aside so another driver, most likely Todd Bodine, can drive the car for five or six races. A press conference has been scheduled for next week to announce the sponsor.(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(5-17-2002) UPDATE 3: An announcement will be made on Sunday at 3:00pm/et at Lowes Motor Speedway by Haas Carter Motorsports regarding Todd Bodine and the #26 Ford for six races. Haas Carter Motorsports have obtained a sponsor for six races starting at Dover and ending at Chicagoland. The sponsor was gotten for former #26 driver Joe Nemechek who took the #25 ride because it was for the rest of the year – so Travis Carter let him out of his contract. Bodine has a contractual obligation to both Haas-Carter and Herzog Motorsports [#92 BGN] with Herzog being the primary. So now Todd will run the six Cup races from Dover to Chicago along with the BGN races. There are two conflicts after Dover, Nashville vs. Pocono and Kentucky vs. Michigan. Todd’s brother Geoffrey will qualify the Cup car at both Pocono and Michigan and Todd will fly back and forth for Happy Hour. Also mentioned is that there is the potential for this to become a full sponsorship [DiscoverCard?](from the Todd Bodine site and forum)(5-21-2002) UPDATE 4: NASCAR Winston Cup Scene reports in this week’s issue that Discover Card will sponsor Haas/Carter’s No. 26 Ford for six Winston Cup events. Details of the arrangement are expected to be disclosed in a press conference on Sunday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The report says Todd Bodine has been picked to drive the car, beginning with the June 2 race at Dover and running through the July 14 event at Chicagoland Speedway. Discover Card’s corporate headquarters is located in Chicago. The team started the year with sponsorship from Kmart, but lost it when the discount retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter), Bodine was scheduled to test with the team at Dover May 21-22.(5-23-2002) (5-22-2002)
