Seneca Tedford admitted she had a little trouble sleeping Wednesday night but she was more than ready to go this morning at Lebanon Middle School. The excited 12-year-old was guest of honor for a visit by NASCAR Winston Cup driver Derrike Cope and his #37 Friendlys Chevrolet. The car, the actual one that will run in Sundays Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway Sunday, was unloaded and shown to every student at the school. Seneca designed the car as part of a coloring contest at Friendlys Restaurants throughout the eastern United States, one of thousands of entries. Her design royal blue covered with ice cream cones will run in Sundays NASCAR race. Yeah, it was pretty exciting. I could hardly believe it when they told me I had one, Seneca said Thursday morning, while showing off the car. Every student at Lebanon Middle School had the chance to see the car, meet Cope and participate in a Friendlys Ice Cream party at the front of the school. Hey, she did a great job with her design, and she deserved to show it off, said Cope, a two-time NASCAR Winston Cup race winner who includes the prestigious Daytona 500 among his major victories. Cope and his Friendlys Chevrolet team helped Seneca do just that. The teams huge transporter arrived at the school early Thursday morning. The team unloaded the Friendlys Chevrolet and moved it to the front of the school. The design included a Designed by: Seneca Tedford logo on each side of the car. Hundreds of children from the school flocked around the car and Cope, asking questions and offering advice. The car is cool but the ice cream is better, admitted one seventh-grader. Another offered a marketing idea to Cope for Friendlys. Why dont you just smother the car in ice cream and then people could come up and grab a handful when they want it? Others asked questions. Have you ever been in the Daytona 500? one sixth-grader asked Cope. Yeah, he replied. Ive won it. The crowd around oooohed appreciatingly at the response. This is what Friendlys is all about kids and families, said Pete Bell, Senior Director, Marketing. We wanted a promotion within our NASCAR sponsorship that really peaked kids’ interest, and that enhanced their visit to Friendly’s Restaurants. The results were phenomenal.. Seneca was the winner but thousands of children entered the contest, and were very interested in being a part of our promotion.. Friendly’s Ice Cream and its restaurants have always been dedicated to serving families, especially children,” Bell continued.. “This contest was a way to involve the entire family, kids and parents, in a wholesome promotion surrounding a wholesome sport.” I assure you no one has ever seen anything like this on a race track ever before, Cope said. It is really going to show up well for the fans in the stands and those watching on national television. Im excited to be driving it, and Im grateful to Seneca for the wonderful job she did. To be honest, there were a lot of really good designs and color schemes used by thousands of kids. It was tough to pick just one, he added. But this will be one nobody will ever forget. Seneca has already received $100 worth of Derrike Cope gear as part of her prize package.(Williams Company PR). See two images of the car on my Cup Paint Scheme Page – Cars 24-99 .(9-12-2003)
