Labonte Motorsports and the United States Coast Guard will be unveiling their #44 Busch Series car at Daytona International Speedway on February 11th. During the event, the Coast Guard will introduce Terry, Bobby and Justin Labonte as spokesmen for the service’s 2004 National Boating Safety Campaign “You’re in Command.”
Rear Adm. Ken Venuto, Assistant Commandant for Human Resources from Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington will represent the Coast Guard at the event and participate in the car unveiling with the three Labontes. Justin Labonte will enter the Team Coast Guard car in at least 15 NASCAR Busch Series races this year, starting at Texas April 3. The Coast Guard entered into the partnership with Labonte Motorsports as a recruiting advertising initiative and to gain a better overall awareness of the Coast Guard, including its new “Shield of Freedom” branding campaign.
The car’s design was a collaborative effort among a diverse group of unique individuals including two-time Nextel Series champion Terry Labonte, Civil War author Ann McMillan and Richmond, VA, based artist Steve Bennett. Ann McMillan is the wife of Randy Hallman, former Richmond News Leader award winning racing writer, and recently completed the fourth book in a series of Civil War mysteries. Bennett teaches art for the school system in Henrico County which is also the location of Richmond International Raceway. He designed the paint scheme for the Penrose Meat Snacks #44 Busch Series car that Bobby Labonte drove the 1991 Busch Series championship.
The collaboration began during one of the first meetings between Terry Labonte and the Coast Guard. Terry said, “Growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas you get a great awareness and appreciation for the Coast Guard because it has such a large presence there, and the brightly painted orange helicopters were a frequent sight. So I knew right away we had to have some of that orange on the car,”
Additionally, the car needed to visually represent as many of the Coast Guard’s diverse assets as possible. Since white is prominently featured on many Coast Guard ships and aircraft, it needed to be on the car. The design also features elements of the Coast Guard “racing stripe,” widely recognized as a symbol of the Coast Guard’s authority on the water. Bennett was given the challenge to bring the elements together and give it a clean look. During a casual get together of racing friends in Bennett’s studio, where many brainstorming sessions on various racing projects have taken place over many years, Ann McMillan brought up that it would be interesting if the car could somehow be made to look like it was cutting through water. Bennett took that idea and was able to incorporate it into the paint schemes final result that will be unveiled Wednesday.
As spokesmen for the Coast Guard’s National Boating Safety Campaign “You’re in Command,” the Labontes will participate in print and broadcast public service announcements aimed at preventing injuries and deaths among recreational boaters.(PR)(2-11-2004)
