FORT SMITH, Ark., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ABF Freight System, Inc.(R), and Braun Racing have signed Brian Vickers to drive for Team ABF Racing in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series.
In a growing partnership with Mooresville, N.C.-based Braun Racing, Brian Vickers will drive the #10 and #32 ABF Toyota Camry for eight races in 2008. In addition, ABF will serve as a full-time major associate sponsor of the No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry driven by Jason Leffler. This is ABF's third year of NASCAR sponsorship. Last season, ABF Racing helped make history when driver Dave Blaney captured Toyota Camry's first NASCAR Nationwide series pole at California Speedway.
Vickers is currently slated to drive the ABF Camry in eight Nationwide Series races beginning with the 2008 season opener at Daytona. Vickers will pilot the No. 32 entry at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway Michigan International Speedway, California Speedway and Kansas Speedway. During select events where Braun Racing's stable expands to three cars, Vickers and ABF Racing will compete as the No. 10 entry, including at Daytona International Speedway in February, Lowe's Motor Speedway in May and Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Vickers will once again have the guidance of crew chief Trent Owens leading the team in 2008.
"I'm looking forward to running these races for Braun Racing and Toyota in 2008," said Vickers. "They asked me back this year after some strong runs last season and I'm excited we have another opportunity to get this team some wins. They bring a competitive race car to the track week in and week out, and I'm confident we can make the most of this partnership with ABF Racing to get them into Victory Lane."
Vickers began his Nationwide Series career in 2001. In 2003 he took home the Nationwide Series Championship in his first full season of competition, becoming NASCAR's youngest champion at 20 years of age. In 80 series starts, Vickers has captured three wins, 16 top-fives and 31 top-10 finishes.
Established in 1923, ABF(R) is best-in-class for safety, security, technology and freight-handling. InformationWeek, CIO, InfoWorld, and BtoB magazines have cited ABF's strategic use of information technology as exemplary. ABF is a five-time winner of the American Trucking Associations President's Trophy for Safety and the only four-time winner of the Excellence in Security Award. ABF is the only carrier to earn both the Excellence in Claims/Loss Prevention Award and the Excellence in Security Award in the same year, which ABF accomplished twice.
ABF provides guaranteed service for expedited or time-definite shipments via its TimeKeeper(R) service. Regional shipments are handled via the carrier's RPM(R) Network, providing next-day and second-day shipping. The ABF system stretches throughout North America, with local service centers serving all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Guam and Puerto Rico. Globally, the carrier serves 250 ports in more than 130 countries.
ABF is the largest subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corporation .
Contact: Mr. Danny Loe, director of marketing & public relations Telephone: (479) 785-8803 Websites: http://www.abf.com/ http://www.timekeeper.com/ http://www.freightvalue.com/ http://www.upack.com/
