NASCAR fans may think that Kyle Busch has finally lost his mind when they get a good look at him on Sept. 10 prior to the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. No one would question that there have been times when the wild and wooly young driver could tone things down a bit, but almost certainly, no one expected him to take it this far.

  In the Friday night Nationwide race, Busch will trade in his proverbial black hat for a more enchanting shade; pink to be exact. Not only will Busch don a pink fire suit, he will also be driving a pink car adorned with kittens, puppies, butterflies, a unicorn and baby seal as part of Toyota’s ‘Sponsify Your Ride Contest’.

  What could turn into the best Nationwide ticket sale booster RIR has ever seen is the result of Toyota Motorsports teaming with advertising firm of Saatchi & Saatchi to create the riotous incongruity that has race fans rolling in laughter.

  “The ultimate goal was to get fans involved in the process,” said Ed Laukes, Corporate Manager of Marketing for Toyota Motorsports. “Rather than pushing something out to the fans, asking the fans to participate.”

  When the first contest ended with the Memorial Day race in Charlottesville, over 60,000 cars were in the approved gallery. After over a million online votes, the “Praying for Karson,” car designed by Fay Knape of Danbury, Texas came away the winner.

  With such a huge response, Sponsafier 2 was quick to follow and it was kicked off by a series of wacky commercials featuring Joe Gibbs drivers, Busch, former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.

  Laukes said the entire process has been certainly been entertaining. The first commercial shoot featured Logano as the avatar for a seventh tier Warlock and pictured the chain mail clad driver talking to Michael Waltrip, dressed as Napoleon, and Martin Truex Jr. in a fire suit made of pot holders.

  “That was the first commercial that he (Truex) ever did with Toyota,” Laukes said. “I was scared to death that Truex was going to show up and say, ‘Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into with these guys?’”

  In the next spot, Hamlin’s car became a means by which a young man could send a message to his secret love Amanda and featured David Reutimann’s unforgettable comeback to Hamlin’s question, “Who doesn’t love, love?”

  “I love, love,” Reutimann replies.

  But when Laukes came across the ‘Kimmy car’ designs he thought it was a perfect fit for Busch. “I saw the drawings and I saw pink bunnies and baby seals and the rainbow and then I read the script,” he said. “The little girl Kimmy, when she says to her dad, “I love you” and he says, “Oh, thank you sweetheart,” and she comes back with, “No, write that on the spoiler.” I said, that’s perfect. That to me just said rough and tumble Kyle Busch all the way.”

  What was Busch’s initial reaction?

  “I just said, ‘All right, whatever, let’s do it,’” Busch said. “I wasn’t too offended by it all so it wasn’t too big of a deal.”

  Now the popularity of the promotion has been more than anyone could have ever expected.

  “There’s been a huge reaction,” Busch said. “Everybody has been pumped about the commercials and more pumped about seeing me in the pink suit and driving that car.

  “When they told me we were going to run the Sponsafier car for the Richmond Nationwide race I was pretty excited,” Busch said.

  Busch made sure he shared his enthusiasm with his Nationwide crew chief Jason Ratcliff.

  “I was making fun of Kyle and he said he was going to fix me up and he said he was going to make sure I was going to get one,” Ratcliff said. “I told him I was not getting a pink fire suit, but unfortunately I’m getting a pink fire suit.  I have to find out what kind of shoes you wear with a pink fire suit.  I don’t want to look out of place and wear my black shoes with a pink fire suit.  I’m going to try to stay up on top of the pit box and hide.”

  Ratcliff also pointed out that there are unique problems with driving the decorated car. “I told somebody last week that if we’re going to race a pink car, we better run good because you can’t show up with a pink car and run bad.  If you do, it’s like a double whammy.” 

  Laukes admits it has been hard to keep a straight face while dealing with the Busch car. “We always get a smile when we see it,” he said. “I really love the fact that we’re engaging with the fans and they’re enjoying the fact that rough and tough race car drivers are out there and we put them in compromising positions and they’re fine.”

  And what does Laukes think the reaction to a pink clad Busch is going to be during driver introductions in Richmond?

  “I think people are going to be laughing hysterically,” he said.

  Laukes is unsure whether the pink and fluffy Busch will sell more tickets at RIR but he is certain that it will increase interest in the race. “If they’re not going to show up at the race, you’re going to see more and more people who are going to turn on the beginning of the race, the prerace driver interviews and anything else that’s going to be on television because they’re going to love the fact that he’s here.”

“It should be fun and I know it’s something that Kyle’s been looking forward to,” Ratcliff said. “He loves that pink suit.  You know Kyle, he likes to stand out in the crowd.”

To see all of the commercials go to www.sponsafier.com.