DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Freightliner has announced it’s expanding its relationship with NASCAR, becoming the official hauler of the racing series as well as several of its teams.

“Both NASCAR and Freightliner Trucks share a passion for vehicles that push the envelope in terms of performance and efficiency,” said Jonathan Randall, director of product marketing, Freightliner Trucks.

The Freightliner Coronado and the Classic XL are now a common sight in the NASCAR paddock, with teams such as: Evernham Motorsports; Dale Earnhardt Incorporated; Penske Racing South; Hendrick Motorsports; Petty Enterprises; Haas CNC Racing; Chip Ganassi Racing and several others now using Freightliner trucks to get their cars to the track.

“We have supplied hauler vehicles to these major NASCAR teams for over five years,” said Randall. “In addition to all of the great teams we’ve been affiliated with for years, we are also proud to announce our latest team relationship with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.”

A total of 13 racing teams will now use Freightliner trucks to get their equipment from track to track. It’s expected there will be 79 or 80 Freightliner trucks at each NASCAR event this season. The Dodge-powered teams are running Coronado’s while most of the other teams run the Classic XL.

Ray Evernham, owner of Evernham Motorsports, says his team now has a fleet of eight Coronados as well as a Freightliner utility truck.

“Sometimes we underestimate the value in getting the cars back and forth from the shop on time,” said Evernham, who has been running Freightliners since 2001. “It’s very important our stuff isn’t sitting on the side of the road broken down.”

Evernham made the comments to media at the Daytona 500. Following the race, NASCAR teams including his own had to pack up, return to their shops and then head immediately to the series’ second event in California the following weekend.

– For the full story, see the April issues of Truck News and Truck West