It's Officially Official

It's finally official. After months of waiting, the Indycar Series will now be known as the IZOD Indycar Series. With the tagline of "The Fastest Race on Earth", IZOD has signed a 6-year multi-million dollar contract to become the new Title sponsor, with an option for a 7th & 8th year.

In what was truly a superb event, with a great turnout, both IZOD Indycar Series and IZOD officials really seemed to be happy with the announcement. As Brian Barnhart put it "This is the first legitimate Title sponsor we've ever had"

One of the biggest bits of news to come out of the event was that the 2-seater would start each race (including the Indy 500) with the pacecar for 2 parade laps. It will be driven by a 2-seater regular (D. Hamilton, A. Luyendyk jr...) and will carry a person of IZOD's choice.

Part of the multi-million dollar agreement, IZOD will participate in the TEAM program. The TEAM program which was introduced in 2008 gives guaranteed money to IZOD Indycar Series teams.

With the Title sponsorship, the Indycar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway are giving IZOD access to current and former drivers as well as "100 year's worth of motorsports assets and graphics from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame museum, including current and vintage cars, for both on and off track events, both in and out of race markets".

IZOD said that they were in talks with ABC and Comcast to get tv spots on the fallowing channels: VERSUS (obviously), Golf network, E!, G4, Style, ESPN and ABC.

The event began with a 4-5 minute video, showing clips from ICS races and IZOD events. It was fallowed by a short runway show, where the models showed off IZOD Indycar Series merchandise. They then unveiled a red and black Dallara all painted up with the IZOD colors, then came the announcements.

"This is what we've [Drivers] have all been waiting for....The Sky's the limit right now" - Ryan Hunter-Reay

"This is great news for the Indycar Series" - Dale Conye, Owner Dale Coyne Racing

"It's fantastic that a company like IZOD, which became involved int the Series, has recognized the value and benefits of the product and has decided to expand their involvement into a major sponsorship" -Keith Wiggins, HVM Owner

"The announcement that IZOD will become the series sponsor just adds to the momentum for the Indy Racing League" - Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway President

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