CSX Transportation Joins Furniture Row Racing as Associate Sponsor

Coming off its most competitive season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Furniture Row Racing is enjoying similar success on the sponsorship side with the addition of CSX Transportation and its railroad crossing and pedestrian safety campaign for the 2012 season.

Smith drove his No. 78 Chevrolet to one victory, two top-fives and five top-10s last season.

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CSX Transportation, the largest railroad in the East and third largest in the United States, joins Chevrolet and Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers in the associate sponsorship role with all three companies complementing the team’s primary sponsors — Furniture Row and Denver Mattress.

“Having a new associate sponsorship arrangement with CSX Transportation along with a renewed agreement with Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers and an ongoing relationship with Chevrolet brings a new level of enthusiasm to our race team,” said Joe Garone, general manager of Furniture Row Racing.

“The three corporations are leaders in their industry and we are both humbled and proud that they have chosen Furniture Row Racing as a means to enhance their company's branding and educational initiatives.”

Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., CSX Transportation maintains a more than 21,000-mile freight rail network serving 23 states and portions of Canada.

Building upon several years of its innovative safety communications campaign, CSX will utilize the Furniture Row Racing sponsorship as part of the “Play it Safe” campaign to urge pedestrians and motorists to exercise caution around railroad tracks.

“We are pleased to join with Furniture Row Racing and driver Regan Smith to deliver our important safety message that railroad crossings and tracks can be dangerous if you don’t obey the law,” said Cliff Stayton, Director-Community Affairs and Safety for CSX Transportation. “We are working together to make sure that everyone knows how to play it safe around railroad tracks.”

The Denver-based Furniture Row Racing single-car team and its driver Regan Smith enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2011. Smith and Furniture Row Racing captured their first career NASCAR victory in May, winning the famed Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Smith drove his No. 78 Chevrolet to one victory, two top-fives and five top-10s last season. He scored top-10s in NASCAR’s four biggest races — Daytona 500 (seventh), Southern 500 (first), Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (eighth) and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (third).