Elk Grove's "Makers Wanted" logo will be emblazoned across the carRFK Racing
Brad Keselowski will race in next year's Chicago Street Course NASCAR race "under the sponsorship of Elk Grove Village," according to Robert McCoppin of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The village will spend $400,000 a year for "at least two years to get its 'Makers Wanted' logo emblazoned across the car." Elk Grove previously has sponsored college football's Bahamas Bowl, and the U.S. Olympics track & field and wrestling teams. Mayor Craig Johnson said that the "'outside of the box' promotions were worthwhile investments to bring attention to the 5-square-mile industrial park," but now he "wanted to get involved with the sport that reportedly draws the most in-person spectators." Johnson added that while auto racing is "not as big in the Midwest as it is in the South," the NASCAR race "will raise" Elk Grove's profile. And since Keselowski "owns a 3D printing company," his "experience and advocacy for manufacturing makes the partnership a good fit." The cost of the promotion, like the other sponsorships, is to be "paid out of a business park Tax Increment Financing fund" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/17).
