WIDIA™ Partners With Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

The Bass Pro Shops/ McDonald’s Chevrolet will become the No. 1 WIDIA Chevrolet as WIDIA makes its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) debut.

On April 3, 2011, the familiar No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/ McDonald’s Chevrolet, driven by 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 Champion Jamie McMurray of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, will become the No. 1 WIDIA Chevrolet as WIDIA makes its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) debut. The April 3 date at Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA) marks another milestone for Jamie McMurray, his 300^th NSCS start.

High-performance machine shops and the latest in tooling innovations are as necessary as high-performance tires in keeping race teams competitive, so the partnership between WIDIA (Latrobe, PA) and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing was a natural fit.

“The 2010 season that Jamie and the No. 1 team put together allows us to feel great about being able to bring new brands to our team and into the sport,” said Steve Lauletta, president of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. “We are confident that the experience will deliver a business return that will get them hooked on the power of NASCAR and our team. Both us and our partners at WIDIA are very much looking forward to the 2011 season and more specifically Jamie being behind the wheel of the No. 1 WIDIA Chevrolet in Martinsville.”

Bernie McConnell further describes WIDIA as a “tremendous growth opportunity created to maximize our penetration of the growing indirect market channel,” he adds. “We have received excellent feedback from our channel partners on their success introducing a complete metalworking portfolio of products to their customers, and we’ll continue to strengthen and upgrade our channel partners with continued new product introductions and comprehensive training and service events in every region of the world.”

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