Freedom Autoport Wins in Homestead 200

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 6, 2010) - Tom Long led Lawson Aschenbach by 0.103 seconds in Saturday's Homestead 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Street Tuner (ST) class, in a reversal of the top two cars from the class race last year at Homestead-Miami. Long was joined by Derek Whitis in the No. 25 Aventura Technologies/PFC Mazda MX-5.

Long took the victory on the last lap from Aschenbach, who was trying to give Compass360 Racing its second straight victory both in a race and at the track. Instead, it was Long, who battled tooth-and-nail with Compass360's No. 74 Skunk2/HPD Honda Civic Si a year ago, coming up with a pass on Aschenbach and his second victory in three races with Whitis, who started fourth.

Long first took the lead on Lap 45, and battled for several laps with Sam Schultz and James Clay. After Long assumed the lead following the final caution period, he led for two laps, before Aschenbach got by for a lap. Long made the final of 13 ST lead changes on Lap 88, and held on by just 0.103 seconds.

Last season, Long finished 0.129 seconds behind the No. 74, which was piloted by Randy Pobst and Christian Miller; the car went on to win the championship.

"It was like déjà vu, but this time, our Mazda came out on top," Long said. "The MX-5 handled well in the infield, and the parity in the class made for a great race."

Whitis also won with Long in last season's finale at Virginia International Raceway. He is a team owner of Freedom Autosport with Rhett O'Doski.

"We fought the entire way, and it was a little nerve-wrecking in those final laps, waiting to see if the race would finish the same or different from last year," Whitis said. "Everything worked out though."

Speedpro Imaging:

Speedpro Imaging of the Carolinas (www.speedprocarolinas.com) produced and installed Freedom Autosport's MX5 wraps. Speedpro's Raleigh studio works closely with the Team to ensure the cars are wrapped and ready come race time. For more information about custom car wraps and vehicle graphics, please contact us at (919) 872-6551.

In addition to car wraps, Speedpro Imaging offers a wide range of large format printing and graphics products including tradeshow displays, banner stands, large format posters and banners, elevator wraps, wall murals, furniture wraps, floor graphics, art reproductions and much more. From design to installation, Speedpro Imaging will get your company noticed.

Freedom Autosport Gets Wrapped

Freedom Autosport (www.freedomautosport.com) recently hired Speedpro Carolinas (www.speedprocarolinas.com), to produce and install custom car wraps for its Mazda 3S race fleet prior to its season opening race, Fresh from Florida 200, in Daytona. Freedom Autosport competes in the Grand-Am Road Racing series (www.grand-am.com), a division of NASCAR Holdings.

Operating under a tight deadline, Speedpro Carolinas produced the wraps at its facility in Raleigh, NC and installed the car wraps at Freedom Autosport's shop. Installing the car wraps at the team's facility was critical to having the cars competition ready prior to the race. A tremendous amount of coordination and work is required to have the cars operate at peak performance come race day.

About Freedom Autosport and Grand-AM Road Racing:

New to the 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, Freedom Autosport is co-owned by drivers Derek Whitis and Rhett O'Doski and will field three Mazda MX5 cars in the series this year. Additional drivers include Mazda Champions Jim Daniels and Tom Long. For more information, please visit www.freedomautosport.com. GRAND-AM is located in Daytona Beach, Fla. on the same corporate campus that is also home to NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Daytona International Speedway. GRAND-AM was acquired by NASCAR Holdings in late 2008 and operates now as one organization, with resources such as marketing, research and public relations fully integrated into the NASCAR framework. GRAND-AM offers a product that features extremely competitive sports car racing on historic road and street circuits and in major market speedways throughout North America.

About Speedpro Carolinas:

Speedpro Carolinas, a regional division of Speedpro Imaging (www.speedproimaging.com), is a leading provider of high impact, cost effective advertising and branding solutions for businesses small and large. With multiple offices strategically located throughout the Carolinas, Speedpro is the local leader in large format graphics for advertising and promotional applications in North and South Carolina.

Large Format Printing and Graphics from Design to Installation:
* Vehicle Wraps (car wraps, truck wraps, van wraps, boat wraps, trailer wraps)
* Retail Graphics (point of sale, elevator wraps, wall murals, furniture wraps)
* Tradeshow and Event Displays (Pop-Up Displays, Banner Stands, Retail Displays)
* Full Color Banners, Posters and Signage

Brand Building with Window Wraps and Wall Murals

Window wraps and wall murals are high powered advertising tools that stick! Speedpro Carolinas (www.speedprocarolinas.com) recently completed a window wrap and wall mural project at North Hills Mall (www.liveatnorthhills.com), in Raleigh, NC to help promote Duke Raleigh Hospital (www.dukeraleighhospital.org). When designed, produced and installed, properly, window wraps and wall murals transform ordinary space into high impact billboards for advertising and promotional purposes. Great applications for these products include

1. Shopping malls (indoor and outdoor)
2. Retail storefronts
   
3. Sports and entertainment venues
4. Office buildings (exterior glass, lobbies, hallways)
5. Parking decks
6. Schools

Wrap products such as window wraps and wall murals can also offer real estate developers, property owners additional revenue streams by selling advertising space to businesses in high traffic areas. Speedpro Carolinas currently works with several major property owners to maximize the value of their respective properties by identifying prime advertising space and consulting on the right wrap product for that space. Whether its a window wrap above a store front, a wall mural on an exterior concrete wall or a tabletop wrap in a food court, the professionals at Speedpro Carolinas can help property owners establish advertising programs that can generate meaningful revenue. Speedpro Carolinas is a leading authority in large format graphics and is highly experienced in the design, production and installation of creative wrap products such as window wraps, wall murals, elevator wraps, tabletop wraps, floor murals, vehicle wraps and much more.

Words of caution: Don't trust your wrap project with just any vendor with a printer and access to adhesive vinyls. As wraps have increased in popularity due to more and more companies realizing the many benefits of such products, retail sign shops, "garage based" sign companies and traditional printers have begun offering wrap products, and consequently product knowledge and more importantly product quality vary greatly from vendor to vendor.

For example, Speedpro Carolinas recently completed a side walk graphics project with a customer who hired another vendor for the first phase of the project before switching to Speedpro Carolinas. The vinyl that the other vendor used to produce the first round of graphics is not manufactured for use on concrete. While the graphics adhered to the concrete, they left a gummy adhesive residue once they were removed. Six months later, the property management team still cannot completely remove the residual adhesive. Speedpro Carolinas recommended a vinyl manufactured expressly for use on concrete and a non-skid overlaminate for safety purposes. The graphics provided by Speedpro Carolinas were removed several weeks ago without any problems or residual adhesive being left behind.

A successful wrap project requires an in depth knowledge of three critical components:

1. Design - Be sure that the design is practical from a production and installation standpoint. Often times vendors without direct wrap experience design graphics that "look good" on their iMacs but once produced and installed lose most of their impact. For example, if you create a high impact wall mural with your company's logo incorporated in the design, make sure that your logo doesn't lie on an air vent or spot light that might make viewing it difficult.
   
2. Production - Be sure that the wrap is produced using the correct materials. All adhesive vinyls are not created equal and most are created with specific applications in mind. Some vinyls are manufactured for short term applications while others are intended for long term projects. Some are created with a "clean removability" feature while others with a permanent adhesive. Some are produced to specifically adhere to textured surfaces such as concrete while others for surfaces with complex curves.
   
3. Installation - Be sure that your wrap is installed correctly. Regardless of how well a wrap is designed and produced, a poor installation can result in a failed project. Whether the application requires a wet installation or significant post heating, hire an installer with direct wrap installation experience and not just someone who's watched a few Youtube videos.

Businesses of All Types Drive Growth and Brand Awareness with Custom Car Wraps

Speedpro Carolinas, in conjunction with Giles Designs, recently wrapped a service box truck for S.T. Wooten Corporation (www.stwcorp.com). I've included "Before" and "After" photos to demonstrate the dramatic effect a well designed, produced and installed custom vehicle wrap can have on an ordinary vehicle. S.T. Wooten Corporation purchased this particular vehicle to service its construction fleet at the various job sites where the company operates. Stanley, who drives the vehicle for the company, calls it "a Jiffy Lube on wheels." Given that the vehicle would constantly be in the public eye moving from job site to job site, management quickly realized the truck's advertising potential and chose Speedpro Carolinas to produce and install the wrap. Since leaving our facility, this vehicle turns heads.

"I talked with Stanley for about thirty minutes today and he said that people walking and driving past are just in awe and can't believe how clean and crisp the photos look. The staff at SpeedPro gets two thumbs up from the S.T. Wooten Corporation."

-- Regional Sales Manager, S.T. Wooten Corporation

Businesses of all sizes can realize meaningful revenue and profit growth by applying custom car wraps, truck wraps and van wraps to their vehicles. The purchase of a single vehicle or a fleet is an investment. Why not maximize that investment and significantly improve your company's ROI ("Return on Investment") with a custom car wrap or vehicle wrap? Studies show that vehicles can attract between 25,000 and 75,000 impressions daily. Whether your business relies on its vehicles to deliver product or perform service, take advantage of that opportunity and time spent on the road to promote your brand. Get noticed with a custom vehicle wrap from Speedpro Carolinas (www.speedprocarolinas.com).

For additional information on vehicle wraps visit www.raleighcarwraps.com.

Duke Raleigh Hospital Elevator Wraps, Visit North Hills Mall

Speedpro Carolinas (www.speedprocarolinas.com) recently completed an elevator wrap project for Duke Raleigh Hospital (www.dukeraleighhospital.org) at North Hills Mall (www.liveatnorthhills.com) in Raleigh, NC. Elevator wraps are a creative, high impact advertising tool for businesses and organizations to promote their respective brands and identities. In an environment where traditional advertising mediums are not producing the desired results, elevators wraps transform otherwise useless space (elevator doors) into prime real estate for advertising and promotional purposes. Elevator wraps command the attention of just about every visitor, shopper or employee whereas a simple banner or poster might easily go unnoticed.

The professionals at Speedpro offer full design, printing and installation services. For elevator wraps, we prefer a high performance solvent removable vinyl by 3M (www.3m.com). This particular type of vinyl couples powerful adhesion with clean removability, an all around great vinyl for elevator wraps. To apply the vinyl, our installers prefer a "wet" installation process using a commercially available transfer fluid. When planning your next advertising and marketing campaign, strongly consider an elevator wrap. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the attention it draws.