Tux Takes His Place on Chastain Motorsports Indy Car

Posted by bobm77 on Apr 20, 2007 7:04 AM EDT
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Tux, the cherubic penguin mascot of the Linux computer operating system has just taken up residence on the front nose of the Chastain Motorsports Panoz / Honda Indy car. Driver, Stephan Gregoire, and team owner, Tom Chastain, applied the ceremonial first decal yesterday to the distinctive two-tone blue, 225 mph Indy racer that Gregoire will pilot for this year’s 91st running of the famed Indianapolis 500 mile race on May 27, 2007.



For Immediate Release:

Contact: Ted Woerner, Acceleration Marketing, 317-706-6726






Linux Mascot, “Tux”, Takes His Place on Chastain Motorsports Indy Car

HILLIARD, OH, April 20, 2007

Tux, the cherubic penguin mascot of the Linux computer operating system has just taken up residence on the front nose of the Chastain Motorsports Panoz / Honda Indy car. Driver, Stephan Gregoire, and team owner, Tom Chastain, applied the ceremonial first decal yesterday to the distinctive two-tone blue, 225 mph Indy racer that Gregoire will pilot for this year’s 91st running of the famed Indianapolis 500 mile race on May 27, 2007.

Gregoire and Chastain were at Rahal Letterman Racing in suburban Columbus, OH to observe final preparations of both the team’s primary and backup cars prior to bringing them back to Indianapolis where the team will base its Indy 500 operations. The presence of Tux on the car is symbolic of the innovative sponsorship program in which the team is participating. Tux and the Linux identification will grow on the car in proportion to the funding raised by the massive global community of Linux programmers, marketers, stakeholders and even public donors. If the $350,000 funding goal for the program is reached, Linux will earn the primary sponsorship position in the program and the car’s coveted side pod decal space.

“Tux will be going for the ride of his life next month at the Speedway, I can guarantee you that!”, said an enthusiastic Chastain. “We are excited to be participating in this unique program with the global Linux community and hope that Tux grows to be much bigger by race day. I have been absolutely amazed at the support we have already generated for this program. People representing twenty-two countries have already sent donations to Tux500.com. I never would have imagined that and we’re only just a bit more than a week into our funding drive.”


The international flavor of the program suits French driver, Stephan Gregoire perfectly. “I was speaking with my brother in France the other day,” said Gregoire, “and he told me that everyone over there already has a choice of Linux as an operating system whenever they buy a new computer at the stores. Can you imagine? I hope that through our Tux500 program that we can help create that same awareness level and opportunity for choice here in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world for that matter.”

Gregoire is hoping to take Tux on his initial, hair-raising ride around the famed, 2-½ mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the first day of official practice, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 2007. Chastain says that in the meantime, additional sponsorship funding is still being sought for this, the team’s ten-year anniversary reunion effort. Chastain fielded his first Indy 500 program in 1997 and again in 1998 with the same driver (Gregoire) and crew chief, Darrell Soppe.

For more information on the Tux 500 program, see www.Tux500.com

Chastain Motorsports 777 Stony Lane Noblesville, IN 46060



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