AUBURN, GA - (December 15, 2009) Leilani Münter will be driving the #59 NextEra Energy Resources Dodge for Mark Gibson Racing (MGR) in the three day ARCA Series open test at Daytona International Speedway on December 18, 19, and 20. Leilani hopes to expand her partnership with MGR to include at least 10 ARCA races in the 2010 racing season starting with the season opener at Daytona on February 6.
"I am so thankful to NextEra Energy Resources for giving me the opportunity to attend the ARCA test at Daytona," said Leilani, "I am thrilled to be driving for Mark Gibson Racing, they have a long history of success in the ARCA Series and I am really happy to be a part of his organization. Both of us are very hopeful that we will be able to expand our partnership beyond testing, we want to win races together."
"Everyone here at MGR is excited about the opportunity to test at Daytona with Leilani. We have been talking about teaming up for a while. Leilani has worked very hard to get the opportunity to race in the ARCA series and hopefully the test at Daytona will get the 2010 season jump started," said team owner Mark Gibson, "We are working hard to get a great car prepared. The car we are taking finished fifth at this year's race at Daytona and once again Ilmor Engineering will supply the power. Given the box that ARCA puts us in as far as springs and shocks we have worked really hard on the body and suspension aspects to improve on the car. Daytona is such an important race in our schedule every team puts a lot of extra effort into this test. A good run at Daytona seems to make the rest of the season go a little better.
A top ten at Daytona got Parker (Kligerman) off to a great start and the rest is history. We hope to do the same with Leilani."
This will be Leilani's third trip to the ARCA Series open test at Daytona, the most storied track in NASCAR. Her first laps at Daytona came in 2006 driving for Andy Hillenburg. In just two runs, her top speed of 177.644 mph was 24th quick of 59 race cars in testing in the Saturday afternoon session. She returned in 2008 to drive for racing legend James Hylton and turned a lap quick enough to put her 16th on the starting grid of the ARCA Daytona race on February 7 but due to lack of sponsorship, she was unable to participate in the race.
In addition to Daytona, the other events MGR and Leilani are looking to enter include Texas Motor Speedway on April 16, Talladega Superspeedway on April 23, both at Pocono Raceway on June 5 and July 31, Michigan Int'l Speedway on June 11, Iowa Speedway on July 10, Chicagoland Speedway on August 27, Kansas Speedway on September 30 and the finale at Rockingham Speedway on October 9. All these races will have live or same day coverage on SPEED. Leilani and Mark Gibson Racing are excited to announce a unique opportunity for companies to get involved as sponsors for these races without spending a single marketing dollar.
Through her partnership with LED Savings Solutions, Leilani's ground breaking program can provide lighting upgrades with light emitting diode (LED) lights that reduce electricity demand by up to 80 percent, allowing a business or property owner to reduce costs immediately as well as a means to reduce a facility's carbon footprint. The partnership offers companies of all sizes a tremendous opportunity to save money, go green, and become sponsor on Leilani's race car -- all without spending a dime. LED Saving Solutions has created the ground breaking "Savings Share" program that gives the property owners and managers a $0 start up cost advantage since they only pay for the cost of the retrofit from a portion of the actual money saved each month. The program is cash flow positive for companies from the start. GREENandSAVE and Leilani are proud to offer sponsorship exposure to companies that initiate the LED lighting retrofits. You will receive 5% of the purchase of the bulbs in vehicle branding and press release marketing with Leilani's race program.
Click here for more information on the LED program and for sponsorship inquiries please email
marketing@leilanimunter.com.
Race fans are welcome to attend the Dec. 18-20 ARCA test session. It is open to the public with free access to the Oldfield Grandstands through the lobby of Daytona 500 Experience. In addition, trams will be available to transport race fans into the Sprint FANZONE to view all the testing action for $15.
Related Video:
Leilani's Visit to NextEra Energy Resources Solar Energy Center in the Mojave Desert
Related Video:
Leilani's Visit to NextEra Energy Resources Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas
Related Video:
Footage from Leilani's 2008 Daytona ARCA Test with James Hylton Motorsports
About Mark Gibson Racing
After a successful short track career in Florida which started in 1974, Mark Gibson made his ARCA debut in 1982. Mark and his wife Jan formed
Mark Gibson Racing (MGR) in 1985 and moved from Daytona Beach, Florida to Auburn, Georgia to continue a career in racing. In 1986, Mark won the Dayton Enterprises Rookie of the Year title and finished seventh in the point championship. Over the next 23 years the team had 13 wins, 54 top fives and 113 top tens competing in all four major stock car series; Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Trucks, and the ARCA/ReMax Series. Mark also ranks second only to Frank Kimmel in all time ARCA starts with 326. The team won the Hoosier Super Speedway challenge in 1998 and the Hoosier Hard Charger Award in 2003.
In 2006, the team moved from their shop in Auburn to a 10,000 square foot facility just up the road in Statham, Georgia. This shop is located an hour northeast of Atlanta and close to Lanier Speedway, Gresham Motor Sports Park and Road Atlanta. The team has a stable of fifteen race cars, a combination of Ganassi Dodges and DEI Chevrolets. Engines for the Dodges will be provided by ILMOR Engineering of Plymouth Michigan with the Chevrolets using Hendrick power from Automotive Specialties of Concord, North Carolina.
Mark Gibson Racing had a very successful season in 2009, winning nine races and scoring 14 top fives and 16 top tens with driver Parker Kligerman. Parker won the
ARCA Rookie of the Year title and finished second in the Championship Points Race only five points behind the winner, Justin Lofton. Visit
MarkGibsonRacing.net
About Leilani Münter
Leilani Münter started racing cars in 2001 and in 2004 she gained the attention of the racing world when she qualified 4th and finished 7th at Texas Motor Speedway in the ROMCO Super Late Model Series. Texas would turn out to be one of Münter's favorite tracks. She returned to Texas Motor Speedway in 2006 and set a new record when she finished 4th, the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the racetrack. In 2007 she made the move to in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar, when she qualified 5th for her debut at Kentucky Motor Speedway. Leilani was running in the top six when a multi car accident took her out of the race. Leilani turned the 5th quickest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph.
Leilani is also a biology graduate and a long time vegetarian and eco activist. Since 2007, Leilani has been purchasing an acre of rainforest for every race she runs to offset her carbon footprint. She founded the ground breaking "Eco Dream Team" with the mission to send powerful messages to the number one spectator sport in America, calling to action 100 million race fans in the US to make a difference by spreading environmental awareness about sustainable living alternatives, clean energy, alternative fuel vehicles, and environmental legislations. Additionally, Leilani hopes her efforts will encourage racing sanctioning bodies to increase their environmental initiatives with expanded recycling programs and the use of alternative fuels. Companies that sign up with GREENandSAVE to retrofit with energy efficient lighting have the opportunity to appear as a partner on her eco dream team race car.
In fall 2008, Leilani became the first Ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation and landed a national ad campaign as a Lucky Jeans model with the motto, "Race car driver Leilani Münter, saving rainforests one race at a time." Her racing accomplishments and environmental activism have landed her on the pages of Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Sports Illustrated and USA Today. Leilani is an accomplished public speaker from environmental conferences to Capitol Hill. She is also a published writer, currently contributing to the green section of the Huffington Post, rated the most influential blog in the world by the Guardian and topping Time Magazine's blog index. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information visit
www.leilanimunter.com and her eco site
www.carbonfreegirl.com.
