automotive

NASCAR Car Washes To Open, Starting In Chicago

Nascar

NASCAR car washes are coming. Well, they aren't owned by NASCAR, but they wear the stock-car racing league's branding. NASCAR Car Wash Company and Chicago-based "Spotless Express and Sparkles" car wash owners have reached an agreement to rebrand and reflag an immediate conversion of five existing Chicago area car washes, along with building two new car washes in the area.

NASCAR Car Wash Company is not associated with the race circuit beyond having a licensing agreement to use the name.

The company last year got exclusive rights to use the NASCAR logo to market car washes across North America and the U.S. Territories. The first of several of the NASCAR Car Washes will open in the Chicagoland area in Romeoville on Thursday. Two racers will be attendance: 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader and 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Also to be at the opening is Blake Davidson, NASCAR's VP licensing and consumer products.

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According to the July 2011 NASCAR Fan Council research, more than three-quarters of fans take their cars to an automotive facility that is affiliated with NASCAR. The racing league's fans are 30% more likely than non-fans to own three or more vehicles; and 30% more likely to have shopped at automotive-focused stores in the past year, according to Experian Simmons' National Consumer Survey. Ipsos Brand Tracker 2010 has found that 84% of avid NASCAR fans agree that when they see the NASCAR logo on something, they know it will be a quality product.

The car wash openings are timed to NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup in mid-September, as the grand opening of the first NASCAR Car Wash will be Sept. 15, near Chicagoland Speedway, where the Chase happens two days later.

The firm says it will get up to 50 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and upper Indiana by 2016 and that the expansion puts it on pace to be the largest car wash chain in the nation.

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