Race cars and Coke Olympic cans

This weekend is the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race, held each year in Charlotte, NC, on Memorial Day weekend.

If you read my blog, you may know I’m more of a baseball fan than race fan, but this race is special! The 2008 Coca-Cola 600 marks its 24th consecutive year -- the longest continuous sponsorship of any race in NASCAR.

We’re using the race to launch the Coke summer promotion that features collectible Olympic cans and bottles with the Coca-Cola logo written as it appears around the world, in countries like Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand and China.

Well, the same logos on those cans are featured on a special car running in the Coca-Cola 600. Driver Kyle Petty’s #45 car features the international logos on the Coca-Cola Olympic cans. We got to see the car up-close at our headquarters last week, and I’ve included some photos for you. (Well, I think technically we saw a show car – not the actual car that will run!)

(I’ve also mentioned another Olympic program, the WE8 bottles, which will be introduced around the world. Those designs aren’t on Petty’s car!)

If you’re in the U.S., you can catch the Coca-Cola 600 on TV on Sunday, May 25. And if you’re a NASCAR collector, I’d love to hear about your collection!