Rolex 24. $250k!
Team Seattle kicks of 2011 campaign with $250k at Daytona!
On a beautiful sunny weekend in late January 2011, Team Seattle successfully kicked off their 2011 fund raising campaign in Daytona Beach Florida at the world famous Rolex 24, raising over a quarter of a million dollars for Seattle Children’s Hospital.
2011 is the second year that Team Seattle will benefit from fund raising throughout the entire Grand-Am Rolex GT season thanks to it’s partnership with Dempsey Racing and JG Sport. The Daytona is the best race to start the campaign with it being the ‘jewel in the crown’ race for both championship aspirations and philanthropic activities.
Hearts on the hood of car No.41
This year’s Daytona effort centered around a couple of major fund raising activities which, combined with the Team Seattle supporter community, drove the majority of the dollar amount. The ‘Buy a Heart. Save a Life’ campaign allowed individuals to buy heart stickers which would be stuck directly to the car. The final tally of hearts bought neared 450, a number that far exceeded expectations. So many hearts were sold that the original plan to cover the hood of car No.41 extended to covering the entire roof as well! In addition to the hearts program, over 200 fans bought the Dempsey Racing Daytona ticket package. For these lucky fans they not only got to make a donation to both Team Seattle and the Dempsey Center for Caner Hope and Healing but they also got to attend an exclusive driver event at the track on race day.
From a sponsorship perspective, Team Seattle benefited from sizable contributions from four Northwest companies for Daytona including, Global Diving, Dirtfish Rally School, Motoring Unlimited and PogoLinux. Global Diving, who are full season sponsors of Car No.41, helped not only through their sponsorship but also by allowing their logo to be removed from the hood to make room for the hearts program.
As for race results, car No.41, driven by season long drivers James Gue and Dane Cameron and Daytona drivers Dave Lacey and Ian James, finished 10th in class gaining valuable championship points. The team had been running as high as 2nd during the race; however, some incident damage and a broken water pump pushed the team back to 10th. Car No.40, the sister Dempsey Racing Mazda finished on the podium, a career best for that car and drivers. These results, coupled with the fund raising efforts for both Team Seattle and the Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing, made Daytona 2011 a hugely successful race for all involved.
James Gue commented, “It’s such a tough race; there are so many ups and downs. We ran as high as 2nd then we were sitting in the garage. I’m very happy to be in the top 10 at the end. Certainly not a bad result but we were hoping for a little bit more. It is good to see one of the cars on the team make it to the podium. We also raised valuable money for Team Seattle and that’s what it’s all about”
For Team Seattle, the next fund raising program for 2011 is being ironed out. For Car No.41 and the Dempsey Racing/JG Sport team, the next race is in Miami Homestead on March 4th where Dane Cameron and James Gue, the season long drivers, will compete.
Team Seattle founder Don Kitch Jr. commented at the team dinner on Sunday night, “we’d like to extend a big thank you to all our fans, donors, supporters and volunteers, who, without them, wouldn’t make this possible. Thank you!”
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