Posted: 10.12.2010

With approximately 100,000 fans in the stands and over 5 million watching on TV - the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race Sunday in California was an excellent platform for any message.  Including agriculture's.

Sunday marked the final race of the season for the #78 Farm America Chevrolet .  What's that - you didn't even know there was a Farm America car?  Well in 2011, Furniture Row Racing hopes to change that.

For more then a year, Furniture Row Racing has been working to assemble agribusiness partners that recognize the potential reach the NASCAR audience offers in helping people understand where their food comes from.  The Farm America team is also deviating for the normal NASCAR sticker-mania, by only putting logos or messages on their car that directly relates to an agriculture message.  In other words, no products.  So far, convincing silent sponsors to join the effort in a down economy has been difficult.  The owner of Furniture Row Racing said his goal of the "Farm America" car was to draw attention to unfair trade practices that discriminate against not only U.S. farmers, but American furniture makers too.

Regan Smith is the driver of the Farm America Chevy, and finished 12th on Sunday in the cars final appearance of the season.  Smith himself was surrounded by agriculture as a kid in up-state New York, but says it took the concentrated effort of the Farm America team to make him realize how important agriculture is to the United States.

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