INDYCARNATION

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Joe Kennedy, Scott Jasek, Jeff Sinden have collected 36 Indy cars for a special tie-in with the NFL’s big day in Indianapolis on Feb. 5. That’s been the easy part for the principals of Experiential Marketing Incorporated, which features the Indy Racing Experience two-seaters among its racing-related programs. 

Dubbed “Super Cars,” the program marries the iconic Indianapolis 500 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Super Bowl XLVI, which will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“We had been selling off our car fleet over the last year and a half,” Jasek said as the IZOD IndyCar Series prepares to introduce a new Dallara chassis powered by three different engine manufacturers in 2012. “But we’ll use our racing experience cars and Dreyer & Reinbold, Sarah Fisher, Panther, HVM, Penske, Dallara and INDYCAR are helping us with cars. That part is not so worrisome. (After the event) I don’t know what will happen with them.”

Thirty-two cars have been vinyl wrapped by Freelance Graphics in Indianapolis to represent each NFL team (their colors, logo), with the number on the rear wing endplates signifying the year they entered the league. There will be a duplicate set of cars prepared for the AFC and NFC Championship participants along with two cars representing Super Bowl XLVI. All follow a design scheme that incorporates the laces of a football across the top of the air intake.

“Never before has the NFL allowed its logos to go onto another sport,” Jasek said.

The cars will be unveiled Jan. 27 on Meridian Street in Indianapolis. The NFC, AFC and Super Bowl XLVI cars (all 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series cars) will be on display on Monument Circle through the week leading up to the game. Others will be placed in Central Indiana towns declared "Super Celebration" sites. The Indianapolis Colts’ car will be displayed at Tech High School in Indianapolis.

“We're taking something very Indianapolis and we are kind of re-branding it for each football franchise, so no matter who you cheer for, this will make for a great photo op while you are in town for the Super Bowl,” said Jeff Robinson of the Super Bowl Host Committee.

The Indy Racing Experience and Dallara will move into their new 112,000-square-foot headquarters on Main Street in Speedway, Ind., this month. An interactive education and entertainment area, which also will house a café, will be incorporated this year, too.

“We will have some parties here for the Super Bowl,” Jasek said of the glass and brick-faced building that is providing shelter for the Super Bowl XLVI cars. “Phase I of the project is open and operational. Phase II is when we’ll have the interactive pieces and the goal is open that May 1.

“We have a track record now of doing unusual things or things for the first time – the two-seater, the street-legal two-seater in Europe and then a project like this. We enjoy taking on the challenge of getting the cars together, getting them wrapped and now the next stage is how to move them around. Hopefully, there won’t be a lot of snow.”

Check www.indianapolissuperbowl.com for locations and more details during game week. There are other interactive elements, too. Fans can use the Super Bowl XLVI mobile app and FourSquare to check in at Super Car locations to unlock prizes and rewards.