Sealy car grabs 10th place in 1st Champ race
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 16, 2006
Long Beach, Calif. — Sealy's sponsorship of a Champ Car got off to a fast start here this month when Alan Sciuto drove the Sealy car to a Top 10 finish in the first race of the season.
The mattress maker scored a one-two punch when furniture retailer Dan Selznick, a Sealy dealer, also competed in and finished the race, held at the street course here on the weekend of the Toyota Grand Prix event (see story below).
A delegation of Sealy officials and dealers cheered Sciuto and Selznick on throughout the hour-long race. Sciuto's No. 12 car featured the familiar Sealy butterfly logo, while Selznick's No. 49 car was emblazoned with his RoomStore logo.
The logos were a blur during the race, in which the drivers reached speeds of about 160 miles per hour.
Both drivers stayed out of trouble on the 1.97-mile course, which travels over the streets of Long Beach. The race was slowed by three crashes.
Sciuto, a rising star of racing, finished a solid 10th. "Obviously it's not what we wanted," he said after the race, held in bright sunshine under blue skies, "but it's a good start."
Selznick, who finished 17th, says racing is a hobby for him, but a serious one. He owns The RoomStore in Phoenix, which sponsors his car, and is among the sponsors of Sciuto's car as well.
Sealy officials and retailers chatted with the two drivers before the race.
Al Boulden, senior vice president of field sales, pumped his fist in the air when Sciuto raced across the finish line, and also led the cheers for Selznick.
Also attending the race was Steve Rusing, Sealy vice president of field sales for the West, and David Evans, vice president of marketing communications, as well as a number of Sealy regional sales managers and sales representatives.
Retailers who joined the Sealy delegation in a pit row suite overlooking the course included executives with Mattress Land of Fresno, Calif., Mattress King of Rogers, Ark., Furniture Outlets USA of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Linder's Furniture in Garden Grove, Calif.
With coveted pit row credentials, the Sealy delegation got a behind-the-scenes look at Atlantic Series racing, a growing segment in motor sports. They got to meet Sciuto and Selznick in the garage area, where the teams assembled before the race. Both drivers seemed relaxed before joining the caravan that took their cars down a winding lane to the course.
The Sealy executives and dealers also got to see the teams before the race on pit row, where the teams readied their cars.
"Drivers, start your Mazda engines" was the command to the drivers. The 300-horsepower engines roared to life.
Once the race was under way, the Sealy delegation watched from a suite high over pit row, which is just off the racecourse.
The cars zipped down the track in front of the suite in a blur, their engines screaming.
TV monitors in the suites lining the track gave spectators a view of the whole course. The TV screens also carried a running account of the order of the cars and how far back each was from the leader.
The crashes during the race, one of which knocked four cars from the field, produced audible gasps from the fans — and were shown again and again on the TV monitors. Sealy officials and dealers were relieved that Sciuto and Selznick avoided disaster.
When it was over, Sciuto stopped by the Sealy suite to sign autographs, pose for pictures and talk about the race.
Someone asked him what it was like out there. "It was awesome," he replied.
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Sealy car grabs 10th place in 1st Champ race
Apr 19, 2006
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