Joe Denette Motorsports enters series

JOE DENETTE MOTORSPORTS, A NEW NAME IN THE NCWTS GARAGE IN 2011

Huntersville, NC (2-1-2011) -- Fueled by his passion for motorsports, NASCAR enthusiast and Mega Millions lottery winner Joe Denette formed Joe Denette Motorsports, NASCAR's newest Camping World Truck Series Team. JDM will make its NASCAR debut in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway later this month and plans to run a full season in 2011.

Denette, a Fredericksburg, VA native, did not have a promising start to 2009. He was laid off from his job of seven years and had been unemployed for four months. However, that didn't stop Denette from partaking in two of his most cherished hobbies, NASCAR and playing the lottery.

After winning four tickets to the May 2, 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Speedway via a radio contest, Denette's luck began to change. On the day of the race Denette found out he was holding a winning lottery ticket worth more than $70 million dollars.

Part of his winnings included a pace car ride around Richmond International Raceway by Mega Millions Lottery promoter and Virginia native, Hermie Sadler. The two kept in touch and when Denette decided he wanted to start a race team, he leaned on Sadler to point him in the right direction. With guidance by the part-time NASCAR driver and full-time SPEED analyst, Denette opened the doors of Joe Denette Motorsports in January 2011.

"I've been a NASCAR fan my entire life," said Denette, "however, I've always wished I was a part of it in some bigger way. In May 2009 when I won the lottery, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with part of my winnings; give back to the sport I've always loved."

"In August 2009, I teamed up with Hermie Sadler and we entered the truck race at Bristol with him as the driver. Since then, I've supported him for several races in 2010. Now, I am taking the next step and starting a team with the guidance of my great friend and mentor, Hermie Sadler."

Joe Denette Motorsports will field Chevrolet's from their Huntersville, NC based shop and will have a technical alliance with Kevin Harvick Inc. JDM will field the NCWTS entries and KHI will provide chassis and technical support.

The rookie team partnered with seasoned driver Jason White and GunBroker.com Racing for 2011. This season will mark White's fourth full-time stint in one of NASCAR's premier divisions, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. White will again drive the No. 23 carrying the familiar GunBroker.com paint scheme but will make the transition to Chevrolet's powered by PME engines.

Ironically, Denette purchased 23 lottery tickets when he played the Mega Millions lottery in 2009 and among those was the winning ticket.

"When the opportunity presented itself to work with Jason White and GunBroker.com I couldn't turn it down, "continued Denette. "Jason is such a talented kid and has grown so much over the past few years as a driver. Joe Denette Motorsports will provide the platform he needs to excel in 2011."

White, a Richmond, VA native, has over 100 starts in the series, leading 127 laps, notching five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes, along with one pole award that came in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in 2010. White capped off the 2010 season with a series best 10th place finish in the championship points battle and plans to contend for his first series title in 2011.

"I feel like I'm finally somewhere that I can grow, be competitive and race for wins," White said. "We were so close to victory lane last year on numerous occasions and we just fell short. With this team and my sponsor, GunBroker.com, behind me this year, I feel like we will be very competitive and not only win races, but contend for a championship."

Calling the shots for White and the No. 23 GunBroker.com team will be Chad Kendrick. Kendrick comes to Joe Denette Motorsports from Germain Racing and has more than three years of experience as a crew chief working with drivers such as Timothy Peters, Stacey Compton, Max Papis and Narain Karthikeyan.

-source: jdm