After winning today's Nationwide Series race in Joliet, Illinois, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrated both the victory and the points lead. But it was sponsor Blue Bird Company, a manufacturer of school buses, that appeared to the be real winner.
"I've never seen anything like it", said Blue Bird spokesman Glen Mills. "We've been getting calls from all corners of the country, all of them wanting to own a Blue Bird school-bus. I guess its 'Win on Saturday, Sell a Few Minutes Later!'"
Blue Bird reportedly entered Nascar sponsorship to entertain existing customers such as large school districts and transportation companies. However, it seems that "Nascar Nation" has emerged en force to become Blue Bird's latest clients.
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| The Blue Bird Paint-Scheme |
"How can you NOT want one of those school buses?" said prospective bus-owner Sharon Hill, a data-entry supervisor from St. Augustine, Florida. "I've been on hold for the past hour, so its given me time to think--should I go for the classic 'Vision' model, or the more modern 'All American' style? I can't wait to take my brand-new bus to work--they'd better pick up the phone soon!"
Mills, who confirmed that temporary employees would be brought in by Monday morning to handle the added call volume, has said that buses will still be able to be customized to reach the customer's needs, including those cool swinging STOP signs.
"We offer a number of standard features on each bus--a pop-up ventilation duct/emergency exit, those weird windows that you have to press to open, and our classic forest-green vinyl seats", said Mills. "We can also guarantee that each bus will have one of those gigantic rear-view windows, so that the driver can see a kid getting beat up in the back and do nothing about it."
To respond to the spike in sales, Thomas Built Buses (Blue Bird's biggest competitor) has said that they have entered negotiations to sponsor at least one Sprint Cup Series car next weekend.
"We can't believe we've missed such a great opportunity", Thomas Built marketing executive Chester Holmes said by phone, "but we believe that we can beat our competitors at their own game. After all, the school bus industry is based around starting and stopping, so we look forward to sponsoring Joe Nemechek next Sunday."