WALLER, Texas—7-Eleven, Inc. was there for Tony Kanaan’s first Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway and they will be there again with Kanaan this Saturday night for the start of the #TKLastLap campaign.
Kanaan’s No. 14 Chevrolet will be decked out in the green, white, red and orange livery as AJ Foyt Racing signed 7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience chain, to be the primary marketing partner for the Genesys 300 at the high-banked oval located near the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
The Genesys 300 will be broadcast on the NBC network Saturday at 8 p.m. ET for the first time in the event’s history dating back to 1997. It will kick off Kanaan’s “#TKLastLap” tour which consists of five oval races for the 22-year veteran, who is winding down his full-time career as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver.
"Being reunited with 7-Eleven for the Texas race means a lot to me,” said Kanaan. “7-Eleven was my primary sponsor for eight straight seasons and the recognizable green 7-Eleven car became my trademark.
Tony Kanaan signals he is the 2004 INDYCAR Series champion.
"Most of my success came while defending their colors and I couldn't be happier to
have them back with a full paint scheme for my #TKLastLap campaign, especially at Texas Motor Speedway. They've been there for most of my career and it's very fitting to have 7-Eleven join us at AJ Foyt Racing doing a throwback for this race. I'm looking forward to getting this show going on June 6th and representing 7-Eleven in front of all the fans that will be cheering on INDYCAR's season starter on primetime on NBC. They've been more than sponsors of mine, they became part of my family and I'm very proud to be defending their colors once again.”
Kanaan has an impressive record at TMS: he posted nine podium finishes in 20 starts, including a victory in 2004, the same year he won the INDYCAR Series championship. Of those nine podiums, five were runner-up finishes. Driving the 7-Eleven car for Andretti from 2003 through 2010, Kanaan racked up 14 of his 17 INDYCAR victories.
“I'm thrilled this came together, as there is so much history between 7-Eleven and Tony,” said Larry Foyt, president of AJ Foyt Racing. “This is the perfect sponsor to kick off Tony's Last Lap campaign. We are looking forward to representing them well and putting on a great race at the always exciting Texas Motor Speedway.”
Based in nearby Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven, Inc. franchises or licenses more than 70,000 stores in 17 countries, including almost 10,000 retail outlets in the U.S.