AUBURN HILLS, Mich., -- Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today that Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine will be in attendance at this weekend's inaugural Jetta TDI Cup race at the VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) on April 27th. This race follows the recent announcement from VIR that Volkswagen has been named the Official Vehicle of the raceway.
"We're extremely honored to have Governor Kaine joining us this weekend to kick off this exciting and technologically advanced race series," said Stefan Jacoby, president/CEO, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "As the interest in clean diesel vehicles continues to grow, we're excited about what the Jetta TDI Cup series will do to help increase awareness about this new field of racing and the technologies showcased and their positive effects on our environment."
"Volkswagen's unique racing platform offers an innovative new dimension to Virginia's racing tradition and we're excited to host the first Jetta TDI Cup race at VIR," said Governor Kaine.
Also present at the racing weekend will be featured guest instructor, Wally Dallenbach Jr., one of America's premier road racers. Having driven for some of the biggest names in racing, including Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick and Richard Petty, Dallenbach has an extensive 20-year racing history with more than 300 starts and 27-plus wins in some of the most competitive racing series in the world.
The upcoming race weekend will mark the first race in the all-new Jetta TDI Cup Series featuring 30 talented up-and-coming drivers ages 16 to 26, using factory-prepared and managed 2009 clean-diesel Jetta TDIs.
The Jetta TDI Cup qualifying race will be held on Saturday, April 26, at 1:00 p.m., with the race following on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Also on hand to help kick off the first race will be "Max", the 1964 black Volkswagen Beetle spokesperson in the company's latest advertising campaign DAS AUTO ... "It's What the People Want". Max will lead a parade lap ahead of the pace car before the start of the Jetta TDI Cup series race. Tickets are still available for all events and can be purchased at virclub.com.
The Jetta TDI Cup series is sanctioned by the SCCA Pro Racing, Inc.
Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. recently announced Electronic Stability Program (ESP) as standard equipment on all its 2009 vehicles. As a result, Volkswagen is one of the only original equipment manufacturers to offer an electronic stability control system on their entire product line -- ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) deadline requiring vehicles in the 2012 model year to include stability control systems. Volkswagen's ESP technology works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes and helps reduce loss of control and rollovers to avoid crashes. NHTSA predicts nearly 10,000 lives could be saved each year if automakers included stability systems as standard equipment.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers.
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