Remember When this Texas City Was Sponsored During a NASCAR Race

Even though people may not realize it, the state of Texas has been with NASCAR for decades. The state has seen its share of champions & iconic drivers win throughout its history. One of the most unique pieces of Texas/NASCAR history was when an entire city became a sponsor during one of the biggest races in the sport.

The City of El Paso was represented during the 2004 Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis

2 decades ago, the Sun City, El Paso, actually had its OWN sponsored race car in NASCAR. To give some backstory, Geoff Bodine was looking for a sponsor to drive during the Brickyard 400. In August 1, 2004, it was revealed that he would actually drive a car sponsored by the El Paso businessman, Gregg Jackson.

His idea was change the perspective that El Paso was just "Mexican food and maquiladoras". Geoff would drive a #34 Dodge car that was blue & green that had various decals that represented El Paso all over the car.

Not many cities would sponsor a race car in NASCAR but indeed El Paso did and there DOES exist photos of this car during the qualifying session for the race. In fact the car even got tv time; you can spot the car as it took the track starting at the 1:50:45 mark as you watch the full qualifying session.

Get our free mobile app

Unfortunately the video quality is not the best, & the car would fail to make the field for the Brickyard 400. HOWEVER, there IS a better quality photo of that same car that would be uploaded onto Twitter (X) 20 years after that same race as it would make its valiant effort.

Would El Paso ever be seen in NASCAR again?

The answer is YES. Not just the city, but one of the most iconic brands FROM El Paso, Old El Paso. It would be sponsored on the #43 Cheerios Dodge driven by Jeff Green throughout the 2004 season.

It would also reappear on Ricky Stenhouse Jr's #47 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen in 2024, 20 years after the city made its NASCAR debut at Indy.

Incredibly the city of El Paso WOULD indeed race during the 2006 Brickyard 400, just 2 years later. Chad Chaffin would drive the #34 Race El Paso Dodge. He would finish 39th but at least the car MADE the race this time.

This is not the first time El Paso has been involved with NASCAR; we've had drivers make the big leagues in NASCAR too & one of the fastest people to ever DRIVE a NASCAR was from El Paso too.