For the first time since 2004, Alka-Seltzer will sponsor a racecar in NASCAR this weekend at Pocono. The product that helps relieve heartburn and acid indigestion will sponsor Bayley Currey in the Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
“It‘s really cool,” Currey told Jayksi.com of having Alka-Seltzer on his No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet. “It‘s one of the first corporate sponsors I‘ve ever had. It‘s neat to have the recognition of bringing Alka-Seltzer back into NASCAR after being out for 19 years. It‘s really special and I‘m proud they‘re doing so with me.”
In addition to sponsoring Currey at Pocono, Alka-Seltzer will be on board the No. 4 car at Daytona, Bristol, Talladega and wrap up its five-race sponsorship at Las Vegas.
Alka-Seltzer has sponsored a car in the Cup Series in 79 races, with the majority of those coming with Jimmy Means Racing. It‘s also sponsored an Xfinity Series car 142 times, with the most recent coming in the 2004 season finale at Homestead-Miami with Matt Kenseth. In two of its last three races as a sponsor, the pairing had runner-up finishes. In 2000 and 2004, Tony Raines also put together a pair of runner-up results in Alka-Seltzer colors, while Terry Labonte is among the most recognizable drivers with the brand in 1997.
To represent a brand like Alka-Seltzer does put a little additional pressure on Currey in this five-race partnership.
“Good pressure,” he said. “It‘s cool to be sharing a sponsor with the Labontes, both of us coming from Texas.”
Alka-Seltzer will have approximately 12 guests at this weekend‘s Xfinity race at Pocono.
Currey is coming off a season-best finish of 10th at New Hampshire. In a game of attrition, he stayed out of trouble and earned JD Motorsports‘ first top-10 finish since the fall race at Texas in 2020.
“We‘ve shown a lot of speed, a lot of pace, pretty much everywhere,” Currey added. “We haven‘t had luck fall our way every time and that‘s hurt us. I think if we don‘t have half of the bad luck that we had that we‘re up closer to 18th in points and maybe even trying to bust into a playoff spot.
“Last week we had a lot of things falling our way. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum forward because we‘ve had speed, we‘ve had fast racecars and been in position to run in the top 10 at other places as well. The dominoes haven‘t fallen and hopefully it can start happening later in the year.”
Currey‘s primary goal for the remainder of the 2022 season is to crack the top 20 in points, which would include a bonus payday for JD Motorsports. With his 10th-place run at New Hampshire, he lost one position in points to Trevor Bayne — a part timer — but gained 15 points on 20th, shrinking the gap to 49 markers behind Alex Labbe.
