On This Day In History

On May 16, 1995, twenty-seven years ago, Coed Sportswear signed a deal to be the lead sponsor on its number 55 racecar.

Being from the northeast and growing up a Boston sports fan generally means that NASCAR is not in your blood. I was no exception to this rule. I knew nothing about car racing other than the fact that for some reason New Hampshire had a track in Loudon that somehow seemed to be popular but still had sparked no interest with me. But despite my outward lack of interest in the sport, we had been approached by multiple car racing enthusiasts that wanted Coed to sponsor their cars. We denied them all. In late 1994, my partner Scott and I were approached again, this time by a local businessman, Steve Griswold. Steve was the owner of the Sheraton Hotel in Portsmouth NH. He was a gregarious and incredibly personable guy and as we soon found out a great salesman.

Steve also owned a race team, which included two racecars, a driver, mechanics, and crew, for the ACT tour (American Canadian Tour). The one piece of the puzzle that Steve was missing was a car sponsor, which as he explained, was necessary to finance a large part of his venture. That’s why Steve approached us.

Steve was a great businessman and he recognized opportunities as well as anyone, which is why Coed Naked was on his radar. Coed Naked was everywhere. Coed Naked was edgy. Coed Naked was the perfect eye catching, controversial, popular brand for a racecar. Consider some of the sponsors of our competition, Jack’s Plumbing and Heating car, Quaker State Car, or Harts Auto Body Car. Obviously, a Coed Naked car would be far more appealing and would resonate better with the race fans. And Steve, being the great salesman that he was, worked hard to convince us of this.

The combination of Steve’s great salesmanship and the fact that the renditions of our logo on this car looked incredibly cool, finally got the better of us. So, in May of 1995, at a grand opening event at our new facility in Newfields, we officially unveiled our car and signed on as sponsor for the 1995 season.

As it turned out, Steve was as great a racecar owner as there was on the ACT tour. Our car was a spectacular blue, donned with a bright yellow Coed Naked logo on the hood and on both sides of the car. Our pit crew and driver also wore high-end navy uniforms with the yellow Coed Naked logo on the front. We were easily the best outfitted crew on the tour.

Our driver Brad Leighton was also spectacular, not only as a driver but as a person. His personality was infectious and his willingness to represent Coed Naked and our car at various events was second to none. In fact, Brad, the car, and the entire team were the highlight of our grand opening in May 1995

As for me, my attitude took a 180-degree turn. I was all in after our grand opening event at Coed. Attending the races was fascinating and exciting, something that I never thought I would ever say or even admit to. But I am competitive, and Brad was always a contender in virtually every race. The crowd loved our car as Steve had predicted. The attraction of Coed Naked was obvious but combine that with the quality and beauty of our car and our competitive and yet composed driver, made our team the fan favorite at every event.

The highlight of the season was the big race in Loudon that coincided with the NASCAR series that drew close to 100,000 fans. Scott and I would rent a camper with our wives for the weekend. We would sit on top of the camper drinking beers, watching the crowds, and counting how many fans were wearing Coed Naked tees. There were too many to count.

Of course, that highlight was topped just a week or two later when Brad, the team and the Coed Naked car officially won the ACT Championship. I couldn’t believe it; I was a NASCAR fan.

After winning the ACT tour in 1995 we moved the team to the Busch North Series for the 1996 season, which is essentially the minor leagues to NASCAR. The experience was even better at Busch North because the venues were so much greater. The season was highlighted by two Loudon races on the Saturdays before the big NASCAR events. Again, the crowds were upwards of 100,000 people and the atmosphere was electric. Our merchandising trailer was now surrounded by those of the many NASCAR greats including Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, and still our trailer seemed to attract the largest crowds.

I’d never thought that watching a car going around and around an oval would be that much fun, but the excitement of the crowd, the competitiveness of Brad and the fact that I was watching my car made the experience surreal.

Mark Lane

Coed Sportswear