SW Award

Mathiasen Motorsports Repeats as Sherwin-Williams 'It's All in the Finish' Award Winners in 2007

Our team was delighted to once again earn the Sherwin Williams "It's All In the Finish" award for the 2007 season. This prestigious award recognizes the most creative use of color and design on a race car's livery as determined by a judging panel at selected races throughout the season. The award provided a $14,000 bonus and mirrors a similar program instituted by Sherwin-Williams for the cars competing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007. Our team also received an original painting of the RLM Investments #26 car by highly respected motorsports artist Randy Owens.

"We will treasure the painting forever," said team owner Ray Mathiasen. "Randy is one of my favorite motorsports artists and he did a fabulous job with this piece. My thanks again to everyone from Sherwin-Willimans for the special recognition they have given my car for the second year in a row."

Sherwin-Williams - the Official Automotive Finish for both Atlantics and the Champ Car World Series - provides service and finishes to all Atlantic and Champ Car teams.

The Champ Car Atlantic Championship continues to be the premier open-wheel development series in North America. Preparing for its 35th season in 2008, the championship is noted for its long history of graduating its stars into Champ Car competition and has helped produce past Champ Car champions Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve. 2006 Champ Car competitors Alex Tagliani, Andrew Ranger, Katherine Legge, Tonis Kasemets, David Martinez and 2005 Atlantic champion Charles Zwolsman are established Atlantic raduates along with 2004 Champ Car Rookie of the Year and 2003 Atlantic champ A.J. Allmendinger and 2000 series champion Buddy Rice. Atlantic graduates have also won the Indianapolis 500 for the last three consecutive years. Competing in Swift 016.a chassis powered by a 2.3-liter Mazda-Cosworth engine while riding on Cooper Tires, competitors fight for the 12-race championship and the unique $2 million Champ Car series champion's bonus. For more information on the series and to view last season's races on demand, please visit www.champcaratlantic.com.