ORLANDO, Fla. – At the beginning of the summer, SPHL President Jim Combs announced that the seven-year old league was working on a business relationship with NASCAR, the biggest sporting organization within the league‘s footprint. Monday afternoon, the beginnings of what everyone hopes will be a fruitful association were made public.
The SPHL announced that it will be partnering with the Ryan Newman Foundation during the upcoming season to promote the foundation’s work on behalf of animal welfare. 
The year-long partnership will feature special game-night promotions in each of the league’s eight cities along with a league-wide contest that will send winners to a NASCAR Sprint Cup race during the 2011 season.
“A lot of our teams already support local charities that relate to animals, animal rescue, pet adoption. Ryan, being a hockey fan, and through our discussions and the people I know there in Charlotte, wanted to get on board and see if he could help and be a part of that. Of course, in return, we would help them,” Combs said in a phone interview. “We’re going to be able to get our fans involved with NASCAR and this will bring more exposure to both sides – the Ryan Newman Foundation and the SPHL.”
Newman, who drives the number 39 car for Stewart-Haas Racing, started the foundation with his wife Krissie in 2005. It’s mission is to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from rescue shelters, to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation of the great outdoors for future generations to enjoy and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to student interested in auto racing careers.
It also turns out that both he and his wife are hockey fans so partnering up with the SPHL was a natural choice.
“Not everyone knows this but Krissie and I are huge hockey fans so when the idea of a possible partnership with the SPHL was presented, we knew we had to make it work,” Newman said in the league-issued release. “The league can have up to 8,000 fans at a game depending on the arena. I don’t know how many games we can attend but I am sure [that] you’ll see us in the stands at a few this season.”
Although most of the details are still to be worked out, Combs said the league is very excited to be able to offer winning fans a trip to Charlotte for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“It’s going to be very exciting having Ryan on board and being able to provide an opportunity for a meet-and-greet through our teams. Each individual team will be able to have people that they send to the All-Star race and have a meet-and-greet with Ryan,” Combs said. “We don’t know if we’re going to do it at the track or if his foundation gets its site for its pet adoption, which Ryan is trying to do, we may do it there. We all share a passion for hockey, pet rescue and NASCAR. I think it fits in with our fans and I think it fits well for everybody.”
Newman said that he is very excited for the partnership to get started.
“The SPHL partnership should be exciting for the foundation. We are still brainstorming on promotional ideas and how we can make it exciting for the fans but we have a few things in the works that I think they will enjoy,” he said. “We are looking forward to working with Jim Combs and the SPHL this season.”
Combs added that as soon as details are worked out for each team’s events, they will be announced. He added that local animal welfare interests will benefit from the events, making it an all-around win for everyone.
“It’s going to be good for Ryan’s foundation. It’s going to be good for the league and for NASCAR it’s going to be great,” he said.
For more information on the Ryan Newman Foundation, please visit the group’s website at www.ryannewmanfoundation.org .
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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