Team Stange Racing announced plans Tuesday to debut and run eight NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
The organization, based out of Chicago, Illinois, stated it will enter the No. 79 Ford with Brazilian driver Tarso Marques for their first event at Road America in July, heading a slate that includes four road courses and four ovals.
The program, headed by team president and CEO John Stange Jr., has partnered with Dignity Gold, LLC, a blockchain development company and its DIGau token. Dignity Gold is a United States-based digital security company “taking a revolutionary approach to using verified gold reserves to back its security token,” the team stated in a release. The sponsorship was paid in Dignity Gold’s DIGau tokens, traded on CryptoSX and BitGlobal, according to the release.
“We’re thrilled for investors and the racing community to come together with this partnership from Dignity Gold, bringing value to the racetrack and race fans who possess a passion for digital securities and competitive racing,” Stange said in the release. “With an experienced driver like Tarso behind the wheel, we’re very optimistic about competing in the NASCAR Cup Series this year, with additional races and series to be announced. I look forward to teaming up with Dignity and my friend Tarso on the racing programs, as we continue to build a dream team, leading exciting projects outside of racing.”
Marques, 46, has competed in 24 Formula One events and 27 Champ Car races, most recently in 2005. Since his open-wheel days, Marques has driven in the FIA GT, BOSS GP, Endurance Brasil, TC2000 and Stock Car Brazil championships.
The team intends to compete at Road America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Watkins Glen, Daytona, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Las Vegas, Homestead and Phoenix.
Team Stange Racing will also enter a truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Sonoma Raceway on June 12.
In an alliance with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, TSR entered the 2019 Indianapolis 500 with Oriol Servia and finished 22nd. The team has also fielded entries in at least six ARCA Racing Series events, most recently in 2016 when Frank Kimmel earned a fifth-place finish at Daytona.
