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Local Flavor Sticks with ARCA Fest

Midwest Based Colony Brand Companies Continue Support for Third Straight Year

By Jana Wimmer
June 5th, 2014 – Since its inception three years ago, ARCA Fest continues to grow. What started as an idea by Midwest Tour Owners to bring racing back to the Milwaukee Mile has developed into a three-day weekend event that highlights the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment schedule each year.

While everything that ARCA Fest is and will be continues to change, one thing remains constant; the name that adorns the feature event of the entire weekend, the Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150 presented by RaceTeamGear.com.

Three years ago Swiss Colony and RaceTeamGear.com, both housed under parent company Colony Brands, partnered with The Midwest Tour on what was sure to be the racing event of the summer. Already having roots within the racing community, sponsoring other races and drivers alike, Swiss Colony saw an opportunity to take their involvement to the next level.

“Swiss Colony and RaceTeamGear.com are local Midwest based companies with a connection to local short track racing for the past twenty years,” says VP of Logistics, Supply Chain Management & Human Resources at Colony Brands, Inc., Joe Hunter, “We sponsored many drivers who competed against teams that were associated with Howie Lettow during that time frame. The Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150 presented by RaceTeamGear made a great deal of sense to us to be associated with the biggest event in the Midwest and one of the larger races in the country.”

Swiss Colony and RaceTeamGear.com’s involvement in racing extends beyond the walls of the Milwaukee Mile. Both brands are household names in the racing community and their involvement has grown from partnering with one driver to a maximum of 12 drivers a few years ago.

“Swiss Colony is very supportive of racing in general and they support some great racers also,” says ARCA Midwest Tour Vice President Steve Einhaus, “They believe in the sport and they believe in the awareness that racing brings to their company. I’m not sure there is anyone in the Midwest racing world that hasn’t heard of Swiss Colony or RaceTeamGear.com. They have imprinted their name into hundreds of thousands of fans across the country solely because of their involvement in racing.”

Over the past two years nearly 20,000 fans have attended the Swiss Colony Howie Lettow 150 presented by RaceTeamGear.com, heightening brand recognition and increasing sales. And while those aspects are important to every company, the opportunity for the Midwest based Colony Brands companies to continue their community involvement is just as important.

“Swiss Colony and RaceTeamGear.com both are companies that believe in community and employee involvement. Two of our seven core values are being Community Focused and supporting Employee Excellence,“ says Hunter, “We have a huge following of our racing program with our employees and anytime we can give back to the community we try to make our mark whenever possible.”

“The aura that comes with racing at the Milwaukee Mile is like no other in the world,” says Steve Einhaus, ARCAMT VP, “The WI based companies that have shown support of events at the Mile continues on and on and we are honored that we can keep that tradition alive with Swiss Colony. It sits well with local and regional race fans and you can bet they will be loyal to the brand.”

The field for the Swiss Colony Howie Lettow 150 presented by RaceTeamGear.com has been littered with names like Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch over the years. This, of course, helps the event and its supporters gain more exposure locally and nationally, but come Sunday there’s no doubt the atmosphere the storied Milwaukee Mile will leave fans wondering if they are watching more history in the making.

“Having our name tied to this event has been great. It has brought current and former NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck drivers which has added to the overall fan appeal,” says Hunter, “Who knows the next Kyle Bush may be part of the starting line on this Sunday’s race at the Milwaukee Mile.”

WHAT: ARCA Fest featuring The Swiss Colony Howie Lettow 150 presented by RaceTeamGear.com. The weekend will also include the CRA JEGS All-Stars 100, Mid-American Stock Cars, Midwest Trucks, and Vintage Stock Cars, as well as a Hot Rod Show & Shine and Monster Truck Summer Nationals.

WHERE: The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, WI

WHEN: Friday-Sunday, June 6th-8th

TIMES: Friday: All-division practice from 10:00am-6:00pm. Saturday: qualifying begins at 2:30 with racing to follow at 4:00pm. Sunday: qualifying begins at 9:00am with racing slated to begin at 2:00pm

Hot Rod Show & Shine will be from 8am-8pm on Saturday. The Monster Truck Summer Nationals will begin at 6:00pm on Saturday.

ADVANCE TICKETS – Friday is ARCA Fest Fan Appreciation Day with FREE General Admission. Saturday General Admission prices are $21 for ages 13+ and $11 for ages 3-12. Children 2 and under are FREE. Sunday General Admission for ages 13+ is $26 and $11 for ages 3-12. Reserved Seats are $32-$36. General admission Pit Passes are $50 per day.

Reserved Ticket Bundles are also available for $153-$157. General Admission Pit Pass Bundles are also available for $139 and General Admission Seating Bundles are $52 for ages 13+ and $34 for ages 3-12.

Infield camping spots are also on sale now! Email arcafest14@gmail.com or call 262-607-6266.

For reserved seating ticket information, visit www.arcafest.com or call 262-607-6266.

Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).

To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. For questions call the ARCA Midwest Tour office at (262) 729-4111 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or Steve Einhaus (630) 212-6022 at or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@arcamidwesttour.comor Steve Einhaus at steve@arcamidwesttour.com.

The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.