New and significant player on the automotive and industrial parts scene, NAPA Auto Parts, is now the name behind New Zealand’s leading drag racing facility, the Meremere Dragway south of Auckland.
NAPA Auto Parts was launched in 2020 from the amalgamation of long-established local Trade suppliers Ashdown-Ingram, Appco, Autostop, Bindons, Extreme and Sulco. There are 9 NAPA Auto Parts stores now open and a strong expansion plan this year. Growing from such a rich heritage the business looked to their overseas links to provide a brand name representative of the newly combined expertise and scope – hence the NAPA Auto Parts mark.
In New Zealand NAPA Auto Parts’ component businesses have been strong supporters of grassroots racing, combined with the new brand’s long history of supporting major partnerships overseas, most notably in NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar. It was therefore a natural step to secure the naming rights sponsorship of the popular NAPA Central Muscle Cars race series, and now to announce the naming rights partnership with Meremere, a deal which will see the track renamed the ‘NAPA Auto Parts Dragway’.
Both parties will benefit from the strong links between an association with drag racing here in New Zealand and NAPA Auto Parts’ long-standing partnership with the Don Schumacher Racing team and the NAPA Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driven by the legendary Ron Capps.
Speaking at the official announcement of the naming rights deal, Tony Walker, General Manager NAPA Auto Parts said, “NAPA has a proud motorsport heritage, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership to the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway. We are a business that is firmly embedded in connections to local trade and motorsport whilst also benefitting from significant global links. We can leverage that to bring the best of international support and products to the New Zealand market. The Dragway partnership is symbolic of this global and local activity, and we look forward to sharing news and exclusive benefits with our customers in the 2021 season and beyond.”
Major events still to come in this season’s NAPA Auto Parts Dragway calendar include;
• March 13th National Drag Racing Championship Finals.
• April 3rd Nostalgia Drags.
• April 11th Meremere Track Series Finals.
A full calendar of upcoming events is available on the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway website at
www.meremeredragway.co.nz
