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By Apryl Duncan, About.com Guide to Advertising since 2000

NASCAR Gets New Sponsor: Scientology

Friday June 9, 2006
Next time you head out to the track, you might see a book cover. On a car.

Dianetics, the book written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is slated to become a new sponsor in the NASCAR circuit. The move is to promote both Scientology and the "Ignite Your Potential" Dianetics Racing Team. More on the Newest NASCAR Sponsor:

Kenton Gray will drive for the Dianetics team. He credits the book with helping him become a better race car driver.

The team won't be racing in the Nextel Cup just yet. Reports show they'll first start out in a smaller circuit.

Scientology is the religion Tom Cruise follows. Cruise also starred in the 1990 racing movie, Days of Thunder.

Comments

June 10, 2006 at 12:04 pm
(1) Paul says:

Cool! That book helped me have a clearer and sharper mind also. Interesting that it helped this guy race better but it makes a lot of sense to me.
Paul

June 13, 2006 at 11:39 am
(2) Michael says:

Good news! I hope that this new car does well!

March 13, 2008 at 12:14 pm
(3) Ben says:

NASCAR shows their stupidity by letting a cult infiltrate their sport.

A SAD DAY FOR RACING FANS

March 13, 2008 at 12:56 pm
(4) Lisa says:

I am reading Dianetics now and find it fascinating. Good Luck!

March 13, 2008 at 1:19 pm
(5) Anonymous says:

Wait, I’m confused. Help me out a little here. So you’re telling me that a group that has tax exempt status as a religion here in the United States is putting up donation money to sponsor NASCAR?

Clearly something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Inform yourself. Get the facts.

www.xenu.net
www.lermanet.com

March 13, 2008 at 1:27 pm
(6) J Dark says:

An Evil Brainwashing Cult who Disconnects Families and Harrasses Critics is the PERFECT sponcer for NASCAR! Kudos! (Just, um, let them win if you know what’s good for you).

March 13, 2008 at 1:30 pm
(7) Terryeo says:

My superiors here at Scientology have ordered me to tell you what great news this is!

Join up with the Church of Scientology or risk being labeled a Supressive Person and Fair Gamed and Destroyed. You are either with us, or against us.

We ARE the authorities on racing…Tom Cruise was Cole Porter.

March 13, 2008 at 1:38 pm
(8) Anonymous says:

Dianetics? NASCAR? Lemme guess its all prearranged. the car will wreck on the 13th lap and old Tommy Boy Cruise will run out on the track and save the driver using his super adventure club $cientology powers, without asking permission.

It’s either that or they want to distract people from $cientology’s real activities which are breaking up families, denying their members proper medical care and using the RPF to punish and re-educate Sea Org members.

March 13, 2008 at 1:46 pm
(9) Jane says:

Scientology is a vicious cult and a wealthy multi-national corporation. Join the worldwide protests against this cult.

March 13, 2008 at 1:52 pm
(10) AnonMomAnon says:

hahahah! NASCAR is going to let $cientology sponsor a car?
would ya’ll let a redneck suggest that ya’ll google and/or go to a couple of these websites and see what $cientology is all about?
www.whyaretheydead.net
www.exscientologykids.com
the aforementioned www.xenu.net and www.lermanet.com
and google these things:
operation snow white
operation freakout

i would especially like to mention to all the good Christians who also follow NASCAR that it is a documented fact that $cientology FORCES many of their female members to have abortions! it’s why one of their former members–astra woodcraft–left the cult. she is one of the three lovely young ladies who has started the website: www.exscientologykids.com along with the current leader of $cientology david miscavige’s neice: jenna miscavige hill and another former $cientology kid-kendra wiseman.

is this a cult that NASCAR fans want to see involved with their sport?

i would hope not! keep NASCAR away from cults!

March 13, 2008 at 2:53 pm
(11) Hectapus says:

Funny that a religion advertises amongst many other for-profit corporations. If they are a not-for-profit religion (or even organization), where are they getting the funds to pay to advertise on these cars?

March 13, 2008 at 3:07 pm
(12) Ted says:

L RON HUBBARD worshiped Satan.

Dumb move, NASCAR. I hope you get protests.

March 13, 2008 at 5:19 pm
(13) NarCon says:

Contact Nascar (here see below) tell them about how L. Ron called the worlds religions and the image of the Cross part of “various Misleading data” implanted into the murdered alien spirits, the volcano imagery is related to the nuked volcano’s. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu for more.

Email: fanfeedback@nascar.com

Snail Mail:
NASCAR
P.O. Box 2875
Daytona Beach, FL 32120

Telephone: (386) 253-0611

March 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm
(14) NarCon says:

I’m not even sure scientology still sponsers this car, no story on it past 2006.

March 14, 2008 at 11:53 am
(15) Eddie says:

Funny, you can clearly see pictures of Kenton Gray, who is also a Scientologist, driving the Dianetics car on his race team’s website. Looking through his site’s news blog that dates back to 2006, there’s no mention of Scientology or Dianetics.

The news that Dianetics was going to be a sponsor in Nascar was national when it came out. Gray’s still got his MySpace page up too and it talks all about Scientology but he doesn’t mention anything about his racecar being sponsored anymore or what happened with it. Looking through his site through archive.org, Dianetics comes up right at the top with a banner ad as a sponsor saying it’s the Dianetics Racing Team and not Freedom Motorsports even though the URL is the same.

Wonder if there was some sort of backlash, if they just dropped their sponsorship or if they’re quietly sponsoring Gray’s racing group and not just his car to spread the word since Gray’s a Scientologist?

Interesting.

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