Ansell, Menards to Sponsor Frank Kimmel in ARCA RE/MAX Series

TOLEDO, Ohio (Jan. 29, 2009)--Officials from Ansell Protective Products Inc. and Menards Home Improvement Stores announced today that they will become co-primary sponsors of nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion Frank Kimmel in 2009.

"We are pleased to announce a comprehensive, multi-faceted marketing program in conjunction with Menards Home Improvement Stores and ARCA," said Sean Sweeney, Sr. Market Development Manager for Ansell. "Together, Ansell Gloves and Menards have partnered to sponsor nine-time ARCA Champion Frank Kimmel for the 2009 season."

The marketing program is anchored by a business-to-business relationship between Ansell, the world's largest manufacturer of protective gloves and clothing, and Menards, a Midwestern-based chain of home improvement stores. As a result of the sponsorship, the Ansell line of hand protection products will be available for purchase in each of the nation's 245 Menards Home Improvement Stores.

"This sponsorship program is really neat," said Kimmel. "It has been designed to promote the availability of Ansell's safety glove line to the contractor and installer markets at Menards retail locations. The support of Ansell and Menards helps me to continue to pursue my goals of attempting to earn a tenth ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship and hopefully surpass Iggy Katona on the all-time ARCA win list."

Kimmel is the ARCA RE/MAX Series' all-time active leader, with records in the categories of championships won, most laps led, superspeedway pole awards, superspeedway challenge championships, top-five finishes, top-ten finishes and career earnings. With 74 career wins, he is just five wins shy of tying Katona's all-time win record in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

"Menards is very excited to sponsor Frank Kimmel's run for a tenth ARCA Championship in 2009," said Jeff Abbott, company spokesperson for Menard, Inc. "We feel his strong work ethic is a good fit with our family-owned, customer service oriented,  home town hardware stores."

Retail offerings at Menards range from lawn and garden supplies to lumber, tools and supplies for landscaping, building and remodeling. The home improvement stores cater to the do-it-yourself consumer and the professional contractor, jobber and installer. Menards is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and currently has 245 locations in 12 states.

"As business needs evolve, so do our marketing efforts," said Steve York, Director of Channel Development for Ansell. "The opportunity to partner with ARCA and Menards as well as expand our value proposition into the retail market further promotes our worksite safety initiatives. We are excited to partner with Menards, Frank Kimmel and ARCA."

Ansell is the world's largest manufacturer of protective gloves and clothing, providing leadership in the areas of development, design, manufacturing and marketing. Ansell has led the personal protective equipment industry with "Ideas that FitTM" for more than 100 years. The global manufacturer has provided comprehensive safety solutions and product innovations to help manufacturers across a wide range of industries reduce worker injuries and boost productivity.

Beginning with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on Saturday, February 7 at Daytona International Speedway, Kimmel's family owned team will sport the familiar "Day-Glo" yellow color scheme carried by other Menards sponsored teams.

For more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series, visit http://www.arcaracing.com/. For more information about Ansell, visit http://www.ansellpro.com/, and for more information about Menards, visit www.menards.com.  

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