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Florida gubernatorial candidate on the #98 at Daytona UPDATES:

Given how frugal [Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Charlie Crist has tended to be with his campaign money, this surprised us, even knowing that adviser Steve Schale is a racing buff: His campaign is sponsoring [#98 Phil Parsons Racing] Ford in the Coke Zero 400. These sponsorships can cost as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars. “The campaign spent no money on this and the cost of wrapping the car was an in kind donation from a supporter who is a big NASCAR fan,” said campaign spokesman Brendan Gilfillian. The car is owned by Mike Curb, Republican former California lieutenant governor and record company executive who surely knows Crist’s long time political pal, Mitch Bainwol, the former head of the Recording Industry Association of America. The driver is John Wise.(Miami Herald)(7-1-2014)

UPDATE:

A political ad that created a bit of a firestorm has been removed from the Phil Parsons Racing car that will compete Saturday in the Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Phil Parsons said Friday morning he did not remove the “Charlie Crist for Florida” stickers from his car because of the Republican Party of Florida complaint but out of respect to team business partner Mike Curb, a Republican and former lieutenant governor of California. Curb is the listed owner of the car on NASCAR entry lists and his Curb Records logos are on the team equipment. “I did it out of respect to Mike Curb, who is a staunch Republican and he didn’t feel comfortable and he’s been a huge supporter and a partner to us from the very start,” Parsons said in the garage as the car was going through technical inspection. Parsons said he had been paid by a supporter of Crist’s to put the Crist stickers on the #98 car driven by Josh Wise, who gained national notoriety when he won the fan vote into the Sprint All-Star Race in May thanks to the support of the Dogecoin community on Reddit. The underfunded team will return the money.(Sporting News)7-4-2014)

UPDATE 2:

NASCAR lists Mike Curb as the car’s owner, but Curb said he has an agreement with Phil Parsons, a former NASCAR driver and now a team owner. In the agreement, Parsons owns and operates the car, and Curb is listed as the entrant with NASCAR. Curb said he doesn’t control sponsorships and only learned Wednesday night Crist’s name would be on the car. As a co-sponsor of the #98 car, Curb has an ad on the car for his recording artist Lee Brice, a country music performer who is providing the pre-race entertainment Saturday. “I don’t want to get Lee Brice involved in Florida politics,” Curb said. James Finch, a Panama City businessman who owns a construction company, said he brokered the deal with his friend Parsons, who could not be reached for comment Thursday night. Frustrated by Scott’s seemingly endless supply of campaign cash and negative television ads directed at Crist, he said he arranged to pay about $25,000 to Parsons for the sponsorship. “Charlie is a friend of mine,” said Finch, who owned a racing team until late 2013. “Phil is a friend of mine. I was helping out both of them. Charlie Crist hasn’t paid anything for the car. It was all my idea.”(Daytona Beach News-Journal)(7-4-2014)