Kyle Busch will pilot the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry the last two weeks of the 2011 season. Image ©2011 Autostock.

Interstate Batteries, a partner of Joe Gibbs Racing since the team’s inception 20 years ago, will be featured on the No. 18 Toyota Camry driven by Kyle Busch for the final two races of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. 

Busch, winner of 104 races across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck – will make his 14th career Sprint Cup start at this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500k at Phoenix International Raceway and will also compete at next weekend’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch won the 2005 Sprint Cup race at Phoenix.

Wondering how to maintain your marine battery over the winter so it’s ready to go in the spring? Interstate Batteries Distributor Rich Mummey explains in this episode of Backwoods Angler TV. Mummey explains the importance of keeping the terminals clean, how to use a trickle charger, and why should periodically check the battery’s water levels, even when the battery says it’s maintenance-free. The battery tips start at 17:15.

You use Interstate Batteries®. You shop interstatebatteries.com. You love to check the Interstate Facebook page. Why not be a part of our team?

Interstate Batteries is always looking to expand, and right now we need people who love our products. People who check our Facebook, Twitter feed or website. People like you.

In 1950, John Searcy began selling batteries from his Studebaker pick-up truck, marking the beginning for Interstate Batteries. Nearly 60 years later, Interstate Batteries has risen as the leader for battery marketing and distribution. Show us your leadership skills and apply to join Interstate’s team as a Market General Manager.

As a Market General Manager, you get the opportunity to supervise staff, manage inventory and financial obligations, work with clients and act as a resource for consumers and team members. Better than that, we make sure you are trained for the job you are doing. We are staffing our Market General Manager training class and want someone like you to be a part of it. We strive to achieve excellence in every aspect of our company and we want the same for you. We want you to build a successful future with us.

We are always looking for passionate people to join our team. We offer opportunities nationwide in everything from corporate to technical work. If you are looking to get involved with any aspect of Interstate Batteries,® check out our career opportunities online or contact us directly with your resume or questions at recruiter@ibsa.com.

Kyle Busch won in the Interstate Batteries/I Am Second Toyota Tundra at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2010. ©2010 Autostock

Editor’s Note: In honor of Interstate Batteries’ and Joe Gibbs Racing’s 20^th anniversary together in NASCAR, a series of press releases highlighting 20 big moments will be distributed throughout 2011. This is the 17^th of the 20 releases.

 It took 14 years and a bit of an odd circumstance, but on Nov. 5, 2010, Interstate Batteries finally went to victory lane in a NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth – located just down the road from Interstate’s headquarters in Dallas.

While Kyle Busch delivered the victory, it didn’t come in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry that Busch pilots for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Instead, it came in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries/IamSecond.com Toyota Tundra Busch drove for his own NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM).

Busch formed KBM in 2010 and, entering the Texas race, he had won six times in 13 starts while drivers Brian Ickler (seven races), Johnny Benson (one race) and Kasey Kahne (one race) had piloted the No. 18 Toyota Tundra in the other nine races. The success of the four drivers helped KBM enter the race first in the Truck Series owner standings with a 42-point lead over the No. 30 truck of Germain Racing.

Interstate Batteries Chairman Norm Miller and Joe Gibbs Racing Owner Joe Gibbs. © 2010 Autostock

As the Texas race approached, Busch needed a primary sponsor for the race and Norm Miller, chairman of Interstate Batteries, a big supporter of Busch and a person who never misses a great marketing opportunity, stepped up to support Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.

While Interstate Batteries has sponsored JGR’s No. 18 Sprint Cup Series car since the team first hit the track in 1992 and had also sponsored select Nationwide Series races for JGR in recent years, never before had the company logo adorned a Camping World Truck Series vehicle.

That changed when the KBM crew unloaded the No. 18 Interstate Batteries/IamSecond.com Toyota Tundra and it hit the track for the WinStar World Casino 350k. The truck featured split sponsorship between Interstate Batteries and “I am Second,” whose website, www.IamSecond.com, features video testimonials of hope, inspiration and transformation by individuals from all walks of life based on their personal faith journeys.

While the truck read “I am Second,” Busch was anything but that in the race as he led three times for a race-high 80 laps en route to victory at the 1.5-mile oval. But as dominating as Busch’s win was, he did have to overcome worn right-side tires that, with less than 70 laps remaining, sent a discomforting vibration through his No. 18 Toyota. Busch smartly backed off his lightning-quick pace and made sure to conserve his tires long enough to make it to his pit window. The strategy worked as Busch pitted on lap 94 for four new tires and fuel.

Once the rest of the field cycled through pit stops, Busch was third with 40 laps to go. He slowly whittled down the deficit between himself and the leaders but, despite moving up to second, he was still nearly three seconds behind first-place Bodine. A timely caution on lap 122 allowed Busch to close the gap and, even better, come to pit road for a chassis adjustment that improved the handling of his Toyota Tundra.

Kyle Busch's truck carried both Interstate Batteries and I Am Second as its sponsors in Texas. ©2010 Autostock

When the race restarted on lap 127, Busch stayed tight to the inside of Bodine. He passed Bodine for the lead off turn two and then set sail, picking up his 23^rd career Truck Series win in just his 83^rd start.

“That was just an awesome night,” said Busch, who would go on to win the 2010 Camping World Truck Series owner championship. “To give Interstate Batteries their first win at Texas was huge. Norm and everyone at Interstate have been such supporters of me and they’ve become great friends to Samantha (wife) and myself. I know how bad Norm and all the people at Interstate wanted a victory at Texas, and to be able to deliver it is a highlight of my career, for sure. I am Second is something that Norm started, and he had a lot of the I am Second people in victory lane, too. It was just an awesome night.”

The only person happier than Busch might have been Miller, who was joined in victory lane by Joe Gibbs, owner of JGR.

“It felt great,” Miller said. “To go there and sponsor just that one Truck race and get a shot at home and win, it was magnificent. And especially being teamed up with I am Second, which comes out of Dallas, and the board of directors were there that night – it was wonderful. It’s just one of those God things.”

With that Truck Series victory in-hand, Busch still has his sights set on getting Miller a victory in the Sprint Cup Series at Texas.

“Every spring at Texas, we have Interstate Batteries on our Camry, and we’re going to get Norm and everyone at Interstate a victory there at some point,” Busch said. “It’s a great company with great people and I can’t imagine what it would be like to get them a Sprint Cup Series win at Texas.

Joey Logano, aka "Sliced Bread."

We’re celebrating Interstate Batteries’ 20-year relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing by appearing on Joey Logano’s No. 20 car this Sunday in Martinsville. Fellow driver Randy LaJoie nicknamed Logano “Sliced Bread,” as in “the greatest thing since.” As we write this, Cup practice has been delayed at Martinsville because of rain. So we wondered, what are some things you can do with sliced bread? Below are 20 things we came up with on the fly. Add your own in the comments!

1. Make toast (Follow the directions!)

2. Make a grilled cheese sandwich.

3. Make French toast.

4. Use as a replacement bun for a hot dog.

5. Make fluffernutters.

6. Bring back stale cookies.

7. Use as stucco-style siding for gingerbread houses

8. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (But what flavor jelly?)

9. Soften up brown sugar.

10. Pick up glass shards from the floor.

11. Make sculptures.

12. Thicken soup.

13. Use for croutons

14. Make bread pudding.

15. More toast, only this time with four fried chickens.

16. Make an egg in the basket.

17. Make beads. Yes, beads.

18. Mix into meatloaf or meatballs.

19. Dip it in cheese for fondue.

20. Win a NASCAR race.

What would you add to this list? Tell us in the comments.

Joey Logano will recharge his power tools this weekend and drive the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota in Martinsville.

Joey Logano was less than a year old when Interstate Batteries® Chairman Norm Miller and Joe Gibbs Racing kicked off what has grown to become one of the longest-running and most successful partnerships in all of NASCAR in 1991.

As Interstate and JGR celebrate their 20^th anniversary together in 2011, perhaps it’s only fitting that the Interstate Batteries scheme first made famous by legendary driving greats Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte on JGR’s No. 18 racecars finally adorns JGR’s No. 20 racing machine for the first time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.

While Logano’s JGR teammate Kyle Busch and his No. 18 Toyota Camry have carried the flag for Interstate during the last four Sprint Cup Series seasons, it’ll be Logano’s turn to represent the longtime JGR sponsor for the first time during Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

And, Logano would love nothing more than to become the fourth driver in history to find his way to victory lane in a Sprint Cup points-paying race wearing Interstate colors.

“I think it’s awesome,” Logano said. “I like Norm. I think he’s an awesome guy. To be able to drive his car is pretty neat. They’ve been with Gibbs for a long time and there have been some great drivers who have driven with Interstate Batteries on the car. So, to finally get to drive it is going to be a real treat.”

Logano’s chance to shine wearing Interstate green, white and black comes at one of his best racetracks over the course of his first three-plus seasons on the Sprint Cup Series tour. He has an average finish of 13.0 in his first five appearances at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped Martinsville oval, bettered only by his average finish of 8.2 after six starts at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

“I like Martinsville after going there several times, now,” Logano said. “I think I’ve figured something out as far as getting around the place, and I finished second there last fall. I’ve run well there and I’ve always had fast cars.”

With Interstate Batteries on-board for the first time this weekend, Logano hopes to continue his momentum on NASCAR’s shortest racetrack while adding another successful chapter to an already long and storied racing history for the venerable sponsor.

Joey Logano will drive this (with the No. 20 on the side) Interstate Batteries Toyota in Martinsville. (credit: Joe Gibbs Racing)

All of Chip White’s plans changed after a decidedly epic cheese ball toss-off.

Chip White of Interstate PowerCare proposed during the Rangers game Sunday night.

PowerCare’s Product Manager had planned to propose to his significant other Lindsey Carswell during a Cowboys game in December. It would have been a treat for Carswell, a sports fan, but White scrapped that plan following his Interstate cheese ball toss-off win on Oct. 19, scoring a pair of World Series tickets. With the date bumped up about three months, White set in motion new plans.

“It was too unique an opportunity,” White said. “How many people can say they got engaged at the World Series?”

Hours before the game, he got a little more than he bargained for. At a Saturday wedding, White shared his excitement over the coming game – and his plans – with a stranger who happened to work for WFAA Channel 8 News. Evidently, the cheese ball toss-off and a World Series proposal plan got the attention the producers at Channel 8.

While Carswell cheered on Rangers base runner Elvis Andrus, who scored at the bottom of the first, White showed a message on his iPhone to the Rangers fan behind him: “I am going to propose to my GF at the beginning of the 3^rd inning… Would u mind videoing it if I hand u my phone…. She has NO clue!” The fan behind him gave a knowing nod, so White put the plan into action.

Lindsey Carswell said yes, by the way.

At the top of the third, White made the hand off and distracted Carswell from Rangers pitcher Derek Holland’s last out, pointing her away while he pulled out the ring. Then he gave her a tap. White’s impromptu cinematographer snapped pictures and recorded the result, which you can watch here.

Holland carried the rest of Game 4, securing a World Series win and a positive start on the couple’s path toward marriage.

“It would have been horrible if they lost,” White said.

Channel 8 gave White another memento when they aired his story the following Monday night. As TV reporter Jonathan Betz said, “The proposal started with the toss of cheese puffs but ended with the biggest catch of all.” 

Watch the video here:

It was more of a food race than a food fight, though Friday’s Dot Race at the brickyard outside Interstate Batteries headquarters had plenty of tasty moments. Three of our officers donned costumes and competed in a ballpark-style dot race. President and CEO Carlos Sepulveda dressed as a hot dog, Senior Vice President of Marketing Dennis Brown dressed as a mustard bottle, and Vice President of Human Resources Chris Willis went as ketchup. Interstate team members who correctly predicted the winner were entered into a drawing for World Series tickets.

Enough of the setup. Watch the video to learn who cut the mustard, who hauled his buns, and who had to ketchup after an early spill.

So tell us: Do your company executives perform stunts like this? Let us know in the comments.

Interstate Batteries distributors in Fort Worth and St. Louis have a friendly wager going over the World Series. The distributor of the losing team has to buy lunch for all the employees at the distributor of the winning team. Think they’re taking this lightly? Check out the opening salvo from Fort Worth general manager Bob Addis:

Interstate Batteries’ corporate headquarters is in Dallas, and team members here are excited their hometown Texas Rangers are in the World Series. Yesterday, we celebrated with hot dogs and cotton candy just outside the office.

One of the perks of working here is the opportunity to attend some of the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s big sporting events. Here’s an outrageously silly contest where team members attempted to catch cheese puffs in their mouths for the chance to win World Series tickets.

Does your workplace offer silly chances to win big tickets? Tell us in the comments!