KANSAS CUP RACE HAS GREATER MEANING FOR PAPIS

Player Management International Media Release

Kansas City, KS (October 2, 2009) – While most people might assume that GEICO driver Max Papis was thrilled to simply qualify for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, they would be missing the big picture.  
 
For Papis, this is a special weekend on multiple levels.  
 
Anyone close to Papis will tell you that he is driven, if not obsessed, to help find a cure for cancer.  He has good reason.  Papis’s father Cesare was taken from him on December 9, 2006, when he succumbed to pancreatic cancer, leaving Papis heartbroken and looking for an answer.
 
Enter the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  In LAF, Papis has found people who understand his plight and share his passion for curing cancer.  The national LIVESTRONG day was today, which is why Papis donned yellow and black as he strolled the garage area.  In addition, he placed LIVESTRONG decals on his helmet to honor the special day.  More impressive, Papis himself went and purchased 500 yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets and will be spending his spare time passing them out to fans on-hand at the racetrack throughout the race weekend.  
 
Saturday, October 3rd, marks Papis’s birthday and he will spend his day spreading the LIVESTRONG message, beginning at 10:00 AM (CT) at the Sprint Experience where he will be doing a Q & A with fans and talking about racing, LIVESTRONG and various other topics.  Sunday will find him journeying over to the Victory Club where he will make a private appearance on behalf of The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, which was founded in 1988 by Paul Newman.
 
In an emotionally moving note on his web site, Papis said, “Life is full of opportunities to show what you are made of and I was lucky to get to do something that many people can only dream of doing, but it happened because I always believed it was possible.  I fought for it like my Dad fought against a prognosis that gave him just 3 months to live, but instead he stayed with us for 18 months, during which I had my first child Marco.”
 
Papis continued in his note, “During the LIVESTRONG Day we have a chance to remind people that we all need to fight to help cure this disease.  It is possible to find a cure, and I will fight to try to create as much awareness as possible in order to get to the point where we will look back and say, “It was a bad disease but we kicked it in the butt and now it is gone.””
 
Papis’s father fought just as his son is fighting now to achieve success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  His father fought a tough disease that had little hope for recovery.  Papis is fighting to succeed in America’s top auto racing series with very little experience in either of NASCAR’s lower two national series’.  Different battles, yet both are fighters.  
 
When the engine fires in the #13 GEICO Camry on Sunday afternoon, you can be assured that Max Papis will have his father on his mind and hope in his heart.
 
The Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is on Sunday, October 4th, and it will be televised live on ABC beginning at 1:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
 
To learn more about Max Papis, please visit: www.maxpapis.com
 
You can also follow Max Papis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/maxpapis