Motorcraft and Quick Lane Auction Fired Up for a Cure; Fire Suit and Helmet to Benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on eBay

DEARBORN, January 15, 2011: Ford Customer Service Division’s (FSCD) Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) NASCAR Design Contest is auctioning the 2010 designed fire suit and helmet to raise additional support for great cause.

FCSD brands Motorcraft and Quick Lane, Wood Brothers Racing and Bill Elliott are auctioning the “Fired Up for a Cure” fire suit and helmet from the 2010 NASCAR Design Contest to benefit JDRF. Designed by eight-year old, Carson Luther of Wildwood, MO, the fire suit and helmet that Elliott wore at the NASCAR event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October will be awarded to the highest bidder with all the proceeds going to JDRF.

To bid on either of the JDRF items, fans can visit http://tinyurl.com/2010JDRF-Firesuit to bid on the fire suit and http://tinyurl.com/2010-JDRF-themed-helmet to bid on the helmet. Both items will be up for auction beginning Friday, January 14, until Friday, January 21, at 5pm (ET).

“The last piece of the Ford Customer Service Division fundraiser for JDRF is to auction off the helmet and fire suit that matched Carson’s car,” said Eddie Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing. “Both the helmet and fire suit are one-of-a-kind items unique to Wood Brothers Racing, Bill Elliott and JDRF.”

JDRF has become the charity of choice for the two FCSD brands that are the primary sponsors for Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford Fusion and Tasca Racing’s Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car, and the three organizations couldn’t be a better fit. Ford Motor Company is the largest global corporate sponsor of JDRF.

“It’s important for FCSD to give back to our community, and the design contest provides us a great platform to reach a large audience to bring awareness to the search for a cure,” said Brett Wheatley, Director of Marketing, Ford Customer Service Division. “We’d love to have the fans bid on these one of a kind items and raise more money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I want to thank Carson Luther for his great design on the race car and fire suit.”

Diabetes affects more Ford families than any other disease. Ford Motor Company has raised more than $35 million for JDRF since the grassroots campaign started in 1998.