In May of 2008, TrekMovie reported on the Indiana Jones themed race car and asked if Star Trek would get its own. One year later, we have now have the the answer as Star Trek stormed NASCAR over the weekend with its own car.

NASCAR TREK

The Star Trek Dodge #12 premiered at the NASCAR Richmond Sprint Cup in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday. The car sported the movie logo and the USS Enterprise along with the color theme utilized to promote the feature film.

The car was driven by David Stremme who was also wearing a Star Trek themed outfit racing suit.

The Star Trek Dodge started the Cup impressively, consistently leading the pack. During the race, Stremme showed piloting skills that would have made Sulu envious as he and another car (#99) made contact. Stremme did not panic, and although the #99 car got spun, the race continued as seen in this video report.



CLICK for Video at NASCAR.com

Unfortunately, there was an accident that caused the Star Trek car to touch the wall. The damaged area was ironically right where the Enterprise is on the car and the accident meant Stremme was out of the competition. During the race, the announcers referred to Star Trek and its characters, as is evident in this video of the accident.



CLICK for Video at NASCAR.com

Advertising Trek at NASCAR is smart promotion. Last year’s Indiana Jones car created a nice buzz and NASCAR is family entertainment watched by millions. TrekMovie probably got more tips on this than just about any other recent Star Trek promotion. This isn’t however, the first time a Star Trek feature film has assimilated a racer. In 1996, NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip drove the #21 Citgo/Star Trek First Contact car during that year’s Winston Cup.

TrekMovie doesn’t often editorialize, however we would like to remind NASCAR drivers that they would likely improve their performance if only their teams utilized the Star Trek Space Fun Helmet from Enco Toys (1976).



TrekMovie says ‘safety first!’

For more about Stremme and the Star Trek car, visit his website.

More photos of the car at: Jaski.com and PenskeRacing.com.