Tag: ROKiT

Tatiana Calderon Joins Indycar with Foyt, ROKiT

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Does A. J. know how to celebrate a birthday or what?

A. J. Foyt Racing announced this morning Tatiana Calderon will drive car 11 in road and street events with ROKiT sponsorship. This has been brewing since Calderon tested for the team at Mid Ohio last July. According to the announcement, the car will be full time, and Foyt is looking for a driver for the ovals. Kyle Kirkwood will also be in a ROKiT car.

The press release from Foyt:

ROKiT Group Expands Its Program with AJ Foyt Racing; Tatiana Calderón Hired for 2022

INDIANAPOLIS (January 17, 2022) — ROKiT Group is expanding their marketing partnership with AJ Foyt Racing for 2022 as the team will enter two ROKiT-branded Chevrolets in the NTT INDYCAR Series with Tatiana Calderón hired to drive the No. 11 ROKiT Chevrolet.

The agreement expands AJ Foyt Racing to a three-car team with the previously announced Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet and veteran Dalton Kellett in the No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Chevrolet.

A.J. Foyt, who turned 87 yesterday, will be experiencing another first in his iconic career which spans eight decades. Calderón becomes the first female driver to compete for the legendary Texan. The 28-year-old Colombian native is set to drive the street and road courses. No driver has been signed for the oval tracks to date.

“I’m thrilled and very thankful to Jonathan Kendrick, ROKiT and AJ Foyt Racing for the opportunity to race in the NTT INDYCAR Series!” exclaimed Calderón. “Ever since I started my single seater career in the United States eleven years ago, INDYCAR has been a reference for me and it’s a dream come true to be on the grid this year! I can’t wait to get to St. Petersburg for the first race of the season! I’m well aware of the challenge ahead, but this is the chance of a lifetime and I’m keen on making the most of it.”

Entrepreneur Kendrick, the Co-founder and Chairman of the ROKiT Group of Companies, has supported Calderón’s career since 2020 when she competed in the World Endurance Championship and Super Formula Japan.

“One of our fundamental principles in the overall marketing of the ROKiT brand worldwide is our support and promotion of women in motorsport and, as part of that principle, we’ve supported Tatiana for a long time now,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick listens as Foyt answers a question at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

“We recognized her talent and charisma early on,” he continued, “which we’ve seen grow and develop, so we’re very excited to be expanding our partnership with Larry and the AJ Foyt Racing Team by having Tatiana drive the No. 11 ROKiT Chevrolet alongside Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet this season. We know Tatiana is already a role model to many young female drivers around the world and we think the huge exposure of the NTT INDYCAR Series will serve only to increase her reach even further to become an inspiration to many more women to get involved in motorsports.”

Calderón spent the last two seasons competing in Super Formula in Japan for Threebond Drago Corse and for Richard Mille Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. She has been a test driver for the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team for the past four years. Her extensive resume includes stints in Formula 2, Renault Series Formula V8 3.5 where she was the first female on the podium in Bahrein in 2017, GP3, European Formula 3, and the British Formula 3 Series, where she was the first female to score a podium.

Calderon testing at Mid-Ohio in July.

Born in Bogota, Colombia and currently living in Madrid, Calderón tested the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio last July which prompted talks of competing for the team in 2022.

Those talks resulted in Team President Larry Foyt signing an extension and expansion of the ROKiT sponsorship along with the hire of Calderón who impressed Foyt.

Foyt said, “I’m thrilled with the continuation and expansion of the ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Team. We welcome Tatiana Calderón in car number 11 joining Kyle Kirkwood in car 14, both in the very cool ROKiT liveries. Tatiana showed a lot of potential in her test at Mid-Ohio. With Dalton Kellett in the No. 4 K-Line Insulators Chevrolet, I think our three-car team is in for an exciting season.”

Calderón will test with Kirkwood in Sebring, Fla. this week. Kellett is planning to attend in an advisory role.

Calderón and Kirkwood, the 2021 Indy Lights Series champion, will make their INDYCAR Series debut in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27th which will be broadcast on NBC starting at 12 noon ET. Kirkwood and Kellett will compete in all of the races while Calderón will run in 12 of the 17 races on the schedule.

About ROKiT ROKiT Group is a next-generation global media company engaged in multiple aspects of content production and distribution, including movies, television, sports, music, drinks, and mobile entertainment. ROKiT leverages each of these business units, independently and together, to create content across all mediums, giving consumers what they want, when they want it on their mobile phones.

ROKiT Sponsorship Gives Boost to Foyt and Bourdais

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Images from A, J. Foyt Racing

A friendship that began seven years ago resulted in a major sponsorship for A. J. Foyt Racing. Larry Foyt met Joinathan Kendrick and they stayed in touch. Kendrick, a co-founder of ROKit, a new business incubator, has always been a race fan. He worked for Goodyear Tire’s racing Division as a teenager, and became aware of A. J. Foyt.

Foyt lost long time sponsor ABC Supply after the 2019 season and in 202 struggled to find sponsorship. This new deal brings stability to the team as they look to put together a better year in 2021. All the elements are in place for improvement.

The news release:

WALLER, Texas (March 23, 2021)–AJ Foyt Racing and Sebastien Bourdais will be rockin’ with ROKiT this year!

The global conglomerate ROKiT signed as the primary marketing partner of the No. 14 Chevrolet to be driven by Bourdais in the NTT INDYCAR Series this season. The striking livery design embodies ROKiT’s disruptive approach to challenging conventional business. In addition to branding on the car, the agreement allows for a variety of activation opportunities.  

#14 Sebastien Bourdais, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet

Entrepreneur Jonathan Kendrick, ROKiT’s co-founder along with partner John-Paul DeJoria, is utilizing the Foyt team’s iconic heritage to raise brand awareness globally and showcase the company’s broad range of services and products.

Commenting, Jonathan Kendrick said “When I was 17 years old and working for Goodyear Tires racing division, I was aware of AJ Foyt and what an incredibly talented driver he was, so I am hugely excited to have partnered with the legendary AJ Foyt Racing team for the 2021 INDYCAR Series. I’m looking forward to cheering-on the fabulous looking No.14 Chevrolet as it roars around the circuits this year. All our ROKiT companies will be actively involved in this partnership and we wish Larry, Sebastien and all the team at Foyt Racing the very best of luck.”

ROKiT is a new business incubator with a diverse portfolio of companies involved in innovative technology and services including mobile phones, WiFi deployment, beverages, pioneering 3D content production and distribution of movies and music.

The partnership is the evolution of a discussion which began seven years ago when the two companies started exploring opportunities to work together.

Larry Foyt anticipates the new partnership will give his team and the INDYCAR series additional exposure to a younger audience as the team mounts a competitive campaign to vie for victories with 4-time INDYCAR champion Bourdais.

“I met JK several years ago and we have stayed in touch,” said Larry Foyt, team president of AJ Foyt Racing. “He is a true racing enthusiast and it has been great to see him use many forms of motorsport in his growth strategy for ROKiT. We had expressed interest in working together when the time was right, and I must say it feels like everything came into alignment perfectly for this opportunity. I think this partnership will reward ROKiT’s partners and consumers with some exciting programs that take advantage of the great access our team can provide. I’m enthused about our promising testing results, and this is another shot of awesome momentum heading into the season.”

The NTT INDYCAR series opens its 17-race season April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park.

ROKiT on!

Image Courtesy Of A.J. Foyt Racing