Caterpillar, Inc., has been making motorsports sponsorship news on a couple of fronts this week with the renewal of its Nextel Cup contract with Bill Davis Racing and the announcement of a new 2008 sponsorship, along with dealer groups, of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster. The contract with BDR is a multi-year deal, said Caterpillar director of racing operations Greg Towles. He would not be more specific as to the length of the agreement.

Towles said the company decided to continue the relationship, even though the team has struggled in recent years, because of two main factors - the team’s improved performance in recent weeks and the promise of future success with Toyota. “We’ve been real encouraged with the way the team has been running lately - we’ve had a couple of top 10s in the last few races,” said Towles, “and we think Toyota is going to bring a lot to NASCAR Nextel Cup.” Towles also said the team’s driver, Dave Blaney, will be signed to an extension. “He and (crew chief) Tommy Baldwin are really starting to click and they’ve been really qualifying well and running well so we have high expectations for the remainder of this season and into next year,” Towles said.