Ducks Unlimited Finds Top Speed at Daytona

The Ducks Unlimited (DU) car was one of the unlucky ones to find the wall early in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona last weekend. The No. 14 Sprint Cup Series car driven by Tony Stewart was involved in a crash on lap 19 that took out other top contenders.

The special paint scheme was a generous donation by Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris, and was unveiled during DU’s annual convention in St. Louis in May.

“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to have DU’s name and special DU artwork on Tony’s car,” said DU CEO Dale Hall. “Although the outcome wasn’t what anyone had hoped, the fact that Johnny Morris donated the paint scheme for hundreds of thousands to see speaks volumes about his commitment to conservation.”

The crash happened when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose and Jeff Gordon swerved to avoid hitting Stenhouse. In trying to avoid Stenhouse, Gordon inadvertently crashed into Stewart causing a major pile up. After the smoke cleared, a total of 16 cars were involved in the crash.

“I had the pleasure of spending time with Tony before the race, and he’s such a great guy,” Hall said. “I am disappointed for him because he is such a strong competitor. But, as they say at the track ‘that’s racing.’ I can’t thank Tony and Johnny enough for giving DU such a great opportunity.”

The car featured a greenhead (mallard duck) on both back fenders, along with “Ducks Unlimited” painted in large letters.

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. DU got its start in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when North America’s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. Determined not to sit idly by as the continent’s waterfowl dwindled beyond recovery, a small group of sportsmen joined together to form an organization that became known as Ducks Unlimited. Its mission: habitat conservation. Thanks to decades of abiding by that single mission, Ducks Unlimited is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. DU is able to multilaterally deliver its work through a series of partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, scientific communities and other entities.