DAYTONA, FL – Centurion Boats is taking a further step into NASCAR.

Their venture into the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) began when Fineline Industries, the parent company of Centurion Boats, began producing racing-themed boats.

The two Fineline plants, one in Woodland and the other in Merced, California, produce boats based on the color scheme of such drivers as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart.

On Saturday, company president Rick Lee announced the company would become the primary sponsor of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Race at Watkins Glenn.

The agreement, which runs through 2009, will see the race titled “Centurion Boats at The Glen” and is scheduled to take the green flag at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 12. It will be broadcast live on ESPN.

During the announcement, Lee also indicated Centurion Boats would partner with Daytona International Speedway by sponsoring the “Centurion Boats Pier” located at the boardwalk at Lake Lloyd inside the speedway.

&uot;All of us at Centurion are very excited about our growing relationship with NASCAR through Daytona International Speedway and Watkins Glen International,&uot; Lee said. &uot;What started as an outside-the-box marketing experiment has exploded into a national branding effort that allows Centurion to showcase not only our World Championship Towboats, but the sport of wakeboarding, wakesurfing and waterski.&uot;

For his part, Watkins Glen International President Craig Rust was also pleased with the formation of the new agreement.

“We are proud of our partnership with Centurion Boats and believe it is a good fit for both companies,” Rust said. “Our NASCAR Nextel Cup race is not only a great platform to showcase the Centurion Boats brand to the national audience, but also an ideal way to reach all the watersports enthusiasts for which the Finger Lakes Region is known.”

Reaching by telephone at Watkins Glen Monday morning, Fineline Industries n East General Manager Les Clark of Woodland said the partnership was off to a good start.

“We’ve had an excellent weekend here,” Clark said. “The announcement has been big. It’s all over the track.”

Clark was at Watkins Glen as part of the Centurion Boats No. 17 Koni Challenge Series Race Team. The car finished 14th in a field of 42 on Saturday and Clark said that was just a part of a good weekend.

“We’re pretty excited,” Clark said. “I’m sure the people at our plant in Woodland will be excited too.”

Centurion Boats, based in Merced, California, is a part of Fineline Industries and considered a leader in world performing towboats specializing in ski and wakeboard boats. The company expanded to Northampton County in 2000 when they opened a state-of-the-art 40-acre operation in Woodland where they have an onsite boat test lake and house the most modern boat construction process in the watersports industry.

One of New York State’s largest weekend spectator sporting events, the Centurion Boats at The Glen will be held August 12. The weekend events also include the NASCAR Busch Series Zippo 200 on Saturday and the stars of the Rolex Sports Car Series on Friday night. A complete weekend schedule can be found at www.TheGlen.com.