Camping World
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Camping World is an American corporation specializing in selling parts and service for recreational vehicles and supplies for camping. The company is based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and is privately held. Camping World has 70+ retail/service locations throughout the United States, and also sells goods through mail order and online. It claims to be the world's largest supplier of RV parts and supplies. The company is also the title sponsor for the NASCAR Camping World East Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series.
Camping World began in 1966 with a small store in Beech Bend Park, an amusement park outside of Bowling Green which billed its campground as the world's largest. Campers at the park were requesting a store where they could buy supplies, so David Garvin — son of the park's owner — took out a loan and opened the store. Garvin amassed a large customer list as the years went by, which proved to be a windfall later when he added a mail-order division to the company. That division thrived, fueling the company's growth for years to come.
In 1997, Garvin sold the company to the current owners, Affinity Group, Inc., of Ventura, California.
In 2005, Garvin announced plans for a huge development near Franklin, Kentucky called "Garvin's." The development, described by Garvin as "a combination of Disney World, Camping World and Bass Pro Shops," will feature a large Camping World store with RV 250 service bays; a five-story, 650,000 square foot (60,000 m²) permanent RV trade show and exhibition area; a "free range" campground with dry-camping sites; a camping museum; and much more.
Under the FreedomRoads brand, the sells RV's through a network of about three dozen independent dealers.[1] In 2007, the company opened the Camping World RV Sales dealership; formerly known as Stout's RV, it is located on Interstate 65 south of Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the company's only owned-and-operated RV dealership. [2][3]
The company also operates RVs.com. [1]
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[edit] Auto racing
Camping World has major sponsorship involvement with NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, both for races and teams.
[edit] Races
- The NASCAR Nationwide Series' most prestigious race, the 2008 Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet, at Daytona International Speedway; it is run the day before the Daytona 500. This race was run as the Orbitz 300 in 2007.[4]
- The Camping World 200 presented by RVs.com, a Nationwide Series race run at New Hampshire International Speedway. This race will be run at California Speedway beginning in 2008.[5]
- The Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix, an IndyCar Racing League race at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
[edit] Teams
- Kevin Harvick Incorporated, primarily for the #77 car in the Busch Series and the #2 and #33 teams in the Craftsman Truck Series, with Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday, Clint Bowyer and Cale Gale driving in different races.
- Richard Childress Racing, for some races for the #07 driven by Clint Bowyer and the #21 driven by multiple drivers.
- Braun Racing, for some races for the #10 team.
- Robby Gordon Motorsports, in a multi-race deal for the #7 car in three NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and one Busch Series race, and a one-off for Marcos Ambrose at the Centurion Boats at the Glen road race. The race was to have been the Nextel Cup debut for Ambrose, but rain washed out the qualifying session and NASCAR set the field for the race on owner's point standings, locking Ambrose and the #77 Camping World Car out of the race.[6][7][8]
[edit] NASCAR Camping World Series
- During the 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, Grand National Division awards banquet, NASCAR introduced Camping World as the new title sponsor for the Grand National East and West Series, beginning in 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ FreedomRoads business profile
- ^ "Camping World announces grand opening of Indianapolis store at former Stout's location," May 16, 2007
- ^ Camping World RV Sales, Indianapolis
- ^ Camping World Becomes Title Sponsor of Daytona February Busch Race. TheAutoChannel.com.
- ^ California Speedway Announces Fall Race Sponsorship Agreement With Camping World
- ^ Camping World (press release): "Camping World to Back Marcos Ambrose In Nextel Cup Debut", August 7, 2007
- ^ Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images photo: Marcos Ambrose practices in the #77 Camping World Ford
- ^ Rodman, Dave. Rain (again) washes out qualifying at Watkins Glen. NASCAR.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
