Chicagoland’s First Brewery to Sponsor a NASCAR Driver Is Also the Area’s Smallest

In Press Release by Karl

 

belly-up-logo

You probably haven’t heard of Belly Up Beer Company.

They make two beers. One is an IPA named after owner/brewmaster Joe Fornari’s dog Hank, and one is an Orange Wheat named after…a sloth, we reckon.

Belly Up Beer Company brews on a tiny half-barrel system in Fornari’s basement, and they have just three accounts around Western Springs and Lagrange where you can buy their beer. (The only other publications to give Belly Up any amount of press is this Western Springs publication and this brief Crain’s mention.)

And at the same time, Belly Up Beer Company is, by our estimation, the very first Chicago-area beer company to sponsor a NASCAR competitor.

When driver Ryan Ellis takes to the track as part of the Rick Ware Racing team on Saturday’s nationally-televised race, he will have the logo of Belly Up on his hood.

So…how the hell did this happen?


Belly Up Beer Company NASCAR

Photo credit: Rick Ware Racing/Ryan Ellis Motorsports

The answer: Just a well-timed phonecall, that’s all.

Fornari isn’t a NASCAR fan, and tells us that he never really associated NASCAR with craft beer — but a call out of the blue from the NASCAR Xfinity sales team looking for Illinois businesses who might want to sponsor a car for the upcoming “Drive for Safety 300” race on September 17.  It wasn’t just the low price that got Fornari interested — “the price for the full hood was cheap enough where I actually had to do some research to ensure it wasn’t a scam,” he says —  but it was the perks of sponsorship apparently moved the needle.

“Outside of the obvious benefit of having the name/logo on a car, they offered me a decent amount of VIP pit passes,” Fornari told us. “I reached out to some family/friends asking if they were willing to donate in exchange for some of the passes and we raised enough money to pay for the whole sponsorship so we ended up taking it.”

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So if you’re watching the race on Saturday and someone says “what’s that brewery logo on that car? I’ve never heard of them…”

Well, now you have.

Belly Up Beer Howling Hank IPA Label

 

Press Release: 

Ryan Ellis Motorsports Teams Up With Belly Up Beer Company For ChicagoLand Speedway

September 12th, 2016 (Huntersville, NC) –Belly Up Beer Company of Western Springs, Illinois will join as a primary sponsor of the #25 Chevrolet of Rick Ware Racing when it competes at ChicagoLand Speedway this Saturday on the NBC Network. This will be driver Ryan Ellis’ 6th time this year racing with the Rick Ware team and 12th overall Xfinity race of the season.

Joe Fornari, owner of Belly Up Beer Company, said “Belly Up Beer Company is extremely excited to be partnering with Ryan in this Saturday’s race. As a company currently operating out of a basement grinding out beer 15 gallons at a time, it is important for us to partner with drivers and teams that embody what the Belly Up Beer Company is all about. We respect Ryan and Rick Ware Racing for being out there every day scrapping and clawing against teams with more money, resources, connections, etc. and somehow still finding a way to make it work. It is a great fit because our company and Ryan’s team are in similar points in our respective journeys – Belly Up Beer Company and Ryan Ellis are both underdogs. You may not have heard of us yet, but you certainly will.”

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Belly Up Beer Company, based out of Western Springs, Illinois is committed to being a genuine company, simply making beer that they like to drink. A new and growing brand, Belly Up starting in a basement of a house with no “fancy brewing system”, and no money has grown into a local force in brewing in the ChicagoLand area. Belly Up has two signature beers that they sell locally in the Chicago area, Howling Hank and Two Toed Orange Wheat. Howling Hank is a dry hopped American IPA with dominant citrus/grapefruit aromas with a subtle hint of fresh pine. Two Toed is lightly hopped to provide balance, but the real star is the light flavor and smooth taste of the wheat malt. You can locate where these beers are sold here: https://www.bellyupbeer.com

Ryan Ellis, driver of the Belly Up Beer Company Chevrolet No. 25 stated, “It’s really cool to have Belly Up Beer Company on our Rick Ware #25 racecar this weekend. Chicago is a fast track and with it being a pivotal race in the NASCAR Xfinity Chase, I think it will be a very exciting weekend for our team, our Belly Up guests, and all of the fans. I’m really excited to get the weekend started and hope that the relationship with Belly Up grows in the coming years and that we can continue to represent their brand!”

Additional sponsors for this weekend will include Lilly Trucking, Carport Empire, Dashub, SupportMilitary.org, Superlite Cars, Pet Paradise of Lake Norman, and the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Ryan Ellis and the No. 25 Belly Up Beer Company Chevrolet will take the green at ChicagoLand Speedway on September 17th.

About Belly Up Beer Company:

Based in Western Springs, Illinois. The company is forging its path in the Illinois Craft Beer sector with each passing week. The company makes two signature beers that you can purchase in the ChicagoLand Area. For more information on their signature IPA like Howling Hank visit their website at https://www.bellyupbeer.com, their Twitter account at @BellyUpBeer, Instagram @bellyupbeer or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bellyupbeer/?ref=br_rs

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About Ryan Ellis:

A 26-year-old Asian American, Ryan is finding more opportunities to succeed in NASCAR with each passing week. Beginning to become a regular in all three series of NASCAR, Ryan comes to ChicagoLand off hard fought races at Darlington, Watkins Glen International, Mid Ohio, and Pocono with Obaika Racing and Rick Ware Racing in the Xfinity series. Ryan is scheduled to compete with BK Racing in the Sprint Cup Series November 6th at Texas Motor Speedway in the Sprint Cup ScienceLogic No.93. You can follow Ryan Ellis at his Twitter account @RyanEllisRacing or learn more on his website https://www.ryanellismotorsports.com/.

Source: Ryan Ellis Motorsports

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(Editor’s Note: We receive a ton of beer-related press releases, but we’ll only bring you the ones we think are relevant, fun, interesting, cool, newsworthy, or offer something we’d be interested in checking out ourselves.)

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About the Author

Karl

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Karl has written about food, travel and beer for Chicago Magazine, Thrillist, Time Out Chicago, AskMen and more. His book, Beer Lovers Chicago, is now available via Amazon and other booksellers. If you're buying, he's likely having a porter or a pale ale.

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