Jeff Gordon will drive Penn State-themed car at Pocono

Having grown up in Bethesda, Md., before enrolling at Penn State, Lee Cary was used to being one of the only NASCAR fans around.

But when Jeff Gordon visited State College on April 14 to unveil the Penn State-themed car he'll drive at Pocono Raceway this weekend, others trickled out of the woodwork.

"It was actually kind of funny; I didn't think there was much of a fan base in State College," said Cary, 21, who recently graduated from Penn State. "And there were a lot of people there. I was pretty surprised."

Axalta, a Philadelphia automotive coating company and one of Gordon's sponsors, announced a partnership with Penn State in late March. Axalta hopes to use the partnership to recruit engineering, science, and business students by promoting and working in those educational fields at Penn State. It will continue at the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 on Sunday in Long Pond, Pa., where 100 Penn State students will get an educational racetrack experience before Gordon competes in the Penn State car.

While the partnership is designed to benefit Axalta and Penn State, the by-product could be greater excitement about NASCAR in State College and the surrounding area.

"When you look at universities like Penn State that have an extremely rich tradition in sports that I think transcends past football, I think [NASCAR] sees Pennsylvania. That has always been a big NASCAR state," said Charlie Shaver, Axalta's CEO.

Shaver added that NASCAR has told Axalta, "Anything you need from us, you can have." The Penn State students also will have nearly limitless access at the track.

With Axalta connecting one of the sport's most iconic drivers with the closest college fan base, Shaver has received a flood of e-mails from Penn State supporters and has seen a big reaction to the Penn State car on social media.

Axalta first partnered with Texas A&M University at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2014, when Gordon drove a maroon Texas A&M car. Gregg Elkin, who works in public relations at Texas Motor Speedway, said he saw a lot of Texas A&M colors in the crowd that weekend. As a result, he saw the Texas A&M-Axalta partnership as a way for NASCAR to move farther into College Station, Texas, and surrounding areas.

Shaver is expecting a similar effect at Pocono this weekend.

"It's actually kind of fun to watch - it kind of takes on a life of its own," Shaver said. "We don't even have to promote much of that. Certainly we saw at A&M: The alumni just take it and run with it."