LONG POND - Frank DeSocio had never been to Pocono Raceway.
However, the president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry, desperately wanted to do a program with NASCAR. His research of privately owned tracks led him to Pocono. It didn't hurt that there are 460 bowling centers within a 200-mile radius of the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond.
After a few email exchanges and a couple of phone calls, DeSocio agreed - sight unseen - to a two-year race sponsorship deal with Pocono. Sunday's GoBowling.com 400 is the second of the track's two annual Sprint Cup Series races.
"Sometimes you take a leap of faith," DeSocio said. "But I truly believe in this partnership.
"We couldn't ask for a better group of people to deal with. We are very excited."
Besides sponsoring the race, GoBowling.com will appear on the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford driven by Aric Almirola.
Bowling and NASCAR might seem like an unlikely pairing. But DeSocio said the demographics of bowlers and NASCAR fans are very similar.
Parker Bohn III agrees.
"Bowling fans and NASCAR fans are really one in the same," Bohn said. "It's amazing how much of the fan base cross-references. Walk through a center and ask if (bowlers) if they have a favorite driver and many of them do."
Bohn is a left-handed professional bowler from Jackson Township, N.J., who ranks sixth all-time with 33 career Professional Bowlers Association titles. He is a member of both the PBA and United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Halls of Fame.
Racing, actually, is in Bohn's blood. His grandfa-
ther was a five-time Modified and Sportsman champion at Wall Stadium in New Jersey and a close friend of Ray Evernham, former Cup series championship crew chief and team owner.
Recently, Bohn was at Idle Hour Lanes in Dickson City along with current Sprint Cup Series rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to promote the upcoming race at Pocono.
The two bowled against each other with Bohn offering some pointers to Stenhouse.
Last July, Bohn visited StrikeZone Alleys in Pottsville as part of the 21st annual Pennsylvania Mixed State Tournament.
"I live by the word KISS - Keep it simple stupid," Bohn said. "When you approach the foul line, you want to do the same routine shot in and shot out. Just like driving a car."
Actually, there are a number of similarities between bowling and racing. Just as Stenhouse might move up or down the track to find where his car works the best, Bohn might have to move a few boards to the left or right to adjust to lane conditions.
"It takes a lot of concentration every time you roll the ball or enter the corner," Stenhouse said.
When your thumb is in a bowling ball, Bohn said, it is like the steering wheel of a car.
"You aim your thumb to the left, your ball is going to go to the left," Bohn said. "Aim it to the right, your ball is going right."
Stenhouse thinks it is great that GoBowling.com is getting involved in NASCAR.
"They're really embracing the whole atmosphere and trying to make it a big success," Stenhouse said. "We're excited about that. Any time a sponsor comes into our sport for the first time, we as drivers and teams try to do anything to help. Because if it doesn't work for them, they won't be back."
Since the deal with Pocono is for two years, GoBowling.com will be back in 2014. DeSocio said he envisions doing more from a promotional standpoint next year, simply because his organization will be a year wiser.
GoBowling.com did hold a contest this year to determine the honorary race starter. Justin Small of Rock Hill, S.C., won when he bought a specially marked 44-ounce beverage cup at a bowling center.
"He was on his way home from the (Coca-Cola) 600 in Charlotte and stopped in a center in Mooresville, N.C., bought a Pepsi, kept the cup, took it home, inputted the code and won," DeSocio said.
An idea DeSocio has for next year is to have a 12-week league where, at its conclusion, bowlers get a ticket to the race. And, the league's winning team would get to go to GoBowling.com's suite at Pocono and meet a driver.
One thing, though, that Bohn won't do is try driving a race car.
"I'll stick to my lane," Bohn said.