First a blimp…now a race car? According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the presidential candidacy of Ron Paul gets virtually no coverage by the news media. So supporters of the 10-term Texas Representative have brainstormed an array of creative tactics to take their candidate's message directly to voters. Their latest effort may be the most audacious: sponsorship of a NASCAR race team in the name of the anti-war Republican.

"We know NASCAR fans tend to be more conservative and more patriotic, and very supportive of the military…so they're a perfect target for Ron Paul's message of small government, low taxes, secure borders, and strong national defense," says Kathleen Hanover, the spokesperson for Ron Paul Racing, as the grassroots project is known.

The idea for a Ron Paul NASCAR sponsorship was first floated on an independent Internet message board devoted to Ron Paul's campaign. It was discussed casually for months. But the idea began to pick up steam early this year, inspired by a successful grassroots effort that launched the first-ever presidential airship, the Ron Paul Blimp. A core group of race fans took the NASCAR sponsorship idea and ran with it. Now Ron Paul Racing has its own Web presence (www.ronpaulracing.com) and support of a new Political Action Committee, Liberty Racing PAC.

The $300,000 Major Associate Sponsorship the group is seeking includes two cars for the entire 35-race Nationwide Series season. (The Nationwide Series, formerly known as the Busch Series, is the second-most-watched motorsports series in the U.S.) "That will put Ron Paul and his message of Constitutional government in front of 75 million NASCAR fans for nearly 40 weeks—through the GOP Convention in September, and up to the election in November," says Hanover.

One of the potential drivers is a nine-time winner on the Nationwide circuit, and is the only driver to have been voted "Most Popular Driver" three times in the series' 27-year history. And he's also very popular with TV audiences as a twice-weekly host of a televised racing program. "Hardcore NASCAR fans are already starting to guess who it is. He's doing 50 hours of TV appearances during Speed Week," says Hanover, "But we can't publicly identify him or his team until we raise the $100,000 deposit and sign the contract. We're thrilled to have the chance to work with him and his teammate…especially because today he may have qualified well enough to eventually make it into the Daytona 500."

Like Ron Paul, Ron Paul Racing is facing an uphill battle. The group has less than a week to raise the $100,000 deposit in time to make the first race of the year at Daytona International Speedway. "It took longer than we thought to put the sponsorship package together," says Hanover. "But we've got it now, and we'll raise the money as fast as we can."

Supporters can donate online at www.ronpaulracing.com.