Not even the Rocky Mountains can get in the way of Papa John’s Founder
John Schnatter. As part of the company’s 25th Anniversary "Papa’s Road
Trip” tour, Schnatter will stop in Denver on Monday, and Los Angeles on
Tuesday, on a nationwide search to find the 1972 Z28 Camaro he sold in
1984 to open his first Papa John’s restaurant.
Schnatter will be driving a replica of his beloved Z28 in the Mile High
City and City of Angels, the latest stops on his multi-city tour. He’s
offering a $250,000 finder’s fee to the person who locates his original
Camaro, which had such distinguishing features as a custom-installed
sunroof and Indiana license plate 10z 54. Additional clues about the car
can be found online at www.papasroadtrip.com.
"The Rockies are only a speed bump in my quest to locate the car
credited for the start of Papa John’s,” said Schnatter. "I’ve promised
everyone that I will leave no stone unturned as I search for my Camaro.
Between the Rockies, Red Rocks, and Hollywood Hills, I’ll be facing a
lot of stones, but I’m willing to go the distance.”
While in Denver, Papa John will join Governor Bill Ritter and Lt.
Governor Barbara O’Brien in packing boxes of donated food at the Food
Bank of the Rockies. While at the Food Bank, Schnatter will add free
pizza cards to each donated food box prepared by the dignitaries, and
will also provide pizza for the organization’s "Kids Café” that will
serve more than 100 children that day.
From there, the man who’s made an estimated 10,000 pizzas around the
world will teach children from the Boys & Girls Club of Denver the skill
behind pizza making from a nearby Papa John’s restaurant.
In L.A., Papa John will go "Hollywood,” literally. From making surprise
deliveries to select media personalities to visiting the Los Angeles
chapter of Junior Achievement and sharing his entrepreneurial spirit, he
will be stopping at all of the local hotspots.
The 2009 Road Trip and Schnatter’s search for his original Camaro is
being chronicled by two intern sidekicks who have logged Schnatter’s
road trip adventures online at www.papasroadtrip.com
via an array of photos, videos, blogs, tweets and rules for the contest.
Highlights of Papa’s Road Trip include:
-
Louisville – launching the Road Trip and releasing first clues
for finding the Camaro
-
Indianapolis – driving the replica Camaro around the track at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Indy 500 "Community Day”
-
Atlanta – riding the Goliath (rollercoaster) with 25 contest
winners at Six Flags Over Georgia
-
Houston – delivering pizzas to patients and staff at the Texas
Children’s Hospital and surprised attendees of a neighborhood block
party with a pizza delivery
-
Dallas – feeding Cowboys Stadium construction workers alongside
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones
-
New York – ringing the Closing Bell at Nasdaq and giving away
pizza in Times Square
-
Daytona – serving as the honorary starter for the 51st Annual
Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway
-
St. Louis – a pizza party in Downtown St. Louis with the
Gateway Camaro Club and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the
Cardinals game
-
Chicago – attempting a world record for the highest pizza
delivery by delivering pizzas more than 1,300 feet up to the Skydeck
Chicago at Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower)
Also at www.papasroadtrip.com,
Schnatter and the sidekicks continue to release new information about
the original ’72 Z28 Camaro in the hopes that someone will reveal the
car’s whereabouts. The $250,000 will be paid one-time only and must
include title to the car.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John’s International, Inc.
(NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world’s third largest pizza company. For nine of
the last 10 years, consumers have rated Papa John’s No. 1 in customer
satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the highly regarded
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John’s also ranks
first among pizza companies in the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty
Engagement Index, was honored by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine
(R&I) with the 2008 Silver Award for Consumers’ Choice in Chains in the
pizza segment, and was named 2007 Pizza Today Chain of the Year. For
more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa
John’s at www.papajohns.com.