By Mike Finney

DOVER — Johnny Damon got plenty of hits as a star outfielder for the Wilmington Blue Rocks as he helped propel the baseball team to its first Carolina League Mills Cup Championship in 1994.

Now Damon, who went on to help both the Boston Red Sox (2004) and New York Yankees (2009) win World Series crowns, will return to Delaware at the end of April hoping to make his best pitch.

Damon is now the founder and chairman of A-Game, a sports hydration drink, and announced on Monday that his company will be the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Xfinity Series A-Game 200 on Saturday, April 30, at Dover Motor Speedway.

“I have fantastic memories of Delaware,” Damon said. “The fact that our (Blue Rocks) team went 100 wins and 44 losses and won the championship there in Wilmington just got me ready for my next steps in baseball.

“I was also able to get back there a couple years ago to have my number (18) retired and that was a great moment, for myself and Mike Sweeney. George Brett made that trip as well and that was in 2014. So yeah, I have great memories there. I have great friends up in that area and I’m really looking forward to this Dover A-Game 200 race.”

A dream scenario for Damon in his first trip to Dover Motor Speedway would be to get to celebrate in Victory Lane with owner/driver Ryan Sieg, who will be driving the No. 39 Ford that will also be sponsored by A-Game in the Xfinity race at the Monster Mile.

“We are going to have an A-Game car in the race,” said Damon. “We’re just debating on the colors that we want to roll out, so we definitely want to make it either citrus, tropical, strawberry lemonade, black cherry pomegranate – four great flavors. Hopefully, we’ll have a great car for the race.”

The trip to Dover next month will be Damon’s fourth visit to a NASCAR race. In the past, he has attended events at Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

“I have respect for every driver that’s out there,” Damon said. “These guys do have to go in and out of traffic at around 200 miles-per-hour, hopefully doing the very best that they can, and it’s very dangerous.

“Yet these guys put their lives on the line every time they take the wheel, so you know these guys and gals have got some special talent.”

NASCAR has taken many exciting chances to expand its fan base so far this season, including unveiling a new style of race car, racing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and promoting a new era of car owners that include names such as Michael Jordan and Pitbull.

Damon thinks his A-Game drink brand follows that ‘exciting’ vibe that NASCAR seems to be chasing.

“It’s very exciting because we are a very exciting brand,” he said. “Everybody talks about bringing their ‘A-Game’ for whatever you do.

“Being an athlete, being a parent, being a teacher, you always have to bring your A-Game, and that’s a great model to live by.”

The A-Game 200 will be the 76th Xfinity Series race to take the green flag on the high-banked, one-mile concrete oval at Dover. The Series has raced at least once per year at the Monster Mile since 1982.

“Just like their hydration drink, A-Game will help us reach peak performance for our Monster Mile race weekend,” said Mike Tatoian, Dover Motor Speedway’s president. “Johnny (Damon) achieved great success on the field, and we are excited to be part of his success off the field.

“With the A-Game 200 as part of our NASCAR lineup, our fans will be treated to a fantastic race weekend.”

It will be the middle event of a tripleheader race weekend that will also include the ARCA Menard’s Series East on Friday, April 29 and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, May 1.

Past drivers who have driven to victory in Xfinity Series races at Dover include current Cup Series stars Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr., Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric.

“As a growing hydration drink company, it’s exciting for us to partner with a facility with such a long history as Dover Motor Speedway for our first NASCAR race sponsorship,” said Randall F. Greene, director and CEO for A-Game.

“We know NASCAR Nation appreciates the partners that are involved with their favorite sport and we look forward to sharing A-Game with this passionate fanbase at the Monster Mile.”

Damon is excited about his upcoming trip to Delaware. After all, his sports drink company just added 1,500 new stores in the Northeast that will sell the product over the past month.

He hopes he is able to tap into his old friends with the Blue Rocks to bring some attention to the NASCAR races at Dover at the end of April.

“I was hoping we could tie in with the Blue Rocks’ schedule and bring a (NASCAR) race car or something to the stadium and get people excited about it,” Damon said. “I will absolutely be at the race at Dover.

That includes having to cancel an appearance at his friend Derek Jeter’s Celebrity Invitational golf tournament in the Bahamas that will take place the same week as the Dover race weekend.

When you are chairman and founder of a company, business means business.