NASCAR and Coca-Cola officially announced a five-year
marketing partnership which will make Coke the "Official
Soft Drink" of NASCAR, beginning January 1. As part of the
deal, Coca-Cola plans special ads, in-store displays,
packaging and promotions. Coca-Cola will also extend its
interactive sports-themed attractions -- such as Coca-Cola
Olympic City and Coca-Cola Skyfield at Turner Field -- to
NASCAR racing. In addition, a touring, interactive Coca-
Cola/NASCAR experience will be on display at festivals and
NASCAR events throughout the U.S. Along with media support,
which covers TV, radio, print and the Web, Coca-Cola will
also feature NASCAR in movie theaters as part of its pre-
feature programming (NASCAR). AD AGE reports that the deal
is worth an "estimated" $100M (AD AGE, 10/10). Coca-Cola
takes over the sponsorship from PepsiCo (THE DAILY).
MC-NOTES: McDonald's will renew its funding of Bill
Elliott Racing for multiple years. McDonald's has been
Elliott's primary sponsor since '95 (STAR-NEWS, 10/10).
...InterZine's iRACE has launched a series this week on
safety in auto racing titled "The Race For Safety" (iRACE).
