The Detroit News signed a three-year deal to sponsor
the 100-mile Indy Lights race at MI Speedway, on July 25.
The News also will expand its motorsports coverage with a
weekly racing page starting this month (DETROIT NEWS, 2/15).
DETROIT, ROCK CITY: In Detroit, Dave Phillips examined
the marketing of motorsports in Sunday's DETROIT NEWS.
Phillips wrote that "struggling" MI-based Thorn Apple Valley
spent $15M on an auto racing marketing campaign because it
is "the most effective method of building brand loyalty."
Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Stuart Linde: "This sport is
unstoppable." NASCAR expects to earn $476M from sponsors
this season, up from $441M in '97. Phillips also profiled
MI-based companies involved in motorsports including Roush
Industries, which will generate "more than" $50M in sales
this year from motorsports, and The Big Three automakers,
which are "shifting their focus as the sport gains more
appeal with consumers." Chrysler will increase its NASCAR
Craftsman truck series teams this year to six from five.
Lou Patane, Exec Dir of Chrysler's motorsports program: "Our
goal is to win eight truck races this year. It means a lot
to our dealers and truck owners." GM, "which spends more on
motorsports than any other automaker," will concentrate on
NASCAR's Winston Cup series and the NHRA's pro stock truck
program, while Ford "is reorganizing its worldwide auto
racing program to accelerate returns" (DETROIT NEWS, 2/15).
NASCAR'S FUTURE: In previewing the Daytona 500, Bill
Carter of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE asked, "Are the huge
popularity gains of the last decade lasting, or just a fad?"
Carter "fears" that an "over-expanded NASCAR could be
vulnerable to a challenge from another sanctioning group
causing a civil war" (UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/15). NASCAR VP Bill
France Jr., when asked about splitting Winston Cup into two
conferences: "That may happen some day. We don't think the
timing is right. The big question is, would the two parts
be worth as much as the one part? Right away, the [TV]
ratings would be knocked in half" (TORONTO SUN, 2/17).
