NASCAR's Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway will be televised live Saturday at 1:00pm ET on
ABC, and in Indy, Bill Koenig reported that there is "ample
evidence" that the "younger [IMS] sibling ... is closing in
on the [Indy] 500 as the event -- and as an economic
development tool." Hoteliers and ticket brokers say that
demand during the Brickyard "rivals" that of the Indy 500.
Last year, about 15,000 people showed up at the RCA Dome for
a Ford Motor Co. promo featuring NASCAR drivers, and Ford
sponsored a similar event Wednesday. Koenig wrote that the
Brickyard "is becoming a backdrop for sponsorship
announcements and race-related promotions during the second-
half of the long NASCAR season." This year, GA-based
Realtree Outdoor Products will debut its new line of Dale
Earnhardt-licensed clothing at the Brickyard (INDIANAPOLIS
STAR-NEWS, 7/30). In Ft. Worth, John Sturbin wrote that
NASCAR's Brickyard 400, "aided and abetted by the wrist-
slitting rift" between CART and the IRL, "is closing the
popularity gap" on the Indy 500 (STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/30).
LVIS IS IN THE BUILDING: In Indy, Bill Koenig reports
that IMS execs reached agreement Wednesday with ABC to use
PVI's L-VIS virtual advertising system. IMS will test the
ads of four corporate partners: Miller Brewing, Chevrolet,
NAPA and Pennzoil. The sponsors will not pay extra, as the
spots are part of their total marketing package. IMS also
hired MI-based Joyce Julius & Associates to tape the race to
see how much air time each sponsor received via the virtual
ads. IMS VP/Sales & Marketing John Newcomb said that "if
the test works," virtual ads could be sold for next year's
Indy 500 and IRL events (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 7/31).
FROM THE BRICKYARD: Indy area ticket scalpers "report
far better business" for the Brickyard than for the Indy
500, when many tickets were sold at face value on race day
(DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/30)....In Indy, Chris O'Malley
profiles RCA's ScanTrak, which allows listeners to keep up
with track happenings and "listen to the oft-salty
conversations between drivers and crews." The suggested
retail price for the scanners is $249. O'Malley writes that
while Thomson Electronics "won't quantify potential sales
for the scanners ... it doesn't take an economist to figure
that time is right for such a product" (STAR-NEWS, 7/31).
