Dale Earnhardt will race against his son, Dale
Earnhardt Jr., for the first time at the November 22 NASCAR
Thunder Special Coca-Cola 500 exhibition race to be held in
Japan and televised live on TBS at 10:00pm ET. Both will
will drive Coca-Cola-sponsored cars, as Earnhardt's red No.
3 car features the Coca-Cola script, while Earnhardt Jr.'s
black No. 1 car features the Coca-Cola polar bear. For the
event, Action Performance will create a vast array of
exclusive Coca-Cola/Earnhardt apparel, souvenirs, die-cast
collectibles and other memorabilia (NASCAR). John
Bevilaqua, a sports marketing consultant and former Coca-
Cola exec, on why Coca-Cola has never had its logo so
prominently displayed on a race car: "They didn't want the
Coke car upside down in flames sliding down the track. ...
[The Japan race] is a controlled promotional event. That
makes sense, and will have nominal risk" (BLOOMBERG, 8/27).
SILICON RALLY: Winston Cup drivers Jeremy Mayfield and
Dale Jarrett were in the Galleria in Dallas on Monday night
for the opening of NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway. Dallas
is the third in a series of locals, joining Mall of America
in MN, and Woodfield Mall near Chicago (NASCAR).
