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NASCAR'S BIG WEEK: GLOWING PORTRAITS IN FORBES AND BRANDWEEK

          NASCAR is the subject of a FORTUNE Cover Story by Roy
     Johnson with the headline, "Speed Sells!"  The series is "as
     hot as a piston under the front-runner's hood these days,
     and you can argue all day whether it's become so popular
     because it has a telegenic, Gen X superstar [Jeff Gordon] or
     whether Gordon happens to be the face of a sport whose
     moment has finally come.  Either way, ... [NASCAR] is
     suddenly a thriving $2 billion industry."  Retail revenue
     alone is expected to top $1B this year, up from "only" $80M
     in '90.  Johnson adds, "For sponsors, NASCAR may be the best
     buy in sports, for a simple reason: Speed sells.  Some snobs
     still regard race fans as po' trash, but these folks spend
     freely to support the companies and brands that back their
     favorite drivers."  DuPont's Automotive-Finishes Division
     President Lou Savelli said in '91, the year before the
     company associated with Gordon, the automotive-finishes
     group was a $500M business.  Last year, revenues exceeded
     $1B.  Savelli attributes 20% of the growth, or $100M, to the
     group's tie to Gordon and said that he "earns" $5 for every
     $1 "he spends on the Gordon team."  Savelli: "This has been
     magnificent for us, absolutely phenomenal.  ... In three or
     four years, the deal paid for itself."   Another example of
     NASCAR's appeal: The NASCAR Barbie was Mattel's "hottest
     collectible Barbie last year."  Johnson: "Maybe the biggest
     challenge for the sport is to overcome its stigma as an
     unfriendly arena for minorities.  A good start would be to
     ban the display of Confederate flags, which were hoisted
     atop a few motor homes parked in the infield at Daytona." 
     This "issue is wrenching" for NASCAR President Bill France,
     "who hasn't quite come up with a comfortable response to
     inquiries regarding the dearth of minority drivers." 
     France: "Somebody'll get a break" (FORTUNE, 4/12 issue).
          $100M IN MEDIA EXPOSURE: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton
     examines NASCAR's marketing efforts in a "Brand Builders"
     special.  After its 50th Anniversary in '98, NASCAR is
     "revving up this season with new bigtime sponsors such as
     Visa and Home Depot and expanded marketing commitments by
     incumbents such as Coke and Anheuser-Busch, all likely to
     add up to around $100 million in incremental media exposure
     on and off NASCAR races this year" (BRANDWEEK, 3/22 issue). 

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