NASCAR'S $7 MILLION TRAINING CENTER OF ATTENTION

          NASCAR "plans to develop" a $7M NASCAR Training
     Institute "somewhere in the Charlotte region" to train
     automotive technicians, according to David Boraks of the
     CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.  The training center, scheduled to open
     in 2001, is one "of as many as" six planned over the next
     few years by NASCAR and AZ-based Universal Technical
     Institute and is NASCAR's "latest effort to capitalize on
     its increasingly popular brand name."  The facility would be
     a 130,000-square-foot school which could accommodate up to
     1,800 students, preparing them for careers in automotive and
     collision repair, including "possible jobs" with NASCAR
     teams.  NASCAR "will help" the technical institute develop
     relationships with racing teams for internships and
     cooperative education programs (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/27).