CART team owner Chip Ganassi officially announced
yesterday that drivers Jimmy Vasser and Juan Montoya will
compete in this year's Indy 500, and A-B's Budweiser brand
"will be his associate sponsor" for the event, according to
Robin Miller of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. A-B Group Dir of
Sports Marketing Steve Uline: "We decided to step backward
in team sponsorship this year, but we always want to be a
part of Indy. I think every sponsor does. This opportunity
came along and we couldn't pass it up" (INDY STAR, 2/29).
READY TO PLAY? In Las Vegas, Hubble Smith reported that
Boyd Gaming Corp. is "spending close to" $1M on marketing
Sam's Town as "the place for NASCAR fans to stay and play
during" this coming race weekend in NV. Sam's Town is title
sponsoring Saturday's BGN race, and Boyd is also "dressing
up its [Las Vegas] property in racing gear, bringing in the
interactive Coca-Cola Wall of Speed and inviting fans to
meet" Richard and Kyle Petty. Billboards around Las Vegas
are also touting Sam's Town's NASCAR involvement. Boyd Dir
of Marketing Dan Stark, on his company's effort to leverage
the NASCAR tie: "I'm a believer that if you're in for a
penny, you're in for a pound." Stark offered his view of
the demo of NASCAR's fans: "A lot of people have the
misconception that they're low-end players. This is not
someone who doesn't have the means to travel, whether it's
the rodeo fan or NASCAR. Go look at the motor home parks.
These are fancy rigs" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/28).
