NASCAR has signed eight new licensees in the following
categories: Game Time -- stopwatch; Iron Knights
Athletics/Chinin -- men's and women's embroidered knit tops,
woven tops, sweatshirts and outerwear; Keeter Kreations --
pet products; Pinheads -- lapel pins; RM Palmer -- stock
car-shaped chocolates; S. Goldberg -- adult and kids
footwear; Shamrock Sports Group -- bedding, growth charts,
golf towels, shower curtains, woven placements, afghans,
pillows and wall hangings; and Wheel Tough -- table tops,
charcoal grills, fryer/steamers and custom seat cushions
(NASCAR)....Nextel signed a two-year deal to sponsor the
Grand American Road Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to be
called the Grand-Am Nextel 250. The event will be held May
5-7 (Grand Am)....MCI WorldCom has signed a three-year deal
as the Official Telecom Company of Skip Barber Racing
School. MCI receives branding rights and Skip Barber Racing
School blocks to offer as client incentives (Skip Barber).
WELLS-BEING: In Charlotte, David Poole profiles
Precision Preparations Motorsports Owner Cal Wells, who
signed McDonald's and Tide as primary sponsors for his BGN
and Winston Cup cars, respectively. Poole writes that "some
fans still consider Wells something of a corporate raider,"
as McDonald's and Tide ended long-term deals with the rides
of Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd to sponsor Wells' teams.
Wells: "The biggest upheaval [in NASCAR fan loyalty] in the
past five years has been me with McDonald's and Tide. We
have a very big job ahead of us to win back some of those
loyalists that we lost" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/28).
