Tickets for this weekend's Brickyard 400 "have sold so
well that fans and brokers hoping for a last-minute seat
purchase to the NASCAR race have been left scrambling,"
according to Kevin O'Neal of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS.
The Brickyard 400 has the largest attendance of any Winston
Cup race, from 280,000 to 315,000, "depending on your source
for the number of permanent seats" at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. Tickets for the race range from $30 for infield
bleachers to $125 for Penthouse seats (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-
NEWS, 8/1). A NASCAR autograph session Tuesday night at the
RCA Dome drew 24,000 people, as fans "lined up all around
the building" (Steve Crowe, DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/31).
TOUTING THE TAURUS: The Taurus was "officially
introduced Wednesday as Ford's replacement for the
Thunderbird" for the '98 Winston Cup season, according to
Tom McCollister of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. McCollister
reports that the Taurus will be the first four-door car in
NASCAR racing in over 40 years, and "the first ever on a
full-time basis." A total of 21 NASCAR teams use Ford,
including Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/31). In Indianapolis, Bill Koenig
wrote that the news "comes at a time when the Taurus, the
country's best-selling car from" '92-96, "may get knocked
off its perch." Through June, Ford sold 177,931 Tauruses
while Toyota sold 206,486 Camry sedans (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-
NEWS, 7/31). Taurus Marketing Manager Torrey Galida:
"NASCAR is going to help people think differently about
Taurus." TV ads focusing on Taurus' racing involvement
will debut this fall (DETROIT NEWS, 7/31).
