Thatsracin.com Opens to Sell NASCAR-related Merchandise
30 September 1998
Thatsracin.com Opens Online Store Selling NASCAR-related Merchandise
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Sept. 30, 1998--Stock car racing fans can now shop online and browse racing-related classified ads at thatsracin.com, the premier independent web site covering NASCAR.
For online shoppers, the new That's Racin' Store features products from Motorsports by Mail, the country's leading direct marketer of NASCAR-related merchandise.
The new store is accessible on the World Wide Web from the homepage of thatsracin.com.
"We have been very pleased with the tremendous response to our That's Racin' site, and we are excited to be able to offer our thousands of users in North America and overseas the convenience of online shopping. We are also very happy to be able to provide the wide selection of high quality merchandise from the Motorsports by Mail catalog," said Dick van Halsema, director of new media at the Charlotte Observer. The Observer, long recognized for its outstanding coverage of NASCAR, is the parent company of thatsracin.com.
"Electronic commerce will be an integral part of our company's long-term presence on the Internet. With the That's Racin' Store and online classifieds, we are leveraging our strong content franchise to create e-commerce services for our customers," van Halsema added.
Thatsracin.com provides independent, daily news coverage of NASCAR racing, produced by reporters and photographers from the Charlotte Observer and its sister Knight Ridder newspapers, as well as other papers in racing cities. In addition to its news coverage, the website includes fan participation features, a free fantasy racing game, contests, weekly fan polls, and an online forum and chat.
Motorsports by Mail produces the largest motorsports apparel and merchandise catalog four times yearly with the best selection of product for the racing enthusiast. The catalog includes favorite drivers and sponsors from NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch Grand National, and Craftsman Truck series, as well as Ford and Chevrolet Racing and Winston Drag Racing.
With the free classified ads on thatsracin.com, NASCAR fans can search for bargains in 16 racing-related categories, including racecars, engines, tickets, collectibles, and more. Fans and vendors can place a free ad directly online simply be clicking the Classified button at the thatsracin.com site and following the simple instructions.
Charlotte.com and thatsracin.com/store are part of the Real Cities network (www.realcities.com), a group of more than 40 Web sites. Twenty-nine are comprehensive city-resource Web sites and 15 are specialty content sites. Knight Ridder New Media, developer of Real Cities, is a leader in interactive information delivery located in San Jose, Calif. Knight Ridder, headquartered in San Jose, is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets.
