1998 Goodyear Racing Attendance Report Statistics

21 January 1999

                   (see comparison chart that follows text)

    AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 20 -- Auto racing attendance in North
America again demonstrated overall growth in 1998, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company announced today.  Despite the inclement weather that negatively
impacted racing across the country, the sport still broke its 1997 attendance
record by surpassing the 17 million spectator mark and increasing 1.3 percent
over 1997, according to estimated figures compiled annually by the company.
    In 1998, 17,079,004 fans filled race track grandstands, suites and
infields to watch racing action in the 12 North American racing series that
Goodyear monitors.  The figure is up from 16,861,291 in 1997.
    For nearly three decades, Goodyear has published its Annual Racing
Attendance Report as a barometer of motorsports' growing popularity.  Over the
course of 27 years of compiling, analyzing and distributing this information,
Goodyear's report has grown with racing in popularity and today is viewed by
nearly all audiences, including the media, sanctioning bodies and fans, as the
credible source of estimated attendance figures for the racing industry.
    Given the continually increasing complexity of measuring individual race
attendance and obtaining consistent attendance figures from sanctioning
bodies, race promoters, race tracks and the media, this year's report is the
last attendance report Goodyear will publish.
    "The decision to cease publication of this report was certainly not an
easy one to make," said Stu Grant, Goodyear's general manager of worldwide
racing.  "As a result of racing's steadily increasing profile in the business
world, attendance estimates have a significant impact on race teams,
motorsports corporations, tracks, sanctioning bodies, drivers, sponsors and
countless other audiences involved in the sport and business of racing.
    "While Goodyear will remain the number one supplier of race tires in the
U.S., we believe the sanctioning bodies themselves are in the best position to
provide future attendance estimates," Grant said.
    Attendance figures are compiled from official sanctioning body statistics,
track numbers, Goodyear racing reports and other sources.  The attendance
figures serve only as estimates, as it is very difficult to gather exact
numbers, given the complexity of measuring individual race attendance.  All
figures represent weekend totals.
    "Despite extreme wet weather conditions causing some race cancellations
and affecting practice and qualifying day attendance, racing continued to grow
steadily overall in 1998," Grant said.  "In 1997 we saw an exceptional rise in
overall attendance due to the significant increase in tracks and event dates.
The 1998 increase is more conservative, due to minimal changes in track venues
and event dates as well as inclement weather."
    Once again, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
Winston Cup series drew the largest audience, up 3.4 percent from 1997.  Jeff
Gordon, the youngest-ever, three-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion, dominated
NASCAR's 50th anniversary season before a record 6,301,027 fans, pushing
capacity at 33 points events.  Gordon captured his third NASCAR Winston Cup
championship in four years, thwarting a valiant effort by Mark Martin.  Track
seating expansion and renovation enabled NASCAR's loyal fans to attend events
in record numbers.
    The Championship Auto Racing Team's (CART) Fedex Championship Series saw a
season of attendance growth in 1998, even though rain impacted 37 percent of
its events on the four continents the series visited.  The addition of two
races, in Motegi, Japan, and in Houston, helped propel weekend attendance
estimates to 2,529,995, an increase of 1.6 percent over 1997.  CART will
continue to expand its reach and exposure in 1999 when its Champ Cars race at
the newly constructed Chicago Motor Speedway in the third largest metropolitan
statistical area in the United States.
    The National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) 22 sanctioned events drew
2,204,194 drag racing fans who witnessed a 1998 season decorated with records
and milestones.  This represents a 1.6 percent increase in total attendance,
while averaging 100,191 fans per race.  Gary Scelzi broke the elapsed time and
speed quarter-mile records, with 4.525 seconds and 326.44 mph respectively, en
route to defending his Top Fuel title.  John Force captured the Funny Car
title for the sixth straight year, while breaking the quarter-mile speed
record with a 323.89 mph run.
    The NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division, showed one of the most
significant attendance increases over 1997, growing 8.2 percent.  The series
expanded its schedule by one race in 1998, adding Pike's Peak International
Raceway to the schedule.  A total of 2,102,000 fans watched in a historic
season that saw Dale Earnhardt, Jr. capture the title in his inaugural NASCAR
Busch Series campaign.  NASCAR's enhanced commitment to growth and expansion
for the series positions it for increased success.
    The World of Outlaws Series (WoO) was forced to cancel seven races due to
rain in 1998, dropping its event completion total from a planned 72 to
65 races.  However, the series still experienced a strong following, averaging
2,284 more spectators per event than in 1997, while the rain-shortened
season's attendance dropped 1.7% to 1,575,200.  Fifteen-time series champion
Steve Kinser became the first to win both driver and owner titles in the same
season.
    The Indy Racing League (IRL) expanded its schedule from eight to 11 races
in 1998, adding Charlotte, N.C., Dover, Del. and Texas.  The expanded schedule
eased the reduction in days of the IRL's marquee event, the Indianapolis 500,
which was reduced from three to two weeks.  The resulting overall attendance
of 1,291,653 dropped 4.1 percent from 1997.  Series Champion Kenny Brack set
an IRL record by winning three consecutive events.  The IRL will maintain its
11-race schedule in 1999 while adding a second date at Pikes Peak
International Raceway, and maintaining its strength at lucrative venues.
    The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) NTB Trans-Am Series increased its
attendance by 23 percent in 1998.  The season included achievements such as:
Paul Gentilozzi's first Trans-Am Drivers' Championship, the record number of
drivers who contested the entire 13-race championship, as well as modern-era
marks in narrowest margin of victory and single-event entries among the 20 new
on-track performance records.
    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continued to grow its fan base in 1998
with 938,775 fans attending the season's 27 races, up 2.0 percent over 1997.
The series provided one of the closest championship battles in racing as Ron
Hornaday edged Jack Sprague by a mere three points.  Its mid-season switch,
incorporating pit stops and eliminating half-time during races, enhanced race
action and drew widespread approval from fans and broadcasters.
    In its 30th anniversary season, the American Speed Association (ASA)
continued its consistent growth, with attendance up 2.8 percent from 1997,
while maintaining its 20-race schedule.  The average attendance was up by
813 spectators.  Gary St. Amant captured the championship before a record
597,062 total fans throughout the 1998 season.
    The Professional Sports Car Racing's (SPORTS CAR) GT and World Sports Cars
series reduced the 1998 schedule from 11 to eight events, decreasing overall
attendance by 43.1 percent.  Undeterred by 1998's extreme weather and shifted
race dates which hampered attendance, SPORTS CAR is poised to grow its premier
World Sports Car and GT series as they fold into the American Le Mans Series
for an eight-race schedule in 1999.  Television rights deals with NBC and
CNBC, as well as major market promotional efforts held in conjunction with
each event, will enhance the series' long-term growth and stability.
    The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), under new ownership and
management, targeted 1998 as a rebuilding year to enhance its relations with
fans, sponsors and tracks.  The IHRA grew significantly with regard to
membership, contingency dollars and sanctioned tracks, setting the stage for
growth.  In an effort to achieve accuracy in attendance compilation, the IHRA
revised its procedures for 1998.  For comparison purposes, had the new
procedure been utilized in 1997, the attendance grid would show an increase of
22.1% over 1997's actual attendance.
    The International Race of Champions' (IROC) four-race schedule showed a
dramatic increase with 401,802 spectators, up from 327,000 in 1997, due
largely to running a race for the first time at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway during NASCAR Winston Cup's Brickyard 400 weekend.
     "Increased television coverage for all racing series continues to elevate
racing's status and drive its growth.  Racing has become one of the most
formidable sports in the world, as witnessed by its presence on television, in
print, on radio, on the Internet, on Wall Street and by the continued
escalation of sponsor dollars and fans that help boost the sport.  Goodyear is
proud to be a part of that growth from the beginning and through its evolution
as a premier sport worldwide," concluded Grant.
    Goodyear's commitment to auto racing is unequaled by any other tire
company in the world.  On any given weekend, at any number of places, Goodyear
Eagle racing tires compete in stock cars, open wheel cars and drag racing,
trucks, sports cars, sprints and off-road venues.  No other tire company in
the world competes in as many races as Goodyear -- or wins as many
championships.

      1997-1998 MAJOR AUTO RACING SERIES ATTENDANCE COMPARISON ESTIMATES

              RACE   TOTAL       AVG.    RACE    TOTAL      AVG.    ATTENDANCE
             DATES ATTENDANCE ATTENDANCE DATES ATTENDANCE ATTENDANCE GAIN/LOSS
              1998   1998*      1998      1997    1997*     1997     1997-1998

    SANCTIONING
      BODY AND
      CAR TYPE
    NASCAR
      WINSTON
      CUP STOCK
      CARS       33  6,301,027  190,940     32   6,091,356  190,355      3.4%
    CART CHAMP
      CARS       19  2,529,995  133,157     17   2,491,050  146,532      1.6%
    NHRA DRAG
      CARS       22  2,204,194  100,191     22   2,168,481   98,567      1.6%
    NASCAR GRAND
      NATIONAL
      STOCK
      CARS       31  2,102,000   67,807     30   1,942,750   64,758      8.2%
    WoO SPRINT
      CARS       65  1,575,200   24,233     73   1,602,300   21,949     (1.7%)
    IRL INDY
      CARS****   11  1,291,653  117,423      8   1,347,000  168,375     (4.1%)
    SCCA TRANS-
      AM CARS    13  1,136,834   87,449     13     924,417   71,109       23%
    NASCAR
      TRUCKS     27    938,775   34,769     26     920,367   35,399        2%
    ASA STOCK
      CARS       20    597,062   29,853     20     580,800   29,040      2.8%
    IROC STOCK
      CARS        4    401,802  100,451      4     327,000   81,750     22.9%
    SPORTS CAR    8    293,969   36,746     11     517,251   47,022    (43.1%)
    IHRA DRAG
      CARS***    10    227,873   22,787      9     387,164   43,018    (41.1%)
    GRAND TOTALS
      FOR NORTH
      AMERICA** 235 17,079,004   70,825    230  16,861,291   73,310      1.3%

    * Figures are estimates compiled from Goodyear Racing Division race
    reports, event promoters, official sanctioning body statistics and other
    sources.  Total event attendance includes practice and qualifying days.
    Overall, totals were hampered by the uncharacteristically high incidence
    of rain throughout the 1998 season.

    ** Attendance and dates for multi-race events counted only once in grand
    totals.

    *** The IHRA's new ownership revised its procedures for attendance
    tabulation in 1998.
    ****  The Indianapolis 500 was reduced from three to two weeks in 1998.

    ASA = AMERICAN SPEED ASSOCIATION            NASCAR = NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
                                                  FOR STOCK CAR AUTO RACING
    CART = CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS       NHRA = NATIONAL HOT ROD
                                                  ASSOCIATION
    IHRA = INTERNATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION    SPORTS CAR = PROFESSIONAL
                                                  SPORTS CAR RACING, INC.
    IRL = INDY RACING LEAGUE                    WOO = WORLD OF OUTLAWS
    IROC = INTERNATIONAL RACE OF CHAMPIONS      SCCA = SPORTS CAR CLUB OF
                                                  AMERICA

    Figures are not released for individual tracks.  Race demographics and
    television ratings are not available from Goodyear.  This chart and its
    explanation release are available online at:  http://www.goodyear.com