Motorola Expands NASCAR Involvement
21 October 2000
Motorola Expands NASCAR Involvement Communications Company to Sponsor NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Finale FONTANA, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2000) -- Motorola, the "Official Communications Company of NASCAR," will support the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season finale Oct. 28 at California Speedway. The Motorola 200, held in conjunction with the Oct. 29 Marlboro 500 presented by Toyota CART FedEx Championship Series event, marks the first time Motorola has held title sponsorship of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. "California Speedway is one of the most beautiful tracks in the country," said Greg Via, vice president and director of corporate sponsorship marketing for Motorola. "Not only is this the last event on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule, Southern California is a key market for our consumer products." The Motorola 200 marks the first NASCAR event sponsored by Motorola, but the company has played an integral part in NASCAR for many years. Every Winston Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series team relies on Motorola products to facilitate communication among drivers and crews. Fans, too, benefit from Motorola's communication technology via Racing Radios which supply race fans with Motorola radios at every NASCAR and CART race. "California, and Los Angeles specifically, are very good markets for Motorola's communications and embedded electronics businesses," said Tom Crawford, Motorola's director of corporate sponsorship marketing. "This weekend's combination of the Craftsman Truck Series and CART FedEx Championship Series final events will provide an exciting platform to entertain our guests and promote our brand to a large number of enthusiastic auto racing fans." Earlier this year, Motorola announced its long-term sponsorship of NASCAR as "Official Communications Company" including status as official cellular phone, pager, two-way radio and cable modem of NASCAR. Motorola also serves as the primary sponsor of the No. 19 Motorola Evernham Motorsports team with driver Casey Atwood in three NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in 2000. The international communications company has been involved in a variety of motor sports as early as 1937. Virtually all Motorola products are used in auto racing, from DigitalDNA(tm) technology represented by embedded electronics in Champ Cars, to integrated communications solutions such as two-way radios, cellular phones and pagers that enable teams and drivers to communicate efficiently. In addition to its involvement in NASCAR, Motorola is an official sponsor of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the No. 39 Team Motorola Honda with driver Michael Andretti in the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season.