Mopar Names Grand Marshal for Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals

Mopar Motorsports
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals
July 18-21, 2002
Bandimere Speedway ‹ Morrison, Colo.
NHRA Storylines

WEEKEND TELEVISION: (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
QUALIFYING:    Sat., July 20; 7-9 p.m.; ESPN
FINAL ROUND:    Sun., July 21; 6­9 p.m.; ESPN2
REPEAT:    Tues., July 23; 2-4 p.m.; ESPN2

Mopar Announces Special Grand Marshal
ŒRace to Read¹ Program Tackles Denver-Area Illiteracy

MORRISON, Colo. (July 10, 2002) -- The lessons that Mopar¹s drag racing
engineers learn can occur in just 4.80 seconds. The lessons that Denver-area
children learn from Bandimere Speedway¹s ŒRace to Read¹ program last a
lifetime.

Mopar Parts, long-time supporter of Bandimere Speedway, has selected ŒRace
to Read¹ program director Tami Shrader as Grand Marshal for the 23rd annual
Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals on July 18-21. Shrader, who is the daughter
of Bandimere Speedway owner John Bandimere, also serves as the track¹s
public relations director. In addition, 15 of the Œtop readers¹ of the ŒRace
to Read¹ program and their parents will be in attendance to celebrate the
occasion.

³This is such a great honor,² Shrader said. ³The children are so excited to
be here. Each of them have already received their tickets. We can¹t thank
Mopar enough for all the support they lend Bandimere Speedway and the
surrounding community. This program has received a great deal of positive
feed back from area schools and we hope that it only grows from here.²

The program, started by Shrader in 1995, is a six-week, incentive-based,
race-themed reading curriculum serving Denver-area elementary schools and
students. Rooney Ranch Elementary School in Lakewood, Colo., was the first
to participate in the ŒRace to Read¹ program seven years ago. The program
had served 18 schools by 1999 and 35 schools in 2002; and currently helps
nearly 17,000 children tackle illiteracy.

³I couldn¹t think of a better way to reach our neighbors,² John Bandimere
said. ³ŒRace to Read¹ has been a tremendous positive for the track and our
community. It focuses on goal setting, and gives children rewards for their
hard work. It also exposes the parents to Bandimere Speedway, and the family
oriented programs we host on a weekly basis.²

Students from kindergarten to second grade are required to read (or be read
to) in 15-minute intervals, while third- through sixth-grade students need
to read in 30-minute intervals. A race-themed, take-home reading sheet
allows K-2 students (primary) four hours and 3-6 students (intermediate)
eight hours of additional reading. To finish the ŒRace to Read¹ curriculum,
primary students have to complete 16 hours and intermediate students have to
complete 32 hours of additional reading. A prize is awarded for each
take-home reading sheet completed.

³The ŒRace to Read¹ program is unique in many ways,² said Brett Fischer,
DaimlerChrysler Drag Racing program manager. ³The great thing about this
curriculum is that it really helps the students learn. When students finish
this program, they not only know how to read, but they truly enjoy their new
skill. That¹s why the ŒRace to Read¹ program is so effective.

³It also keeps children involved in reading through their elementary school
experience,² Fischer added. ³DaimlerChrysler, Mopar Parts and the Mopar
Parts Denver Service Guild are fully behind this outstanding reading
program.²

In 1999, the ŒRace to Read¹ program won the prestigious Jefferson Foundation
Crystal Globe Award for distinguished service and Jefferson County¹s (Colo.)
Good News-Good Neighbor Coalition Award for contribution to the community.
Recently, the program earned the 2002 Jefferson Economic Council Chairman¹s
Choice Award.

Mopar Parts, the parts arm of the DaimlerChrysler Motors Corp., sponsors
three professional teams and four drivers in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series, including Nitro Funny Car driver Dean Skuza of Skuza Motorsports,
the factory-backed Pro Stock team of Nickens Brothers Racing with drivers
Darrell Alderman and Gene Wilson and the Pro Stock team of Larry Morgan
Racing with driver Larry Morgan.

Mopar NHRA Storylines
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IT¹S PARTY TIME. The historic town of Golden, Colo., will play host to
Mopar¹s inaugural ŒBig Block Party¹ on Thursday night, July 18 from 6-10
p.m., MST. The street festival, which encompasses two blocks of the downtown
area, is highlighted by an autograph session with Mopar¹s factory backed
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series drivers starting at 6:30 p.m., MST.

The event is being held in conjunction with the 23rd annual Mopar Parts
Mile-High Nationals at nearby Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., on July
18-21.

Mopar Parts Pro Stock driver Darrell Alderman, teammate Gene Wilson, Mopar
Parts Pro Stock competitor Larry Morgan and Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T
pilot Dean Skuza will be signing autographs, posing for pictures and talking
with race fans that night.

³We wanted to do something special for the great NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series fans out there,² said Brett Fischer, DaimlerChrysler drag racing
program manager. ³We also wanted to say thank you to all of the loyal racers
out there that win with Mopar Parts and Mopar Performance Parts. There will
be a lot of activities available and it should be a lot of fun for
everyone.²

Monster Truck ŒRaminator¹ and the popular Neon Tuner will be on display,
along with the Mopar-backed compact drag racer ŒPhatRidz Neon.¹ Also in
attendance will be a select group of Dodge concept and specialty vehicles.

Alderman is a three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion and 28-time NHRA
national event winner, while Wilson is the 2001 IHRA Pro Stock World
Champion and a leading candidate for NHRA Pro Stock Rookie of the Year
honors. Veteran driver Larry Morgan has won eight NHRA national events in
the Pro Stock category and Dean Skuza has won two NHRA Funny Car races,
earned three No. 1 qualifiers and is co-host of TNN¹s Popular Hot Rodding
Television.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. The 23rd annual Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals at
Bandimere Speedway marks the one-year anniversary of the Pro Stock Dodge
Neon R/T, which made its debut at last year¹s event.

The Dodge Neon R/T Pro Stock project has accomplished much since its debut.
Despite losing in the second round of last year¹s Mopar Parts Mile-High
Nationals, Mopar Parts driver Darrell Alderman piloted his new Neon to the
quickest elapsed time of the fourth session, while grabbing the
fourth-qualifying position.

The Neon truly dominated the very next race at the newly renamed Pacific
Raceways, just outside Seattle. It was a historic performance with the first
all-Mopar final since the 1995 Winternationals and multiple speed records
broken. Since then, the Hemi-powered Dodge Neon R/T Pro Stock car has
collected an impressive list of accomplishments including two NHRA national
event victories, two No. 1 qualifiers, six final-round appearances and a
national-speed record of 204.35 mph; the only car to eclipse the vaunted
204-mph mark.

With the ever-changing level of competition, the Pro Stock Neon R/T will
have a short lifespan. Mopar engineers are busy working on and developing
the new Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock machine and hope to improve on what they
learned from the Neon project.

³The Neon was really a design study,² DaimlerChrysler Drag Racing Program
Manager Brett Fischer said. ³It¹s not an optimal car. We hadn¹t built a new
Pro Stock car in 10 years and, in racing, that¹s an eternity. So there are a
lot of things that our internal designers had not kept up on because they
hadn¹t designed a Pro Stock car in so long.

³We really used it (Neon project) as an intermediate step between the
Avenger and the new Stratus, which we will be coming out with soon,² Fischer
continued. ³The new Stratus will be a lot more efficient and a lot more
optimized for Pro Stock racing than this Neon is. You just can¹t expect
engineers, that haven¹t been involved in the sport for 10 years, to go out
and design a car that¹s going to be perfect, even though we did a tremendous
job with the Neon. But it¹s still not where we want it to be. It has put us
on par with the other car manufacturers, but in racing, or at least our
philosophy has been, you want to leap frog the competition every chance that
you get. We will do that with the Stratus.

³What we¹re doing with the Stratus Pro Stock car is taking it a step
further. We¹re doing it absolutely the correct way for a large company to
produce a race car.²

-Mopar.com-

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David Harris, Cox Marketing Group
Mopar Motorsports
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com
(704) 799-2114 ­ office
(704) 756-9301 - mobile