Mopar Sponsors Drag City
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series News Release MOPAR TO SPONSOR DRAG CITY CENTER LINE, Mich. (Jan. 29, 2003) -- Development of southern California's first professional drag racing facility in 30 years is progressing rapidly. City officials from Banning, California have given their approval. Engineers are on site and grading equipment will be moving soon. Racers and fans are enthusiastically waiting for the gates to open. But one very important piece of the puzzle was still missing .... until today. Mopar has announced that they have signed a multiyear deal with Drag City that will give them the title rights to the facility, which will now be called "Mopar Drag City." A new Mopar Drag City logo will be unveiled soon. "We are just ecstatic about sponsoring Mopar Drag City," said Christine Cortez, Senior Vice President - Mopar Global Service and Parts. "Mopar Drag City, with all its elements, allow us the opportunity to not only stay in touch with the traditional hot rodders, but also exposes the Mopar brand to a new, younger generation of racers, something we clearly think is important." Mopar Drag City founder and developer, Andy Marocco said, "We are excited about working with Mopar because of their drag racing heritage, and their sincere interest in our vision of a 'racer's' track. With the support of Mopar, we have a tremendous opportunity to resurrect the southern California drag racing scene to its former glory." Upon completion, Mopar Drag City, an NHRA-sanctioned facility, will be a "professional" quarter-mile drag strip that will include a media center, performance testing facility, permanent food concessions, family restrooms and a picnic area. Mopar Drag City will become a new source of pride for the city of Banning and southern California. Economists predict that once the facility is fully operational, it will have a $35 million annual impact on the local economy. "With 20 million people living within 100 miles of Mopar Drag City," explained Kevin Miller, Senior Manager - Mopar Brand Excitement, "it's easy to understand the importance and significance of supporting a safe place to race for southern California drag racers." Racing will begin at Mopar Drag City sometime this summer, while the track's first professional event is the season ending, Mopar-sponsored NOPI Race Wars World Finals, set for October 18 and 19. For tickets and information regarding Mopar Drag City, call (909) 874-5198, or take a virtual drag at www.mopardragcity.com. -mopardragcity.com- Contact: Steve Brown J.R. Thompson Company (248) 553-4566 sbrown@jrthompson.com David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile