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NASCAR WCUP: Crew Chief Club Announces Three Partnerships

14 January 1999

HARRISBURG, N.C. - It's been said that two's company but three's a crowd. In certain instances that may be true, but not for the Crew Chief Club. In this case, it's their magic number.

The Crew Chief Club has announced partnerships with three major companies in NASCAR to broaden their commitment to providing fans within an insider's look behind shop walls and into the confines of the NASCAR garage area. After being announced in April of 1998, the Crew Chief Club has focused on providing fans with these insights through a variety of interviews, chat sessions and stories on its website. Now with a year under its belt, the Crew Chief Club has come out of the gate running into its sophomore year, as Racing Champions, Electronic Arts and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company have each signed the Crew Chief Club to multi-year partnerships. These relationships will not only expand the already solid existence each company has within the NASCAR arena, but will also provide fans with a more in-depth look into America's fastest growing sport.

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR COLLECTION

Racing Champions, a leading producer of racing-related memorabilia, has signed a three-year agreement with the Crew Chief Club to provide trackside merchandising sales at each NASCAR Winston Cup Series venue.

Racing Champions will have the exclusive use of the Crew Chief Club logo for apparel, die-casts, trading cards and generic hard goods. In addition, founding Crew Chief Club members Jimmy Makar, Larry McReynolds, Todd Parrott and Robin Pemberton will continue to participate in autograph sessions on a variety of Winston Cup race weekends.

"I've really enjoyed the autograph sessions because of the time we're able to spend with the fans," said Pemberton, crew chief for Rusty Wallace. "We work hard so that we can race hard, and sometimes we become so focused on what we're doing with our race teams, that we take for granted the packed grandstands every week. Simply talking with fans, signing their hats or whatever, really makes my job more enjoyable."

CREW CHIEF CLUB TO SET-UP CARS IN CYBERSPACE

Electronic Arts (EA), under its brand name of EA SPORTS, has signed a three- year partnership with the Crew Chief Club to expand the success of its NASCAR product line. This line includes the NASCAR 99 video game and NASCAR Revolution PC racing game set to ship on Tues., Feb. 16. EA SPORTS is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world.

EA products will have the exclusive rights to the Crew Chief Club logo and personalities within its NASCAR-based interactive racing products. The founding members will review these products and provide feedback and recommendations as to how to make the products as realistic as possible.

Makar, McReynolds, Parrott and Pemberton will also provide audio and video assistance to video gamers as they play the NASCAR-based games.

"The EA SPORTS games are so realistic when it comes to the look and action of a NASCAR race," said Makar, crew chief for Bobby Labonte, "that it's only fitting for EA SPORTS to want to take that realism up a notch. In addition to driving today's race-cars in the game, the fans will be able to have a real crew chief talk them through the preparation of their race-car. This is going to give the fans an even more in-depth view of the sport."

GOODYEAR EXPECTS GOOD YEAR WITH CREW CHIEF CLUB

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has begun an alliance with the Crew Chief Club to help build excitement for it's long-standing involvement with NASCAR among its retailers.

Goodyear, number one in tires, will be sponsoring the Pit Crew Challenge for participating retailers at select racing venues with members of the Crew Chief Club serving as judges. Area Goodyear retailers will bring a "pit crew", consisting of a jack-man, two tire changers and a gas-man, to the competition where they will perform a two-tire change.

The winning team will each become a crew member for the day with the Winston Cup teams of Makar, McReynolds, Parrott and Pemberton.

"Goodyear has always been an important part of this sport," said McReynolds, crew chief for Mike Skinner. "I'm excited about getting to meet their retailers through this program and being able to show them what goes into our jobs and how closely our jobs are related. This is a great program for Goodyear and I think we're going to have a lot of fun with them."

Fans will be able to access the latest information on Racing Champions, EA SPORTS, Goodyear and the Crew Chief Club by logging on to www.crewchiefclub.com. The Crew Chief Club website will contain the latest news and information on collectibles and apparel; interactive racing products; all Pit Crew Challenge events; and upcoming Winston Cup events. Additionally, fans can check out the linking website of Racing Champions at www.racingchamps.com; EA SPORTS at www.ea.com; and Goodyear at www.goodyear.com.

"The relationships we're building around the Crew Chief Club," said Parrott, crew chief for Dale Jarrett, "are giving the most important people - the fans - the opportunity to get a closer view of this exciting sport. They don't get to see what goes on during the week, but through the autograph sessions, the video game, the Pit Crew Challenge and the website, fans will be able to get a bigger picture of the sport. I'm looking forward to 1999 with the Crew Chief Club."

Makar, McReynolds, Parrott and Pemberton founded the Crew Chief Club in 1998, with the goal being to provide fans with an insider's look behind shop walls and into the confines of the NASCAR garage area. Together with its marketing partners, Crew Chief Club members will be accessible to fans at races and special events, in the media and on the world wide web at www.crewchiefclub.com, prominently displaying their dedication to their drivers, their teams and their sport.

Founded in 1989, Racing Champions is a leading producer and marketer of collectibles available at more than 20,000 retail outlets throughout North America. The company is best known for its extensive line of officially licensed die-cast replicas from the five most popular U.S. racing series, including NASCAR. With the completion of its Wheels Sports Group acquisition, Racing Champions now also markets and distributes officially licensed NASCAR merchandise including trading cards, apparel and other products through all channels, including: national and regional mass retail; hobby distributors; grocery, convenience and other specialty retail stores; trackside at racing events; direct to consumers and premium programs with corporate clients. Information on Racing Champions and its product lines can be found at www.racingchamps.com on the Internet.

EA SPORTS is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles include FIFA Soccer, John Madden Football, NHL Hockey, NBA Live Basketball, PGA TOUR Golf, Triple Play Baseball and NASCAR 99. Electronic Arts, headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of $909 million for fiscal 1998. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and advanced entertainment systems. Electronic Arts markets its products under seven brand names: Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, Maxis, Origin Systems Inc., Bullfrog Productions Ltd., Westwood Studios and Jane's Combat Simulations. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, Origin Systems, Bullfrog, Maxis, EA SPORTS, Westwood Studios, John Madden Football and Triple Play Baseball are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. NBA, NHL, FIFA, PGA TOUR and NASCAR are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are used under license. Jane's is a registered trademark of Jane's Information Group Ltd. Nintendo 64 is a trademark of Nintendo of America Inc. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, is North America's number one tiremaker and one of the world's leading manufacturers of tire and rubber products. Goodyear sales in 1997 were more than $13 billion and the company manufactures products in plants in the United States and 30 other countries.