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Goodyear Announces Heart of Racing Award

31 July 1998

Goodyear Announces Heart of Racing Award

    INDIANAPOLIS, July 31 -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
today announced the creation -- and the first winner -- of the annual Goodyear
Heart of Racing Award, honoring those in the sport for outstanding displays of
racing heart.
    As Goodyear celebrates its 100th anniversary and its position as No. 1 in
Racing, the company named as recipient of the inaugural Goodyear Heart of
Racing Award, the people of the Daytona International Speedway, represented by
Bill France, president of NASCAR.
    As part of the award, Goodyear Executive Vice President Gene Culler also
included a check for $25,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to
aid the post-fire recovery efforts in central Florida.
    Culler recalled events that led to the nomination of the Daytona
International Speedway as the winner noting that when "the smoke from Florida
wildfires hung over the Daytona track like a dark cloud on the Fourth of July
weekend, a ray of hope came when track officials postponed the roar of NASCAR
thunder to transform the track into a command post to assist the fire-fighting
efforts in central Florida.
    "Speedway-owned fire trucks and more than 80 employees from the Daytona
track, the International Speedway Corporation and NASCAR went to work
supporting those battling the fires.  They postponed the race and put the
community ahead of themselves to focus on the relief effort.
    "The need for relief help continues," Culler said.  In a television
commercial that will be seen by millions of racing fans during Saturday's
Brickyard 400, Culler will appeal to others to help however they can in
rebuilding the affected areas.
    The Goodyear Heart of Racing Award recipients in the future will be voted
upon by members of the racing media, to honor the individual or group for the
most outstanding display of racing heart.