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Rent-A-Wreck to Make Winston Cup Debut

5 November 1999

Rent-A-Wreck to Make Winston Cup Debut

    OWINGS MILLS, Md., Nov. 5 -- Rent-A-Wreck of America
(Nasdaq SmallCap: RAWA) announces that its first foray into the Winston Cup
Circuit will be at the inaugural running of the Pennzoil 400, Nov. 12 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
    Rent-A-Wreck will be joining forces with driver Bob Strait and his
experienced pit crew in the No. 61 car.  The race will mark the first ever
running of a Winston Cup race in South Florida, as well as the first NASCAR
race to be televised by NBC.
    The car, a 1999 black Ford Taurus, is part of Mark Thompson's Phoenix Air
Racing team, out of Cartersville, Georgia. Thompson, who also owns the Midway
Island Resort, is a former driver who has competed on the Winston Cup circuit.
He said he was naturally drawn to Rent-A-Wreck.
    "We feel that the marriage is a good one," says Thompson.  "Rent-A-Wreck
appeals to NASCAR fans because NASCAR fans love cars, and they like getting
under the hood and working on them as much as driving them.  Rent-A-Wreck
makes no bones about the fact that its cars are not brand new, and it takes
lots of skill to keep those cars going as good as the new ones.  The cars need
to be in good condition, and that requires skilled mechanics to be behind
them, doing the work under the hood that keeps a car running well.  A NASCAR
fan appreciates that kind of expertise that's crucial in keeping a Rent-A-
Wreck car on the road, and they know that those same skills come into play
when they're favorite driver is speeding around the track at speeds sometimes
pushing 200 miles per hour."
    Of course, most of Rent-A-Wreck's cars are just 3-5 years old and still
run like new.
    Team Rent-A-Wreck will undoubtedly have some hard work ahead of it, with
Strait going head-to-head against such racing heavyweights as Dale Jarrett,
Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.  Meanwhile Rent-A-Wreck will compete at the
corporate level against behemoths like Pepsi, Budweiser, GM and Dupont.
    Rent-A-Wreck is accustomed to playing the role of underdog, prospering for
over 25 years against the likes of Avis and Hertz.  Starting with a single
location more than a quarter century ago near Los Angeles, the company now has
over 500 locations worldwide, establishing itself as the preferred choice of
drivers in need of a replacement vehicle at an affordable price.