CART Bolsters Local Presence by Hiring John Bailey & Associates Inc.
24 January 2000
CART Bolsters Local Presence by Hiring John Bailey & Associates Inc.TROY, Mich., Jan. 24 -- Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) has retained the services of Troy-based public relations firm John Bailey & Associates Inc. for the 2000 FedEx Championship Series. John Bailey & Associates is one of nine agencies hired nationally to increase CART's presence in targeted North American race markets. John Bailey & Associates will be responsible for public relations endeavors related to the Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit (June 18), Molson Indy Toronto (July 16) and Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota (July 23) in Brooklyn, Mich. "We are very excited to be affiliated with an organization as storied and distinguished as CART," said John Bailey, president of John Bailey & Associates. "Motorsports has the fastest-growing fan base of any spectator sport in the world, with an estimated 35 million open-wheel race fans in the United States. Our goal is to increase CART's exposure in our particular region and introduce thousands of potential new fans to this super-charged race series." Bailey said his agency will promote its three designated races through localized special events and pre-event media relations campaigns. These endeavors are meant to introduce the media and public to the drivers and teams who live life in the fast lane. "As we look to grow CART in 2000, one of the core challenges is to help compel our fans to become more active and involved in our racing," said Ronald G. Richards, vice president of communications at CART. "We believe the race market-specific program we are putting in place will effectively build our presence with fans in our core race markets and throughout North America in 2000 and beyond." By hiring John Bailey & Associates, CART has contracted the services of one of Detroit's top public relations firms. John Bailey & Associates represents numerous automotive-related companies, including Hyundai Motor America, Delphi Automotive Systems, Tenneco Automotive, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Sverdrup Technology, Inc. The firm also represents many non-automotive clients as well, such as Sprint PCS, St. John Health Systems, SelectCare, Kelly Services and Kmart. Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. owns, operates and markets the FedEx Championship Series, which, in 2000, is comprised of 20 races in five countries on four continents. Champions Juan Montoya, Michael Andretti and Jimmy Vasser are among the drivers who battle for the series title on oval circuits as well as temporary and permanent road courses. CART also owns and operates its top two development series -- the Dayton Indy Lights Championship and the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Learn more about CART's open-wheel racing series at http://www.cart.com