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Road America Now Hosts the Motorola 220

5 February 2000

Road America Now Hosts the Motorola 220

    SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--Feb. 4, 2000--Motorola Inc. has again displayed its commitment to U.S. sports and the FedEx Championship Series by signing as the primary sponsor of this year's Motorola 220 to be run at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. on August 17-20.
    The event will be the 14th-round of the FedEx Championship Series and is extremely vital as teams race head-to-head towards Champ Car's 2000 series trophy.
    The sponsorship at Elkhart Lake supports Motorola's existing naming rights deal for the Motorola 300 at the Gateway International Raceway in St Louis (round 18) on September 15-17 and of the PacWest Racing Group.
    The electronics giant will be represented at every round of the FedEx Championship Series this year by Englishman Mark Blundell in the No. 18 Motorola-Mercedes-Benz-Reynard that is prepared at the PacWest shop in Indianapolis.
    "Many experts believe Elkhart Lake is one of the really great race tracks of the world and it is with pleasure that we have signed this deal," said Joe Guglielmi, Motorola's Executive Vice President and President of Integrated Electronic Systems Sector (IESS).
    "Champ Car racing is an excellent proving ground for Motorola's embedded electronics.
    "Our involvement in Champ Car and the FedEx Series also allows us to demonstrate the personal benefits of our wireless communication products to millions of enthusiastic auto racing fans around the world."
    Motorola, which has had an involvement with auto racing beginning in 1937, is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of automotive electronics and provides DigitalDNA(TM) technology which has become vital to all participating Champ Car teams.
    Motorola has had a direct association with Champ Car Racing for the past 10 years and is the official "Wireless Equipment Supplier of CART and the FedEx Championship Series."
    Motorola wireless equipment helps keep safety workers, medical personnel, teams, drivers and the CART operations team in constant communication.
    Blundell, who put his Reynard on the front row in 1997, is excited at having the chance of collecting a new-look trophy at Elkhart Lake in August.
    "There is no doubt that Road America is a very special place and a circuit at which I feel very much at home because it is so similar to the European tracks on which I learned to race," said Blundell.
    "I hope to have a couple of wins under my belt by the time we get to Elkhart Lake this year, but it would certainly be nice to win the first ever Motorola 220.
    "Motorola has been a fantastic supporter of motorsports, and the FedEx Series in particular, for many years and I think they have the chance to develop something terrific at Road America."
    The president and general manager of Road America, George Bruggenthies, is delighted to welcome Motorola as a partner at his circuit.
    "Elkhart Lake is a special place and we're committed to making the annual Motorola 220 one of the really great races in the series," said Bruggenthies. "It's possible that spectators will see the next CART champion decided at Road America in August."
    Elkhart Lake hosted its first CART race back in 1982 and the 50-lap contest became the only race win by Hector Rebaque in a March-Cosworth.
    Motorola, Inc. is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1999 were $30.9 billion.