Title Sponsors Secured, Promotional Efforts Planned for AMA Superbike Final
24 August 2000
Hansyllan Motorsports is pleased to announce several exciting new sponsors and promotions for the last round of the 2000 AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Championship. This final race of the year, entitled the Coca-Cola AMA Superbike Championship Final presented by Suzuki, is scheduled for September 29-October 1, 2000 at Willow Springs International Raceway near Los Angeles, California. In what is considered a groundbreaking effort, Hansyllan has secured Coca-Cola as a major corporate sponsor for this event, which will cap the most successful season of AMA Superbike racing in the history of the series. "We're incredibly excited to have Coca-Cola as a premier sponsor," commented Dan Mole, one of the event's promoters. "Coca-Cola has recognized that the spectacular growth of Superbike racing is attracting significant numbers of people, enough to make it worth their while to become involved." Mole also said Hansyllan has collaborated with Coca-Cola, AM/PM Mini-marts, and Suzuki Motorcycles to develop a promotion that will include displays in nearly 350 AM/PM stores. The program highlights ticket discount and promotional specials for the 2000 Coca-Cola/AMA/Chevy Trucks Superbike Final at Willow Springs Raceway, and includes a six-bike giveaway for Grand Prize winners. "The AM/PM deal is fantastic," added promoter Stephen Rethmeier. "Suzuki is giving away six brand-new Katana 600 sportbikes as Grand Prizes. The program also features a $5.00 gate ticket discount for buyers of any 32-ounce Powerade, or any 1-liter Coca-Cola product such as Coke, Sprite, or Dasani water." The AM/PM displays will include stores in the Greater Los Angeles, Bakersfield, San Diego, Lancaster/Palmdale, Santa Barbara, Oxnard/Ventura, and San Luis Obispo areas. "We think we've got some incredible coverage with this program," Mole continued. "It targets not only motorcycle enthusiasts, but motorsports fans in general. These displays will be seen by thousands of people. A lot of those people may never have been to a motorcycle road race, which is one of the most thrilling motorsports in the world. By showing how exciting this racing is, we anticipate a great deal of crossover from people who enjoy other forms of motorsports like NASCAR, Formula One, Indy cars, boats, monster trucks, and the like." Rethmeier and Mole commented that the recent AMA Superbike race at California's Laguna Seca International Raceway set a record for being the best-attended motorsports event in that track's history, with nearly 90,000 fans showing up. They believe the growth of motorsports in general, and the current boom in motorcycling, will likely result in a record-breaking crowd for the Willow Springs event as well. "The Willow Springs facility has never been sold out," said Mole. "There's a lot of room there, though, and judging from the way ticket sales have been going, we fully expect to use all of it." This year's AMA racing has been extremely close and exciting, with Honda's 18-year-old young gun Nicky Hayden challenging Suzuki's Mat Mladin for the Superbike crown. And the AMA Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport series has been the most competitive season ever, with Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom and Honda's Kurtis Roberts locked in a two-way battle for the top spot. "These titles won't be decided until the final racing event," Mole observed. "When you combine that level of excitement with the Los Angeles location, a high general interest in motorsports, and strong local promotion, you've got a formula for a tremendously successful event." Mole also commented that the involvement of corporate sponsors like Coca-Cola and AM/PM is unusual for a single event. "Historically, sponsors of this stature have simply not found it worthwhile to become involved in motorcycle racing. We talked to these folks and were able to show them that the exposure was there, and it was just a matter of assembling an effective program. When they saw the way the season was developing, the numbers of people involved, and the way we'd gone about putting together the race at Willow Springs, they agreed. We think this opens the door for more of this kind of high-level sponsorship for future races, and bodes well for the long-term success of motorcycle racing in the United States." The promotion will begin on August 21, 2000 and continue through September 29, 2000. The race weekend will run from September 29-October 1, 2000.