Cellular One from Dobson Cellular Systems Takes NASCAR to Alaska; Five Day Event Features Joe Nemechek.

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NORTH POLE, Alaska--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2002

With the town mayor in tow and the president of the chamber of commerce running crowd control, NASCAR literally took over North Pole, Alaska (population 1,619) earlier this week during a special five-day event hosted by Busch Grand National Sponsor Cellular One from Dobson Cellular Systems.

Locals who lined up in mass to meet racing veteran Joe Nemechek and get a glimpse of the #87 Cellular One Monte Carlo say they can't remember the last time something this big came to this small hamlet 140 miles south of the Arctic Circle in the Tanana River Valley.

"It's almost overwhelming to be received so warmly," Nemechek said after Mayor Jeff Jacobson presented him the key to the city. "NASCAR fans are special because they are loyal. This is just one more indication of how universal the sport has become."

With the North Pole Boys and Girls Club leading the way, residents lined the streets to see Nemechek lead a special NASCAR parade past Cellular One's newest location on St. Nicholas Drive down Santa Claus Lane. Local stock car drivers followed behind towing their cars with the North Pole Fire Department rounding out the end of the parade.

Then it was on to a private dinner for contest winners - the hottest ticket in town - before a late night stop at a local watering hole called "The Refinery" where Nemechek signed a cut out of himself that will be added to the bar's NASCAR shrine.

"You can tell how much we love NASCAR," the owner of the bar beamed in front of a wall jammed with racing memorabilia, "I never would have imagined we'd get an actual NASCAR driver to come here!"

Also on the agenda for Nemechek was an early morning visit to Delta Junction Schools where he helped Cellular One award the 500-student district 50 wireless phones as part of the ClassLink program.

ClassLink is an initiative of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) in cooperation with Nokia phones and local wireless providers - in this case Cellular One from Dobson Cellular Systems. Nokia donates the phones and Cellular One provides the airtime for teachers to communicate with each other, administrators and parents as well as during emergencies.

Nemechek signed more than 500 autographs during his brief two hour visit to the school and took questions ranging from "How does it feel to drive that fast?" to "What's the worst you've ever been injured?"

"This is cool," Nemechek said as he left the school on the way to an autograph session back in North Pole, "It's been a great day already."

By the time his party arrived back at the Cellular One store, two lines snaked around both sides of the building. Mothers with children, entire classes of elementary school students and soldiers from nearby Fort Wainright Army Post and Eielson Air Force Base waited for an autographed from the man who captured the Busch Grand National Championship in 1992 and who has raced for Cellular One in the series the last three years.

"We wanted to do something special for the people of North Pole to show them how proud we are to be in their community," said Craig Davis, public relations manager for Cellular One from Dobson Cellular Systems. "We've used our NASCAR sponsorship in a lot of different ways, but I don't think we've ever generated as much excitement as we have here in Alaska. It took a lot of coordination to make this happen, including a 4,000 mile trip by our showcar, but based on the excitement we've seen these last few days, it was well worth it."

In addition to the events in North Pole, Fairbanks and Delta Junction, Cellular One will send its showcar on to Juneau and Ketchikan.

Cellular One is a licensed trade name of Dobson Cellular Systems, a leading provider of telecommunication services operating markets in 17 states.

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