FROM REELS TO WHEELS NASCAR CASHING IN BY PROMOTING MOVIES.Byline: Tim Haddock Staff Writer When Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. wanted to put spider webs on the bases to promote the movie ``Spider-Man 2,'' the outcry from fans led commissioner Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr. (born July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the team owner and administrator of the Milwaukee Brewers. to scrap the idea. The webs never made it on to the bases, but the publicity generated from the controversy probably made up for the indiscretion in·dis·cre·tion n. 1. Lack of discretion; injudiciousness. 2. An indiscreet act or remark. indiscretion Noun 1. the lack of discretion 2. . Still, the message was clear: No one messes with tradition in baseball. It's a different story when NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. is involved. ``Racing is a great place to advertise and fans are very loyal to what's on What's On (Traditional Chinese: 熒幕八爪娛) is a weekly half-hour TV series that airs on Fairchild Television. Format Originally started in 1996, the show is currently the longest-running program in Fairchild Television history. your car and what sponsor you have,'' NASCAR Nextel Cup The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCAR's top racing series. It was formerly known as the Strictly Stock Series (1949), Grand National Series (1950-1971), and the Winston Cup Series (1972-2003). Series rookie driver Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne (born April 10, 1980 in Enumclaw, Washington) is a race car driver in NASCAR's NEXTEL Cup Series. He currently drives the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger/Dodge Avenger for Gillett Evernham Motorsports with teammates Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler. said. ``Why it's not big in baseball, it's just a different thing I guess.'' When Hollywood comes knocking on NASCAR's doors to help promote movies, open arms and wallets await from teams and fans alike. ``Sponsors in general are widely accepted in the eyes of NASCAR fans,'' said Blake Davidson, NASCAR's managing director of licensed products. ``The connection is widely accepted in the sport of NASCAR. A car with no sponsors looks a little funny.'' Just this year, ``The Passion of The Christ,'' ``Shrek 2,'' ``The Punisher'' and ``Shark Tale'' have made their way onto NASCAR Nextel Cup Series cars, literally creating marketing vehicles for movie releases. Kahne will be driving his NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR's "minor league" circuit (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big league" circuit, the Nextel Cup. entry with a ``Shark Tale'' paint scheme in Saturday's California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. race to coincide with the movie's release. ``Shark Tale'' is a DreamWorks animated film with Will Smith, Renee Zellweger and Robert DeNiro. ``We're doing it for four races,'' Kahne said. ``I think Ward Burton is doing it for one race. I haven't seen the movie yet. I've seen some of the previews. It's more of a `Shrek 2' movie. It's pretty cool.'' In last year's California Speedway race, Jamie McMurray drove a Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in NASCAR, IRL, and Grand-Am racing. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. The team is based in Concord, North Carolina, which is a suburb of Charlotte. Dodge with a ``Terminator 3'' paint scheme. Arnold Schwarzenegger participated in the movie hype by being the honorary starter of the race. NASCAR has been making these types of deals for the past few years, bringing movie stars and celebrities together with race teams and tracks. It's been a mutually beneficial partnership, and one that is expected to grow. ``It's a natural progression,'' Davidson said. ``It makes sense from an entertainment standpoint to market to those fans.'' Gaughan drove ``The Punisher'' car in the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, originally known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track located in Bristol, Tennessee. It was constructed in 1960, and held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. in Tennessee. He also attended the movie premiere at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and then made the post-premiere party rounds. ``The billboards are big, not like Indy cars,'' Gaughan said. ``It was one of the best looking cars I've ever driven.'' He will be driving a ``Wizard of Oz'' car in the Kansas Speedway race in October. Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs will also have ``Wizard of Oz'' cars in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the movie's release. Bobby Labonte opened the season by driving his Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (also known as JGR) is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned by Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, more notably near Charlotte, the team amassed three NEXTEL Cup Championships Chevy with ``The Passion of The Christ'' paint scheme in the Daytona 500. Normally, Labonte's No. 18 Monte Carlo carries an Interstate Battery paint scheme. For certain races, the batteries come off and movie promotions are added. But unlike other deals made between Hollywood and NASCAR teams, there was no money involved in ``The Passion of The Christ'' car. Joe Gibbs, the owner of the two-car team for Labonte and Tony Stewart, and Norm Miller, the chairman of Interstate, are devout Christians and wanted to not only help promote the movie, but Christianity as well. ``That was a pretty neat deal that Norm and Interstate put together with Mel Gibson's people,'' Labonte said. ``We've done a lot of movie paint schemes over the years, but I don't think any of them got quite the attention that `The Passion of the Christ' got.'' Stewart and Labonte drove cars with ``Shrek 2'' paint schemes in the races at Lowe's Motor Speedway Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway) is a speedway in Concord, North Carolina, north of Charlotte. It features a 1.5 mile long quad-oval track that seats 167,000 people, with room for 50,000 more spectators in the infield. in Charlotte, N.C. The first movie featured on the Joe Gibbs Racing cars was for ``Small Soldiers'' in 1998. Since then, ``The Hulk'' has appeared on Labonte's car and ``Jurassic Park 3'' made its way on to both drivers' cars. More deals are expected in the future. ``It plays right into the growing of the sport,'' Davidson said. ``We've been developing the market over the last few years. It helps bring NASCAR into homes that might not have tuned on to it. Our hope is to introduce them and get them hooked on NASCAR.'' CAPTION(S): photo, 6 boxes Photo: Bobby Labonte's car had a paint scheme for the movie, ``The Passion of the Christ,'' earlier this year. Phil Coale/Associated Press Box: (1) RACE INFORMATION (2) ON THE TUBE (3) LISTENING IN (4) RECORD BOOK (5) NEXTEL CUP STANDINGS (6) SERIES SCHEDULE |
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