Pdf - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

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and marketing tool for anyone. There's no question we have to conir t9"1 T
significant part of our success in recent years to them. I mice r t
But both Reynolds Tobacco and NASCAR know that this success 000 . no p6"
resul t
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thousands of peoples o ludiingethe other major corporations tthat a'' . +'°ul But hr
into the sport since 1971, the accessory companies , the track proI City the "-"
rdrivers . car owners, crews and the media to boost the sport to the level, Oe
d
p F'r he e
and Winston cigarettes snowed that our sport was an excellent
'' When we got involved in 1971, we felt the growth potential for std
racing was immense," says Gerald H . Long . president and chief operaii
ficer of Reynolds Tobacco . But it has even surpassed our expectjti0N
Long adds that Reynolds Tobacco felt NASCAR was the best run avia
ing series in the world, and we were convinced that stock car racing Wut
place to be for Winston .
''From the start, we wanted to help the sport grow, and each year sve ;
expanded our promotional and marketing efforts to help accomphsn{
goal.'
As sponsor of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Reynolds Tobacco p(t
advertising in key newspapers across the country promoting the pco
event . The ads. which carry vital race information, are placed in newspsa
near the upcoming race two to three weeks prior to the event .
Banners and billboards also announce the coming of the Winston
Series to the area.
In addition, the company's public relations department provides the . .
tional media with news releases on the series .
Although money alone cannot be used to measure Winston's involveme,
it can be used to show how far the sport has come since 1971 .
In 1970, NASCAR's prize money for the 48 Grand National events
$2,461,166 . In 1980, it exceeded $6 million and last year it surpas*%
million .
When Bobby Isaac won the 1970 championship . he took home a tout,
f 180,335 for .the year . This year, the championship alone is worth $ ISo .9Q,
''If someone had told me that a driver would win between three'quane s
of a million dollars and a million dollars in a season back in 1970 or 7!
would have thought they were crazy," says Richard Petty . "But Dam
(Waltrip) and Bobby both won over $800,000 in 1983 . And it won't bey
long before someone hits the million dollar mark - maybe in 1984 .
Petty is a good example of how much the sport has changed since 197,
From 1958 to 1970, he won $828,633 . In the last 13 years, he has won alms
$4.5 million .
"When people ask me why the sport has grown so much in the last 161
years," adds Petty, "I reply companies like Winston and STP his spoasj