Ford extends Bristol Motor Speedway agreement

REGION AREA FORD DEALERS EXTEND TRACK SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT WITH BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY THROUGH 2014

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 21, 2010 - A very good thing for Ford and Bristol Motor Speedway is getting even better.

Region Area Ford Dealers announced today an extension of their official vehicle sponsorship agreement with Bristol Motor Speedway that will now go through the 2014 season. Currently, the dealership group is in the second of an original three-year deal that was signed in 2009.

"This is just something that we really felt strongly about," said John King, a board member with Cincinnati South Ford Dealers, which also includes the Tri-Cities dealer group. "We've been able to capitalize on what Bristol Motor Speedway has to offer us by increasing our market share and brand awareness with the race fans. They've got a great group of people that work at the speedway and we just thought it was a great match for both of us to extend this agreement."

Bristol Motor Speedway has been hosting two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races a year since 1961 and the annual summer night race is generally regarded as the most popular on the circuit.

"We couldn't be more pleased about this extension with Ford," said Jerry Caldwell, Vice President of Corporate Sales at BMS. "Region Area Ford Dealers have been a tremendous partner throughout these first two years and we look forward to having them as part of the Bristol Motor Speedway family for many years to come."

Earlier this year, Ford and BMS also teamed up for the 1,000-Lap Mustang Challenge in which a 2011 V6 Mustang circled the half-mile track 1,457 times on a single tank of gas.

We're excited that the dealers elected to renew this sponsorship because we feel Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the top assets in NASCAR," said Tim Duerr, Ford's North America motorsports marketing manager. "We get the highest percentage of return on our trackside racing investment when we activate at Bristol because we can do so many things with our vehicle display, pace cars, and pre-race driver introductions. It provides an opportunity for us to showcase our spectacular lineup of high quality, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles."

Besides being good to Ford off the track, Bristol has provided its share of on-track success as well. Ford has 596 all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins and 33 of those have come at the "World's Fastest Half-Mile." That represents the most victories at any active track for the manufacturer.

-source: ford motor company