ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9609030019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
We haven't seen the final regulations. The announcement today was not clear on details. It appears to us that lawsuits filed last year by various advertising and tobacco interests will now move forward. With litigation, it is entirely possible that the courts may stay implementation of regulations, pending judicial review. It looks like now it is in the hands of the courts.
- Aug. 23 NASCAR press release concerning President Clinton and the Food and Drug Administration's tobacco industry restrictions.
President Bill Clinton's promise that with a tougher stance on tobacco advertising "Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will be out of our children's reach forever" has left NASCAR and it's primary backer, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, smoking mad.
According to the new FDA regulations launched Aug.23, tobacco companies will be filtered out of the American sporting arena due to a ban placed on all cigarette brand-name sponsorship of sporting events, teams and race cars.
Nowhere are the effects of Clinton's proposal being felt more than in Daytona Beach, Fla. - the home of NASCAR. Since 1971, NASCAR has enjoyed a close association with R.J. Reynolds, the sponsor of the Winston Racing Series. Together the two institutions have transformed auto racing from a small-time spectacle run by "good old boys" to one of the country's most popular spectator sports in the '90s.
Now, that all may change.
Without the sponsorship of the tobacco industry, NASCAR's nationwide racing series for the Late Model Stock division will be left financially high and dry for the first time in over two decades. No future sponsor is in sight.
"NASCAR is a big booming business right now," Nat Walker, spokesman for the Winston sports marketing division, said. "People are saying that there are other sponsors falling in line to replace Winston, but pretty much every company that has an interest in and can afford to be involved with NASCAR is already involved. I don't see a successor not even one of the beer companies."
And what about the rumors that R.J. Reynolds' sister company, Nabisco, will pick up the NASCAR tab?
"I really don't see that happening," Walker said. "Every company has its own marketing strategies and ideas. Winston was a perfect fit for auto racing. I'm not so sure Nabisco feels it is right for auto racing."
The financial crunch will most certainly be felt on a greater scale throughout NASCAR's minor leagues - Saturday night short track racing. NASCAR's popularity may allow its featured speedways to continue business as usual, but local track owners are left staring down an increasingly dark backstretch at shrinking profits and soaring ticket prices.
"This will have an impact all the way down to the fans," Walker said. "Depending on how close local track owners have to cut the margins, ticket prices could really increase."
It's a reality New River Valley Speedway co-owner and promoter Ronnie Snoddy would just as soon not deal with.
"If it weren't for Winston, NASCAR wouldn't be as big as it is today," Snoddy said. "To me, [Winston sponsorship] would be a tremendous loss. It's going to affect ticket prices tracks have to make up the difference to pay their expenses somewhere. Ticket prices are already expensive and this would be a big blow to everyone."
R.J. Reynolds currently holds contracts with all NASCAR-sanctioned speedways, which allows Winston to provide tracks with a number of services in addition to the financial support given through the Winston Racing Series.
"It's a pretty tough deal for the little tracks," Harold Crook, owner of the Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway said. "I'm not a politician, but I hate to see people told what they can and can't do. When these dollars are cut off, it's going to mean smaller purses and the owners are going to have to go into their pockets more.
"But I don't think the tobacco companies are going to roll over and play dead on this one. It could be several years down the road before we see this one finished at least I hope it's several years."
It should delight owners such as Crook and Snoddy that R.J. Reynolds views the latest regulations as just another round in its continuing bout with the federal government over controlled advertising.
"[R.J. Reynolds] believes the rules are illegal and unconstitutional," Walker said. "When the initial proposal by the FDA was filed last year, we filed a suit against it. Now we have updated that suit to include the new sanctions handed out last Friday. In the past this kind of legislation has been tried by the president, and Congress and the courts have always been inclined to rule against it. It's going to be a long battle on this one."
If the government regulations are upheld, Snoddy believes all is not lost for short track owners.
"The biggest thing is still the NASCAR name," Snoddy said. "That's what the majority of the fans and people coming to races associate with. That will always be there, no matter what happens."
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON Staff Tobacco company banners like this oneby CNBat New River Valley Speedway may become a thing of the past at
NASCAR racing events. color KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING RACING