DATE: Thursday, May 8, 1997                 TAG: 9705080425

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NEW KENT                          LENGTH:   34 lines

NEW KENT TRACK LANDS PEPSICO AS FIRST SPONSOR

Colonial Downs and PepsiCo's soft-drink subsidiary have signed a deal making the beverage company the first major sponsor of Virginia's soon-to-open pari-mutuel track.

Under terms of the five-year agreement announced Wednesday, Pepsi Cola will be the racetrack's official soft drink, and Pepsi will bring an annual concert series to the New Kent County track.

Pepsi also will sponsor an advertising blitz in July and August before the track's opening and will release more than 2 million special soda cans to promote the event.

``It's an exciting property in a region that's experiencing tremendous growth,'' Pepsi spokesman Brad Shaw said. ``We're excited to partner with a property with that much potential.''

The concert series will feature five or six shows a year during the track's thoroughbred and harness-racing seasons. The first show - featuring four beach music bands, including the Drifters - will be Aug. 30, two days before the track's scheduled Sept. 1 opening.

Hugh Mellon, vice president for marketing at the track off Interstate 64 between Williamsburg and Richmond, said Colonial Downs will be more than a racetrack.

``We want to market ourselves as an entertainment facility. We want horse-racing fans to bring their whole families,'' he said.

Neither Shaw nor Mellon disclosed the value of the Pepsi deal.

Colonial Downs has been talking with other possible backers, including beer and hot dog companies, Mellon said.

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