Alabama NASCAR License Plates: On Wednesday, the Alabama Legislature’s License Plate Oversight Committee approved a plan to decorate vehicle tags with the names, numbers and racing colors of some of the top stock car drivers. Committee Chairman Gerald Dial, D-Lineville, said the order forms should be available in county tag offices in about a month. Dial said motorists who want the tags will have to pay a $50 fee with the order form. Once the state pre-sells 1,000 tags for all racing drivers combined, the state Department of Corrections will begin production, and the tags will be mailed to the motorists who placed orders. West Virginia and New York already have license plates with racing drivers, and South Carolina and Indiana are considering them. The Alabama tags will feature drivers who have signed licensing agreements with Race Plates Marketing, which got the program started in West Virginia. Bob Brant, president of Race Plates Marketing, said agreements have been reached with Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mike Skinner, Steve Park, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Jerry Nadeua, Terry Labonte, and Michael Waltrip. Discussions are going on with other drivers. Out of the $50 cost of the tax, $3.50 will go to the state and county governments to cover various expenses, and $5 will go to the Penny Trust Fund, which supports children’s programs. Of the remaining $41.50, the licensing organization will get 23 percent, the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega 45 percent, and the state Department of Corrections 32 percent.(Alabama Live/AP)(4-5-2001)
