Dodge to sponsor weekly series? UPDATE: Dodge and NASCAR are on the verge of announcing that the automobile manufacturer is to be the new sponsor of the Weekly Racing Series, the short-track series played out on nearly 100 local venues throughout the United States. NASCAR has been futilely seeking sponsorship for the series ever since the negotiated Tobacco Agreement effectively ended the long run of the Winston Racing Series, a program in which the cigarette company chipped in millions of dollars not only to reward short-track drivers but also to upgrade facilities by painting fences and building scoreboards.(Gaston Gazette)(11-10-2001) UPDATE: Dodge today announced that it has reached an agreement with the NASCAR to become the presenting sponsor of NASCAR’s Weekly Racing Series, beginning immediately and continuing through a multi-year agreement. The announcement comes near the end of Dodge’s first season back in NASCAR Winston Cup racing in 16 years, and a year in which the brand captured its first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers Championship. The NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge is America’s premier weekly stock car racing series, encompassing 10 geographic regions and nearly 90 of the finest short-track racing facilities across America. Many competitors in NASCAR’s three national series – Winston Cup, Busch and Craftsman Trucks – began their careers in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, including each of those series champions in 2000. Dodge drivers Ward Burton, Sterling Marlin, Casey Atwood, Stacy Compton, Buckshot Jones, Scott Riggs and Ted Musgrave are also NASCAR Weekly Racing Series graduates.(Golin/Harris PR)(11-13-2001)
