
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 19, 1993                   TAG: 9308190064
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ABC BUILDS ON FOUNDATION AT BRICKYARD

ABC Sports has acquired telecast rights to the most-anticipated addition to the NASCAR Winston Cup schedule in years.

ABC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have reached a contract agreement for the network to televise the first Brickyard 400. The race is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 6, 1994, at the famous 2.5-mile oval.

The agreement is believed to be for three years. ABC Sports will not pay Indy a rights fee, however, in a unique deal that has the race's five sponsors purchasing all of the commercial time within the Brickyard telecast.

"It's a time buy, but a more clever one than you usually see," said David Downs, vice president of programming for ABC Sports. "By packaging the on-site sponsorship with the television sponsorship, the speedway, I'd say, will do very well."

The five sponsors are Budweiser, Chevrolet, Delco Electronics, GM Auto Parts and Pennzoil.

ABC will pay production costs and be compensated by the speedway for air time. Although ABC televises only one other Winston Cup race - the Motorcraft 500 at Atlanta in March - the network was considered the favorite for Brickyard rights because of its longtime relationship with the speedway.

The Indianapolis 500, the traditional Memorial Day weekend Indy-car race, will air on ABC for the 30th consecutive year in May 1994. Downs said the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 contracts are related only in ABC's history with the legendary track.

While most Winston Cup races are run Sundays, the first Brickyard 400 is scheduled on a Saturday, leaving the following day as a potential rain date.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB