June 29, 1999                                               -by John Matthews
 

 NASCAR on Wall Street - Wall Street on pit road

This weekend, NASCAR's Winston Cup Tour returns to its headquarters in
Daytona.  When the Winston Cup last raced here in February, Penske
Motorsports owned several tracks on the circuit.  Since February,
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) bought Penske's tracks in a Wall
Street stock move.  NASCAR has become more and more a business these past few years.  The following is a look at how intertwined Wall Street and
NASCAR have become.

When people hear about auto racing, they think NASCAR Winston Cup.  When people think about the stock market and Wall Street, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (aka, the Dow).  The Dow is comprised of a balanced blend
of thirty large industrial companies, representing all major facets of the
American economy.  The following companies comprise the Dow:

Allied Signal Inc.
Aluminum Co. of America (ALCOA)
American Express Co.
AT&T Corp.
Boeing Co.
Caterpiller Inc.
Chevron Corp.
Citigroup Inc.
Coca-Cola Co.
DuPont Co.
Eastman Kodak Co.
Exxon Corp.
General Electric Co. (GE)
General Motors Corp. (GM)
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Hewlett-Packard Co.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
International paper Co.
J.P. Morgan & Co.
Johnson & Johnson
McDonald's Corp.
Merck & Co.
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. (MMM)
Philip Morris Cos.
Procter & Gamble Co.
Sears, Roebuck & Co. - Craftsman - Truck sponsor
Union Carbide Corp.
United Technologies Corp.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Walt Disney Co.

Much like Winston Cup, with it's big names like Earnhardt, Gordon, Martin,
and Labonte, Dow stocks are the big dogs of the financial world.  AT&T,
Boeing, General Electric, Wal-Mart, etc., all dominate their respective
business categories, and all are household names.

Some Dow stocks are involved in every facet of NASCAR.  Goodyear supplies
tires for all racers.  General Motors not only provides the Chevrolet Monte
Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix, but also the official pace car and numerous
sponsorships.  Coca-Cola is the official soft drink of NASCAR.

Other Dow stocks are sponsors for individual teams.  Dupont provides the
colors for Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warriors.  Machinery maker Caterpillar
provides the power behind Ward Burton's Pontiac.  Bobby Hamliton always
looks picture perfect because of Kodak.  Bill Elliot gets McDonald's drive
thru service on pit road.  In BGN, Chuck Bown has Exxon Superflo as a
sponsor.

Other Dow stock's involvement in NASCAR is hidden because they are the
parent company of a sponsor.  ABC and ESPN cover most of the NASCAR events. Both are owned by Disney.  The NASCAR Truck series is sponsored by Craftsman, a tool company owned by Sears.

It would appear that tobacco giant Phillip Morris would not be involved in
NASCAR because Winston is a product of competitor RJ Reynolds.  But, Phillip Morris owns Miller Beer, the sponsor for Rusty Wallace.  Proctor & Gamble owns Tide, Ricky Rudd's sponsor.  Band-Aid sponsors Michael Waltrip's BGN team.  Band-Aid is owned by Johnson & Johnson.

This quick look at NASCAR and Wall Street counts thirteen Dow stocks
involved as sponsors of NASCARs major tours.  Other Dow companies may also be involved.  With the way NASCAR is growing and the way corporate America buys and sells companies, one can only wonder how long it will be until all Dow companies are involved in racing.

Now I remember what NASCAR stands for.  The National Association of Stock
Corporation ... oops... Stock Car Auto Racing.

                                                                    -John Matthews