Joining Forces: Charter Communications and Bristol Motor Speedway
Paul G. Allen, Co-Founder of Microsoft,
majority owner of Charter Communications, and visionary, once said, "For
over a decade, I have pursued a vision of a Wired World where everyone is
interconnected in a global network, providing immediate availability to
information anywhere in the world. We want to bring new ways for the world to
shop, play, work, learn, and communicate."
Mr. Allen and Charter Communications could
not have chosen a better ‘playmate’ for Pole Day Sponsorship than Bristol
Motor Speedway (BMS), located in the beautiful hills of Eastern Tennessee, to
showcase their high-speed technology in broadband lightning-fast data
transmission!
Charter, a Wired World company, serves
over 6 million customers as one of the nation’s largest broadband
communications companies and is widely known for bringing exceptional quality
analog and digital cable television to the subscribers. Charter also offers the
high-speed Internet service access via Charter Pipeline.
Bristol Motor Speedway, synonymous with
fast racing and dubbed as the "Fastest Half Mile" on the NASCAR
Winston Cup circuit, as well as the fan favorite year in and year out, welcomes
Charter aboard as their official Pole Day Sponsor while celebrating their 40th
year anniversary in automobile racing in 2001. Charter, recognizing the
importance of NASCAR in this particular region, was named the video and fast
speed Internet provider for the speedway and has agreed to promote BMS racing to
the entire Mid-South area, while showcasing their unbeatable digital TV and
Internet access to the community.
In an array of scheduled activities, the
fans are in store for a unique weekend at the spring races in Bristol as never
seen before!
MeadowView Conference Resort and
Convention Center in Kingsport, Tennessee will once again host the annual Food
City Race Night on Thursday, March 22nd, with a new twist! This
annual event will be televised live, with no advertisement interruptions, for
the first time ever through Charter Video Marketplace, which includes Channel 11
in Johnson City and Bristol, and Channel 13 in Kingsport.
Race fans will have the opportunity to see
their favorite NASCAR driver through in-depth interviews broadcast on Charter
channels. The fans will also be kept informed on all the highly anticipated
planned events for the night and entire weekend!
Fans attending in person will have an
unforgettable night at the Food City Race Night gazing at the Winston Cup and
Busch Grand National show cars on display and meeting and greeting the ‘Who’s
Who’ of motorsports expected to be in attendance! Every racing fan, whether a
veteran or newcomer, will find a fun attraction thanks to Charter Communications
involvement, all the while adding to the anticipation of the running of the
NASCAR BGN Cheez-It 250 and the Winston Cup Food City 500!
Charter will also be involved at the
Knoxville Civic Center on Wednesday, March 21st, bringing the fans in
that area the same opportunities to meet the drivers, see the show cars, test
the simulators, and purchase their favorite driver mementos from the local
motorsports vendors. The proceeds from the advanced ticket sales in Knoxville
will benefit the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital; one of many humanitarian
ways Charter involves itself with its customers and other families in need.
Charter also recently shot a few
commercials at the Bristol Motor Speedway to help promote the union of the two
major organizations in a combined effort to bring a high-tech edge, with a
comical twist, to the racing community.
Wayne Estes, Public Relations Director at
BMS said, "By linking the success of Charter Communications and Bristol
Motor Speedway, it should be a real boost for both companies."
Estes continued, "Winston Cup driver
and frequent winner at BMS, Rusty Wallace, was involved with the promotion of
our upcoming Pole Day by doing a few commercial shoots here. The shoot was a
little different for us because we haven’t used a Winston Cup driver in an
"acting" role before. Last year we used David Browning, who does a
great ‘Barney Fife’ imitation, and the premise was that the ‘Mayberry
Deputy’ was going to be at the speedway looking for speeders. Browning, a
great comedic actor and was used earlier by Charter to create the white-coated,
big-black-rimmed glasses-wearing computer nerd known as "Glasses Man".
The character first appeared on billboards here in the Tri-Cities, but the
character himself was mostly computer generated. When Charter wanted to take the
character to TV, David Browning played the role."
"Our advertising for Charter Pole Day
put both of Browning’s characters, the ‘Mayberry Deputy’ and ‘Glasses
Man’ into the scene with Rusty Wallace and his race car. Everybody got a kick
out of the shoot, but the real proof came out in the spot itself and it turned
out really well. Rusty also taped a spot for Charter Pipeline. It’s really
great that all of these things worked out for Rusty to be a part of these
Charter spots. Rusty is synonymous with success here in Bristol, both in
qualifying and in the races," concluded Estes.
Charter Communications, whose employees
have worked tirelessly to sell and install digital technology, plan to carry
this effort to the BMS by offering fans and customers a complete showcase of how
speed isn’t only on the track, but can be within their own home through their
Internet service. There will be Customer Appreciation tents set up on Qualifying
Day where fans can pop in and check their email or brush up on the latest news
and events happening throughout the track!
Charter will also have video displays
installed specifically for race fans to stay abreast of the latest racing news.
Commercial customers of Charter are in for a special treat in the Skybox area
inside BMS, so everyone will be included in some capacity throughout the weekend
festivities.
Charter is also addressing the fans and
consumer market who is loudly voicing their complaints that the FX Channel
coverage of motorsport events isn’t readily available to many in the Mid-South
region. Many cable services do not include FX as part of their regular lineup.
Charter is in negotiations with the FOX Network in hopes to remedy the growing
fan dissatisfaction in the near future by bringing FX back to their lineup of
countless channels. Charter already carries the other FOX channels, bringing
NASCAR coverage to a huge legion of their customers!
Satisfied cable customers, highly-charged
race fans, and a national audience, will no doubt be in store for a phenomenal
weekend of racing combined with state-of-the-art technology offered by Charter
Communications and the Bristol Motor Speedway! Included in this years jam-packed
schedule of speed and excitement:
-
March 22, Food City Family Race Night
in Kingsport, Tennessee -
March 23, Charter Pipeline Pole Day
-
March 24, NASCAR Busch Grand National
Cheez-It 250 -
March 25, NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Food City 500