Cingular Races to NASCAR with Sweeps
Cingular Wireless has dialed up a sweepstakes to support its sponsorship of NASCAR car No. 31, driven by Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing.
Cingular’s Race Talk sweeps is part of the wireless company’s on-air polling program that airs through November on race telecasts on NBC and TNT. Cingular customers are prompted to text message “RACE” to 191 and answer a race-specific question; results are revealed on-air during the race broadcast. Each participant receives one entry into the sweeps for every Race Talk poll response submitted.
Cingular customers also can opt in to play racing-themed trivia, with each question answered counting for an additional contest entry. Grand prize is a trip for two to Miami for the season’s final race on Nov. 19, a VIP race day tour, $10,000 in spending money and a No. 31 Cingular-branded golf cart similar to the one used by Burton in Cingular TV spots. Sweeps information is available at Cingular31.com.
“This program fits in with our strategy of using our motorsports involvement to offer fans creative ways to experience the excitement of stock car racing in a format that is unique to Cingular,” said Cingular Director of National Sponsorships Tim McGhee in a statement.
An earlier summer promotion, Win Jeff Burton’s Pay-Day, invited NASCAR viewers to answer poll questions during race broadcasts; the top winner was chosen last month from more than a million entries to win $122,920, matching Burton’s purse for his 15th place win in that Daytona Beach race.
Meanwhile, Cingular’s Web site hosts a fantasy racing game that lets consumers predict winners for different NASCAR events. Players accrue points each time they play; the top point-earner by the end of the game on Nov. 18 wins a VIP Experience at the 2007 race in Daytona Beach. Each week during the game, one person whose prediction proves right wins a Cingular gift card. Visitors also can play the #31 Challenge, a pit stop game that tracks how fast they can change tires on a race car.
This is Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless’ fifth season as a primary sponsor of the No. 31 car. Career Sports & Entertainment, Atlanta, handles Cingular’s NASCAR promos.
