INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Eric Wiethop of Birmingham, Ala., has beaten out thousands of other competitors to be the top NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway simulator racer in the country.
Wiethop, who regularly races in the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway location in Birmingham's Riverchase Galleria, won the "Bristol Challenge" competition that ended this past weekend, according to William R. Donaldson, Chairman and CEO of Interactive Motorsports and Entertainment Corp. (OTCBB:IMTS). Perfect Line, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IMTS, owns and operates the unique NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway mall-based racing centers.
Wiethop received $2,000 after winning the finals competition held at the Concord Mills mall location of NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C. He won two 75-lap races and one 100-lap event to give him a sweep of the three segments of the finals.
Brian Decker, a 13-year-old who races at the Albany, N.Y., location of NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway, finished second in the finals competition and won $1,000, while Patrick Wyrick, representing the Universal City Walk location in Los Angeles, finished third and won $500.
The competition began when Bristol Motor Speedway was added to the simulators at NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway on October 21, and the top racers from each of the 12 locations of the racing centers were brought to Charlotte for the finals. In addition to cash awards, other prizes in the competition included NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway Jackets and gift certificates and a Richard Petty "Rookie" Driving Experience.
Highlights of the finals, including an authentic "play-by-play" of the final race, will be shown on the new G4 Television Network, the only network dedicated to the world of interactive entertainment. The half-hour broadcast is scheduled for Saturday, January 4, 2003, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on digital cable networks such as Comcast Cable, Insight, AT&T Broadband, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Mediacom.
Perfect Line's NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway racing centers are the largest chain of officially licensed, NASCAR-branded interactive entertainment stores in the world, and offers its customers the most popular NASCAR merchandise available. Perfect Line has integrated sophisticated proprietary racing simulator technology with an exclusive NASCAR license for location-based entertainment and licenses for popular NASCAR tracks and teams. NASCAR racing is considered the number one spectator sport in America, with an estimated 75 million fans and over $1 billion in NASCAR branded retail merchandise sales.
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Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this Press Release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, and the business prospects of Interactive Motorsports & Entertainment Corporation, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the outlook for the economy and the effect on future revenues, access to and cost of capital, uncertainty of new product development, competition, and dependence on updated technology and licenses and leases.
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