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NASCAR & Nextel
Aired June 19, 2003 - 13:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there's someone new in the passenger seat at NASCAR. The popular racing event is teaming up with Nextel Communications, the new sponsor of its premier national series.
Joining me to talk about what it hopes will be a winning combination of cell phones and cars, NASCAR senior vice president and chief operating officer George Pyne.
George, good to be with you.
GEORGE PYNE, NASCAR: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about this change in sponsorship. Obviously, tobacco ads are hard to get on the air, there's a lot of restrictions now, you can't target kids under 18. Is that what finally led to this change?
Well, there are two thing, one, there are changing dynamic in the tobacco industry, that RJR came to us and asked if we would be interested in seeing if there were any other opportunities.
And of course, now, with the opportunity to partner with Nextel, a leader in technology and to bring our sport to fans in so many different ways through technology is terrific for us, and also, Nextel's getting rights to all the teams, drivers and tracks, and so they can bring our sport to life in ways that no one else has before. So those two things are great for us and great for Nextel.
PHILLIPS: Well, smoking's been such a tradition at NASCAR, though, George. You've got your beer, you're in the plume of smoke, there you are. I'm curious how this is going to change things, how it's going to affect the fan base? I mean, I know how dedicated fans are to the sponsors. It's a big part of NASCAR.
PYNE: Well, I think what's going to change is that the fans now are going to be able to get -- you might be mowing your lawn, working on your house or your car, and it's Friday afternoon, and they want to know how qualifying went. Through wireless communication, our fans will be connected better than ever before to the sport that they love. So for the hardcore fan, they'll get more connection with their love, and also will probably sample to new casual fans the sport in fun and innovative ways. So it's a new tool to grow the sport.
PHILLIPS: What does this mean for other wireless companies? I mean, you see other companies like Cingular on the side of some of these race cars. I mean, is this going to push others out? PYNE: Well, Cingular and Alltel have been great partners for the sport. They'll have the opportunity to stay in and continue on. New wireless companies will not be allowed to come into the sport. We work with Coca-Cola, and Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch, and Miller, and we're going to make it work for everyone involved, because in NASCAR, sponsors aren't just part of the sport, they are the sport. We'll make it work for everybody, and it's going to be great for Nextel.
PHILLIPS: All right, I'm going to ask you to play along for a really fun quiz here.
But before we do that, just real Quickly, I've got to touch on the safety aspect. Since Dale Earnhardt, you were telling me a lot was taking place with regard to R&D and a new facility.
PYNE: Sure, we opened up a state of the art R&D facility, the only one of its kind in sports, or motor sports in the world. We have a team of engineers, an R&D group, that work every day to come up with new safety solution. We've got anywhere from 20 to 25 different projects. And you know, safety's a big part of NASCAR, always has been and always will be. And we're as committed today as we've ever been.
PHILLIPS: All right, George, I hope you're committed to me and having a little fun here. We have a new intern that's working with us, and she found this list of NASCAR terms, slang if you will. We've been teasing the meaning of "marbles." And Miles is going to reveal to us the meaning of that.
But I'm going to throw some at me. Tell me what dirty air is.
PYNE: "Dirty air" is when you're drafting and the air gets in the way -- your car can't go as fast as you otherwise could.
PHILLIPS: All right, there we go, $10,000 for you on that one.
PYNE: Thank you, I need it. We need it.
PHILLIPS: We'll be your new sponsor. OK, the next one, "happy hour."
PYNE: Happy hour is when our teams practice before the Sunday race. It's the last practice before the big race the next day.
PHILLIPS: George is one good CEO.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've not prepped him on this at all.
PHILLIPS: No, we have not prepped...
PYNE: I don't want you -- I don't want to be Dan Quayle with the potato, but I'm doing the best I can.
PHILLIPS: Who is the leader of -- no, OK, finally, "stickers."
PYNE: Stickers? PHILLIPS: Yes.
PYNE: Oh, stickers are what's going on the tire to tell you whether you have a new set of tires or not.
O'BRIEN: Bada bing, all right.
PYNE: Whoo, I made it! I was close.
PHILLIPS: Should we do the grand finale.
O'BRIEN: Sorry, I lost my marbles, but that's another story entirely. You know what, should we test him...
PHILLIPS: Should we ask George first?
PYNE: Listen, I'm batting a thousand. You guys need to step up to the plate here.
O'BRIEN: OK, we asked you, are marbles new tires -- we've sort of already given that one away because of the other answer, parts of shaved off tires on the track or gravel in the pit? And I figured this out by process of elimination, because there's no gravel in the pit, of course. Therefore, it is, b, parts shaved off tires on the track. And if you hit the marbles, you can lose something else, it's can be a bad thing, right?
PHILLIPS: Not good.
Yes, George.
PYNE: I didn't quite hear where you ended up. But whatever you say, I'm with you.
O'BRIEN: You'll send us a Nextel phone for...
PYNE: That's right, absolutely. We'll...
PHILLIPS: He's the techie, George. I want the NASCAR tickets, OK?
PYNE: OK, well, we can work something out.
PHILLIPS: George Pyne, a pleasure, thank you so much.
PYNE: It's great to be here. Thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 19, 2003 - 13:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there's someone new in the passenger seat at NASCAR. The popular racing event is teaming up with Nextel Communications, the new sponsor of its premier national series.
Joining me to talk about what it hopes will be a winning combination of cell phones and cars, NASCAR senior vice president and chief operating officer George Pyne.
George, good to be with you.
GEORGE PYNE, NASCAR: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about this change in sponsorship. Obviously, tobacco ads are hard to get on the air, there's a lot of restrictions now, you can't target kids under 18. Is that what finally led to this change?
Well, there are two thing, one, there are changing dynamic in the tobacco industry, that RJR came to us and asked if we would be interested in seeing if there were any other opportunities.
And of course, now, with the opportunity to partner with Nextel, a leader in technology and to bring our sport to fans in so many different ways through technology is terrific for us, and also, Nextel's getting rights to all the teams, drivers and tracks, and so they can bring our sport to life in ways that no one else has before. So those two things are great for us and great for Nextel.
PHILLIPS: Well, smoking's been such a tradition at NASCAR, though, George. You've got your beer, you're in the plume of smoke, there you are. I'm curious how this is going to change things, how it's going to affect the fan base? I mean, I know how dedicated fans are to the sponsors. It's a big part of NASCAR.
PYNE: Well, I think what's going to change is that the fans now are going to be able to get -- you might be mowing your lawn, working on your house or your car, and it's Friday afternoon, and they want to know how qualifying went. Through wireless communication, our fans will be connected better than ever before to the sport that they love. So for the hardcore fan, they'll get more connection with their love, and also will probably sample to new casual fans the sport in fun and innovative ways. So it's a new tool to grow the sport.
PHILLIPS: What does this mean for other wireless companies? I mean, you see other companies like Cingular on the side of some of these race cars. I mean, is this going to push others out? PYNE: Well, Cingular and Alltel have been great partners for the sport. They'll have the opportunity to stay in and continue on. New wireless companies will not be allowed to come into the sport. We work with Coca-Cola, and Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch, and Miller, and we're going to make it work for everyone involved, because in NASCAR, sponsors aren't just part of the sport, they are the sport. We'll make it work for everybody, and it's going to be great for Nextel.
PHILLIPS: All right, I'm going to ask you to play along for a really fun quiz here.
But before we do that, just real Quickly, I've got to touch on the safety aspect. Since Dale Earnhardt, you were telling me a lot was taking place with regard to R&D and a new facility.
PYNE: Sure, we opened up a state of the art R&D facility, the only one of its kind in sports, or motor sports in the world. We have a team of engineers, an R&D group, that work every day to come up with new safety solution. We've got anywhere from 20 to 25 different projects. And you know, safety's a big part of NASCAR, always has been and always will be. And we're as committed today as we've ever been.
PHILLIPS: All right, George, I hope you're committed to me and having a little fun here. We have a new intern that's working with us, and she found this list of NASCAR terms, slang if you will. We've been teasing the meaning of "marbles." And Miles is going to reveal to us the meaning of that.
But I'm going to throw some at me. Tell me what dirty air is.
PYNE: "Dirty air" is when you're drafting and the air gets in the way -- your car can't go as fast as you otherwise could.
PHILLIPS: All right, there we go, $10,000 for you on that one.
PYNE: Thank you, I need it. We need it.
PHILLIPS: We'll be your new sponsor. OK, the next one, "happy hour."
PYNE: Happy hour is when our teams practice before the Sunday race. It's the last practice before the big race the next day.
PHILLIPS: George is one good CEO.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've not prepped him on this at all.
PHILLIPS: No, we have not prepped...
PYNE: I don't want you -- I don't want to be Dan Quayle with the potato, but I'm doing the best I can.
PHILLIPS: Who is the leader of -- no, OK, finally, "stickers."
PYNE: Stickers? PHILLIPS: Yes.
PYNE: Oh, stickers are what's going on the tire to tell you whether you have a new set of tires or not.
O'BRIEN: Bada bing, all right.
PYNE: Whoo, I made it! I was close.
PHILLIPS: Should we do the grand finale.
O'BRIEN: Sorry, I lost my marbles, but that's another story entirely. You know what, should we test him...
PHILLIPS: Should we ask George first?
PYNE: Listen, I'm batting a thousand. You guys need to step up to the plate here.
O'BRIEN: OK, we asked you, are marbles new tires -- we've sort of already given that one away because of the other answer, parts of shaved off tires on the track or gravel in the pit? And I figured this out by process of elimination, because there's no gravel in the pit, of course. Therefore, it is, b, parts shaved off tires on the track. And if you hit the marbles, you can lose something else, it's can be a bad thing, right?
PHILLIPS: Not good.
Yes, George.
PYNE: I didn't quite hear where you ended up. But whatever you say, I'm with you.
O'BRIEN: You'll send us a Nextel phone for...
PYNE: That's right, absolutely. We'll...
PHILLIPS: He's the techie, George. I want the NASCAR tickets, OK?
PYNE: OK, well, we can work something out.
PHILLIPS: George Pyne, a pleasure, thank you so much.
PYNE: It's great to be here. Thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
