Nascar PC takes checkered flag
Gentlemen, start your PCs. New PCs and laptops sanctioned by Nascar are on the market and revving to go.
Available in October at CompUSA and now online at Target.com, the bundle comes with a Nascar-branded keyboard, mouse and speakers; a Nascar-themed Windows Media Player and screensaver; and free offers and discounts for several Nascar partner services. The desktop computer also includes free lifetime 24/7 telephone technical support.
After rebates, the desktop retails for $549.99, the monitor for $249.99 and the laptop sells for $899.99.
The desktop comes outfitted with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processors, ATI graphics card and a 160GB Seagate hard drive.
The 15.4-inch laptop is powered by an AMD Turion 64 ML-30 chip and 80 GB hard drive.
Cisnet, a division of ZT Group, is making the desktop and laptop PCs and is one of 200 licensees that the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing works with.
Despite its grease-monkey stereotype, Nascar says an estimated 30 million of its 75 million fans are considered hard-core PC users, spending up to nine hours a week consuming related media, much of it online.
And the money flows like crude oil. Nascar is the second highest-rated sport on television and has the most corporate involvement of any major sport. Overall, Nascar fans purchased $2.1 billion in Nascar-licensed merchandise in 2004.
