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Craftsman to Sponsor ESPN's Innovative Tech Garage During 2009 NASCAR Racing Season

By: Sears Carpet & Air Duct Cleaning |  0 Shares     121 Reads

Multimedia Sponsorship Includes On-Air, Online, Print and Radio Elements

Bristol, Conn. and Hoffman Estates, Ill., // PRNewswire // -- Craftsman, the official tools of NASCAR, has teamed up with ESPN to present the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, an innovative mobile television studio used throughout the network's NASCAR coverage. This mobile studio gives ESPN the ability to originate segments from an enclosed, controlled environment with no external noise interference. ESPN's Tim Brewer, a two-time NASCAR champion crew chief, and other ESPN analysts report from the unit during race telecasts to teach viewers about the technical and mechanical aspects of NASCAR racing, using the Craftsman tools trusted by NASCAR.

"By working with ESPN on the Craftsman Tech Garage, we are not only enhancing our long relationship with NASCAR, but sharing knowledge from the place we believe champions originate - the garage," said Erik Rosenstrauch, Craftsman director of marketing. "Pairing the NASCAR experts at ESPN with America's most trusted brand in tools gives fans a way to experience our brand as if they're on the track. And by using ESPN's multiple touch points, we can communicate with NASCAR fans like never before."

"Craftsman has had a long and successful association with NASCAR," said Ed Erhardt, president, ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales. "Their involvement with ESPN's NASCAR coverage helps us build that authentic experience we strive to deliver to fans each and every race week."

In addition to extensive on-air coverage through prominent Craftsman signage in the garage, the multi-faceted, season-long sponsorship includes extensions in print via ESPN the Magazine and through a weekly Tech Garage feature in the morning race-day show on ESPN Radio. An online component will bring a virtual tech garage to life on ESPN.com, allowing fans to interact with the set and understand just how NASCAR works.

The ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage makes its debut during coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 14, at noon ET on ESPN2. In addition to ESPN and ESPN on ABC's coverage of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, segments from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage will air during ESPN's exclusive, season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The unit also is used throughout ESPN's leading non-television media platforms.

The enclosed studio contains the ESPN Chevy Cutaway Car used in ESPN's NASCAR coverage. The studio also has room for displays of other race car elements such as engines, transmissions and shock absorbers. Elements of the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage include:

• Two tractor-trailer rigs -- a studio trailer and a support trailer
• An 80,000-pound Featherlite Expandable trailer with dual slide-outs
• Five miles of wiring
• A rear-opening trailer which serves as the entry/exit point for the Chevy Cutaway Cars
• Two Chevy Cutaway Cars -- a NASCAR Sprint Cup car and a NASCAR Nationwide Series car. Only one is in the studio at a time, depending upon which series is being televised, although both could fit.
• More than 100 Craftsman products and tool sets
• Removable lights, cameras, props and cars that are torn down and loaded after every telecast in three hours
• A 53-foot, 65,000-lbs support trailer that carries the two Chevy Cutaway Cars and all of the props used in the tech center (parts, pieces, power train unit, Craftsman tools).
• Multiple plasma television monitors

About NASCAR on ESPN:

ESPN and ABC have comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race "Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup" on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All programming is produced totally in high definition. ESPN's comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPNRadio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 18 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,400 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes approximately 926 full-line and 1,100 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 13 million service calls made annually.

SOURCE Sears, Roebuck and Co.

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