NASCAR: Battle of the Beer Cars Brewing

If the Budweiser car finishes the season ahead of the Miller Lite car, Miller Park will be renamed Budweiser Park for a 2008 series in Milwaukee between the same two teams.

Miller Lite has announced its 2007 NASCAR challenge to Budweiser.

MILWAUKEE - The long-standing "battle of the beer cars" on NASCAR tracks could take on added significance during the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season if Anheuser-Busch is feeling confident about the performance of the #8 Budweiser team.

Miller Lite announced its 2007 NASCAR challenge to Budweiser, this time putting naming rights to Miller Park on the line for a weekend series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The challenge, introduced by Miller Lite last season, pits the #2 Miller Lite car against the #8 Budweiser car, with the season-long NASCAR points leader winning the "wager" for his sponsor.

If the Miller Lite car finishes ahead of the Budweiser car in the season standings, Busch Stadium will be renamed Miller Lite Stadium for a to-be-determined 2008 series in St. Louis between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers.

If the Budweiser car finishes the season ahead of the Miller Lite car, Miller Park will be renamed Budweiser Park for a 2008 series in Milwaukee between the same two teams.

"We're more confident than ever that Kurt Busch and the #2 Miller Lite team are going to be regular contenders for the Nextel Cup championship," said Tom Long, Miller's president and CEO.

"It's too bad for Anheuser-Busch that they didn't take us up on our challenge last year, when Kurt and the team were dealing with the first-year 'new team' transition. Kurt already has one title, and now he and the whole Penske Racing garage are focused on adding to that total. We expect to see plenty of Miller Lite flowing in Victory Lane this year."

The new wager was officially proposed via certified letter from Long to Anheuser-Busch president and CEO August Busch IV, and was delivered this week.

The ground rules of the wager, as outlined in the letter to Busch IV, are:

* The winning sponsor gets to select the home stand and must provide at least 12 weeks notice.

* The MLB playoffs are not eligible dates for the change.

* The winning sponsor will receive two (2) primary signage locations surrounding the exterior of the stadium, three prominent signage locations around the field itself and ten signs throughout the concourse.

* Temporary signage will be banners draped over the existing permanent signage.

* Mutually agreed-upon signage locations will be identified at both ballparks upon your acceptance of this wager.

* The signs must match the winning sponsor's brand visual identity.

* Loser pays for the conversion, including production of the temporary signage.

Legal-drinking-age race fans can visit http://www.MillerLiteRacing.com for more information about the challenge, including details on how they can encourage Budweiser to accept.

In the Bud Shootout, the #2 car featured an in-car camera visual highlighting the proposed wager with Budweiser.

Last year's challenge, which involved the losing team changing the paint scheme of its car to match the winning team's colors for one race this season, would have been won by Anheuser-Busch, had they accepted it.

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