Blaney's Amoco Dodge to carry BP brand at Charlotte

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The #93 Amoco Dodge Intrepid will feature a new paint scheme for the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, highlighting the current reimaging of the Amoco and BP gas stations nationwide with a special green-and-yellow design displaying the BP shield on the car's hood.

The new look for Dave Blaney and the Amoco Dodge will also be featured in three NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in the fall -- the UAW-GM 500 at Charlotte on October 7, the Talladega 500 at Talladega (AL) Superspeedway on October 21 and the Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. on November 4.

Throughout his successful transition from sprint cars to NASCAR, Blaney has carried the Amoco Ultimate colors on his Bill Davis Racing entries and Ultimate gas will remain on the car's quarter-panels, as it is on the current design of this year's NASCAR Winston Cup Series entry for the second-year driver from Hartford, Ohio.

	The special four-race #93 BP/Amoco Ultimate/Siemens car design during the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season will also be featured in another special die-cast promotion available to consumers later in the year. Photo: Amoco/BP

The revised BP look will support an overall effort to combine the BP and Amoco Petroleum companies -- which were brought together through a merger early in 1999. Over the next 3-4 years, BP will change the look of Amoco stations to the company's bright green-and-yellow colors with its new Helios logo, but Amoco fuels will remain at the pumps of all new BP stores nationwide.

Racing Champions will support the special #93 BP car design with die-cast replicas in 1/24- and 1/64-scale as well as a special hat and t-shirt design, available first track-side at Charlotte during RaceWeek over Memorial Day weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway and then at all NASCAR retail outlets.

"We're all excited within the team to have a special design for our #93 car that will give the BP jobbers and dealers a car to support as the two companies come together," said Blaney. "In the first two races this season at (1/1/2-mile) tracks like Charlotte (Atlanta and Texas), we had a good chance to compete for the win at both so we're hoping we'll give the BP colors a good ride at the front for it's first outing."

Central to the transition of the combined companies' new look globally will be the revolutionary BP Connect convenience store concept, currently being debuted in London, Lisbon, Portugal, Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland and Indianapolis as well as other markets later in the year. The new sites feature many time-saving solutions for customers such as speed-payment options and in-store Internet kiosks for directions and weather as well as online access and multiple pay options at the pumps.

The world's largest private-sector consumer of solar power as well as one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels and modules, the new BP Connect sites will feature a solar canopy over its pumps, allowing daylight through but equipped with solar panels to generate renewable electricity from the sunlight. At many BP Connect stores, the solar energy produced will be sufficient to power most of the site's electrical needs. Wide, spacious aisle-areas and fresh foods and gourmet coffee (at the Wild Bean Cafe) highlight the inside layout of the new BP Connect.

The special four-race #93 BP/Amoco Ultimate/Siemens car design during the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season will also be featured in another special die-cast promotion available to consumers later in the year.

-BDR-