St. Louis Feb. 22 — Christopher R. Pook, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (NASDAQ:GPLB) announced Thursday, February 20, that Motorola has signed to be the title sponsor of the inaugural race event at the company's Gateway International Raceway, located in Madison, Illinois., near St. Louis.

The Motorola 300, May 22-24, will be the sixth round in the 17-event PPG CART World Series tour, the premier series in the world for Indy car competition. It marks Motorola's first commitment to event title sponsorship in auto racing. Terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.

The race, scheduled to be aired live by ABC-TV, will christen Gateway's new 1.25-mile oval, part of a $21.5 million renovation and expansion project at the facility.

"We are proud to have one of the world's great companies select our venue for its first title sponsorship," Pook said. "Combined with ABC-TV's commitment to broadcast the race live, this event truly heralds the arrival of major league motor sports to the St. Louis/Southwestern Illinois metropolitan area."

The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (GPALB) is the owner and operator of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the annual PPG Cup Indy car race run on the streets of Long Beach since 1975. The race is now the second largest Indy car race in the world. In addition, the company owns and operates Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, and Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tennessee.

Motorola 300 tickets can be ordered toll free at (888) 827-7333. Orders via FAX can be received at (618) 482-5595.

Source: CART News Service