Miami, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2000) -- While Tony Stewart, Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took home the trophies as race and series winners during the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November, South Florida may be the event’s biggest winner. The event, which was held November 11-14, 1999, resulted in a $117.6 million direct and indirect impact into the South Florida economy, according to a report compiled by Sport Management Research Institute of Weston, Fla.

The total economic impact is almost $1.6 million higher than the $116 million total projected prior to the event. In addition, an estimated $10 million in local and national media exposure was generated by the event, with both the Miami 300 NASCAR Busch Series race and the Pennzoil 400 presented by Kmart broadcast nationally on NBC, marking the network’s first national broadcasts of NASCAR events.

"We are very pleased with the results of the report," said Curtis Gray, president of Homestead-Miami Speedway. "To host an event the size of the Pennzoil 400 weekend successfully, it took a total effort by the community. The reviews we received from fans, corporate partners and competitors reinforced that South Florida is one of the best destinations to host major events, and we are glad that NASCAR Winston Cup racing is now part of South Florida’s annual calendar of events."

"The numbers are very encouraging and the long-range implications bode very well for the South Florida sports scene," said Kathleen Davis, executive director of SMRI.

"The NASCAR Winston Cup weekend has the potential to produce one of the largest economic impacts of any annual sporting event in South Florida," Davis said.

The Pennzoil 400 weekend drew fans from each of the 48 continental United States, with a total of 41.4% of the attendees coming from outside the South Florida area. Of those surveyed for the report, 89% of the visitors rated their South Florida experience good to excellent, while 92.5% said they plan to revisit the area in the next two years.

"Once again Miami-Dade County has shown that it is capable of hosting major events," said Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas. "We welcome NASCAR Winston Cup racing to Miami-Dade County, and look forward to an even bigger and better race next year."

"This study shows what we already believed -- that the inaugural Pennzoil 400 made a significant contribution to the entire South Florida community," said Homestead Mayor Steve Shiver. "We are confident that this impact will continue to grow in years to come as NASCAR Winston Cup racing keeps Homestead in the national spotlight."

"Having a new world-class event at a world-class facility that will call Miami home each and every year is a tremendous benefit to this community, not only to the residents who live here but also to the visitor industry," said William D. Talbert III, President and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It will be a great boost for the hotels because many of these people are from out of town.

"Many of our visitors who come for a major event come back in a short time because there are so many other things to see and do," Talbert added.

Of the people attending the event from outside South Florida, 75.2% said that the Pennzoil 400 was the specific reason that they came to South Florida demonstrating the event’s direct influence on the area. Hotels in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach all saw increases in their occupancy rates for the month of November 1999 versus the same time period in 1998.

The speedway underwent an expansion project in 1999 in preparation for the NASCAR Winston Cup event that boosted grandstand seating to 72,000 seats. This significant increase in seating at the speedway helped create additional demand on hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, grocery and convenience stores, campgrounds, car rental agencies, limousine services and other businesses.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a state-of-the-art 434-acre facility located in the Homestead area of the vibrant South Florida market. The International Speedway Corporation holds a 90 percent interest in the facility, with Huizenga Holdings Inc. maintaining a 10 percent share in the speedway.