UMass team takes 2d in NASCAR competition - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

A team of University of Massachusetts Amherst students tooksecond place in a marketing competition sponsored by NASCAR bydevising winning strategies to promote the car racing circuit.

The competition, part of a program called NASCAR Kinetics:Marketing in Motion, aims to give students real world experience inpromotions, while helping to expand the motor sports' audience.

The UMass team, sports management students at the Amherst campus,faced a particular challenge since NASCAR is far less popular in NewEngland than in the South and other regions.

'This being our first time in the program, getting second placeis wonderful,' said Beth Grupsmith, a senior and event coordinatorof the team.

The University of Central Florida won the competition.

Nineteen universities participated in the program, which requiredstudents to tackle three marketing case studies, involving socialmedia, mobile technologies, and a race viewing party. UMass won therace viewing party round.

'The NASCAR Kinetics team from the University of MassachusettsAmherst did a tremendous job executing a viewing party that wasexciting, engaging, and educational,' said Sarah Werden, accountexecutive of consumer marketing for NASCAR.

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