Knight Ridder Digital Signs Ford Racing As Sponsor Of Its NASCAR Properties, ThatsRacin.com And Jayski.com

Market Wire, 20050229

Knight Ridder Digital (KRD), the operator of the Real Cities network of local media Web sites, today announced the launch of the Ford Racing advertising campaign in which Ford Racing is featured as a major sponsor of KRD's stock car racing online properties, ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com. ThatsRacin.com, a member of the Real Cities Network, is the leading independent stock car racing Web site on the Internet.

Ford Racing's newly redesigned Web site, FordRacing.com, will be promoted through the sponsorship. Ford Racing will become the presenting sponsor of ThatsRacin.com's "Photo Gallery" section, which provides users with photo snapshots from race tracks on a weekly basis. Additionally, Ford Racing will be a presenting sponsor of ThatsRacin.com's partner, Jayski.com, the insider's NASCAR(R) news and rumor site. The Jayski.com sponsorship will also include sponsorship of the site's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series(R) section. Ford Racing branding will appear on the biography pages of ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com for Ford drivers including Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Rusty Wallace. "We're pleased that Ford Racing has chosen ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com," said Stan Kleine, sports channel manager, Knight Ridder Digital. "In selecting our sites to promote FordRacing.com, they're not only zeroing-in on their target audience, they're giving our users the opportunity to visit the Web site for one of the top racing organizations in the world."

The campaign began May 1 and will run through November 30, 2002.

About ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com

Amember of the Real Cities Network, with more than 500,000 unique users per month according to Neilsen//NetRatings, ThatsRacin.com has become the largest independent online source of stock car racing news. In addition to the latest stock car racing news collected from Knight Ridder and Tribune sources, the site also contains commentary from award-winning journalist David Poole and Jim Utter, driver information and statistics, a fantasy game, photo galleries and slide shows. ThatsRacin.com is promoted offline through the weekly That's Racin' print series, which runs in 83 newspapers nationwide.

Founded by Jay Adamczyk in 1996, Jayski.com has become a trusted clearinghouse for NASCAR news and rumors-with more than 650 pages of information. The site receives more than 160,000 page views daily and is one of the most highly visited NASCAR sites on the Internet. Jaykski.com is a ThatsRacin.com partner and can be found directly by visiting jayski.thatsracin.com.

About Knight Ridder Digital and Real Cities

Knight Ridder Digital, a leader in local information on the Web, creates innovative online services and comprehensive local content to help consumers make the most of their experiences on the Internet. Knight Ridder Digital develops and manages the Internet properties of Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher. Knight Ridder Digital is a separate Internet subsidiary and is the founder and operator of Real Cities, a premier national network of city and regional Web sites nationwide.

Real Cities consists of a unique partnership network that brings together the best local strengths of leading U.S. media and Internet companies including properties of Belo Interactive, E.W. Scripps Co, Knight Ridder Digital, Media General, Gannett Co., Inc., The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Milwaukee Journal. The network allows media organizations to leverage their strong local content in a national network that brings to consumers news, sports, event happenings and community connections from locally-run information sources that are trusted to be the heart and soul of their locale. Among Real Cities' member Web sites are AZCentral.com, BayArea.com, Charlotte.com, Cincinow.com, DFW.com, DallasNews.com, Indy.com, JournalNow.com, KansasCity.com, Kentucky.com, Miami.com, NYDailyNews.com, NWSource.com, Post-Gazette.com, ProJo.com, TBO.com, TimesDispatch.com and TwinCities.com.