EA SPORTS 500 at Talladega; Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman Join In the Fun.

    TALLADEGA, Ala.--Oct. 1, 2002--This weekend at the EA SPORTS(TM) 500 at Talladega Superspeedway(R), the competition heats up early and often amongst top NASCAR(R) drivers. In addition to the race excitement on Sunday, several other weekend activities are planned, including a head-to-head race between Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman at the 2nd Annual EA SPORTS Drivers Challenge on Friday night and the Pit Crew Challenge that same evening. On Saturday, NASCAR Thunder 2003 cover athlete and last year's EA SPORTS 500 winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will go head-to-head against one EA SPORTS NASCAR Thunder(TM) 2003 video game fan. The EA SPORTS 500 will be telecast on NBC Sunday, Oct. 6 at 12:30 p.m. EST.
    "Last year's race sponsorship was such a rewarding experience, we are excited to return to Talladega for the second EA SPORTS 500," said Chip Lange, vice president of marketing at EA. "EA SPORTS stands for true competition making this sponsorship a perfect fit with our brand; the competitiveness and competition between the drivers, pit crews and fans playing NASCAR Thunder 2003 on and off of the track is unrivaled, and makes us proud to be a part of this intense weekend of racing."

    About the EA SPORTS NASCAR History and NASCAR Thunder 2003:

    EA SPORTS is in its second year as the title sponsor of the EA SPORTS 500 at Talladega Superspeedway(R) and has been running contingency stickers on NASCAR Winston Cup Series cars for the past three years. In its sixth year of involvement with NASCAR, EA SPORTS just released NASCAR Thunder 2003 for the PlayStation(R) and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube(TM). A version for the PC will be released later in October.

    EA SPORTS 500 at Talladega

    NASCAR Thunder 2003 features the EA SPORTS 500, one of the premier stops on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway(R). Last year EA SPORTS announced a three-year sponsorship deal with Talladega Superspeedway and the International Speedway Corporation naming the legendary NASCAR Winston Cup Series fall race the EA SPORTS 500. The inaugural event concluded with a dramatic victory by NASCAR Thunder 2003's cover athlete, Dale Earnhardt Jr., on Oct. 21, 2001. This year's race takes place on Oct. 6, 2002.

    About Electronic Arts:

    Electronic Arts , headquartered in Redwood City, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.7 billion for fiscal 2002. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. EA markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA GAMES(TM), EA SPORTS BIG(TM) and EA.COM(SM). More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

    Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA GAMES and EA SPORTS BIG are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. NASCAR is a registered trademark and NASCAR Thunder is a trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. TALLADEGA and Talladega Superspeedway are used under license from International Speedway Corporation. The name of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is licensed under the administration of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft and Xbox are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license. Nintendo GameCube is a trademark of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.