Disney Meets NASCAR: The Sports Business Daily (subscription required) is reporting that Disney has inked a deal with ISC to place Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck onto two Monte Carlos that will lead the parade lap at the beginning of the Daytona 500. This is the first time that Disney has allowed its characters to be placed on race cars, as the company has feared the damage to its image that could be done if the cars were involved in a bad crash. Having the cars be ceremonial eliminates this problem.



The deal also allows for the combination of some of the most lucrative intellectual property rights in the world: NASCAR, the Daytona 500, NASCAR's top race and Disney. To promote the deal, ISC and Disney will sell merchandise that combines NASCAR and Disney characters, which should make a lot of money.



In other NASCAR news, President Bush hosted nine of the top 10 finishers in the Winston (now Nextel) Cup at the White House.

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