McDonalds begin PPI cutbacks.

Following a two race hiatus from the NASCAR Winston Cup scene, Andy Houston and the No.96 PPI Motorsports owned Ford Taurus are back on the Winston Cup trail this weekend at Indianapolis but the team will participate in only seven of the remaining 16 races on the 2001 calendar as the fast-food chain reduce their sponsorship deal with the Cal Wells' second year outfit.

After reassessing its team sponsorship involvement in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, McDonald's has reached an agreement with PPI Motorsports to revise its current sponsorship package. The agreement calls for McDonald's to phase out of its current primary sponsorship of the PPI-owned No. 96 Ford Taurus and to become an associate sponsor in 2002 of the PPI/Tide Ford.

"McDonald's remains committed to supporting NASCAR," said Georgina Roy, McDonald's manager of sports marketing. "We decided to revise our sponsorship package after a thorough review of our current Motorsports programs and discussions with PPI. McDonald's will continue to support Motorsports as the Official Drive Thru of NASCAR and as an associate sponsor of the PPI/Tide Ford through 2002."

PPI Motorsports will enter the McDonald's Ford, driven by Andy Houston, in seven remaining races in 2001 with the primary sponsorship ending after the Sept. 30 race at Kansas Speedway. The seven races are: Indianapolis (Aug. 5), Brooklyn, Mich. (Aug. 19), Bristol, Tenn. (Aug. 25), Darlington, S.C. (Sept. 2), Richmond, Va. (Sept. 8), Dover, Del. (Sept. 23) and Kansas City, Kan. (Sept. 30).

"We look forward to continuing our relationship with McDonald's through PPI Motorsports' Tide program," said Cal Wells, president of PPI Motorsports. "Based on this development, PPI Motorsports has begun restructuring towards a very focused one-car program for the No. 32 Tide Ford."

McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer with more than 28,000 restaurants serving 45 million customers each day in 120 countries. Approximately 80 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women.

The company have not had their colours racing at the sharp end of the Winston Cup field this season as rookie Houston has struggled to come to terms with the full-time Winston Cup scene after several impressive showings in the latter half of 2000 with the team. Whether Houston's problems are driver or equipment related isn't entirely clear and PPI's other machine hasn't exactly been a bastion of reliability either and the former Craftsman Series Truck driver's immediate Winston Cup future is now uncertain.