Watkins Glen International, the American motor race track, has signed Heluva Good, the food company, to sponsor its Nascar Sprint Cup race for one year. The event will have the bizarre title of 'Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen.' The deal is last minute and at a cut-price rate.

The normal rate card for a Nascar race sponsorship title is between US$800,000 and US$3 million but in a sign of the times, and the late nature of the deal, meant it has gone for a sum believed to be in the region of US$200,000.  An insider confirmed: "200k - that's it."

Heluva Good is headquartered in Sodus, N.Y., about an hour drive north of the track. Watkins Glen, nicknamed 'The Glen', has been home to American road racing for over 50 years and has also staged the US Formula One Grand Prix in the past. 

Scott Blake, senior vice president of operations for Heluva Good, says the deal will be evaluated at the end of the season and there is a possibility the food company could sign for a second year. Blake said that the prime reason for the sponsorship was that the company wanted to support an event in its home region.

Separately, Watkins Glen track officials have said that ticket prices are being reduced for grandstand seats.