Combos awards fan set of tools, new Ford truck

Combos® Snacks "The Cheese Filled Snack of NASCAR" awaded Raleigh, N.C., resident Charity Smith a NASCAR Garage on December 15, culminating a year-long NASCAR promotion. Smith will claim her prizes at Capital Ford located at 4900 Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.

Combos Snacks, which sponsors driver Elliott Sadler in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series, offered fans a chance to win what most race fans only dream of -- a NASCAR Themed Garage. The promotion ran throughout the 2004 season and awarded Smith a prize package valued at more than $35,000 including $10,000 worth of tools and a new Ford F-150.

"I bought the Combos hoping I'd at least win the $75 daily prize," said Charity Smith, a Raleigh resident and long-time NASCAR fan. "I never dreamed that I'd actually win the grand prize.

"But two or three months after the promotion was over, I received a letter from UPS saying I had won and I just couldn't believe it. I was so nervous reading it -- my knees were shaking and everything. Nothing like this has ever happened to me and I'm so appreciative to Masterfoods."

The on-line promotion, housed at www.combos.com, encouraged participants to enter unique codes found on the back of each bag of COMBOS. A daily winner was drawn at random from the entry list and received $75 in tools. Each daily winner was then placed in a drawing for the grand prize -- The COMBOS® Snacks NASCAR Themed Garage.

"At the heart of every NASCAR fan is the vehicle and the garage," said Jeffrey Moran, Masterfoods USA spokesman, maker of Combos® Snacks. "We figured we'd give our loyal Combos fans a chance to get the ultimate NASCAR-inspired prize."

Combos® Snacks are "The Cheese-Filled Snack of NASCAR" and a proud sponsor of top NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler and the "M&M'S" Racing Team.

Sadler, who finished ninth overall in the 2004 standings, carried the banner for Combos at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October of 2004. Combos® will be primary sponsor of the No. 38 Ford Taurus three times in 2005 including Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, along with Talladega Superspeedway and Darlington Raceway in May.

Masterfoods USA, the United States food, snack and petcare operations of Mars, Incorporated, is one of the world's leading food manufacturers. With more than $5 billion in annual sales, the combined food, snack and petcare segments are a symbol of excellence for quality brands.

Headquartered in Hackettstown, NJ, Masterfoods USA employs more than 7,000 associates in the United States, with 15 manufacturing facilities nationwide.

The company owns some of the world's favorite brands including M&M'S Brand, SNICKERS Brand, UNCLE BEN'S Brand, PEDIGREE Brand Food For Dogs, WHISKAS® Brand Food For Cats.

John King, National Sales Mgr. Developing Snack Foods for Masterfoods USA

What motivated the Combos promotion?

"We have been a promotional partner with NASCAR for the last four years with our Combos brand. In order to promote our relationship with NASCAR and our relationship with the #38 Elliott Sadler race team we put together an on-pack promotion called "Win NASCAR's Garage."

Ultimately individuals purchase a pack of Combos that has a number on the back, then log on to www.combos.com and enter that number to see if you have won. We awarded daily prizes of $75 a day along with the grand prize of a brand new Ford F-150 as well as $10,000 in tools to build your own NASCAR garage."

Was this designed to drive traffic to the site among both race fans and non-race fans, and are you surprised a NASCAR fan won?

"NASCAR and the Combos brand align very well demographically which is why Combos is involved in the sport. It is typically a very male-driven brand and the age groups and demographics align with NASCAR. Ultimately it expands outside of NASCAR but with the growth rate of NASCAR fans I am not at all surprised that a NASCAR fan purchased a bag of Combos and won. I will add that this is the largest on-line promotion Combos has done."

Charity Ash, Combos NASCAR Garage Grand Prize Winner

Tell me about your journey from picking up the bag of Combos to being the promotion's grand prize winner.

"I picked up the Combos bag noticing they were doing this promotion and honestly, I did it mostly to try and win the $75 daily prize. I am always online and saw the contest so I entered it.

I did notice that the grand prize was a truck and $10,000 in tools but I really looked at that and thought there was no way I would win that. So, I was just trying for the daily prize so I got online and looked to see if I had won every day and I never did and started to get frustrated. So the last week of the contest I didn't even enter.

Then at the end of October I received a second-day air envelope from UPS with a letter saying I was a potential winner of the grand prize and I thought there was just no way I had won because if I hadn't even been a $75 winner. I called the contact person and left my information on the voice mail. The following Monday I received a call and they said once they verify everything that I was in fact the winner. I just couldn't believe it.

"It's funny because I don't have a car now and have really had a hard time. This just goes to show you that God works in mysterious ways. This has just been the best contest and the Combos people and the Ford people have just made the whole experience great."

Do you follow the sport of NASCAR?

"Yes, I am a fan. I have grown up in North Carolina so it's part of the heritage."