General Nutrition Centers to Sponsor Parker Jr. in 2001

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 5) -- General Nutrition Centers (GNC) Live Well will sponsor NASCAR Busch Series rising star Hank Parker Jr. and Busch Series stalwart Cicci-Welliver Racing this season, forming the No. 36 GNC Live Well Racing Team.

"We have watched NASCAR grow for many years," said Darryl Green, Vice President of Retail Sales. "The popularity of this sport mirrors consumers' growing interest in health and fitness. We looked at a number of ways we could align ourselves with this exciting sport. When Hank Parker Jr. and Cicci-Welliver teamed up, this seemed like the winning combination to us. GNC will support this sponsorship with many exciting programs during the season and are anxious to start our engines."

Parker, a native of Denver, N.C., has started 58 races in the past four years, but the 2000 season was just his second full season of competition. The 26-year-old driver finished 14th in the points last season, accumulating two top-five and eight top-10 finishes in the No. 53 Chevrolet owned by his father, Hank Parker, a nationally recognized fisherman and host of the television show Hank Parker's Outdoor Magazine. He joined 18-time winner Cicci-Welliver Racing in mid-December to begin to formulate what could be his breakout season.

"I am very excited that GNC Live Well is joining our team," Parker said. "What really makes it unique is that I feel like I've been one of their spokesmen even before they came aboard. I've been visiting GNC stores for several years. I'm conscious of the extreme physical effort it takes to lead a car to victory lane and GNC has unofficially played a role in my efforts as a driver. Now, they're my official sponsor and our combined efforts will hopefully enable the whole team to sustain the focus and energy it takes to finish in the top 10 week in and week out."

Cicci-Welliver Racing, which also fields Busch Series teams for drivers Tim Fedewa and David Green, is the second-oldest team in the Busch Series and was the first Busch Series operation to field two teams for an entire season when Todd Bodine and Mike McLaughlin both finished in the top five for the Busch Series Championship in 1997. Since 1988, Cicci-Welliver Racing teams have finished in the top 10 of the final standings 14 times and the organization has placed a driver in the top four of the final championship standings each year since 1995.

General Nutrition Companies, (GNC), based in Pittsburgh, Pa., is the largest nationwide specialty retailer of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements, sports nutrition, and personal care products. GNC operates more than 5,000 retail outlets throughout the United States and 25 foreign markets. GNC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Numico N.V., a worldwide market leader in specialized nutrition that includes infant and clinical nutrition and nutritional supplements. Headquartered in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, Royal Numico's operation include manufacturing facilities in more than 50 countries and research facilities in The Netherlands, Germany, U.K., and Australia. In addition to GNC, Royal Numico's family of companies include Rexall Sundown, Inc., a major supplier to the mass market based in Boca Raton, Fla., and the multi-level marketing operation of Enrich International.