Model maker ending long NASCAR affiliation

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In this attention-deficit age of video games and iPods, building a plastic model race car from a kit might seem an antiquated pursuit.

Still, it’s worth noting that the venerable model-kit maker Revell Inc. -- which has been making NASCAR models for more than three decades -- announced this week that it will stop production by Feb. 28.

Revell, an Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based division of Hobbico, blamed rising licensing costs that kept it from selling the kits at a profit. Revell actually has to pay three licensing fees for each car: to the car manufacturer, to NASCAR and to the driver/team involved.

‘It was a very frustrating and very difficult decision,” said Mike Brezette, Revell’s vice president of marketing. “It really comes down to plain old economics. We’ve run in the red with the NASCAR licenses for the last three years at least.”

-- Jim Peltz