Erik Arneson (SPEED Channel Photo)

SPEED Executive Vice President & General Manager Hunter Nickell today announced Erik Arneson has been promoted to position of Vice President of Media Relations for the Charlotte-based motor sports and automotive lifestyle network.

"Erik has terrific relationships throughout the motor sports and media worlds," Nickell said. "He has us focused on a communications strategy that will be most effective in our frenetic businesses.  We have ambitious goals; he is an important part of the team that will lead us toward those goals."

Arneson has been with SPEED as Director of Public Relations since July of 2002, having served the network since 2000 as public relations account manager for the former Cotter Group.

Prior to his work at Cotter Group, where he also managed accounts for NASCAR and Clear Channel Motorsports, Arneson was a Design Editor and motor sports reporter at USA Today in Virginia. He was awarded the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Media Award in 1998.

Arneson, the author of two motor sports books - Darrell Gwynn: Triumphs and Tragedies from a Life Lived at Speed and John Force: The Straight Story of Drag Racing's 300-mph Superstar, lives in Charlotte with his wife, Sandy, and their children.

SPEED, celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2006, is the nation's first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 71 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country, the home to NASCAR TV and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on-demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services.