FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 13, 2005) -- Look out, New York. Here come the cattle.

Five Texas longhorn steers that are usually in the daily trail drives at the Fort Worth Stockyards will soon be shipped to New York City's Times Square along with two NASCAR race cars to promote Fort Worth tourism on Jan. 26.

Officials for the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau said Tuesday that the $50,000 trip is one of the largest promotional stunts they have ever done.

Doug Harman, the bureau's president and chief executive, said it is important to highlight the second NASCAR Nextel Cup race coming to the city's Texas Motor Speedway this year.

"Around the country, the knowledge of Texas Motor Speedway is not nearly as great as we'd want it to be," said Harman, who is one of about 20 Cowtown dignitaries expected to make the trip. "The contrasting aspects of cattle and cars is pretty dramatic."

Others going include Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motor Sports, the owner of Texas Motor Speedway; Eddie Gossage, the speedway's general manager; and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

Shipping the cattle accounts for about one-fifth of the trip's cost.

The purpose of the trip is to host mostly New York-based journalists from daily newspapers, business magazines and sports publications and tell them what Fort Worth has to offer.

The bureau has made media trips to New York since 1997. As it did during its last trip in 2003, the bureau will rent part of the ABC television studios at Broadway and 44th Street.

This year, the bureau will also pay to use the skinny block wedged between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. That's where it will set up a pen to house the longhorns for a couple of hours.

"We've done a lot of conventions and special appearances," said Kristin Liggett, trail boss for the Fort Worth Herd. "This would be the longest trip they would have taken by a long shot."

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