| At the recently concluded NASCAR Sprint Media Tour in Charlotte, NC, NASCAR CEO Brian France has called for motorsports to “re-energize the bonds with our core fans” after years of expansion into new US markets. |
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AMEN!
Also, before the same group of media Humpy Wheeler of Lowe’s Motor Speedway made no bones about the fact that late afternoon starting times of Cup races turned off the fans. Because the tracks caved into the networks. But, all that is going to change and the races will start earlier in the afternoon, claims Humpy.
Also, Wheeler said that there was a movement to cater to the upscale fans and it didn’t work. His metaphor was that stockcar racing is a tough sport comprised of people sweating with big hands. And the core base of fans want NASCAR to get back to basics. That is some hard and tough racing on the track. Plus, we’ll add that controversy, like drivers going at each other on the track and in the media, is good for the sport. Unlike the political correctness of the past few years. Back to basics is what NASCAR needs. Now the question is, will the core base of fans return to buy tickets and watch the NASCAR races on TV? It depends on how well the sanction and the tracks keep their promises.
And speaking of Wheeler the Lowe’s Motor Speedway President & General Manager will put his skills as NASCAR’s ultimate promoter, storyteller and diplomat on display for SPEED viewers beginning with a one-hour pilot Feb. 12 at 9:00pm/et, when The Humpy Show debuts with guests Buddy Baker and Kurt Busch discussing great NASCAR rivalries.
Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will expand his role with ESPN and join high school friends Dr. Jerry Punch and Andy Petree in the booth for ESPN’s full season of NASCAR coverage in 2008.
Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Cup champion in 1989, will become lead analyst for ESPN studio programs in 2008, highlighted by serving as analyst for an enhanced NASCAR Countdown, the program that precedes all NASCAR telecasts. Wallace also will appear across multiple ESPN platforms, including regularly on NASCAR Now, ESPN’s daily NASCAR news and information show, and will call several race telecasts in place of Jarrett.
Allen Bestwick moves into the fulltime role of host of ESPN’s race telecasts and host of NASCAR Countdown. Wallace and Bestwick will appear with analyst Brad Daugherty on the pre-race program, and the three will be integrated with the booth team during race telecasts.
ESPN also has named motorsports television veteran Nicole Manske as host of NASCAR Now, which returns to the air for its second season Feb. 4 on ESPN2. Manske, who joins ESPN after two years as co-host of a weekly motorsports news program on the SPEED Channel, will share the NASCAR Now host role with Bestwick and ESPNEWS anchor Ryan Burr.
On ESPN’s event coverage, Shannon Spake, a reporter for ESPN’s studio programs and fill-in pit reporter last year, will take Bestwick’s position as a fulltime pit reporter, joined by returnees Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro. Two-time NASCAR Cup champion crew chief Tim Brewer returns to report from the ESPN DISH Tech Center.
“We now have the opportunity to provide our viewers with analysis from a pair of former NASCAR Cup champions with Dale Jarrett in the booth and Rusty Wallace on the NASCAR Countdown set as well as on other platforms,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and event production.
“We were pleased to have Dale with us in a limited role last year and look forward to his participation on a regular basis,” Williamson said. “Rusty’s enthusiasm, team spirit and knowledge make him an invaluable contributor to our coverage. These champion drivers in their new roles add tremendously to ESPN’s championship team for our second year back in NASCAR.”
ESPN’s 2008 NASCAR season begins with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 16, at noon ET on ESPN2. In addition to coverage of all 35 races in the Nationwide Series, ESPN also will have telecasts of the final 17 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Jarrett, who is retiring from driving after the first five races of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, was booth analyst for 10 NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN race telecasts last year and worked several NASCAR Sprint Cup races as a guest analyst on NASCAR Countdown.
Punch, ESPN’s lead announcer, Petree, booth analyst and a two-time NASCAR Cup champion crew chief, and Jarrett are all natives of Newton, N.C., and attended Newton-Conover High School within a few years of each other in the early 1970s. The three were partners in one of Jarrett’s first racecars in 1979.
“It was exciting to see ESPN return to NASCAR last year and be a part of it when my racing schedule allowed,” said Jarrett, winner of 32 NASCAR Cup Series races and 11 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. “To have this opportunity to shift from fulltime driver to fulltime analyst for ESPN’s second year back is a great privilege and I can’t wait to get started.”
Jarrett followed the footsteps of his father, Ned, a two-time NASCAR champion, into driving and television. Ned Jarrett was a popular analyst on ESPN’s coverage of NASCAR from 1988-2000 and returned to the booth as a guest analyst for one race last year to work alongside his son for the first time.
Wallace joined ESPN after retiring from driving following the 2005 season and spent 2006 as analyst for ESPN’s coverage of the IndyCar Series in preparation for ESPN’s return to NASCAR in 2007. Bestwick served multiple roles for ESPN’s NASCAR coverage last year, including pit reporter, host of NASCAR Countdown for NASCAR Nationwide Series races and play-by-play announcer for several events.
Along with returning NASCAR Insiders Angelique Chengelis and Marty Smith, ESPN.com reporters Terry Blount and David Newton and analysts Boris Said, Tim Cowlishaw and D.J. Copp, many members of ESPN’s event coverage team also will contribute to NASCAR Now in 2008.
Motorsports fans will be able to see some of the hottest production-based racing on television this season as a total of six events on the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series schedule will be televised on SPEED in 2008.
Beginning with the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway four Grand Sport (GS) and Street Turner (ST) combined races and one feature race for each class will be televised in two-hour episodes within one week of the race date, often during prime time on the motorsports network.
The 2008 season-opener will air Saturday, February 2 at 8 p.m. ET. Other races on the air in 2008 are the Memorial Day contest at Lime Rock Park (airing May 31 at 8 p.m. ET), followed by the ST feature at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (June 28, 1 p.m. ET), the GS feature at Barber Motorsports Park (July 26, 5 p.m. ET), and combined races at New Jersey Motorsports Park (September 7, noon ET) and Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City (September 27, 8 p.m. ET).
The Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series is Grand-Am’s showcase for the latest in international and American-made high performance sports cars, coupes and sedans straight from the dealer showroom floor. With major modifications permitted only in the area of safety, the KONI Challenge Series is home to the same cars seen on streets and highways around the world every day. Nearly 100 cars are expected to take the green flag in the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the focus of a new television series on ESPN, Dale Jr. – Shifting Gears, premiering prior to next month’s opening of the 2008 NASCAR season. The five-part series chronicles Earnhardt’s move from Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team founded by his father, to Hendrick Motorsports, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
The first episode airs Friday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The series provides viewers with a behind-the-scenes look at the personal, corporate and competitive ramifications involved with the five-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver award recipient changing teams. Dale Jr. – Shifting Gears is produced by Earnhardt Jr.’s Hammerhead Entertainment, a division of JR Motorsports, in cooperation with Hendrick Motorsports and is presented by the National Guard.
The new program is part of an exclusive, multimedia agreement between ESPN and Hammerhead Entertainment. “We were working on a new DVD about my life and the guys kept getting more and more footage, so they decided to put a whole TV show together to document the biggest career decision I’ve ever made,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The past year of my life has been a roller coaster, and it’s pretty cool that we’re giving everyone an inside look at how everything came together.”
Three of the five episodes of Shifting Gears air on ESPN2 in the nine days prior to the Daytona 500, including following ESPN2’s live coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying on Friday, Feb. 15, and the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World 300 at Daytona on Saturday, Feb. 16. The final two episodes air on ESPN in prime time the week of the July 27 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, ESPN’s first live NASCAR Sprint Cup event of the season.
The pre-season episodes reveal never-before-seen footage from the 2007 press conferences and fan response to the announcements. Shifting Gears also chronicles the design process of the new paint schemes, the makings of Earnhardt Jr.’s Adidas fire suit and how the driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet handles the pressure of working with new sponsors as he prepares for his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. The final two episodes, each one hour in length, will catch up with Earnhardt, Jr. and the Hendrick team as he chases his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
“Dale Jr.’s move to Hendrick Motorsports is obviously one of the most intriguing storylines heading into the 2008 NASCAR season,” said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president, content. “This new series will not only help NASCAR fans gear up for the new season, but also will present a side of Dale Jr. that fans have never seen before.”
As FOX Sports prepares to begin its eighth year of NASCAR coverage, the network revs its engine with the unveiling of 2008 NASCAR on FOX broadcast schedule. Prior to exclusive, live coverage of the 50th Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17, FOX Sports hits the gas on its Emmy Award-winning coverage with night racing from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 9 (8:00 PM ET) with The Budweiser Shootout. This 70-lap exhibition pits last season’s Sprint Cup pole winners and past champions in an all-out “sprint” for the checkered flag.
Mike Joy, with almost 40 years in racing, returns as race announcer, and is joined by NASCAR racing legend Darrell Waltrip and former champion crew chief Larry McReynolds, who return to provide race analysis for all NASCAR on FOX events. Pre-race coverage is again hosted by Chris Myers with analyst Jeff Hammond, and returning to cover pit road are reporters Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum.
In all, FOX Sports airs 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup points races, highlighted by races from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 2; Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 6; Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 27; NASCAR racing from Charlotte on Sunday, May 25 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend and the NASCAR on FOX season finale from Dover, Delaware on Sunday, June 1. In addition to its Sprint Cup coverage, FOX Sports presents two live Craftsman Truck Series races: Saturday, Feb. 23 from California Speedway and Saturday, March 29 from Martinsville Speedway.
FOX Sports continually achieves a hard-earned distinction as television’s most innovative sports broadcaster, and ranking high among the network’s achievements are those on behalf of its NASCAR coverage. NASCAR on FOX has amassed 10 Emmy Awards for its coverage (note: the 2007 Sports Emmys have yet to be awarded), including two for Outstanding Sports Series (2001, 2005), three for Outstanding Live Event Audio Sound (2002, 2005, 2006), one for Outstanding Graphic Design (2001), and four for Outstanding Technical Team Remote (2001, 2003-05).
NASCAR on FOX is as healthy as ever in terms of viewership and advertiser interest as its early season portion of the NASCAR calendar dominates the ratings. NASCAR on FOX ratings lead over the NBA, FOX’s primary seasonal competitor, is bigger than ever, nearly tripling the NBA’s rating on ABC last season. Household ratings for all races in 2007 vs. ‘06 on FOX were essentially flat (5.9 vs. 6.1), but were up slightly year-to-year among younger men, which is the key demographic coveted by advertisers. Early indications are that advertiser demand for NASCAR on FOX in 2008 is stronger than it’s ever been.
In a broader sense, NASCAR is without a doubt the sports success story of the decade. FOX’s average NASCAR rating in 2007, including the Daytona 500 (5.9) is +18% higher than the average NASCAR rating on network television in 2000 (5.0), which was the last year before NASCAR came to FOX. No other sport has enjoyed that kind of growth in this decade.
Below is the complete 2008 NASCAR on FOX broadcast schedule:
Date Track Event Time
Sat. Feb. 9 Daytona Int’l Speedway Budweiser Shootout 8:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 10 Daytona Int’l Speedway Daytona 500 Qualifying 1:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 17 Daytona Int’l Speedway Daytona 500 2:00 PM
Sat. Feb. 23 California Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 3:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 24 California Speedway NASCAR Racing from Fontana 3:30 PM
Sun. March 2 Las Vegas Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing from Las Vegas 3:30 PM
Sun. March 9 Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing from Atlanta 1:30 PM
Sun. March 16 Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing from Bristol 1:30 PM
Sat. March 29 Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 3:00 PM
Sun. March 30 Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Racing from Martinsville 1:30 PM
Sun. April 6 Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing from Fort Worth 1:30 PM
Sat. April 12 Phoenix Int’l Speedway NASCAR Racing from Phoenix 8:00 PM
Sun. April 27 Talladega Superspeedway NASCAR Racing from Talladega 1:30 PM
Sat. May 3 Richmond Int’l Raceway NASCAR Racing from Richmond 7:00 PM
Sat. May 10 Darlington Raceway NASCAR Racing from Darlington 7:00 PM
Sun. May 25 Lowe’s Motor Speedway NASCAR Racing from Charlotte 5:00 PM
Sun. June 1 Dover Int’l Speedway NASCAR Racing from Dover 1:30 PM
All times Eastern; Schedule subject to change
TNT is gearing up for the network’s 2008 Sprint Cup coverage, which includes telecasts of six consecutive Cup races beginning on Sunday, June 8th from Pocono Raceway. The NASCAR on TNT Summer Series will feature two marquee primetime races with the Daytona race on July 5 and racing from Chicagoland Speedway on July 12; both races take off at 8pm/et.
Rounding out the network’s schedule are races in Michigan (June 15), Sonoma (June 22) and Loudon (June 29). The Daytona 400 will feature the return of Wide Open Coverage, the highly lauded innovative broadcast format that provides continuous race coverage free of national commercial breaks and offers original branded content and on-screen graphic elements from sponsors. The production features 22% more unobstructed race action than that of a standard telecast. The network’s 2008 race programming marks TNT’s 24th year of televising Cup coverage, making it NASCAR’s longest running broadcast partner.
TNT’s NASCAR coverage will include comprehensive pre-race coverage to provide viewers with analysis, updates, interviews and features and will include all of the TNT announcers and pit reporters who will provide analysis and commentary on the NASCAR season to date. Also, TNT will cover the drivers preparing for the race and all of the exciting moments leading up to green flag action. This report came from RacingSport.com.
From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter comes this insight. Yes, He Really Said That-Tony Stewart, on testing a Toyota rather than a Chevrolet at Daytona. “You’re on a 2 ½-mile track and you’re holding it wide open. You’re not going to really feel it until you get around other cars. Any driver who says he can is a heck of a lot better driver than me because I can’t tell the difference.”
NASCAR track operators, International Speedway Corporation, have reported record financial results for the twelve months to November 30, 2007, according to SportsBusiness.com. All that in spite of falling ticket sales at the box-office and TV ratings taking a dive.
Let’s see what’s going on TV this weekend for the Gearheads. It’s more Pre-Season Thunder going on Speed every weeknight at 7 p.m. From Monday and Tuesday it’s from Vegas. On Thursday and Friday it’s from Fontana. Saturday offers German GT Cars from Spain at noon followed by the event at Hockenhiem, Germany. Sunday’s hot tip is more Pre Season Thunder on Speed at 7 p.m. focusing on the teams. (end)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
Do you remember back in “92″ at Phoenix (not sure of date or Track).It may have been “91″.I don’t have stat’s,just a memory.It was towards the end of the race and the laps were winding down.Caution comes out.Everyone pit’s for tires and fuel etc..Dale Sr. was called by NASCAR to pit for loose lugnut’s.The Winston Cup Championship is drawing near and is on the line.Earnhardt’s crew and Earnhardt tells NASCAR there are no lugnut’s loose.In short,NASCAR makes a deal with Earnhardt.IF Earnhardt pits,and NASCAR finds there are no loose lugnut’s,NASCAR will give him his position back on the track!I’ll never forget the NASCAR offical throwing up his arms,more or less saying,”they’re good”.Not only did they give him his position back,they keep the race under caution till the the pit inspection was complete.Being a Earnhardt fan for 12 years or so up to that point,I practically cried for joy,and was stunned that NASCAR made such of a incredable last minute decision.
Now let’s go the other direction.Do you remember when Earnhardt died.People across the world were caught with their pants down over the greif they seen from race fans.It played right into NASCAR’S hand’s.The sport exploded!Everyone was going to races or watching it on t.v..NASCAR catered to these new fans who realistically new nothing about racing.At that point I loved NASCAR Racing.I grew up with it watching the few races televised in the “70′s”.So many times at work or where ever,someone would say to me,what did you do this week-end?I watched the NASCAR Race.They would usually say,what’s NASCAR?And my response would be,you know,it’s American cars,Stock Cars and so on.They were clueless!So the bottom-line,NASCAR drew these new fans to the sport.It surpassed just about all sports in this country with “it’s new fan base”.The changes made to NASCAR for the “new fans” were never ending.How’s the saying go “Mo-Money”.So now that ticket sales and t.v. ratings are down,and these typical American people that follow something only because their friend’s or a neighbor did so,are bored or done with NASCAR.So.Let’s “re-energize our bonds with the core fans”.I usually don’t respond at all to any comments,articles or so on.I am (or was) just an old school die-hard race fan,that lost interest in NASCAR after Earnhardt died,and eventually over the changes implemented and the way NASCAR catered to “the new fan base”,the new “Young Guns”,etc.,etc..The sport was shot to hell for ticket sales and t.v. ratings!After decades of continual dedication to NASCAR,I couldn’t deal with it anylonger.The love of it was gone,and the passion no where to be found!And now it seems the new short timers of the sport are leaving too!Do what you have too,to give NASCAR new life.Oh,we’ll bring D.J. in and relace Rusty Wallace in the booth!That’ll help,huh?That’s what the fans complained about on a survey.Screw em Rusty.What the hell is a “core fan” France Jr.???Would that be some one like me?The one who remembers going to Riverside Raceway in the late 50′s and never forgeting these cars blowing by me at age 4-5 years when i actually was there for a Drag race event.The one who watched the Coca-Cola 600 or Daytona,the only races televised on t.v. during the 70′s?The one who sat down on Sunday,and couldn’t wait thru the week to see a race from 1979 on when it was televised on a regular sch.?The one that learned about set-ups on the cars,what they did going into the turns,the middle and coming out of the turns,and the adjustments that were made,and learned little taught by an announcer,but by watching and learning?
You know,it seems i could go on and on,but i’ll stop.But i will never forget what was once the best part of my life,Sunday’s!!!NASCAR!Winston Cup!The good ole boys,and the good ole days.
It’s just too bad NASCAR will never be re-vived back to the “Hard-Core fan(s)”!Tell me Mr. France Jr.,how do you expect to get people like me or others like me to become fans again.How do you restore the Passion and the love we had for so long,huh!Hey,maybe you could replace D.J. with me in the booth if it doesn’t work-out.
Let me know….
Joey
,Hey Joey, you’re right and i feel the same way. i remember Bill Elliott’s first win at Riverside, Ca. and the race at Hickory , N.C.and Rockingham. Two race at Darlington, S.C. How about the 16 races won by Wild Bill in 1985 and being a one car team. After Bobby Allison wrecked all the changes came. Speed limit on pit row, Carb
restrictions and anything else to slow the cars down. And here i always thought racing was about how fast you can go. I guess i was wrong. And along came all these 3, 4 and 5 car teams. And the top 35. Again i always thought who the fastest car would qualify on Sunday, not who had acummlated points from other races. I can understand a couple of places for past champions , all the rest is BS. you either qualify or you go home, period end of story. OH YES, and the lucky dog, what a crock. Race to the flag. If it wasn’t for the dog Gordon and Johnson wouldn,t have won that many races and Johnson wouldn’t have won the championship. Yeah, I know safety safety safety. Who ever said racing was safe. Hello, it’s not. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the fire. WE didn’t hear anything about the cars are going to fast until Bobby’s be wreck and the young guns came on the scene. Bill Elliott set the record at Daytona and Talladega at 212 mph and i still don’t remember him complaining it was to fast. Do you really believe all the equipment they put in these cars today is really for safety? I don’t. It’s Nascars way of protecting themselves from lawsuits bottom line. Think about it back in the ’80′s they were running faster with less accidents, less caution flags. Yes drivers got hurt and a few have died in crashes but that happens off the track too, but was it because the car were going to fast, no someones bad judgement most likely. they don’t speeding on pit row, why????? You still have wrecks, people still get hurt. It’s a sport, a dangerous sport and if you don’t understand that, then go home. An d the car of tomorrow, there’s another joke. If i was one of the manufacture’s i wouldn’t let them put my name on that car. Where is it in racing that says all cars have to be equal. thats why we have different brand. Lets go back to taking the off the showroom floor and racing it. And Mr. France Jr. the biggest mistake you’re making is going International with Nascar. This our sport and it should stay our sport. I’m sorry but it seems like there is no more American sports. It wasn’t the Canadians, or South Americans or the Italians that started this sport it was Americans the good ole’ boys from down south. Look at baseball, basketball, football, they all use to be America’s past time. Not anymore. And now Nascar. Isn’t there anything that we can call ours anymore? You can’t fix what you have broken Mr. France, you made your bed now you can sleep in it as the saying goes. You just couldn’t leave well enough alone. I loved Nascar, watching it on tv or going to the track. Iwll always remember the Elliotts. Bakers, Jarrett’s Grants, Earnhadts, Roberts and all the others that helped make this sport great and i feel sorry for all those who weren’t around to see it as it was. Yeah you can change your time schedule and your announcers and some of the other things you’re talking about but it’s not going to help. you will NEVER regain the fans from Hickory, Rockingham and Darlington. All the people you betrayed, all the jobs you took away and all because the venues weren’t big enough, they weren’t bringing in enough money to suit Nascar. You have forced people into selling tracks so they can get a second race at another track that them operate. And thats what you call good business. It’s what i tune into watch on tv. well not me. so take your Nascar to Mexico, Canada, Japan and probably South America and try to impress those people there Nascar i justturned the channel.