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Greg Biffle’s win at Dover weekend before last made it two wins in a row for the driver from the northwest… Washington state, to be precise.
It also appears that Greg could be a serious contender for the Chase To The Sprint Cup Championship. If Biffle continues his streak he could very well help to increase fan interest and help spike up NASCAR’s sagging TV ratings. |
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NASCAR does not have a presence yet in the US northwest. But a contending Greg Biffle would do a lot for NASCAR in that part of the country. Also it would help Ford because he drives one of those cars in the Jack Roush stable.
ABC’s telecast of the Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway that Sunday earned a final national rating of 3.3, down from the 3.5 for last year’s race which also aired on ABC. The telecast averaged 5,347,549 viewers, down 3 percent from last year’s 5,511,479 average. ABC is averaging a 3.54 rating for the two races it has televised this year (New Hampshire and Dover). The average is 5 percent higher than the average for the same two races last year. ESPN2’s telecast of the Nationwide Series event at Dover this past Saturday earned a 1.1 household coverage rating, down from the 1.4 earned for the same event last year. The race drew an average viewership of 1,501,263, down from 1,638,055 for the 2007 race. For the season, ESPN2 is averaging 1.6 for 18 races, an increase of 10 percent over last year’s average of 1.45 for 23 races. This report came from ESPN PR, StockCarGazette.com and the Jayski.com webpages.
Victory Junction Gang announced a site selection for its second, medical camping facility for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. The expansion of Victory Junction will be located at 8205 Riverview Road, Kansas City, Kan., and built on 71 acres in Wyandotte County, Kan., pending Unified Government review and approval.
Victory Junction Gang is a year-round facility that enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous donors to provide this experience free of charge to children and families.
Early 2008, co-founders Kyle and Pattie Petty announced plans to expand to the ‘Heartland’ and spread the once-in-a-lifetime experience with children in need.
Bass Pro Shops today announced a $1 million donation to Victory Junction Gang, a year-round facility that enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment.
In response to the Tony Stewart Foundation’s fundraising effort in June via the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream dirt late model race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Bass Pro Shops decided to match that generous effort by contributing $1 million to Victory Junction.
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) announced that the annual 2008 AMA Sports and AMA Pro Racing awards banquets will be held at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala., Nov. 22 and 23.
The much-anticipated gathering of motorcycle racing superstars honors the accomplishments of the year’s amateur and professional champions, and is attended by their families, friends, fans and industry leaders. In addition to serving as the official end-of-season ceremony for AMA-sanctioned racing events, the banquets provide enthusiasts one of their best opportunities to meet and greet their racing heroes.
On September 26, 2008, after five days of pushing their streamliner motorcycle to new limits on the salt flats of Bonneville, the Top 1 Ack Attack team achieved what it came to do – topple the existing absolute FIM motorcycle land speed record with a blistering 360.913 mph run. At 8:58 MST, team owner Mike Akatiff, driver Rocky Robinson and crew shattered the existing 350.884 mph record set by Denis Manning and Chris Carr in 2006. The new record was witnessed by an FIM official onsite, but is still subject to FIM ratification. The historic record was set during the first annual TOP 1 Oil World Land Speed Shootout taking place this week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Bonneville, Utah.
P.L. Newman, aka Paul Newman, passed away at 83-years old after a long bout with cancer this past weekend. Besides being one great actor, Newman managed to enjoy a parallel career as a race driver mostly in road racing with occasional appearances in some oval events. We interviewed him at Daytona several years ago when the NASCAR Modifieds ran the Daytona infield road course. He was set to drive the Bob Cicconi car out of Providence, RI then. At that time he told us that his racing efforts were a way for him to relax and get away from his acting career.
Newman was also a partner in a reasonably successful Indy Car team with Carl Haas, known as Newman-Hass Racing. A portrayal as a race-car driver in 1969′s “Winning” led to his actual competition in races; at 70, he participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona and he was still racing at age 80. Newman didn’t like the Hollywood life style and relocated to Westport, Conn. with his long time wife and actress Joann Woodward who also co-starred with him in the “Winning” film among many others.
Yes, He REALLY Said That
Jeff Burton, on competing in the Chase. “I think some guys in the Chase expect special consideration. I don’t think that’s right. I think just because you’re in the Chase doesn’t change the fact that the guy’s not in the Chase, he has as much right to the racetrack as you do. But people start looking for extra consideration, and extra help.” This came from the widely distributed Track Talk Valvoline News Letter.
One of the premiere endurance races in North America will once again play out on SPEED’s multiple media platforms, as both SPEED and SPEEDtv.com will broadcast from picturesque Road Atlanta during the 2008 Petit Le Mans. On Oct. 2, six-and-a-half total hours of race coverage from the penultimate event of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season starts at 11 a.m. ET with the start of the 1,000-mile sports car classic.
Long time sports car play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey will anchor this year’s coverage, as 1989 Trans-Am Series Champion Dorsey Schroeder and road racing veteran Calvin Fish provide color commentary from the booth. On pit road, former racers Brian Till and Chris Neville are set to be joined by sports car insider Jamie Howe to cover the many storylines throughout the weekend.
In addition, similar to this year’s coverage from the historic 12-hour race from Sebring, Fla., SPEED will host a Petit Le Mans special on Thursday, Oct. 2 starting at 7 p.m. ET. The show will originate pit side, previewing the race and providing a taste of on-track activity and off-track reaction as the race’s night practice session unfolds. Then, on Oct. 3, qualifying will be streamed live by SPEEDtv.com starting at 3:25 p.m. ET. This will be the network’s 10th year of broadcast coverage from the race’s 11 years of existence.
“The Petit Le Mans special will celebrate the first 10 years of this great endurance race,” said Rick Miner, SPEED SVP of Studio Production & Operations. “The show will also preview that Saturday’s race, especially with the great background of night practice where we’ll be able to interview drivers and get the impressions immediately after they leave the track.”
This year’s Petit Le Mans is stacked with star power, both in the driver’s seat and on track. Like Sebring and Le Mans earlier this year, Team Peugeot will re-engage its LMP1 battle with the dominant Audi factory team when they offload a diesel-powered Peugeot 908i racer stateside for the second time this season. Highlighting the Peugeot driving lineup will be former Formula One shoes Christian Klien and Pedro Lamy, both competed at Le Mans this past June. Among the other drivers competing in Petit Le Mans this year will be open-wheel stars Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Gil de Ferran, Marco Andretti and Dario Franchitti.
2008 Petit Le Mans Television Schedule:
Braselton, Georgia (All Times Eastern)
Thursday, October 2 Petit Le Mans Preview 7 – 8 p.m. Night Practice Friday, October 3 Petit Le Mans Qualifying* 3:25 - 4:30 p.m. Qualifying Saturday, October 4 Petit Le Mans 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. The Start Petit Le Mans 6:30 – 11 p.m. The Finish *Denotes SPEEDtv.com Live Streaming
Let’s see what’s happening for gear head action on the tube this weekend. It all get’s off and running on Friday at noon with Craftsman Truck Qualifying at Talladega on Speed. That cable channel comes back at 2 p.m. with Sprint Cup practice at that same track followed by final practice at 3 p.m. At 5 p.m. Speed airs the ARCA RE/Max Series 250 from Dega.
Saturday at 11 a.m. TSN offers the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series from Antigonish, NS. More from Speed at 1 p.m. with Sprint Cup Qualifying from Talladega SDD. Speed continues with the coverage of the 4 p.m. airing of the NASCAR CTS race from Talladega.
Sunday’s offerings start at 1 p.m. with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Talladega, AL. Speed returns with FIM Superbike racing from France at 3 p.m., SDD. At 5 p.m. there’s more for the bikers on Speed with the FIM 250 from Phillips Island, Australia followed by the 6 p.m. broadcast of the FIM MotoGP from that same venue. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESSES RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
