ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now returns to the air for its third season on Monday, Feb. 2, to coincide with the beginning of the 2009 NASCAR racing season. The season’s first program, a one-hour roundtable discussion, airs at 5 p.m. ET.
Mike Massaro, who has been a pit reporter on ESPN’s NASCAR coverage the past two years, moves to the studio this year as a new co-host of NASCAR Now, joining returning co-hosts Nicole Manske and Allen Bestwick. NASCAR Now includes the latest news, highlights, opinion, debate and analysis from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders both on and off the track. The program regularly airs at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with all programs 30 minutes except for the one-hour Monday roundtable. ESPN2 also airs a one-hour edition at 10 a.m. on the morning of each NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and a weekend wrap-up edition will begin in July.
On Monday’s return episode, Bestwick leads the roundtable discussion of the latest NASCAR news with ESPN.com motorsports writer Ed Hinton and NASCAR Now lead reporter Marty Smith, both award-winning journalists, and ESPN motorsports analyst and NASCAR driver Boris Said.
A five-part feature during the first week of the NASCAR Now season will tie in the 60th anniversary of NASCAR with Top 10 lists by the five former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion analysts on ESPN’s NASCAR coverage team. Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, will reveal his Top 10 personalities in NASCAR history, while 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace lists his Top 10 tracks. Andy Petree, two-time champion crew chief, reveals his Top 10 drivers and two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer lists his Top 10 finishes. Analyst Ray Evernham, a three-time champion crew chief, lists his Top 10 “coolest cars.”
Other features during the first week include conversations about NASCAR with actor Tom Cruise and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton; a visit by driver Ryan Newman to Fort Bragg as part of his new sponsorship from the U.S. Army; and a review of NASCAR’s “Silly Season.”
During the week leading up to the Feb. 15 running of the Daytona 500, NASCAR Now airs a three-part series on NASCAR and the economy, looking through the eyes of the NASCAR fan, a NASCAR team crew member and legendary driver/team owner Richard Petty. The five weekday episodes of the program will expand to one hour during Daytona 500 week and originate from Daytona International Speedway.
Live NASCAR racing returns to the ESPN networks for the 2009 season when ESPN2 airs flag-to-flag coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World 300 from Daytona on Saturday, Feb. 14, at noon.
QVC, one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world, announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to provide racing enthusiasts with a unique multichannel shopping experience.
As part of this new venture, QVC will expand upon its current For Race Fans Only programming, which is currently celebrating its 15th year of broadcasting, with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the biggest events of the season as well as offering the newest NASCAR-licensed merchandise before other retailers.
Through its relationship with Turner Sports, operator of NASCAR.com, QVC will also launch Shop NASCAR on QVC.com (www.QVC.com/ForRaceFansOnly). The online shop will feature an expanded assortment of thousands of NASCAR products online as well as webcasts and product features.
“Through our various multimedia channels, we will be able to provide race fans with a unique shopping experience that brings them inside the world of NASCAR,” said Rich Yoegel, director of merchandising. “We will not only be able to offer the newest NASCAR items first but also feature one of the largest selection of products available online. We will also have the opportunity to give customers an inside look at the people and places that have helped shape the sport of racing.”
Two-time NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart and 2008 Daytona Champion Ryan Newman kicked things off last week on that cable channel.
“We are excited about extending our partnership with QVC. Over the years, For Race Fans Only has become a destination for NASCAR fans and with the enhancements being made to the show, as well as an expanded merchandise offering, the fans’ experience will be even better,” said Blake Davidson, managing director of licensed products for NASCAR.
The recently released documentary on Subaru Rally Team USA driver & Freestyle MX legend Travis Pastrana called “199 Lives” will air on MTV & MTV2 several times over the coming week. It’s well worth watching (or recording) if you have the time. The air dates & times for the broadcast are listed below if you’d like to check it out – the first showing of the show will be this evening at 10 p.m. on MTV2:
MTV2 Monday, February 02, 2009 10 PM
MTV Tuesday, February 03, 2009 2 AM
MTV Friday, February 06, 2009 7 PM
MTV2 Friday, February 06, 2009 1 AM
Tania Ganguli’s piece in the Orlando(FL)Sentinel that “NASCAR needs Dale, Jr. to to win the Daytona 500″ was correct! It hit the mark and we agree that’s exactly what’s needed because, as Ganguli points out, Junior is NASCAR’s most popular driver and has a huge following. A win we think would peak interest in what’s been a bland 2008 season. Now the pressure is really on Junior.
Also, Dale, Jr., according to a recent piece in Sport Illustrated, is also not happy that NASCAR promoters feel that the drivers should do more to help sell tickets to their races. Earnhardt doesn’t agree and feels that ticket prices are too high and high motel room rates are another big problem. All of this was on StockcarGazette.com a widely distributed daily newsletter. There was also another story that Dale, Jr. felt that the NASCAR season is too long, a few weeks ago. But, we don’t see that ever changing because of the investments made by ISC and SMI who hold the majority of those busy Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Series weekends.
NASCAR will not consider blacking out races for local markets that do not sell out, its chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton said recently during a question-and-answer session with reporters. Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Bruton Smith floated an NFL-style blackout idea as a possible solution to help tracks counter lagging attendance figures. But France said the concept wouldn’t work. In the NFL, a home team must sell out its game in order to have the event broadcast in its local market. “With a national sport like NASCAR, a blackout would not have the intended effect,” he said. This report also came from StockCarGazette.com.
In another announcement, NASCAR CEO Brian France has frozen all new hires due to the bad economic outlook but indicating that there won’t be any layoffs, yet. This came from SportBusinessDaily.
Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One commercial director, has told the press he advanced the Williams team £14.5 million after it committed to stay in the series.
Newspaper the Financial Times says Williams made a loss of £50 million over the past two years, but the £14.5 million advance has helped it secure its budget until the end of 2010.
The Financial Times reports that £130 million has been set aside as an incentive for the nine F1 teams to sign the Concorde Agreement, which seals their entry in the series, but which expired at the end of 2007. The teams now race under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreed in 2006 with CVC, the private equity group which controls F1, but this is not legally binding.
Williams has not yet signed the Concorde Agreement, and Ecclestone described the £14.5 million advance as a “pre-payment”. Williams, along with the rest of the teams, will be due more money should they sign the contract.
Prize money under the MOU increased from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the sport’s profits, with payments beginning last year. However Ecclestone has questioned the sense of making the payments without a contract.
Dutch bank ING will cut back its marketing activity around Formula One during 2009, after which the activity will be ‘reviewed’. ING made the announcement after revealing it is expecting to make a €1 billion loss in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, reports the Autosport.com website. The review of Formula One sponsorship activities is part of a wider cost-cutting program which includes the laying off of around 7,000 staff.
Autosport reports that ING said in a statement, “ING will cut operating expenses by €1 billion in 2009. The structural expense reduction will lead to annual savings of approximately €1.1 billion from 2010 onwards. Of the cutback, 35 percent will come from a reduction of the workforce by approximately 7,000 full-time positions in 2009.
“The remainder of the expense reduction comes from decreasing costs for our head office, marketing, the Formula One program, consultancy, third-party staff and the renegotiating of certain contracts with IT-vendors. Of the total expense reduction, €650 million will be realized in Banking and €350 million in Insurance.”
ING is title sponsor of the Renault team, and bought trackside advertising and was title sponsor of the Australian, Hungarian, and Belgian Grands Prix last year. The company will sponsor the same Grands Prix this year, with the addition of the Turkey Grand Prix. These F1 reports came from SportsBusiness.com.
Here’s another item from SportsBusiness.com. Magny Cours racetrack in France will host the opening race of the Superleague Formula motor-racing series in 2009, a year after being removed from the Formula One calendar. Superleague Formula, the open-wheel race series in which teams are married with top football clubs from around the world, will have six races this year. Superleague Formula says that three of the planned races – in Italy, Portugal and Spain – are yet to be confirmed.
This year’s Italian race moves from Vallelunga, near Rome, to Monza, nearer Milan. Both AS Roma and AC Milan are represented by race teams. This year’s Spanish race moves from Jerez to the Jarama circuit near Madrid. Atletico Madrid are also represented on the track.
The series returns this year to Zolder, Belgium; Donington, England; and Estoril, Portugal; all of which featured on last year’s calendar. Superleague Formula says that it is currently in negotiations with Brazilian football clubs Corinthians and Flamengo about arranging a race in the South American country at the end of the year.
This year’s provisional calendar is as follows:
1) Magny-Cours, France, June 27/28
2) Zolder, Belgium, July 18/19
3) Donington Park, UK, August ½
4) Estoril, Portugal, September 5/6 (to be confirmed)
5) Monza, Italy, October 3/4 (to be confirmed)
6) Circuito de Jarama, Spain, October 17/18 (to be confirmed)
This item comes from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Rahal Letterman Racing will suspend its efforts in IndyCar Series competition in 2009 due to lack of sponsorship, the team announced on Wednesday. “As of this time, we do not have any sponsorship that will allow us to compete in the (Indy Racing League) in 2009, but by no means does that mean that we are giving up,” team co-owner Bobby Rahal said in a statement. “We are continuing to search for sponsorship to run the 2009 season and to run in the Indianapolis 500, and we feel that there is still time for us to put something together that will allow that to happen.”
RLR, however, said it remains committed to its programs in the Firestone Indy Lights Series, the American Le Mans Series and Formula BMW Americas.
The team, also co-owned by television talk show host David Letterman, fielded a car for driver Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2008. Hunter-Reay recorded his first career IndyCar victory in July at Watkins Glen, NY. He finished eighth in points last year.
RLR won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice, and in 2005, the team brought Danica Patrick to the IRL, as she won rookie of the year honors that year. Patrick moved over to Andretti Green Racing in 2007.
From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter is this revealing quote from Tony Stewart on Robby Gordon’s off-road racing exploits. “He’s invited me to go pre-run the Baja with him . . . but I’m almost scared to pre-run it with him because then I think I’m responsible for reading the map, and I can’t read a newspaper in a car without getting sick.”
Let’s see what’s on the motorsports scene on TV this weekend. Live action returns this weekend. On Friday Speed airs the Bud Shootout Selection show at 4 p.m. from Daytona. Saturday’s offerings are bountiful with a 10:30 a.m. airing of NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice from Daytona with another session at 1:30 p.m. both on Speed. Speed returns with the ARCA 200 from Daytona at 4 p.m. Fox/TSN kick in with The Bud Shootout from Daytona at 8 p.m. ESPN2 offers the NHRA Winternational Qualifying from Pomona, CA at 10 p.m., SDD. Sunday has Speed coming back with the AMA SuperX from Anaheim, CA at 2:30 p.m. followed by the AMA Lites from that same venue. The Duce returns with NHRA Finals from Pomona at 6:30 p.m., SDD while the Speed Report on Speed will wrap-up the busy weekend at 7 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
I think speed should be showing Super League Formula and Gp2 Asia. The channel is supposed to be about speed.They need to listen to the fans. Fox also needs to leave F1 on speed where it belongs.Fox has no idea how to show F1.They have long adverts where you miss up to four laps.They cut the podium and interview with the winners.Fox if you cant show F1 in it’s entirety leave it alone and on speed.Why Fox has to show four of the races is beyond me.
Terrie