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FOX Sports’ coverage of the AUTOCLUB 500 Presented by Quaker State on Sunday evening (2/22) was the top-rated, most-watched sports event of the week and was one of the highest-rated prime time programs among several popular demographic categories, including adults 18-49.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the race posted a 6.0/10 national household rating/share, with 10.2 million viewers watching, by far the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the week. Placing a distant second was Sunday’s final round of the Northern Trust Open on CBS (3.7/7, 4.8 million viewers).
Out of 80 prime time programs televised on the four major broadcast networks last week, the AUTOCLUB 500 on FOX placed fifth among men 25-54 (5.8), seventh among men 18-49 (4.4) and 14th in the important adults 18-49 category (3.7). Among men 25-54, the AUTOCLUB 500 beat well-known shows such as Lost and Two-and-a-Half Men; among men 18-49, the race out-distanced Heroes and Survivor: Tocantins; and among adults 18-49 the race out-rated Biggest Loser and Criminal Minds.
Sunday’s AUTOCLUB 500 coverage also fared well opposite expected stiff competition from the Academy Awards. FOX’s 5.9/9 prime time household average on Sunday fared +28% better than FOX’s recent performance versus the Oscars (4.6 average from 2004 to 2007), and +13% better among adults 18-49 (3.6 vs. 3.2). Last year’s NASCAR race opposite the Academy Awards show was delayed by rain and pre-empted the planned prime time lineup, so it was excluded from this comparison. The 2009 Academy Awards on ABC averaged a 20.6/36.
Fans of the rugged sport of motocross are in for a treat when ESPN Classic hosts a seven-hour marathon of events from the 2003 AMA Motocross Series this Saturday, March 7, beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Seven one-hour programs, airing until 8 p.m., feature the final seven events of the 11-race series for 250cc motorcycles. Top riders in action include Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, Chad Reed and many others.
The first event at 1 p.m. is from Budds Creek, Md., followed at 2 p.m. by action from Buchanan, Mich. At 3 p.m., riders tackle the circuit at New Berlin, N.Y., with the 4 p.m. racing at Washougal, Wash. The final three events are at Millville, Minn., Binghamton, N.Y., and Delmont, Pa.
For the first time in the event’s 68-year history, the season-opening Daytona 200 By Honda at Daytona International Speedway will be held at night this Friday, March 6.
Daytona International Speedway, with the help of permanent and temporary lighting from Musco Lighting, will illuminate “The World Center of Racing” as the stars of AMA Pro Racing battle for 200 miles in America’s most historic motorcycle classic.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers behind the lights at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 200 By Honda Daytona SportBike race on Friday night, March 6:
· Six portable Musco lighting units will light the infield portion of the 3.51-mile road course. Each unit, which can go up to 133 feet in height, is self-contained, self-sufficient and remote-controlled and generates over 120 million candlepower of light.
· Following Friday’s Daytona 200 By Honda, those six portable Musco lighting units will be repositioned in the tri-oval area of DIS for the Daytona Supercross By Honda this Saturday, March 7.
· The permanent lights on the high banks will be operating at 100 percent with 1,932 light fixtures on 202 poles ranging from 70 feet to 110 feet. The mirtran lights located on the inside of the high banks will operate at 50 percent “It definitely adds to the history bringing it into the night,” said former Daytona 200 By Honda winner Jake Zemke during the initial AMA night motorcycle test in December at DIS. “We started on the beach and then speedway was built and the racing came inside. We’ve gone through course change in the last few years and now we’re going back to the old course and racing at night. It’s another first for the Daytona 200. It definitely adds to the history of the event. It’s just another new chapter.”
A full field of motorcycles and international riders – including 84 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike entries for the 68th annual Daytona 200 by Honda – is heading to Daytona International Speedway next week for the debut event of the new AMA Pro Road Racing series.
AMA Pro Road Racing’s four series have attracted a combined total of 170 entries, including the biggest field in four years and one of the largest in decades for the Daytona 200 by Honda. The race will be part of AMA Pro Road Racing’s historic opening weekend with the first night running of the Daytona 200 under the lights, this Friday, March 6. The advent of the new Daytona SportBike class will also bring the Daytona 200 action back to the full 3.55-mile legendary Daytona road course for the first time since 2004.
The AMA Pro American Superbike division shares the spotlight with the Daytona SportBikes at Daytona and attracted a strong entry of 41 motorcycles for its debut 2009 race. A 15-lap American Superbike sprint at 3:30 p.m. highlights the racing this Thursday, March 5, while the Daytona SportBike Daytona 200 starts at 8 p.m. Friday night for 57 laps under the lights.
With AMA Pro Road Racing’s pair of premier classes accounting for 125 of the 170 entries, the starting field in each race will be full of past, present and future legends of AMA Pro Road Racing. Former Daytona 200 winners Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR), Steve Rapp (No. 15 Black Hole Racing Aprilia RSV) and reigning race champion Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia/Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV) will join record five-time winner Miguel Duhamel (No. 17 Team Suzuki/Blackfoot/Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R600) in looking for another Daytona 200 victory.
Top riders gunning for a first Daytona 200 win include factory Yamaha teammates Ben Bostrom (No. 1s Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) and Josh Hayes (No. 4 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6), who is looking to avenge 2008’s heartbreak after what appeared to be a convincing victory was taken away when his motorcycle failed post-race inspection. Chris Peris (No. 10 Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR), Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy/Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R), teammates Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) and Martin Cardenas (No. 36 M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) and Yamaha’s young standouts Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) and 16-year-old Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) will also be among the dozens of riders with a legitimate shot at victory.
Proven 600cc-racing bikes from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki anchor the Daytona 200 entry list but the new Daytona SportBike class is home to a diverse lineup of motorcycles. Rapp and Davies are joined in the Aprilia camp by Hooters Aprilia teammates Shane Narbonne (No. 12 Hooters Aprilia RSV) and Ryan Elleby (No. 21 Hooters Aprilia RSV), Ty Howard (No. 67 Ridesmart Motorcycle Schools Aprilia RSV), Scott Jensen (No. 76 Black Hole Racing Aprilia RSV) and Ben Thompson (No. 97 Factory Aprilia/Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV).
Buell is also well represented with six 1125Rs entered for Danny Eslick (No. 9 Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR Buell 1125R), Shawn Higbee (No.11 Higbee-Racing.com Buell1125R), Bryan Bemisderfer (No. 98 HDFR Buell 1125R), Latus teammates Josh Bryan (No. 45 Latus Motor Racing Buell 1125R) and Alan Schmidt (No. 54 Latus Motor Racing Buell 1125R) and Michael Barnes (No. 34 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R). Barnes is recovering from a third metacarpal fracture hand injury from an early February testing accident but is using this weekend’s CCS event to assess his readiness for the Daytona 200.
A pair of Ducati 848s are entered for Calvin Martinez (No. 20 Wisconsin Racing Ducati 848) and Gene Burcham (No. 94 GBR Motors Ducati 848) as well as two Triumph Daytona 675s for Mark Crozier (No. 14 Crozier Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675) and second-generation rider Justin Filice (No. 30 Bud Light Lime/R & B Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675), son of AMA Pro Hall-of-Famer Jimmy Filice.
The Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation (BMF) has agreed a five-year deal to bring MotoGP to the country from the 2012 season. The deal was struck with MotoGP commercial rights-holder Dorna Sports.
Reuters reports that BMF head Bodgan Nikolov announced the deal, saying, “We signed the agreement with [Dorna chief executive] Carmelo Ezpeleta and we’re very pleased because no country from our region has hosted a motorcycle grand prix.”
“It’s still not clear which track will host the races as we’re still thinking over two options.” Nikolov said that a new circuit set to be constructed near the northern Bulgarian town of Dolna Mitropoliya is the most likely location for the event.
In other MotoGP news, manufacturer Kawasaki announced it would remain in the series with a single bike for rider Marco Melandri, partially reversing its previous declaration that it would end its MotoGP program due to the global economic crisis.
It was also announced that British Eurosport would continue to show MotoGP coverage in the UK in 2009 alongside existing MotoGP broadcaster the BBC. All of that came from SportsBusinessInternational.
A1GP chief executive Tony Teixeira is looking at land in Portugal with a view to set up a base for his own Formula One team as well as his existing race series. Autosport.com reports that the South African businessman is “edging towards starting a (F1) team from scratch after considering bids for Spyker, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Honda Racing in the past two years”. He has acquired land near the Algarve Circuit in Portimao, which he could use as a joint base for his motorsport operations, and could receive funding from the Portuguese government to develop it.
“I’ve bought 47,000 square meters at the Portimao circuit,” Teixeira told Autosport.com. “I’ve bought that to put up a head office, an A1GP factory with 35 bays and an A2 factory, and restaurants, and the whole merchandising scene.” On the possibility of basing a Formula One team there he said, “The team that I’ve been looking at would be based (in Portugal) and backed by the Portuguese government. “If this is going to be such an important racing center, they have to have an F1 team to compete with. Otherwise it means nothing without F1…The idea is that eventually it could house an A1/F1 office.” This report came from SportsBusinessInternational.
Here’s another item from SportsBusinessInternational. Building work on a Formula One theme park in Dubai has been suspended due to the financial crisis. Autosport.com reports that the park, called ‘F1-X’, was to open this year, having first been unveiled in 2005 as a $360 million investment. However the opening has now been put back until 2010, according to a statement by the company behind the project, because of the “drying up of liquidity from banks and financial institutions”.
Penny Fischer, marketing director at F1-X, was quoted by Autosport.com: “With construction more than 50 per cent complete, the core of international expertise on the ground and operational plans virtually complete, it is hard to believe that a financial partner will not come forward in coming days or weeks to capitalize on the opportunity.”
Here’s a great insight from the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter under the caption of Yes, He Really Said That-
Dr. Jerry Punch, ESPN announcer, on if NASCAR drivers are paid too much. “As long as you have baseball players turning down $25 million for one year to play with the Dodgers, we should be OK over here.”
Here’s what’s happening on the tube for motorsports action this weekend. ESPN2 airs NASCAR Now every weekday at 5 p.m. On Tuesday Speed offers the FIM Superbikes at Phillips Island, Australia from noon to 2 p.m. The coverage really ramps up on Friday starting at 11:30 a.m. with the Camping World Truck Practice from Atlanta. on Speed followed by Cup Practice at the same track and channel at 3 p.m. Speed and TSN2 both air Cup Qualifying from Atlanta at 6:30 p.m. For the bikers it’s the AMA Sport Bike event from Daytona on Speed at 8:30 p.m.
The weekend coverage from Atlanta continues on Saturday with Camping World Truck Qualifying on Speed at 9:30 a.m. At 11 a.m. it’s more Cup Practice at 11 a.m. and Cup Final Practice at noon. Stick with Speed as that channel airs the NASCAR Truck race from Atlanta at 2 p.m. Speed returns with the first night AMA SuperX airing at 8 p.m.
Sunday’s offerings start at 11:30 a.m. with NASCAR Raceday on Speed. Both Fox and TSN2 will air the NASCAR Cup race from Atlanta at 2 p.m. Speed comes back with the Speed Report at 7 p.m. followed by NASCAR Victory Lane from Atlanta at 8 p.m. and then Windtunnel with Dave Despain at 9 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
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