|
3 Wide Life is a show about real racers. A “real” racer eats, sleeps and breaths racing. Occasionally, they are born with a name that doesn’t give them a chance at doing anything else. Such is the case for NASCAR newcomer, Scott Speed. |
“It’s my real name,” says Speed. “It was my dad’s name and he passed it on to me. It’s not like I HAD to race, but it certainly seems that if you walk around with a name like ‘Speed’ that people will assume that’s what you are born to do. I don’t know if that’s what I was born to do, but the name has definitely helped me out with opportunities over the years.”
Speed is featured in this week’s episode of 3 Wide Life. He has been a target of the producers of the show for some time now, as they feel he embodies the spirit of a racer “living the 3 Wide Life.” Racers who want to race. Anything and everything. Anytime, any place.
“We have wanted to feature Scott (Speed) for some time now,” said 3WL producer Chris Trainor. “He has raced all over the world, in all kinds of race cars. If anyone is qualified to talk some racing, it’s Scott Speed. We were excited when he agreed to be featured on the show. His interview did not disappoint.”
3 Wide Life is syndicated locally, regionally and nationally. Locally it is broadcast on FOX, ABC, NBC and the CW networks. Regionally it airs on Fox SportsSouth, Florida Sun Sports, Altitude Sports, Fox Sports Midwest, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, Sports Time Ohio, and Cox Sports Television. Nationally you can catch the show on Untamed Sports.
NASCAR on Fox posted a 4.2/10 that Sunday for Sprint Cup racing from Texas. The 4.2/10 is down -11 percent compared to last year’s 4.7/10 for the same race. Once again FOX had trouble getting viewers to the set, as tune-in at the green flag was down half a rating point compared to last year (-13 percent, 3.4/9 vs. 3.9/9).
That half-point decline at the start matches the half-point decline for the entire race, showing that the build of the rating through the race was normal. More positively, the Texas race was far and away the day’s highest-rated sports event, it delivered Fox’s best NASCAR rating in a month, and the year-to-year decline of five-tenths of a point is an improvement over the average of nine-tenths for Fox’s previous races this season. Season-to-date, NASCAR is now averaging a 5.1/10 in the metered markets, down -15 percent compared to last year’s 6.0/12. This report came from the jayski.com website.
The head of the construction company working on India’s Formula One circuit has said it will be ready for 2011 despite reports to the contrary. Gaur, managing director of India’s JPSK Sports Pvt Ltd, told Reuters that construction of the track, located around 50 km from Indian capital New Delhi, will not be affected by the faltering global economy. There had been doubts that work would be delayed due to the financial crisis and after Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said that India’s inaugural race had been postponed until after 2010 last October.
“The progress is very nice…I’m absolutely, absolutely confident [it will be completed], the track will be ready in 2011,” he said. “The race was pushed back from 2010 because of the Formula One calendar. From what we understand, they had scheduled an India race only in 2011. The design stage is in progress and regarding construction, the investigations of the site have also started.”
Gaur’s company plans to build a “sports destination” around the 200,000-seat track, which includes plans for a 100,000-capacity cricket stadium, an 18-hole golf course and a 25,000-capacity hockey stadium and sports academy. Construction costs are estimated at up to $364 million. Jaiprakash is India’s largest builder of dams with interests in hospitality, engineering, construction and energy. This came from SportsBusinessInternational.com.
We read with interest that Bernie Eccelstone is telling his constituents in F1 that he’s trying to get the Canadian and US Grands Prix back on the schedule. Because most of the teams feel that the lack of a North American presence is not good for their current or future sponsors. So that means that old Bernie is bowing to pressure. However, he has told his troops that the should not resist adding more races to their schedule as he sees some 20 races on the annual treks around the world in order to accommodate the Canadian and US GP’s interests.
He did, however, say that if they go back to the USA it more than likely be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, due to obvious reasons. We think that it’s the best venue for that circuit in this country and a temporary street circuit wouldn’t work well. Plus, no other entity in the USA is going to pony up to build a suitable racecourse to accommodate F1 during all the uncertainty of the current global economy.
Here’s another item from SportsBusiness.com. The Race of Champions event will be staged at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium in November, the first major international sporting event to be held there since the 2008 Olympics. The 91,000 capacity Bird’s Nest has struggled to find events to host since last year’s Beijing Olympics closing ceremony.
The event pits stars from Formula One, World Rally Championship, NASCAR, sportscars and touring cars against each other in identical cars and has been held in London for the past two years after three editions at the Stade de France in Paris.
“We received exciting proposals from five world-class stadia, but after the incredible Olympics last year, Beijing’s candidacy was difficult to ignore,” said event organizer Fredrik Johnsson. “The Bird’s Nest venue is awesome and having spent the last five years at two of Europe’s biggest stadiums, we were thrilled about the opportunity to take The Race of Champions to Asia for the first time.”
The 2009 Race on November 3-4, 2009 will take place two days after the final round of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi and will occupy a mid-week slot for the first time in its short history. Last year’s racers included former seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.
Yes, He Really Said That-From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter.
Richard Petty, on John Andretti driving his Indy 500 entry. “I’m not sure if I can be of any help to him, but he’s going to have no bigger supporter than myself.”
Let’s see what’s happening on TV for gear head action this week. On Monday VS airs the IRL Indy Lites race held at Long Beach, CA at 4 p.m. At 5 p.m. ESPN2 offers NASCAR Now and goes at that time on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday gets an early morning start with F1 Practice from Bahrain on Speed but is blacked out in Canada. At 11:30 a.m. Speed/TSN go with NASCAR Nationwide Qualifying from Talladega. Speed continues on with Dega action with 2 p.m. Cup Practice and Final Cup Practice at 3:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. The Duce kicks in with NASCAR Now. At 5 p.m. Speed comes back with the ARCA/REMax Series 250 at Talladega.
Saturday has another early start with TSN/SC both offering F1 Qualifying from Bahrain. At 11 a.m. Speed/TSN air NASCAR Cup Qualifying from Dega. Both cable channels then go with the Grand Am race from VIR at 2:30 p.m. ABC/TSN both offer the NASCAR Nationwide Series at 3 p.m. At 6 p.m. Speed returns with the NASCAR Truck Race from Kansas City At the Same time it’s IRL Qualifying from Kansas City on VS.
Plan on an 8 a.m. breakfast this Sunday with Speed/TSN each airing the F1 GP of Bahrain. At 10 a.m. ESPN2 offers NASCAR Now. Speed kicks in with NASCAR Raceday at 11:30 a.m. CBS goes with a noon airing of the AMA SuperX held at Salt Lake City, UT. Fox/TSN both air the Cup event from Talladega at 2 p.m. At the same time Speed airs the AMA Lites race from Salt Lake City. More bike action goes at 3 p.m. on Speed with FIM World Superbikes from Holland. VS returns with the IRL Indy Car go from KC at 4 p.m. Even more biker racing goes on Speed at 5 p.m. with the FIM GP of Spain followed by the FIM Moto GP from that same venue. Stick with Speed for the Speed Report at 7 p.m. then NASCAR Victory Lane and finally Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain at 9 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
Used Jeep Wranglers for sale
