TV Times – What Do Junior’s Fans Know?

Do Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s fans know more than most of the media that covers NASCAR week after week during the long season? In spite of finishing 25th overall in the Sprint Cup Series this year and not making the Chase To The Nextel Cup, Jr. was named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for the seventh consecutive time!

Jr. got a lot of criticism from the press but it didn’t faze his supporters any. Earnhardt also was scorned by fans of other NASCAR drivers.

So what happens if Jr. manages to have a successful “comeback”? Is the media, who felt that he was all done, going to eat crow?

We also think that the suits in NASCAR’s front office hope and pray that Jr. makes a successful comeback in 2010 because it will take a lot of heat off them. Because, Jr. is really NASCAR’s poster boy. If he and team turn things around in a positive way, NASCAR tracks that hold Sprint Cup events will start selling more tickets, again. Possibly at the same time the economy picks up which would build a head of steam for NASCAR going into next season. And if the economy stalls and Jr. still becomes successful it’s still going to help to rebound NASCAR and especially the Chase To The Nextel Cup Championship.

Because, quite frankly, we think that Jimmie Johnson winning his fourth Cup title in a row contributed to the ho-hum 2009 season. Remember, The Chase was supposed to inject some suspense into the final ten races. Some seem to think that if the current downward spiral for NASCAR continues, Brian France’s job could be very well be on the line next season. Because Brian was the architect of the Chase To The Nextel Cup when it goes up against the NFL in the late summer and early fall and was designed to inject some suspense and excitement into NASCAR’s countdown to the season finale at Homestead, FL. Jr. doing well in 2010 will be a key element in NASCAR’s success next season.

Marty Reid, whose 28-year career with ESPN has touched all forms of motorsports the network has covered, will expand his role and join analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth as lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s full season of NASCAR coverage in 2010. Reid will call the action for all 17 of ESPN’s NASCAR Sprint Cup races as well as many of the network’s NASCAR Nationwide Series telecasts. He was lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s Indy Car Series coverage and selected NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2009.

Returning to a role he helped define for ESPN for more than 20 years, Dr. Jerry Punch will join ESPN’s team of pit reporters for 2010, working both Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races. Punch was lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s Sprint Cup coverage the past three years.

“This group gives us the most versatile and comprehensive team in motorsports, and strengthens us in the booth,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and event production.

“We play to the strengths of our announcers, and Marty’s strength is calling the tactical aspects of the race while deferring to the analysts.

“And from the early days of our NASCAR coverage, Jerry helped evolve the significant role that reporting from the pits plays,” Williamson said. “He will bolster our already-strong stable of pit reporters.”

All other members of the NASCAR on ESPN race coverage team will return in 2010, including analysts Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty, Tim Brewer and Ray Evernham, NASCAR Countdown host Allen Bestwick and pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch. Specific assignments and schedules will be announced later.

In addition to his expanded role with NASCAR, Reid will continue as the lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s five-race Indy Car Series schedule, including the Indianapolis 500.

ESPN’s 2010 NASCAR season begins with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 13. The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race on ESPN’s schedule is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 25.

U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and his team presented the 2009 Full Throttle world championship trophy to the Soldiers AT Ft. Hood last week as part of a day of healing at the military installation. After capturing his sixth straight title in Pomona, Calif. last month, Schumacher immediately announced his championship hardware was heading for Fort Hood where 13 people were killed during a shooting incident on November 5. With assistance from NHRA President Tom Compton and his U.S. Army team, Schumacher handed the trophy to III Corps and Fort Hood Commander, Lt. General Robert Cone, who was among the military personnel attending the event known as “Fort Hood Community Strong.”

This item came from SportsBusinessInternational.com. Virgin Group has said its new Virgin Racing Formula One team can be profitable. Team principal Alex Tai, formerly director of special projects for the Virgin Group, said at the team’s launch yesterday: “It is possible to have a Formula One team that actually makes money.” “With this limiting to the budgets, we find ourselves on a level playing field. That is the opportunity for us to actually have a profitable Formula One team.

“Richard [Branson] and Virgin do not go into business to lose money. This is a very valuable marketing tool for the Virgin Group, it’s a very valuable marketing tool for our partners.”
Tai said Virgin were fully funded for the season ahead, helped by 10 sponsorship deals already secured for the 2010 season. Speaking at the launch, Branson said: “We haven’t put a lot of money in, we’ve put our brand in. “On the back of the brand, the team are managing to get a lot of sponsors. Our involvement is the naming of the team and some money.”

Renault announced yesterday it would stay in Formula One, but sell a large stake in its team to Luxembourg-based company Genii Capital. Reuters reports that the deal will see Renault halve its spending on Formula One, but keep a Renault-branded team in the race series. Renault said the team would retain the “core ingredients” that won it the Formula One championship in 2005 and 2006. Genii Capital is an investment company specializing in brand management and motorsports. Renault F1 team president Bernard Rey said: “I am delighted to welcome Genii Capital as our new strategic partner as I am sure that their enthusiasm and business expertise will create a new dynamic for the team, the staff, and our partners,” Rey said in a statement. “Today’s announcement also confirms Renault’s commitment and trust in the sport’s governing bodies to improve the green credentials of Formula One.” This also came from SportsBusinessInternational.com.

A Los Angeles man has pleaded not guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that cheated about 50 investors in a NASCAR merchandise wholesale business out of at least $10 million. Federal prosecutors say 63-year-old Eliott Dresher was arraigned Monday and ordered held pending trial in U.S. District Court. The U.S. attorney’s office says Dresher claimed investors’ money would be used to buy NASCAR apparel and sell it to stores. He claimed he had $70 million in various accounts and his business would return 20 percent every six months. Prosecutors say Dresher ran his scheme for about 10 years before it collapsed last year when he couldn’t make payments to investors. This came from AutoRacingSport.com.

Daytona Testing included one of the most diverse testing fields in ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards history, with drivers representing five countries and racing backgrounds ranging from Formula 1 to grassroots touring stock car racing scheduled to participate in the three-day, ARCA-sanctioned open test.

More than 50 drivers are scheduled to test. Among them, a growing segment of international drivers representing countries across the globe to include Venezuela, India, China and Canada.

Caracas, Venezuela’s Milka Duno, Chennai, India’s Narain Karthikeyan, Hong Kong, China’s Darryl O’Young and Canadians Steve Arpin, Wheeler Boys, Derek White and Terry Jones joined a list of drivers with non-U.S. hometowns who have driven ARCA Racing Series cars since the series’ inception in 1953. Other countries that have been represented in ARCA Racing Series events over the years include Columbia, Germany, the United Kingdom, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Japan and France.

Jerry Gappens, the executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, wanted to be sure that Danica Patrick and JR Motorsports knew how much he wanted them to compete at the NASCAR Nationwide Series New England 200 on Saturday, June 26.

Jerry made a surprise visit to the JR Motorsports Press Conference in Mooresville, N.C. that morning armed with 20 pounds of live lobsters to personally invite Danica and her team to race at the Northeast’s largest sports and entertainment complex, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The New England 200 will be held during an open weekend on Danica’s Indy Car racing schedule.

“I wanted Danica, Kelley Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to know how much the race fans in the Northeast are looking forward to seeing her compete,” said Gappens. “I brought along a little enticement (the lobsters) to show everyone what a wonderful overall experience it is to race at ‘The Magic Mile’, and I think it may have worked. Tony Eury, Jr. (Danica’s Crew Chief) is excited to feed his team fresh New England lobster.”

Danica Patrick made her first laps in an ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards stock car during a rain-shortened test session at Daytona Int’l Speedway last Friday afternoon. Patrick, one of 26 drivers who posted a time during the 35-minute single car run session, was 12th quickest on the charts with a time of 51.095 seconds (176.142 mph) around the 2.5-mile superspeedway. A trio of three cars fielded by long-time ARCA Racing Series team Venturini Motorsports comprised the top three positions in Friday’s test session, led by fulltime series competitor Mikey Kile (49.804 seconds/180.708 mph).

The first of a three day ARCA test session was shortened to just 35 minutes after rain plagued both morning and afternoon at the Daytona Beach-based superspeedway. Patrick was able to make just four laps at full speed during the session. “It’s still a car once you get in it, “Patrick said during a post test media center press conference on Friday. “I feel most comfortable once I’m at speed actually. Everything from getting into the car to getting the car started–that part feels quite different to me. It’s not normal to me. The car gets pulled out to pit lane and you get in the car when its in its pit stall in an Indy Car and the getting strapped in part is something that I’ve been familiar with for a long time now so everything is a little bit different but once I get out there I feel good. I feel comfortable. These cars can run more lanes on the track. You’re all the way to the wall and the car is good to go there. It’s easier to drive there and in an Indy Car you can’t use quite as many lanes usually. That’s just one of the first things I noticed. The gear shifter has more travel. You have to pull something and no more paddle anymore. The clutch is long. It’s just different stuff. But I wouldn’t say that there is any instinctual stuff that is different which is the best part, right? Because I just get to be a driver and I get to do what I’m used to. I feel comfortable once I get going. ”

“It does have a little bit of a grassroots feeling because there are a lot of cars sort of unpainted and everything but it’s still a car that I need to learn and I’m unfamiliar with. I have a lot to learn so I’m glad I’m here.” Although Patrick garnered most of the media attention during Friday testing at Daytona, Venturini Motorsports posted the fastest time overall with driver Mikey Kile, who plans on running the entire 2010 ARCA Racing Series.

The second day of a three day ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards test session at Daytona Int’l Speedway allowed Danica Patrick and other drivers to experience their first stock car draft on Saturday afternoon

Patrick, among more than 60 drivers participating in ARCA Testing this weekend, worked with crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. for the duration of Saturday’s full day test session to prepare for her stock car racing debut-the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race at Daytona Int’l Speedway on February 6 (live on SPEED at 4 p.m. Eastern).

“These cars are different then the cars I’m used to driving,” said Patrick, who was 19th in the Saturday afternoon session. “You can run so much closer and you can crossover. You can’t do that in the cars I drive. I got comfortable. Today was good. Tomorrow will be better.” Eury Jr. met with the media after Patrick’s first drafting session.

“She’s doing really good,” said Eury. “Drafting is not something that you learn overnight. She has done really good learning how to stay in a pack, learning what the car does in different aero situations. We’re pretty pleased. I think I need a little more speed in the car just in single car runs. Overall, it has been a good successful day. We’ll come back here tomorrow and let her draft a little bit more and I think we will be game on.”

The ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards wrapped up a three day test at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Sunday afternoon where IZOD IndyCar Driver Danica Patrick took the first step in transitioning to full bodied stock cars.

Under the watchful eyes of race fans and national media, Patrick worked with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the JR Motorsports team in the ARCA Racing Series garage to prepare for her upcoming stock car racing debut in the February 6 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. On Sunday afternoon, Patrick posted her weekend best 49.442 second/182.028 mph lap, placing her fifth among 29 drivers who participated in the Sunday afternoon portion of testing. Patrick and her team also spent portions of last Sunday making simulated pit stops. These reports came from ARCA PR. We also think that if Danica “can dodge the bullets” during the ARCA race at Daytona, there’s a contingency plan to have her race in the Nationwide Series the following weekend. Many media outlets have been hinting about this.

Here’s what’s happening for motorsports action on TV this weekend. On Saturday TSN offers a noon airing of the Canadian Rally Championship-2009 Review. On Sunday HD Theature will broadcast the Mille Miglia-The Spirit Of A Legend at 9 p.m. (END)