TV Times - Rumblings Around the Sprint Cup Schedule for 2011 and Beyond

Speculation on whether the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon will be changed continues to surface in the absence of an official notice. Yet the Boston Globe, in a lead story on Page One of the sports section dated Thursday, July 27, claims that NHMS will not lose a Sprint Cup race next year. The author, Mike Vega, cited information to this effect as obtained from an unidentified source inside Speedway Motorsports Inc. Still a number of persistent reports in early July had the June Cup race moving to Kentucky Speedway. So the Globe story flies in the face of a multitude of contradictory news reports from many media sources.

Ticket sales for this year’s Cup race at Loudon, NH, were off by only nine percent from 2009.  But as mentioned in all news reports, the other two Cup races (Fontana, CA and Atlanta, GA) have ticket sales off by about forty percent, so why Loudon?  It’s expected that NASCAR will release the “official” Sprint Cup schedule in around 30 days.

Also the Miami Herald posted a story that indicated that Homestead’s finale Cup date could move to Vegas. Further, the Homestead Cup race could get repositioned to late February right after the Daytona 500. The same report also told of Homestead possibly losing the final IZOD Indy Car race in the near future.

We also saw a report on StockCarGazette.com that Indianapolis Motor Speedway may acquire the Nationwide race run on Saturday, the day before the IMS Cup race, at the across-town O’Reily Raceway Park. Is this just another smart business move by IMS? Or is it just another case of a big fish going after a smaller fish in the NASCAR pond? According to the report, former IMS CEO Tony George resisted such a move because he wanted to be a good neighbor to the NHRA which owns ORP.  It appears that IMS is trying to shore-up it’s weekend bottom line when the Sprint Cup Series comes into Naptown for the Brickyard 400.

We have also seen stories that tell of a Cup race moving to Kentucky could impact ticket sales at IMS’ Brick Yard 400.  According to other reports, Kentucky Speedway’s ticket sales for their recent Nationwide race were off considerably. ESPN announced that their final Nielsen TV ratings for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday were down from last year’s.

Over the weekend, Greg Biffle was the winner of the Cup race at Pocono.  Mark Weber took the F1 race in Hungary. Kevin Harvik still leads the Cup points by 181 points. Weber leads the F1 points by 4 over Lewis Hamilton. Elliot Sadler won the NASCAR Truck race at Pocono with Todd Bodine in 12 and still leading the point tally. Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race in Iowa while Brad Kasilowski is still on top of the Nationwide points. Robb Brent ended up winning the ARCA event at Pocono.

According to StockCarGazette.com the NASCAR Nationwide Series won’t be returning to the Gateway Raceway in IL. According to Dover Motorsports, owner of the track, financial considerations are at the base of this decision. This stubborn recession continues to gnaw away at motorsports interests. Expect to see more negative financial decisions in this business segment as some economic experts foresee the G7 countries in a slump for another five years.

The ratings for ESPN2’s Nationwide Series telecast from O’Reilly Raceway Park on Saturday were up 21 percent from last year.  The live broadcast saw a 1.7 final household rating — which is an average of 2,356,996 viewers.  Last year’s broadcast on ESPN2 earned a 1.4 rating.

The iconic Monte Carlo street race will remain on the Formula One calendar for the next decade after securing a new deal with Bernie Ecclestone, despite recent suggestions from the sport’s commercial supremo that it could be dropped from the calendar. Ecclestone – who previously suggested Formula One did not need a Monaco grand prix, saying “they don’t pay enough” – agreed to the deal in London with Automobile Club de Monaco’s Michel Boeri.  Estimates are that a F1 race costs $32 million as a bench mark.  If that’s true then Monaco came up with at least that amount.

The North American Cypher Group, has pulled out of the race for the 13th spot on the Formula One grid next season due to lack of funding. The group was understood to contain members of the failed US F1 team, which was granted a slot on this year’s grid, but could not raise the necessary funds and withdrew at the last minute. “We remain committed to developing a credible and viable F1 team, and were able to raise a considerable amount of sponsorship and interest in recent months,” read a statement on the team’s official website

Tim Richmond: To the Limit (Rory Karpf)
Natural. Rock star. Outsider. In the 1980s, race car driver Tim Richmond lived his life the way he raced cars – wide open. Born into a wealthy family, Richmond was the antithesis of the Southern, blue-collar racers who dominated NASCAR. He also was a flamboyant showman who basked in the attention of the media and fans – especially the attention of female admirers. Nevertheless, it was Richmond’s on-track performances that ended up drawing comparisons to racing legends. And in 1986, when he won seven NASCAR races and finished third in the Winston Cup series points race, some believed he was on the verge of stardom. But soon his freewheeling lifestyle caught up to him. He unexpectedly withdrew from the NASCAR racing circuit, reportedly suffering from double pneumonia. In reality, the diagnosis was much more dire: He had AIDS. Richmond returned to the track in 1987, but he was gone from the sport by the next year as his health deteriorated. He spent his final days as a recluse, dying on August 13, 1989, at the age of 34. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rory Karpf will examine the life and tragic death of one of NASCAR’s shooting stars.

Chip Ganassi, who is leading his racing teams through one of the most successful motorsports seasons in the history of the sport this year, has agreed to serve as the Honorary Chairman of the 22nd Annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Induction Ceremony, Wednesday, August 25, in downtown Detroit. Ganassi’s most recent triumph came just this past weekend in the Brickyard 400 where Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray gave his team owner a sweep of both major auto races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this year.  The victory made Ganassi the first owner to capture in a single season what is widely now considered auto racing’s modern-day triple-crown – the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.  McMurray also gave Ganassi his first Daytona 500 victory in February while Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 in May, Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s third victory in the Memorial Day Weekend classic.
As Honorary Chairman, Ganassi will preside over the formal black-tie induction ceremony at the Fillmore Theater in the heart of downtown Detroit on the evening of Wednesday, August 25.  This year’s list of motorsports legends and pioneers that will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America includes NHRA mechanical genius Dale Armstrong, Sprint Car Champion, Indy driver and stunt driver Joie Chitwood, NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki, AMA Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, the dean of racing broadcasters Ken Squier, Trans-Am Champion Jerry Titus; and USAC Sprint and Midget Champion Rich Vogler.
The Hall of Fame’s recently formed alliance with the Detroit Science Center will bring renewed focus to the technological innovations that are vital to success in motor racing.  A highlight of the Induction Ceremony will be Ganassi’s Chairman’s Address that will touch on motorsports being at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, how he has seen that role evolve and grow, and what could be in store in the future, based on Ganassi’s more than 30 years of involvement in the motorsports industry.
“We are proud to have Chip Ganassi join us as the Honorary Chairman for the 2010 Motorsports Hall of Fame of American Induction Ceremony,” said Ron Watson, President of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. “The timing obviously couldn’t have been better this year as Chip and his talented racing teams in all facets of the sport are once again making history that will no doubt be celebrated and commemorated in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the years to come.  At the same time, Chip’s vast experience and vision for the future of motorsports will also be of strong interest as we conduct our first Induction Ceremony since our new relationship with the Detroit Science Center.”