It certainly was a memorable weekend for Kyle Busch sweeping the Bristol Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks events, as he is the first driver in NASCAR to pull off this incredible feat. Kevin Harvick leads the Cup point tally as the Chase To The Nextel Cup looms ever closer, while Jeff Gordon trails the leader with Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin being in the top five.
Jimmie Johnson experienced another disappointing day coming down to the Chase. What a let down it must be for this driver, considering that he appeared to be practically bullet proof early in the season. Will Power pulled off the Indy Car win at Sonoma, CA, and Ryan Newman won the Whelen Modified Series at Thunder Valley.
In a recent conversation with a longtime NASCAR watcher about the sanction’s new attitude allowing drivers to “be themselves”, we’re worried that some serious injuries may take place at any time. As race fans have more than likely noticed, there’ve been a number of bad wrecks, yet so far lucky competitors have came out of them unscathed, thanks to the Hans Devices and other safety equipment as well as the COT. These safety devices are being pushed to the limit, all to peak interest in the Sprint Cup Series in order to sell tickets and improve TV ratings. Don’t forget that renewal time for revenue-sharing contracts with the networks will soon be coming!
SPEED scored a Nielsen Household Rating of .70 (539,000 households) for its live coverage of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Darlington, a 19-percent increase from the 2009 equivalent race from Nashville (.59). Race coverage on SPEED peaked at .83 (637,000 households).
Tevo Hellmund is intent on building a world class F1 track in Austin, TX. It’s going to cost $200 million and it will contain over 20 turns, fast corners and natural terrain. The venue will also be capable of hosting other events not just limited to F1 racing. Previously, F1 events have been held at a dozen or so venues in USA and all fallen by the wayside. While Hellmund looks at F1 as an opportunity to turn a profit from an F1 race, that hasn’t been the case previously. The target date for the first F1 race in Austin is 2012.
Tevo was a guest on on Dave Despain’s WINDTUNNEL on Sunday night. Despain showed a flim clip of Jackie Stewart stating that he doesen’t blame US track owners, organizers and promoters for not hosting F1 races as it’s very difficult to turn a profit. Hellmund, on the other hand, claims to have a long standing relationship with FOCA’s Bernie Eccelstone through his family. Coming up with $200 million in an ailing world-wide economic downturn is a difficult task. The only revenue that the proposed Austin track can turn is through hospitality and ticket sales. Because Bernie Eccelstone controls all of the ad revenue and F1 TV rights monies. No doubt that’s the reason that all previous attempts to establish F1 in the USA has failed. After F1 didn’t catch on at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the USA’s shrine of speed, the chances of this being a profitable venture are slim.
Motorcycle icon Valentino Rossi caused big excitement on the MotoGP circuit this week after announcing that he would switch to Ducati from Yamaha next season. Rossi is one of Italy’s most famous sports personalities and has won seven world championships with Japanese teams. However, the prospect of his now linking up with the Italian bike manufacturer should make for a fascinating new season.
Rossi had previously looked at entering Formula One, undergoing tests with Ferrari. But he’s decided to commit to MotoGP for now. He has competed in World Rally events and may focus on rallying when he quits bikes. Yamaha, whose MotoGP unit is based in Italy, said they made an offer to keep Rossi, but the lure of racing for Italy’s Ducati proved too strong. They are now planning to use 2009 Superbikes world champion Ben Spies for next season. This came from SportsBusinessInternational.com.
ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Sunday, Aug. 29, as the series goes road racing north of the border at the famous Circuit Gilles Villleneuve in Montreal. The NASCAR Countdown pre-race show airs at 2 p.m. with the race’s green flag at 2:48 p.m.
Also from Montreal, ESPN2 will televise NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 5 p.m. as well as final practice earlier that day at 11:30 a.m.
Allen Bestwick will call the action with analysis by Rusty Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, and two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reports from two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer will originate from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, while pit reporters will be Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch.
NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program, airs Tuesday through Thursday this week with half-hour episodes. Tuesday and Wednesday’s programs air at 5 p.m. while the Thursday program airs at 6 p.m. Nicole Briscoe will host.
There will be no episode of NASCAR Now on Friday due to live NASCAR programming, and the Monday roundtable edition will take Aug. 30 off due to ESPN’s live coverage of U.S. Open tennis from New York.
NASCAR Now is hosted by Mike Massaro, Nicole Briscoe, Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include reporters Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, and Ricky Craven, ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Marty Reid, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.
Here’s what else is going on this weekend on the tube with the Sprint Cup having a rare weekend off. F1 moves to Spa in Belgium with the Indy Cars, ARCA stockcars and the NASCAR Trucks all performing at Chicagoland Speedway. The Grand-Am will also be at Montreal at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit and the FIM Motorcycles take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with the ALMS in action at Mosport, Ontario. Those events will be aired on Speed and VS. Check RaceFanTV.com for all of the details.
