TV Times – Homestead’s Ratings Continue Downward Trend

ABC’s broadcast of that Sunday’s Ford 400 Nextel Cup season finale earned a 3.8 overnight rating from Nielsen Media Research, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports. The figure is 11.6 percent lower than the 4.3 NBC earned overnight for the race in 2006.This came from SceneDaily.com and the jayski.com webpages.

Brian France, CEO of NASCAR, made an announcement at the NASCAR finale at the Homestead Speedway in Florida that he’s got no intention of giving up the reins of NASCAR and he intends to be around for the long haul. All that due to incorrect and inaccurate reports that have been circulating since the beginning of November that he would be replaced as the CEO of NASCAR by his uncle Jim France and move over to the Grand-Am Series as that sanctions CEO. This came from AutoRacingSport.com among several other sources.

A federal judge said attorneys for NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Kentucky Speedway should consider returning to the bargaining table. U.S. District Court judge William Bertelsman said last Monday an expected month long trial, followed by several years of appeals, could be avoided if the two sides continue mediation. NASCAR and ISC attorneys asked Bertelsman for a summary judgment last Monday, arguing the speedway has insufficient evidence to prove NASCAR and ISC worked together with other tracks to keep the Kentucky track from acquiring a NASCAR Nextel Cup race.

Bertelsman said he won’t rule on the motion until January at the earliest. A March 4, 2008 trial date already has been set. “If you want to, now would be a good time to return to mediation,” Bertelsman said. The two sides met for five hours in June with no success, and Bertelsman said it was his understanding neither side wants to settle. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said it was “premature” to say whether NASCAR and ISC would be willing to return to mediation. Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley, a co-counsel for the track, said track officials are “always willing to sit down and talk.”

In the lawsuit, the speedway alleges NASCAR conspired to leave the Sparta, Ky., track and some other tracks out of the coveted Nextel Cup schedule despite their superior amenities. The speedway is asking ISC be ordered to sell at least eight of the 12 tracks it owns that host Nextel Cup races and that the Kentucky speedway be awarded in excess of $200 million in damages. The speedway’s goal is to “destroy an anticompetitive regime,” said track co-counsel Stephen Susman. He said that because NASCAR and ISC work so closely together — the two companies are both controlled by the France family and share the same offices in Daytona Beach, Fla. — that a jury could “reasonably divine” that the two companies have worked together to deny independent track races the chance to host a race.

The 1.5-mile tri-oval in northern Kentucky opened in 2000 and is host to several events each year, including a Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series race, as well as an Indy Racing League event. David Boies, lead attorney for NASCAR and ISC, argued that if NASCAR was intent on shutting out the speedway, it would not allow the speedway to host NASCAR-sponsored events. “It’s inconsistent with their logic,” Boies said. “NASCAR wouldn’t support the track if it was trying to drive Kentucky out of business.” This Associated Press/ESPN report was posted on the jayski.com web page.

Yes, He REALLY Said That-Kevin Harvick, Craftsman Truck Series championship team owner, on sleeping on Ron Hornaday Jr.’s couch when he first moved to North Carolina. This came from the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter.

“It was kind of like a frat house, and I had never been to college. I slept on the couch next to the pool table in the trophy room, so I don’t know if that was on purpose, if he just put me in the trophy room just so I could look at all those trophies or what the deal was.”

Let’s check to see what interesting racing programs are on the tube this week. On Monday Speed airs the LeMans Endurance Series from Nurburgring at 3 p.m. Tuesday Speed is the place with the 24 Hours of LeMans (motorcycles) at 2 p.m. On Wednesday it’s Speed again with SCCA Runoffs held at Topeka, KS from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday Speed airs the Knoxville Natls. at noon then the Targa Newfoundland at 2 p.m. followed by the Targa New Zealand at 3 p.m. Friday goes like this with the Porsche SuperCup from Bahrain at noon then the Porsche SuperCup from Monaco both on Speed. At 4 p.m. Speed offers the NASCAR Championship Week in NYC at 4 p.m. while ESPN CL offers the Nextel Cup Awards Banquet at 9 p.m. Saturday has the German Touring Cars from Hockenheim at noon followed by the Australian V8′s from Adelaide. The Mazda Cup from Houston airs at 2 p.m. on Speed followed by the same series race held at Road Atlanta. Sunday winds it up with the UIM Powerboats racing off the coast of Malta at 11 a.m. on Speed with the Summer Shootout from Lowe’s Motors Speedway at noon. (end)

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES AND NOTES.