"Fox Sports 1," The New SPEED Channel (W/ The Official Press Release)

SPEED Channel to become FOX Sports 1, with more standard sports coverage, while still covering NASCAR.  See my thoughts and the full press release with all the information involved.

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Back in October of 2012, I apprised my readers that this change from SPEED to FOX Sports was coming.  If you're a regular reader of NB&P, this news is no surprise.  Now it's confirmed via a Fox press release from yesterday, (3/5/13) that the FOX Sports Media Group made the name change official, as they announced their plans for this new FOX Sports network. (There's a huge bundle of information in the press release...)

FOX Sports is in its 20th year of covering sports and FOX Sports 1 is set to debut on Saturday, August 17th, 2013 and it's estimated that it will premiere into over 90 million homes with nearly 5,000 hours of live events slated to be covered. (Annually)

But as we warned you back in October, they're including a lot more material aside from NASCAR or auto racing,

"A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1's programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC all on tap between launch and year's end."

And word on the street is that this new sports network will no longer be a special tier cable channel that you have to pay extra for.

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GOODBYE EXTRA BUCKS TO COMCAST (Or your favorite cable outlet).

To be honest, I've always disliked these extra tier fees cable companies charge, just because a channel is favored by the consumers.  I recall back in the mid-90s a huge survey push by all the cable companies asking their consumers what they liked.  And back then I took note how many folks said SPEED channel.

Once the cable companies had their information, it wasn't long after that, that we saw the SPEED Channel get added to a "special" tier.  Special meaning, you want it and we're going to charge you for it.  (This is why I HATE out of the blue surveys or "contests" picking your favorite show crap.)

I thought it was a BS practice they pulled, but what are you going to do?  SPEED allowed it.  Of course, it was only a few bucks more a month, so it wasn't a big deal, right?

But if you have ever wondered how many cable subscribers there are in the U.S., as of September of 2012, there are over 56 million Cable Video Customers.   If you do the math on that "mere" extra fee, 56 million multiplied by $5, equals an additional $280M per month of revenue for that extra tier.

My other issue has been that when NASCAR gets covered outside of basic networks, that culls many potential eyes for the sport.  Being on an extra cable tier, even more so.

I can't tell you how many friends or peers of mine have to sit out and wait for information on events covered by cable outlets like ESPN, SPEED, and other such networks because they simply can't afford the extra channels. 

Now obviously, with FOX Sports 1 being on the standard tier (If that stays true), more folks will be able to have coverage in their homes with the basic cable package.  That means more eyeballs and more useful televised coverage for the sponsors of NASCAR... particularly, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, whose only exposure has been on SPEED.

So good for FOX for finally bringing this back to basic.

And I don't think it will be all bad.  As it was, SPEED had a little too much reality TV for a live sports network, because frankly, considering their subject coverage, they were a bit limited.  Now they can have genuine sports coverage, with auto racing included in that coverage.  And it doesn't seem as if NASCAR Truck series fans are going to lose anything to it.  Food for thought!!!

Plus, if you look over the press release, it notes Sprint Cup Series races being covered in 2015.
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That's the news, and the official press release is included below, with the new cool logo and all!  (Other web guys, if you scrape the press release, some 'via' link love would be appreciated.)

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FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP GIVES RISE TO FOX SPORTS 1,

A NEW NATIONAL MULTI-SPORT NETWORK

Officially Debuts Saturday, Aug. 17 in Over 90 Million Homes;

Biggest Sports Network Launch in History

4,800 Hours of Exclusive Live Event, News & Original Programming Planned

Mega-Stars Terry Bradshaw & Regis Philbin Appear Daily

New York – Today, FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) makes television history, officially unveiling plans to launch a new, national, multi-sport network called FOX Sports 1.  The announcement was made by FSMG Co-Presidents and COOs Randy Freer and Eric Shanks.  Set to debut on Saturday, Aug. 17, just as FOX Sports kicks-off its 20^th anniversary year, FS 1 is available in over 90 million homes, making this the biggest sports cable network launch in history, and one of the largest network launches ever.  At the outset, FS1 boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually.

"Our 'secret,' admittedly a very poorly kept one, is now revealed," said Shanks.  "Fans are ready for an alternative to the establishment, and our goal for FS1 is to provide the best in-game experience possible, complemented by informative news, entertaining studio shows and provocative original programming."

A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1's programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC all on tap between launch and year's end.  In fact, the schedule on Aug. 17 features live events morning, noon and night including a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan and "UFC on FS1 1" in prime time.  In 2014, FSMG's new rights agreement with MLB takes effect, bringing regular and postseason games to FS1.

"As a company we haven't been afraid to innovate and take well-calculated risks, added Freer." "We've devoted significant resources over the last few years to acquire and/or extend multi-platform rights with a wide variety of leagues and governing bodies well into the next decade, enough to give us a rich schedule right out of the box."

More people consume and care about sports than ever before, so to satisfy that voracious demand FSMG deems the time is now to launch FS1.  For example, when FOX Sports launched in 1994, late Sunday afternoon NFL on FOX games ranked as the 26^th highest-rated program on television. Today, FOX's national doubleheader games rank No. 1 for three years running.

FOX Sports 1 Programming Highlights –

COLLEGE BASKETBALL – Dozens of exclusive prime time games on Monday and Thursday nights, plus Saturday and Sunday coverage of the Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL – Led by Notre Dame at Stanford, the Big Ten Championship Game and Pac-12 Championship Game (2014) on FOX, dozens of  exclusive, live games from the Pac-12, Big 12 and Conference USA games on Thursday nights and Saturdays; triple- and quadruple-headers on Saturdays; Saturday pre- and postgame coverage. 

MLB – Beginning in 2014, select League Championship Series and Division Series games; regular-season games over 26 Saturdays; live game-in-progress look-in show.

NASCAR – Select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as soon as 2015; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; NASCAR Sprint All-Star race; all SpeedWeeks events leading up to the Daytona 500 including: Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (2014, 2017-22) and the Budweiser Duel, now in prime time; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions; NASCAR RaceDay, providing pre- and post-race coverage; NASCAR Victory Lane, a weekly wrap-up show; and Race Hub, a daily mid-day studio show with the latest from drivers, owners and garages.

SOCCER – Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday afternoon coverage of the world's most prolific club soccer competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and CONCACAF Champions League featuring many of the world's greatest and most successful clubs; the world's oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, FIFA Women's World Cup coverage in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men's World Cup coverage in 2018 and 2022; delayed matches in prime time; weekly magazine and highlights shows.

UFC – Featured on Wednesday nights; live FIGHT NIGHTS through 2014, the first is scheduled for launch night, Saturday, Aug. 17; FOX event preliminary cards; UFC Tonight, the weekly authority for UFC news and information; 14 Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards; hundreds of hours of library programs and events.

In addition to live events and studio programs, FS1 introduces FOX SPORTS LIVE, a 24/7 news franchise providing around-the-clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information-rich ticker that provides a network agnostic sports event television schedule.  Thousands of hours of news programming are expected annually from newly minted sets including a nightly program at 11:00 PM ET or immediately following events.  A morning newscast is expected to launch in January 2014 in conjunction with FSMG's expansive coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII.

"Building credibility and trust with our audience is paramount, so naturally we'll provide the staples, like news, scores and highlights, but we'll do it in a FOX Sports way," offered Shanks. "Just as FOX NFL SUNDAY reinvented the pregame show, FOX SPORTS LIVE breaks new ground in the way sports news is presented.  We already have the home-team advantage of significant audiences watching local games on our 22 regional sports networks as a platform to launch our new national news."

Complementing FS1's live events and news coverage at launch are several original programs, highlighted by RUSH HOUR, hosted by Regis Philbin, airing live weekdays (5:00-6:00 PM ET).  Originating in New York City, Regis leads the charge along with a panel of sports professionals, celebrity guests and die-hard fans in this brand new, unpredictable, talk show.  Following RUSH HOUR live every day is FOX FOOTBALL DAILY (6:00-7:00 PM ET), an extension of FOX NFL SUNDAY, the most-watched NFL pregame show for 19 straight years.  FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, hosted by NFL on FOX personalities, including Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jay Glazer, Gus Johnson, Erin Andrews and Mike Pereira, provides a daily dose of news, interviews and commentary from pro and collegiate football worlds.  Both shows are expected to premiere at launch in August.  Earlier this year, FSMG unveiled a unique and groundbreaking documentary franchise titled BEING:, a deep look into today's greatest athletes, teams and sports icons via unprecedented access.  The first subject to appear this fall on FS1 is BEING: MIKE TYSON, the most feared man ever to step in a boxing ring.  The multi-episode series is now in production.

FSMG's experimentation with the "double box" commercial format, intended to keep viewers engaged throughout breaks, is expected to be an FS1 staple.  Custom commissioned research conducted this year by Innerscope in concert with FOX Sports advertisers, along with data from IAG and Nielsen, demonstrates how the "double box" format adds value compared to the traditional full-screen break: IAG reported a 62% increase in brand recall; younger viewers are more likely to view "double box" commercials, according to Nielsen minute-by-minute ratings; Innerscope's engagement score for "double box" commercials ranked +13% than average; and viewers see advertiser logos more than three times longer in "double box" versus standard format.

Launching together with FOX Sports 1 will be FOX Sports GO – a groundbreaking mobile sports experience for iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and web. FOX Sports Go will offer more than 1,000 live games and events from across FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports' 22 regional sports networks, as well as scores, highlights, news, stats, and analysis.  The live games and events will be available to subscribers of participating cable, satellite, and telco providers at no additional cost.

-- FOX Sports 1 --

  

About FOX Sports Media Group

FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) is the umbrella entity representing News Corporation's wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets.  Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FSMG includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships.  FSMG includes FOX Sports, the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FOX Sports 1; Fox's 22 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional web sites and FSN national programming; FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2Go; FUEL TV; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports.  In addition, FSMG also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, which includes FOXSports.com on MSN, FOX Sports GO, Whatifsports.com, FOXSportsNext.com and Yardbarker.com.  Also included in the Group are Fox's interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network, BTN 2Go and STATS, LLC, as well as licensing agreements that establish the FOX Sports Radio Network and FOX Sports Skybox restaurants.

MAJOR FSMG RIGHTS ACQUISITIONS, 2010-2012

Nov. 2010        Acquired rights to Big Ten Football Championship Game from 2011-2016.

Dec. 2010        Acquired rights to UEFA Champions League 2012/13 to 2014/15.

April 2011        Acquired rights to Big 12 Conference. A 13-year agreement for the exclusive cable rights which took effect in 2012. (See 2012 update)

May 2011        Acquired rights to Pac-12 Conference for 12 years beginning in 2012. Deal secures rights to 22 regular-season Pac-12 football games annually; six Pac-12 Football Championship Games in even years beginning in 2012 through 2022 in prime time; 22 men's regular-season basketball games annually; three men's basketball Tournament games, including the championship game, in even years beginning in 2014 through 2024.

Aug. 2011       Acquired rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) beginning in 2012 through 2018.

Oct. 2011        Acquired rights to Women's World Cup (Canada) in 2015; the Men's World Cup (Russia) in 2018, the Women's World Cup (TBD) in 2020, and the Men's World Cup (Qatar) in 2022.

Dec. 2011        Reacquired rights to the NFL's NFC package. The new nine-year, multi-platform media rights agreement begins in 2014 and runs through 2022.

Sept. 2012       New eight-year agreement with Big 12 Conference. Now, FSMG and ESPN share the Conference's football over-the-air and cable rights. Replaces deal struck in April 2011. Deal begins 2012-13 runs through 2024-25.

Oct. 2012        Reacquired NASCAR rights. The new eight-year, multiplatform media agreement begins in 2015 and runs through 2022. 

Oct. 2012        Reacquired MLB in a new eight-year, multiplatform rights agreement that significantly increases FSMG's television, digital and Spanish-language rights beginning in 2014 on MLB at FOX through 2021.

Nov. 2012        News Corporation acquires 49% stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES).  The YES Network also announced a media rights agreement that will keep Yankees baseball on the YES Network through 2042. 

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   NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces on Twitter & Facebook & G+.
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Could NASCAR's Weakness Turn Out To Be the TV Coverage?

I came across a fascinating article over on Frontstretch by Amy Henderson as she touched on how television coverage itself is part of the problem with TV ratings and sponsorships getting hard to find by teams.

I'm first going to recap and touch on her points, then I'm going to head off in my own direction looking at some what's and whys.  And can this be fixed?  Maybe.  Read on.

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Amy makes some great points on the issue where she points out that the special coverage the top-ten teams get from the TV coverage hurts the other thirty teams.

She expounds on how fans she surveyed did note that though they might watch NASCAR, they do note that they may never see their favored driver unless they wreck.

And that's a great point.

Commenters also point out that it's not just TV but most media outside of TV also contribute to the problem.  But more on that later.

Amy correlates the idea that if fans aren't getting to see their drivers, then some may not tune in.  Also, with the mid-level to lesser teams getting no coverage, their sponsors aren't getting the air time they want.  This lack of TV coverage also makes their sponsorship dollars less valuable.  If that's the case, then why would sponsors be motivated to put their stickers on a car's hood or side panels?

And that's a great point that puts the glue in the association between TV coverage and possible sponsor problems for some teams.

The article shows that

"Primary sponsorship of a decent mid-level team is around $15 million for the season."

And that for that $15M to be cost effective, sponsors need to see about four minutes of total coverage.  That's looking at how much a TV ad can cost, per what a sponsor puts in and hopes to get.

And if you wonder how it's calculated, I've seen where teams of people are hired by companies to watch for and time a sponsor's amount of air-time exposure.  It's that important.

And when sponsors don't see their product out there, then what?  What's their bottom line motivations for sponsoring someone who isn't in the favored group of media darlings?  None, to be honest.  And then we start having problems with teams getting those financial backers.

Heck, we've seen winning truck teams take a dive and even good performing mid-level teams close shop.

She then compared how the TV coverage of yesteryear had fans feel like they knew many of the drivers in the field.  How many drivers can you say, you feel like that about today?

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Items Not Addressed in the Article

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With that said, it's a bit more convoluted of a relationship than I've put out here, but this is the gist of the situation.

But how does this get fixed?  And what about that point where all media cater to the top-tier names?

On the point about media catering to the top-tier names, it's another economical equation for print media... the mainstream drivers have a large percentage of fans and that percentage are who buy the print editions.

I am in NO WAY discounting or discrediting the fans of the mid-level or lower ranked teams.  But a print org has to consider, will the 10 fans of Bobby Labonte outweigh the 100 fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Sadly it's the same kind of economics that go into TV ratings and advertisers backing TV shows.  Ill-rated shows lose sponsors and get cancelled because NOT ENOUGH people are watching.

It's the same form of economics.

Again, with no discredit to folks who are fans of the bottom 25 drivers in the standings.

On the web-based media, it's not so much the economic balance as it is the web traffic.  But web traffic is like money.  And those 10 Bobby Labonte fans versus the 100 Dale Jr. fans tends to get the coveted web traffic.

Hence, the seemingly one-sided amount of coverage.  And yes, myself and many others on the web are guilty of this form of coverage.

(Man, I'm starting to feel guilty as I write this!)

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So Can The TV Coverage be fixed?

Well, sort of.

We first go back to the infamous TV ratings and who is watching a telecast.  Yep, those same 100 fans are weighting the scales here too.  But if you think about those mere four minutes per team to give sponsors their monies worth seems somewhat doable.

There's thirty-six races in a season.  In an optimal piece of coverage, for this example, they're three hours long.  180 minutes.  If all 43 teams got themselves 4 minutes a piece, all by themselves, that adds up to 172 minutes of time.

Though this straight up math doesn't look good, lets' take into account that most camera work doesn't always show single car action, but multiple car coverage.

But let's not forget something... the pre-race coverage and maybe even the web coverage of a race.

When we have a few teams accounting for the majority of the field, those smaller teams definitely have an uphill battle.

And as I crunched the numbers, it wasn't looking good in my optimal example.  But then I thought, hey, the networks have the ticker going by.  Why not picture in a picture, showing the smaller teams and giving them screen time?  Sure, screen real estate is a valuable commodity, but it can be mustered up. 

It's just one suggestion/fix, but the networks need to consider how to give all the teams the exposure they need.

If you think about it, if a sponsor knew they'd get TV time each race, would the start-and-parks start getting sponsors also.  (Hey!  I just realized that as cars drop out of a race, the race to screen time ratio would get slightly easier to deliver that time needed on screen.)

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So therein lies a fascinating issue that touches on the unique relationship between NASCAR, TV, and the media and the fans.  Cover the popular to get the expected demographic numbers and lose some numbers.  But over the long haul, is that best for everyone?

Kudos to Amy's article and I suggest you head on over to Frontstretch and check out what she has to say...  chime in here or over there.

-Bruce

A Bit About NASCAR

What the heck is NASCAR?  Have you ever pondered that one?  Some take it for granted that NASCAR is what they see on TV which is the three big tiers (national series) of racing within the organization:

the Sprint Cup Series,

The Nationwide Series,

The Camping World Truck Series.

But there is quite a bit more to the organization and I didn't really give it much thought until I recently got a press release and like a well crafted press release, there was an "About NASCAR" paragraph at the bottom of the news bit they sent me.

NASCAR is short for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. 

Through the years it has become the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports.

Their races are broadcast in over 150 countries and in 20 languages. (Though Juan Pablo Montoya spoke the universal langauge at Daytona when he barbequed a jet dryer truck!)

NASCAR's TV and other media coverage includes FOX, TNT, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, SPEED and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

Because the fans of NASCAR are known for being some of the most brand loyal fans in the world of televised sports, more Fortune 500 companies want in on this action called NASCAR.

Aside from the obvious that we all see on TV, NASCAR also runs four regional series and one grassroots series.  But why stop at the domestic level?  NASCAR also runs two international series and has GRAND-AM Road Racing under its auspices too.  GRAND-AM is a fascinating form of racing.  It's a cost effective set of events where in one race on their road courses, you can watch different classes of cars competing at the same time.

NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico.

NASCAR is based in Daytona Beach, Fla., but also has offices across the country in eight other cities.

And here you thought all NASCAR was, was big crashes at Daytona or Talladega.  Phffft!

--
NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces on Twitter & Facebook .
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Another Journalist Who Doesn't Think NASCAR is a Sport And Crosses A Line Doing It

There's a site called The Sentinel, and I do believe that they are not of the mind to believe that NASCAR is a sport.  Tsk, Tsk.  They being Eric Rivera, an aspiring journalist for a North Idaho College.

Eric goes on to support his perspective by saying that NASCAR does not compare to hockey and football.  Fair enough.  And Eric does give credit to being able to turn left repeatedly with precision accuracy for hours on end.  OK, that's nice of him to give some credit.

But then he goes on to compare NASCAR to being on par with a Wii athlete and says that he, himself must then compare to a professional driver becuase he plays Gran Turismo.  If I read that right.

Then he further augments his perspectives by grouping NASCAR in with WWE and he finishes the statement by saying,

"So it makes me want to say thank you to all the people who are hardcore fans. Those that push the notion that NASCAR is a true sport. You confirm my suspicion that being dumb and dangerous go hand in hand."

That's when I quit being so understanding of the ingorance involved in proclaiming something to not be a sport when, I presume, one has not even tried it.  And calling the demographic supporting the support to be dumb.

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Indeed.  I get the premise that people WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN IN a racecar (You can spell that forwards and backward Eric) thinks it's not a sport, as compared to stick and ball events.

I get that one doesn't understand how much muscle it takes or that how damn brave you have to be to be hurtling along at 100+ mph.  When you turn left, I was surprised by the amount of G-force applied to my brain and how dang heavy my arms got in the corners.

But I'm good with that because they don't get it.

But I don't think they get the on-going and constant physical demands put upon a driver in a car without power-steering or power brakes and endure performing in an environment that gets up to 130 degrees.  Or losing several pounds of sweat per race.

Nah, I'm good with that too, because obviously he didn't do his research.  I'm OK with not getting it and that grey area of what a sport is, whereby a sport could be defined as

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others."

Or that it is a

"Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."

But it's OK...

But when a reporter starts to call people dumb for what they like, then there's the backhand to a large demographic.  That same backhand comes from a writer who doesn't get it because they've never tried it.

So I'm thinking we should all pile on over and leave some friendly and constructive comments that would help Eric understand that he's a bit off the mark with his perception and calling fans names.  I will as soon as I can calm down because right now, nothing good is going to come out of my fingertips if I were to head over there.  And I want to be friendly, constructive and gentle when I tell him to go to hell.

Oh, sorry, did that come out?  See... I have to wait a bit before I get over there.

nicsentinel: nascar reputation

-Bruce

NASCAR Negotiates Digital Rights Back from Turner

In case you had not heard the news, NASCAR snagged back control (actually, finally obtained) control over it's own digital content starting in 2013.


This means they would now have control over their own content of their digital realm of NASCAR news and such, aka, NASCAR.com and other such goodies.


What NASCAR did was restructure their agreement with Turner Sports that will now see them having a working relationship through to the end of 2016, where Turner will still oversee advertising sales and sponsorships across all of NASCAR's digital media.


The good news is that this means that we could be in for a treat.  I'd bet bottom dollar we'll see the site revamped while we may also start seeing (well, hearing) more streaming content from NASCAR's SiriusXM content station.

NASCAR 2009 TV Season Outline Announced

NASCAR released an outline of telecast strategies that are going to be shared across the digital domain known as TV. So it's time to set your recording times or snack times, depending how you approach your NASCAR race viewing! Here's how the TV schedule is looking right now as announced by NASCAR:

First up:
The non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona at 8:10 p.m. (ET) on Feb. 7 at Daytona International Speedway. (FOX)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Cup points races will be spread across FOX, TNT, ESPN or ABC networks, with America's Funniest Videos alloted to the last 30 minutes of each race on ABC! (Please tell me you know I'm joking, right?)

SPEED gets in on the act when they broadcast the non-points events –
the Gatorade Duel at Daytona (2 p.m. ET on Feb. 12) and the
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (7:30 p.m. ET on May 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway).

FOX has the first 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup points races, starting with the
Daytona 500 (Feb. 15, 2 p.m. TV start time; green flag 3:20 p.m. ET) and their telecast reign
ends on May 31 with the race at Dover International Speedway at 2 p.m. (ET).

TNT takes over with the next six races starting with
The Pocono 500 at 2 p.m. (ET) on June 7 at Pocono Raceway and ending with
Chicagoland Speedway's LifeLock.com 400, July 11 at 8 p.m. (ET).

ESPN / ABC will broadcast the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup events.
ESPN starts with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at 2 p.m. (ET) on July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and ends with the
Sept. 6 event at Atlanta Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET).

ABC completes the season with 11 broadcasts, or 11 chances to get it right starting with the 26th race of the season,
Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. (ET).
ABC also will air the entire 10-race Chase where it culminates with the final race of the season with the Ford 400 on Nov. 22 at 3:15 p.m. (ET) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Nationwide Series
The 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
ABC will broadcast four events, ESPN will broadcast five and ESPN2 will broadcast 26.
ESPN2 opens with the Camping World 300 at 1:15 p.m. (ET) on Feb. 14 at Daytona.
New to the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule is a race at Iowa Speedway, held on Aug. 1 at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.
ESPN2 will also present the airing of the season-finale Ford 300 on Nov. 21 at Homestead-Miami (4:30 p.m. ET).

Camping World Truck Series
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be on SPEED beginning with the season-opening
NextEra Energy Resources 250 on Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. (ET) at Daytona.
The season-finale Ford 200 on Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami begins at 8 p.m. (ET).
Allin all, SPEED will broadcast 23 of the 25 races.

FOX will broadcast two Truck Series events, with the first being at the Auto Club Speedway on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. (ET).
FOX also will broadcast the NCWTS Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28 at 2 p.m. (ET).

There ya have it gang. TV contracts spelled out. Now will ABC really have learned their lessons from last year or do they stick with their contractual obligations yet again, hoping a race doesn't run over on their watch? Like that ever happens!?

Any bets on how rain delays / field set by weather we might see this year? I hope it's less than last year, that's my guess!!

Did You Know: Some Competition Numbers

• That 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers had at least one top-five finish in 2008.

• That 37 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers had at least one top-10 finish in 2008.

• That NASCAR Sprint Cup races averaged 11 leaders and 21 lead changes in 2008.

• That a series-record 89.6% of the cars were running at the finish in 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

• That 43 NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers had at least one top five in 2008.

• That 49 NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers had at least one top 10 in 2008.

• That 60 NASCAR Nationwide drivers led at least one lap in 2008.

• That 28 NASCAR Camping World Series drivers had at least one top five in 2008.

• That 43 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers had at least one top 10 in 2008.

• That 20 of the 25 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races had a margin of victory under one second in 2008.

• That more than 2,000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series chassis have been inspected at the R&D Center since Nov., 2006

• That the No. 22 Toyota team raced the same car at 11 different NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2008 – or nearly one third of the schedule

• That the No. 1 Chevrolet team raced the same car at 10 different NSCS events in 2008, as did the No. 29 Chevrolet and No. 21 Ford teams.

source: NASCAR media

Did You Know?: NASCAR Milestones

• That Jimmie Johnson will attempt to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships (Well, OK, maybe you put that one together already.)

• That for the first time in his 11-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Tony Stewart will be driving for a different team other than Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart is the new driver/owner of Stewart-Haas Racing and will drive the No.14 Chevrolet in 2009. (Gotta wonder how the temper will fare? Probably OK.)

• That Joey Logano will be the youngest driver ever to run the Daytona 500. He’ll be 18 years, 8 months and 22 days on February 15. The previous youngest was Clark Dwyer in 1983. He was 19 years, 1 month and 8 days old.

• That Jeff Gordon needs to lead 89 laps to reach 20,000 career laps led. (That's a lot of clean air!)

• That Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer look to extend an all-time record this season. Harvick has run 80 consecutive races without a DNF. Clint Bowyer is second with 73. (Ohhh, media curse!)

• That as long as Jeff Gordon makes each of his starts this year, he’ll move into the sixth spot for most consecutive starts. He now has 545. By season’s end, he’ll have 581.

• That with two poles, Ryan Newman will move into the top 10 on the all-time poles list. Newman enters this season with 43 career poles. (I hope he and his new team can do it!)

• That Bill Elliott will make his 800th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start with his fourth start of 2009.

• That Ron Hornaday Jr. needs one win to become the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver with 40 career wins.

• That there have been back-to-back first-time race winners in each of the last four NASCAR Nationwide Series seasons. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano did it last year, winning their first races at Nashville and Kentucky.

• That the Atlanta Motor Speedway event on March 8 will be the track’s 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

• That three tracks will be celebrating their 80th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season:
Dover, Michigan and Talladega.

source: NASCAR media

NASCAR The Sport: Did you Know

• That NASCAR is the #1 spectator sport as 17 of 20 highest attended U.S. sporting events in 2008 were NASCAR races.

• That NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events averaged nearly 120,000 fans in 2008.

• That NASCAR remains strong as the #2-rated regular season sport on television.

• That NASCAR is televised weekly in more than 100 countries and in more than 30 languages.

• That more than 400 unique corporate sponsors are involved in NASCAR.

• That NASCAR has the most Fortune 500 involvement in all of professional sports.

• That NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks across more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico.


source: NASCAR media

NSCS Recap: Johnson on brink of 3rd title after Phoenix win

Jimmie Johnson performed just as his statistics predicted, and not far behind, so did Carl Edwards but it wasn't enough to cut into Johnson's lead. In fact, Johnson lengthened his lead.

Once he got past Jamie McMurray after the opening laps, polesitter Jimmie Johnson played his own version of “Catch Me If You Can” Sunday -- and nobody could -- in the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 and in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Though it took a green-white-checkered-flag finish to decide the race, the outcome was hardly in doubt, as Johnson dominated the race, leading 217 of 313 laps. Kurt Busch finished second, .295 seconds behind the two-time defending Cup champion.

With the victory, his seventh of the season, his third straight at Phoenix and the 40th of his career, Johnson widened his lead in the Chase to 141 points over fourth-place finisher Carl Edwards.

If Johnson finishes 36th or better in next Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will join a club that currently has only Cale Yarborough as a member: drivers to win three straight Cup titles.

Johnson's win did clinch Chevrolet’s 32nd manufacturers’ championship.

--

Of the 12 drivers who started the Chase, only Edwards has an outside chance to catch Johnson.

“I’m excited,” Johnson said. “I wish we could have left here and all we have to do is start (at Homestead), but Carl put up a great fight. They’ve been a strong, championship-caliber team all year. But as long as something doesn’t go crazy for us down in Homestead, we’re going to tie Cale -- and I can’t wait to start celebrating.”

Edwards knows his title hopes depend on major disaster for Johnson’s team.

“He (Johnson) did a great job,” said Edwards, who finished one position behind Roush Fenway Racing teammate Jamie McMurray. “It’s still possible, just not probable. We’ll just have to go there and hope that something happens. You saw it with the 24 today.” (Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon blew his engine Sunday and finished 41st.)

Denny Hamlin finished fifth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and David Ragan.

---

For the first 273 laps, Johnson easily put distance between his No. 48 Chevrolet and whatever car happened to be running second. After a restart on Lap 267, following a caution for debris in Turn 3, Johnson pulled away steadily from Kurt Busch until a massive crash in Turn 3 stopped the action on Lap 273.

The wreck left the No. 38 Ford of David Gilliland on top of the roof and hood of Scott Speed’s No. 84 Toyota, and NASCAR red-flagged the race for more than 17 minutes (The 2nd of the race) while the safety crew winched the cars apart. Gilliland and Speed were examined in the infield care center and released.

By then, Johnson already had locked up a five-point bonus for most laps led, as Edwards continued his slow, methodical climb from his 15th-place starting position.

A succession of excellent pit stops, coupled with positions gained on the racetrack, left Edwards in the fourth position for a restart on Lap 267, but he was unable to gain another spot. Though there were four more cautions and four more restarts in the final 40 laps, Johnson, who led the final 95 laps, finished the event without a serious challenge.

The end of the race was interesting as there was conflict going on all over the track.

A caution came out with 20 Laps to go. During the caution, ABC showed Tony Stewart ramming the back bumper of Greg Biffle. Elsewhere, they covered Paul Menard rubbing bumpers with Jeff Burton. There was angst everywhere near the end of this long day.

With 6 to go, it looked like to me that Kenseth was crowding A.J. Allmendinger down into the turn and 'Dinger's car got a touch loose and tapped out Kenseth. Kenseth's spin collected the already irritable Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon.

In the Green / White / Checkered dash, as the cars were coming across the line, Kenseth appeared to come down off his outside line across A.J. Allmendigner's nose sending 'Dinger spinning into the wall and collecting at least 10 other cars at the finish line.

It seemed retaliatory on Keneth's part and if that is the case, I assume we'll be seeing some discipline from NASCAR come Tuesday.

Source: NASCAR Press Release: By Reid Spencer of Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Detroit Puts the Microscope on NASCAR

The economy. It's looking rough from many angles, and NASCAR is catching it. Of recent times, the Detroit manufacturers have been dissecting their involvement in NASCAR with a fervor trying to determine where best their advertising / sponsorship monies can be used.

We know cutbacks are coming and they let NASCAR know in a series of meetings that were held in Indianapolis and it's a good guess that NASCAR now understands that Detroit's involvement may not be an automatic 'gimme' in the future for anyone involved.

Over on the web magazine Autoextremist, they've got a pretty interesting article about some of the presures Detriot is going to start squeezing NASCAR with.

Here's a list of some of the issues put on the table for NASCAR to evaluate:

1. Pony cars on the track in Cup, not Nationwide, by 2010 to help sales in the showroom, like it used to be.
2. Get fuel injection under the hood, rather than NASCAR's head under the tech sand.
3. They want to skip the unleaded fuel and go to E85.
4. They want to see more road courses in the schedule with specialized road course cars.
5. Cut the schedule back to save development money.
6. With the decline in truck sales, the manufacturers wouldn't mind if NASCAR's truck series went bye-bye.
7. They want the Nationwide Series to be strictly a driver development series.

According to this article, they're saying toss out the CoT, catch up to technology, use alternative fuels, add road courses when they're already questioned, cut back on some tracks double visits, dump the truck series and restrict the Cup drivers to the Cup series.

I don't have any real problem with items 2 & 3. Cutting back the schedule has also been something I've wondered about. This could allow more down time, or sponsor commitment time for everyone involved.

But the other items seem rather drastic or dramatic. Have we ever known NASCAR to let anyone else call the shots with THEIR sport? Or watched as a track entity sat quietly by while it's dates get threatened? Or toss out all the work put into the CoT by NASCAR development while reintroducing the weekly banter about fender shapes and wing angles. And to think about removing the Truck series is nuts, even if it's rumored that one of the manufacturers is done with it. (Per the article.) That's been some of the best racing out there.

This is a drastic list at best and I don't know how it's going to pan out.

The article is a great read and I urge you to go check it out for all the details I've left out.

Source: AutoExtremist

NASCAR Racing Simulation Games; A Perspective on EA Games

by Bruce Simmons :

Over on the217 gamersguide they have a great little article that takes note that the EA NASCAR 09 has a serious glitch on the XBox 360 and that the only way to fix it, to date, is to delete your saved games. Regardless of whether your 30 minutes or 30 hours into the game.

They go one to say

"It's things like this that make me genuinely believe that Electronic Arts does not care the slightest about the quality of their games."

Read the rest of NASCAR Racing Simulation Games over on Nascar Bits and Pieces.com. Yea... my new location!

NASCAR TV for the Weekend of June 20th

Friday night we have the Truck Series on SPEED,
Saturday evening we have the Nationwide race on ESPN2
and on TNT, the Cup Series comes at us from the West Coast, right up the street, so to speak, from me.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Milwaukee | 8:30 p.m. ET Fri. | SPEED
NASCAR Nationwide Series Milwaukee | 8 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN2
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Infineon | 3:30 p.m. ET Sun. | TNT

Weather For The Weekend

I don't mean to be a "Dour Dan" but someone this morning (Thanks Amy!) mentioned the weather issues going on out towards the Brooklyn, MI way so I looked it up, and right now it looks like we might be watching rain delay, human interest stories on Sunday.

According to "sources", (OK, weather.com),

Saturday, the 14th: AM Showers and a Precip chance of 30%
Sunday, the 15th: Isolated T-Storms with Precipitation chance at 30%
Hopefully this link to the weekend forecast for Brooklyn works:
The Weather Channel

For Sparta, KY (Nationwide Race)
They're saying AM Thunderstorms with a 70% chance of rain.
The Weather Channel

I hate rain when it comes to NASCAR and I know domed events are not a reality but that would be cool now.
Maybe we should introduce the NASCAR RC control car races or have them fight it out in Legends Cars when it rains.
At least we'd have something fun to watch! I bet the drivers would be game to play in the rain

2007 NASCAR Awards Ceremony

I just got done watching the 2007 awards banquet on tape.
Yes, I'm either that slow, or that busy.

Thank you Dr Jerry Punch.
A perfectly delivered announcing task.

Thank you to all the guys in NASCAR, drivers, crews, even the governing body.

Thank you to the VCR gods for the invention of the VCR.
I don't think I could have sat through the whole show at real time speed.

The drivers seems reserved, or constrained. (I heard rumor NASCAR was putting reigns on their energetic possibilities!)

I think they even put a damper on Kelly Clarkson who normally likes bouncing and jumping around on stage while she sings, but not at this show.

I don't know who the woman is who announced each driver, but her drawl drove me batty and I literally thanked the VCR gods.


David Spade. I thought that with some fresh comedy blood in the mix, the comedy would be a nice mix of different, but it seemed like who ever wrote his skits, wrote all the skits for the previous NASCAR banquet years and I cringed for David during his delivery.

I liked Jeff Gordon looking more human than normal as he teared up thinking about is little baby. I liked the twist up of the supporting wife role when Tony Stewart had to extol the virtues of his crew chief.

Well, that officially closed the 2007 season for me.. on to 2008 Sprint Cup season in February. According to my clock, I've got 72 days until the Daytona 500!!

The Changes We've Seen in NASCAR in 2007

An observation by Bruce Simmons

Some Hello's and Some Goodbye's

If there is one thing that is constant, it's change. And anyone who gets acclimated to something hoping for no change, literally hopes for stagnation that can kill a sport. Without change, new fans are not generated, new advertising money is not attracted and TV coverage is added, or continued. That's just something we have to keep in mind.

With the 2007 season in the books, we saw some serious change this year.

We said GOODBYE to:

The 25 car being on the track.
The Hendrick 25 car was first seen in the 1986 Daytona 500 with Tim Richmond and has had 11 different drivers, including Rick Hendrick himself.

To the Chevy Monte Carlo.
It came into NASCAR Cup competition in 1971 and 2007 was it's final year in Cup. We will still see it in the secondary series.

To Anheuser-Busch as the secondary series sponsor of many years.

To Joe Gibbs Racing Association with Chevy as they move to Toyota.

RIP to Benny Parsons, Bobby Hamilton and Bill France, just to name a few.

To the name, NEXTEL Cup, and hello to their new parent company name, SPRINT.
Sprint Cup.. it's just doesn't have the right "ring" to it.. no pun intended.

To this era's body style as the 2008 Sprint Cup Series will be the first full year of the Car of Tomorrow. COT.
That name has got to change, because tomorrow is here.

To simple race team names and hello to corporate team names.
2007 saw teams needing help with the costs of doing business. Roush Racing became Roush Fenway Racing, Evernham Motorsports became Gillett Evernham Motorsports and several other teams are working on similar deals as NASCAR is slowly turning into corporate America battling on the tracks.

To the statement that NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in the U.S..
Ratings have stopped climbing and I think people are getting tired of 3 to 4 hour shows and the crazy costs of going to races, though attendance to the venues are still seeing numbers in the 100,000+ count.

To Ginn Racing with Mark Martin as they were absorbed by DEI and now Mark Martin will be driving for DEI.

To leaded fuel as NASCAR is now running unleaded fuel in all it's main series.


ON THE FLIP SIDE, we can say Hello to :

The 88 car changing teams and a new driver of some recognition.

To the Chevrolet Impala SS for 2008 Cup competition.

To Nationwide sponsoring the secondary series.
Busch stopped sponsoring the secondary series due to proposed fee increases which started the search for a new sponsor. Withno one biting at the fees that NASCAR wanted, and with a silent slap in the face, Nationwide is now paying less than Busch was.

To Toyota competing in Cup, who's infamous start with Michael Waltrip Racing definitely got it's name in the media.

To a new team, Michael Waltrip Racing. Again, got it's name in the media with the 2007 Daytona 500.

To new drivers from different series and countries.
Juan Montoya, Canadians Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, and next season Scotsman Dario Franchitti will be in a car.

To NASCAR meeting with General Motors to talk about alternative fuels for the sport. We just went unleaded, and now we talking ethanol fuels.


OTHER THINGS OF NOTE:
Petty Enterprises move to Mooresville, NC.

Kyle Busch leave HMS and move to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2008.

M&M's move to Joe Gibbs Racing to Sponsor Kyle Busch in 2008.

The legal battle of the sponsors within the Cup series but not goodbye to anyone...
NEXTEL vs AT&T. Sunoco vs Shell.

We saw Canada accept the Busch Series with open arms, while New York dissed us.


Was there something else?
Tap tap tap.. hmm, oh yea! A little bit of driver news that not only made NASCAR history, but sports history as a whole:

Dale Earnhardt Jr saying goodbye to DEI.
DEI was the company that many have said his father started for him and Jr is now saying hello to Hendrick Motorsports. Though there was "No room at the Inn" as Rick Hendrick put it, Kyle Busch created room in the Inn with his behavior, paving the way for one of the biggest stories of this year.

We can say hello to the 88 at HMS because DEI made it difficult for HMS to "procure" the car number, 8, because "it's an integral part of DEI"… Gimme a break! The 8 was Jr.. and Jr was the 8. That's ok, he'll be twice as good with the 88!

With Jr leaving DEI, we get to say hello to Mountain Dew Amp Energy Drink and The National Guard as his sponsors for 2008 and Budweiser left DEI.

We can say hello to massive irony, as Dale Jr. left DEI, DEI started creating an improved engine program (In theory, but don't ask Jr. about that.) buying new shop equipment, and buying other race teams.

With Jr going to HMS, he had to say goodbye to one of the most successful sponsor / athlete relationships we've ever seen, period, with Budweiser.

Yet, Budweiser can now say hello to Kasey Kahne... At least the colors shouldn't change too much for Kasey!

Side note: Someone once told me that Budweiser could stand for: But U Deserve What Every Individual Should Expect Regularly.

Recap:
Who'd a thunk: Unleaded fuel, Budweiser with Kahne, Jr. with Hendrick, Toyota in Cup, Frenchmen, Canadians, Corn fuel?
Now that's a chunk of change.

NASCAR Looking at Different Qual Ideas

Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Nov. 9 that the sanctioning body is still studying the possibility of having teams outside the top 35 in owner points qualify as a group, but that a final decision has not been made.

And if they would listen to the all knowing fans, and drivers, they'd make it a reality.

It's a great idea to get the teams outside the top 35 to qualify in the same group so they have similar track conditions to compete against each other in.

See the article over at NASCAR

NASCAR TV Weekend for October 12-13

Here's the TV schedule for the NASCAR races this weekend at Lowe's Motorspeedway.

Edwards' Penalty Appeal a No-Go with NASCAR

The National Stock Car Racing Commission has upheld the 25-point penalty NASCAR assessed Carl Edwards' No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team after the right rear of his car was found to be too low following his victory Sept. 30 at Dover International Speedway.

By losing the appeal, Edwards remains sixth in the standings, 205 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

scenedaily.com

Coors Light - The Official Beer of NASCAR

Coors Brewing Co. officials and NASCAR have announced a multiyear partnership, making Coors Light the official beer of NASCAR, according to a news release.

The five-year sponsorship agreement gives Coors Brewing Co. category exclusivity starting with the 2008 NASCAR season. The preseason Budweiser Shootout will remain the same since Budweiser is the official beer of Daytona International Speedway, according to a track official.

See more details at scenedaily.com

businesswire.com