*For whatever reason the comment section accidentally got closed on this post. It’s back open now and ready for your comments. We apologize for the error!
We don’t do a lot of posts about the TV coverage around here, because we don’t see much of it live and there are some great sites out there that do a better job (like TDP). But there was a news item this week from ESPN that I thought warranted a little TNI TV talk.
Starting with next weekend’s Brickyard 400, Allen Bestwick will take over as the regular play-by-play voice of ESPN’s Cup Series broadcasts. He replaces Marty Reid who will continue to do the Nationwide and IndyCar races. Bestwick will be joined in the booth by NASCAR veterans Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree, creating what I think will be the strongest broadcast booth in NASCAR.
It seems like in the past, NASCAR always had a surplus of really good play-by-play announcers for TV coverage. Names like Chris Economaki, Ken Squier, Eli Gold, Bob Jenkins and Mike Joy come to mind. It didn’t matter what channel you were watching, there was always somebody really knowledgeable leading the broadcast. Fast forward to more recent times, and things have been different. Outside of the FOX crew, we’ve seen quite a few different PxP guys for NASCAR coverage. Both ESPN and TNT have struggled to nail down that most important spot.
All three networks that carry Cup Series races have taken their lumps from fans in recent years, and to some extent they always will because races are tough to cover with so much happening at once. But for ESPN the move to Bestwick should improve broadcasts dramatically. Bestwick is a veteran and a pro when it comes to covering NASCAR events, having been around the sport since 1986. He’s done everything from play-by-play, to studio shows, and reporting from pit road. And putting him with smart, well spoken guys like Jarrett and Petree will really elevate ESPN’s coverage.
From the little bit of reaction I’ve seen around the internet following the move, it appears as though most are excited by it. And it’s good to see ESPN listening to those watching its broadcasts. I think they will definitely be glad they did.
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Ratings. Ratings. Ratings.
For the last several seasons following the highs and lows of TV viewership in NASCAR has been as much a sport as the action on track every weekend. From NASCAR’s height in 2005 to its lowpoint last season the sport’s media latched onto the storyline of NASCAR’s decline.
The weekly reports of the overnight ratings, the stories about attendance, the surely inexplicable double digit drop in ESPN’s viewership at the end of last season. The sky was falling in all around us and NASCAR faced a future certain to be as bleak as open wheel racing in the United States. Can you imagine having to PAY to get your sport on TV?
And then finally we saw something at Daytona that has continued for the last 13 weeks – a leveling out of the ratings. When FOX ended their run the week before last, they reported a 16% increase year over year. This past weekend TNT reported flat ratings year over year for Pocono.
Suddenly TV ratings have taken a backseat, and NASCAR is looking OK. I know I’m more concerned about exactly what pieces of jewelry Richard Childress took off before he went to pounding on Kyle Busch.
Sarcasm aside, the ratings increase over last year was bound to occur at least in some instances thanks to the pavement issue at Daytona and the rain outs we experienced through the first 1/3 of the 2010 season. Even with that bit of information though, consider that ratings returned to 2009 levels and saw increases of that key 18-34 male demographic by 20% year over year.
These are all things to feel pretty good about. Especially considering NASCAR’s eight-year $4.8 billion TV deal comes up in 2014.
The fact is, TV ratings like all things are cyclical and are very dependent upon who is playing, who is winning and what the storylines are. With 10 very different winners in 14 races and all the feuds and fighting you can handle, this season has provided plenty of intrigue and interest.
And thanks to that, the ratings have been a non-story, even in their improved state. It’s just not as much fun to talk about when you can’t tie them to the impending apocalypse.
As with every sport, NASCAR is far from perfect and has a long way to go to return to the glory days of the mid-2000s. But things could definitely be worse right now. 8.6 million people are still tuning in every week; we don’t have to worry about collective bargaining agreements or work stoppages; we don’t have Lebron James or any “decisions,” and, for the most part, the personal lives of our athletes don’t play out in tabloids or on front pages.
Best of all though, with ratings in a more stable place we can move on to more important things, like the racing. Here’s hoping this trend continues.
The business end of NASCAR is finally starting to turn around, and we saw proof of it this last week. On Tuesday, Farmers Insurance announced a three year deal to sponsor Kasey Kahne’s #5 Chevrolets at Hendrick Motorsports. Farmers will be the primary sponsor for 22 races each season, and will get “prominent brand placement” in all other events. While Hendrick still has races to fill for the #5, Farmers represents new money into NASCAR, and that’s a good sign for everyone.
It seems that over the last few seasons, we’ve seen many sponsors move from one team to another, but we haven’t seen a ton of new sponsors coming in. The downturn in the economy and NASCAR’s attendance and ratings struggles have been the main reasons. It’s certainly not a bad thing when sponsors move teams, just as long as they stay involved in the sport. But over time, it’s unrealistic to think that all current sponsors will stay involved. Agendas will change and companies will leave. It’s important to the future health of the sport that teams are able to attract sponsors that have never been involved in NASCAR before.
Farmers’ deal with Hendrick is part of a broader plan by the insurance provider to increase consumer awareness. They’ve also signed recent deals with the PGA Tour and the proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles. (If you’re a Sports Business Journal subscriber, see recent article about Farmers here.)
Along with the good news from HMS, we heard from FOX this week that the overall TV ratings for their 13 events were up 9% over 2010. As NASCAR rights deals edge closer to expiring, numbers like this will be very important in the renegotiation process. They also help teams in selling sponsorship deals like Hendrick did with Farmers.
As the year progresses, hopefully we will see a few more deals like this one emerge. There are plenty of teams still looking to lock down sponsorship for 2012 and beyond, including RCR’s #33, and maybe Farmers will help open up a flow of new money.
fleet·ing ex·ple·tive a non-scripted verbal profanity or obscenity expressed and broadcast during a live television broadcast or radio broadcast. The term appears primarily in discussions of United States broadcasting law.
Yep, he did. If you watched the Coca-Cola 600 all the way through Sunday night, you were treated to a little fleeting expletive courtesy of Chad Knaus. As Jimmie Johnson’s engine expired with about five to go the Fox production crew cut to the team’s radio traffic. In that brief moment Knaus is clearly heard saying, “You’ve got to be f$*#ing kidding me.” (Fair warning - video here).
Fox’s Mike Joy promptly apologized for the profanity. But unfortunately, what was done, was done.
This isn’t the first time this season (not even this month) we’ve talked about profanities and the sanctity of radio chatter. Interestingly enough, Kurt Busch (the topic of our first radio traffic post of the season) took time during his media availability on Thursday to criticize the way the media has handled language on the radio. He said:
“I always laugh and sit there and listen to you guys contradict yourselves, saying you want us to be more colorful,” [Busch] said. “But also what you want to do to a driver is just thrash him when he shows personality. That’s what I’m going through with this radio.”
No doubt, interesting bookends to the weekend.
Obviously this wasn’t a moment that should have found its way to network television. That said, it was an understandable ‘fleeting expletive’ given the situation – a frustrating end to what had been a pretty good day. I can’t say I would have reacted much differently.
One has to wonder though the logic behind putting, what I assume was live radio traffic on the air. Fox, as far as I know, isn’t using any kind of a delay, despite several past incidents. The potential for getting burned is quite large.
We’ll see Tuesday if NASCAR does anything about this incident, but it would be very unfortunate if Knaus does get fined. Other than not using the radio to vent frustration, there wasn’t anything he could do about this being broadcast to millions of people. Perhaps we’ve come to a place where that should be the expectation any time the radio is keyed.
Every time this becomes an issue, I find it unfortunate for the fans who enjoy listening to the radio. The access is truly one of the great things in NASCAR and these moments can have a chilling effect on what does and does not get said over open channels (i.e. emotion). We’ll see if there’s any fallout.
Weekend Fun Fact
Did anyone else notice in both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 this weekend both National Guard sponsored cars lost the race by literally hundreds of feet on the last lap? Strange coincidence.
The top-ten in Sunday’s Cup race was a diverse group. The drivers came from nine different teams, three different countries, all four manufacturers, and they ranged in age from 27 to 40. And your winner? Well, he was doing backflips.
On Saturday, it was an old face in victory lane and a history making moment by a new face (at least in NASCAR) just a few spots back. There was even a fight in the garage on Friday night – too bad there weren’t any photos.
Add to those moments 20-year-old Trevor Bayne winning the Great American race for the sport’s oldest team, and fan favorite Jeff Gordon ending a 66-race winless streak and you have three weeks of fantastic storylines.
NASCAR President Mike Helton agrees saying:
“It’s been entertaining“
NASCAR has a lot of positive momentum right now. That undoubtedly has played some part in the big TV ratings bump (up double digits in each of the last three weeks) and sellout crowds. And with the backdrop of the “Millionaires vs. Billionaires” fight in the NFL and lockout fears in the NBA, NASCAR’s looking pretty good right now.
The fact is, the product is as good as it’s ever been. Races are close, the competition is close and the personalities have made it all pretty entertaining. And wouldn’t you know it, good storylines and good numbers all mean a more positive atmosphere throughout the sport. People are feeling good about the 2011 season.
Even with all the positive feelings there is a bit of apprehension given what everyone has been through for the last several seasons. After all, we’re just three positive weeks in to years of tough times.
“The energy around [the sport] feels good,” Helton said. “The numbers are supporting it, but you don’t want to get too comfortable too quick. You certainly hope that things continue to progress.“
Not helping matters though is this off week for the Cup and Nationwide Series. Fox isn’t happy about it – and you better believe with this momentum NASCAR isn’t too thrilled with it either.
Still, while the season is young and I’ll admit it’s a little early to be calling a turn around, I’m cautiously optimistic – what we’ve seen so far is a very good place to start.
As NASCAR continues to look for ways to improve the sport, both on and off the track, one area I believe they are missing a huge opportunity is with their online content. While there are plenty of articles, blog posts, and video clips available at NASCAR.com and the many other racing related websites, NASCAR is trailing most of the other major sports with their live streaming options.
NASCAR’s current online presence is controlled by Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting Systems, and has been since 2001. In 2008, the two entities extended their online deal through the year 2014. This puts Turner in direct control of NASCAR’s official online footprint.
Currently, outside of the six races that TNT’s RaceBuddy is available online, NASCAR.com’s online offerings are pretty scant. TrackPass offers scanner audio, timing and scoring data, limited MRN/PRN broadcasts, and some weird virtual racing animation called RaceView. There are also some short feature shows and racing highlights available each week. There is however, no way to watch races streaming live online, view archived race footage, or even listen live to MRN and PRN broadcasts and shows.
And compared to the other major American sports, NASCAR is still in the digital ice age. For example, while they don’t offer live streaming video of games online, the NFL does have live online streaming audio for all 32 teams. Major League Baseball has their MLB.TV package that allows fans to watch every regular season game live online, and they’ve been doing so for years. The NBA offers League Pass Broadband that allows viewers to watch 40 games a week live online including full DVR features, plus every game from the season is archived and available at any time to watch in full replay. Even the NHL has Gamecenter that offers live online games, plus they just added a new archive of old and classic games that are available for download. Everyone else seems to get it, except NASCAR.
The biggest obstacle appears to be that NASCAR has several partners in terms of broadcasting, and getting them all to agree on a fair package might be difficult at best. But the one key factor that could change everything is NASCAR. It’s their product in the end, and if they wanted it done, it could get done.
Just to give you and idea about what the networks think, earlier in the season when asked about streaming races online, FOX’s David Hill said that they would not do it, so as to protect their local affiliates. After reading that, and knowing the difficult situation that network television is in, I can understand his position. What’s interesting to note however, is that while he’s not okay showing NASCAR races online for fear of harming his local affiliates, he’s certainly okay “harming” them by allowing Major League Baseball to stream every single game online with it’s MLB.TV package while FOX continues along as part of $3 billion TV contract with MLB that runs through 2013. Good one David.
What NASCAR needs is a comprehensive online package that would allow fans to pay a subscription fee for everything mentioned. Allow them access to live audio and video of press conferences, practice sessions, qualifying, and races online. Make RaceBuddy available for all 36 races. Give them access to listen to all of the MRN and PRN broadcasts and shows. Want scanner audio for every driver you? You got it! Offer several different packages at different price points, and let them choose what they want. There is so much activity going on during the week and at the races on the weekend, and it could all be available for consumption, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, right on NASCAR.com. Cha ching, cha ching!
NASCAR needs new ways to connect with their fans, and they are always looking to expand the sport’s reach. They have a golden opportunity lying right in front of their faces to accomplish both, and they have chosen to ignore it. Somebody please explain this to me.
When you watch a race on TV, or see one in person, certain people get the spotlight. The drivers of course, are at the top of this list. Everyone knows them. Team personnel are next, with crew chiefs and a few select crew members getting most of the notoriety. You will also probably notice the presence of the NASCAR officials, whether you know their names or not. There are a few groups however, that get little if any air time, and frankly, go on busting their butts anyway.
In order to have a race that goes longer then about 75 miles, two important supplies are necessary: fuel and tires.
At every race, Goodyear Racing brings an army of guys who’s sole job is to do nothing but handle every race tire used. Truck loads of tires are brought in, along with the teams’ wheels, and these guys work their tails off all weekend mounting and dismounting tires. Each tire must be unloaded, scanned into their system, paired with a wheel, mounted, balanced, and organized. Once it has served it’s purpose, a tire must be rescanned, drilled (to avoid any future use), dismounted, and loaded back up to be recycled.
Goodyear does all this through their small network of regional tire distributors and the aid of Champion Tire and Wheel. Champion’s trucks haul all of the used tires, plus they handle all of the teams’ wheels (with their own small army).
During the race weekend, while workers are handling all the tires, Goodyear also has a team of engineers that work very closely with the teams to ensure proper usage and to monitor any problems.
Besides tires, no race would get very far without race fuel. Sunoco, being the official fuel of NASCAR, is tasked with providing the teams with enough race gas to practice, qualify, and race. While their team of people is much smaller than that of Goodyear, their function is no less important. On the busiest of weekends, enough fuel must be brought in to supply upwards of 150 race teams.
Besides being on hand to fill up the tanks during practice sessions and qualifying, Sunoco has a team of guys that fill every gas can during the race. Once a pit stop ends, fuel runners for each team will take any emptied cans by cart to the Sunoco pumps. There, Sunoco’s guys refill the cans so they can be used during the next stop. Once the race is over, teams then must return any unneeded fuel to Sunoco to be reclaimed.
There are two other groups that I also wanted to point out that serve very important functions.
First, two companies handle the majority of at track radio communications for NASCAR and the teams. Racing Radios and Racing Electronics have people on hand at every race to help support the teams. Their teams can supply and repair any of the radios or components needed by race teams so they can be in constant communication during the practices and the race. While the races are going on, both companies have techs that do nothing but wander up and down pit road, ready to fix any problems.
The last group I wanted to recognize are the TV production folks. In order for NASCAR to appear on FOX, ESPN, TNT, and SPEED, a large corps of producers, audio techs, camera people, production assistants, editors, and more must be at every race. Besides the networks themselves, companies like Game Creek Video, NEP Broadcasting, Broadcast Sports, and others have people and equipment that aid in bringing racing into your home. During the races, we are shoulder to shoulder with camera people, the assistants, and the pit road reporters who bring you all the latest information.
The next time you get to attend a race in person, on any level, be sure to take a moment to look around. There are more then just race teams at work bringing you the show.
Race week in Charlotte is in full effect. Fans will descend on the QC this week to watch the Coca Cola 600 and to check out all there is to see in the center of the NASCAR universe. In case you are coming to town and are looking for stuff to do, we’ve put together a nice list to get you started (see it here). If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Bill:
With Bruton Smith offering up $20M to run in and win both the Indy 500 and Coke World 600, I got to thinking… It obviously wouldn’t be possible to run the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo, the Indy 500, and the Coke World 600. But, could someone run in Monte Carlo and Charlotte in the same day?
Well the Monaco Grand Prix took place this year on May 16 (Red Bull’s Mark Webber won). Last year it was the day before the 600. If they fell on the same date would it be possible? The race starts at 8 a.m. eastern standard time (Monte Carlo is six hours ahead). If the race lasts, say two hours (and you figure another hour to get to the airport and take-off – flying private of course), and the flight is about 9 hours (so the Internet tells me) that would put you back in Charlotte at 8 p.m. – too late to make it in time for the start of the 600 (which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.). – Journo
2. From Sue:
Does it really make a difference for team morale when a driver shows up at the shop daily or weekly vs those who rarely do?
I certainly don’t think a driver coming into the shop regularly is a bad thing. Guys know the drivers are busy and some, like Montoya, don’t even live in Charlotte, so shop visits aren’t always realistic. But the occasional visit is good for everyone, I think. – T.C.
3. From Gabi:
The cameras at the track record in 720p format or in 1080i? Thanks.
I believe the cameras Fox and ESPN use shoot in 720p, but don’t quote me. Maybe someone else knows for sure? – Journo
4. From Bristol_B:
First of all, thanks for sharing your insight, and perspective. Your website is a must read for any race fan! Now, I’m confused about the All-Star Race eligibility. Is it the car or the driver? Brad Kesekowski won last year in James Finch’s #09, but that car is not entered. Keselowski is entered in the #12 Penske car. Red Bull has entered the #83 with Casey Mears as the driver in place of recovering Brian Vickers. So if it’s the car why isn’t the #09 entered, does Finch need special dispensation due to a driver change? Thank you in advance for clarification!
All Star race eligibility is based on the driver’s accomplishments, not the team or car’s. With the situation surrounding Brian Vickers, NASCAR made a special exception to allow Casey Mears to pilot Red Bull’s #83 in the race. That is why Keselowski is in the race, and the #09 Finch car is not. – T.C.
5. From Christopher:
Cup teams generally bring two cars to a race, correct? What if they outright total both of them during practice? I know this is a stretch, but I could see it happening at Talledega, where you do have to practice dangerous drafting moves. Secondly- has this ever happened?
If I remember correctly, this happened a couple of years ago when Casey Mears was driving for Hendrick. He wrecked both his backup and primary at a race. I believe he ended up using one of his teammate’s backup cars in the race. This also happened to Ryan Newman at Daytona last year. He wrecked his primary in the 150 qualifier and his backup in final practice. I believe a third car was brought from Charlotte for Newman to race with. So if they are close enough, a car could be brought from the shop, if not, a teammate’s backup would work. - T.C.
6. From Steve:
Your thoughts on Vickers/Red Bull/Mears? Given the investment Red Bull has in both Vickers and Speed, would you agree that Red Bull needs Mears to do badly, at least worse than Speed does and worse than Vickers was doing? Any better, and it raises the question of why they wouldn’t keep Mears next season. And yet while Red Bull doesn’t want Mears doing too well, Mears knows this is a great shot at impressing people to earn a ride next year – a bit of a conflict, perhaps?
I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Casey Mears has seven full Cup seasons under his belt (all together 255 series starts) and one full Nationwide season (with a total of 93 starts). Scott Speed on the other hand has 52 Cup starts, 13 Nationwide starts, and 16 Truck starts. I would hope Casey performs better than Scott. Speed is very much a driver in development (not at all the case for Casey), so I think it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Speed still has the potential for growth – with Casey I think what you’ve seen is what you get. It is true however that this is Casey’s fourth opportunity with one of the sports top teams (recall Ganassi, Hendrick and Childress) to show he can be competitive (I’m not holding my breath). – Journo
7. From Melissa:
Between the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 weekend do the haulers return to their shops or do the crews replenish what they need and switch out cars using other transports?
Being so close to home, and seeing as how there is no track activity all week, the haulers go back to the shops. The Cup haulers will return to the track on Thursday to park for the weekend. – T.C.
8. From Emanuel:
When we’re watching the race at home, they allow us to “ride along” with the car, with the roof mounted cameras. Sometimes junk ends up on the lens, and you can see the lens rotate, and tada!, no more junk. Does the lens constantly spin, or does it “sense” when it get junked up, and then rotate itself to get the junk off the lens?
There is a little tape mechanism inside the cameras (it’s clear and in front of the lens) that allows the production crews to ensure the view from the camera is always clear. Check out this great NASCAR.com article for everything you wanted to know about onboard cameras. – Journo
And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!
There was an interesting post by our friend John Daly today over at The Daly Planet regarding Showtime’s weekly NASCAR show, Inside NASCAR (see it here). Apparently since it’s inception, many fans have been angry that such a great NASCAR show is only available on a premium channel; especially since SPEED canceled their weekly show, This Week In NASCAR, in the off season. Fans have expressed their feelings about the show on a few different posts by Daly, and many have used Inside NASCAR’s Facebook page as a place to voice their displeasure.
We had some discussion with a few folks today on Twitter about the situation, and between that and reading all of the fan responses, I thought a post with my two cents was in order.
Inside NASCAR is one of the few racing related shows I do have the opportunity to watch on a regular basis. Since I have Showtime, I often check it out. The show is taped in the NASCAR Media Group’s studios, which are a part of the complex that will house the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. The show has much of that Media Group flair we’ve gushed about in the past. Inside NASCAR is hosted by Chris Myers, Brad Dougherty, Randy Pemberton, and Michael Waltrip, and features a race recap, interviews, analysis, and features. In my own opinion, it’s a solid show that has a lot to offer, even if it does have a few quirks and issues.
With the demise of SPEED’s TWIN, it appears much of the anger from fans revolves around the fact that the only way to see Inside NASCAR is to subscribe to Showtime. And that’s a problem because Showtime is a premium movie channel that often adds a significant charge to monthly cable or satellite bills.
My response to those folks who won’t subscribe to Showtime, but still demand to be able to see the show?
Tough.
Showtime is a television network that makes it’s revenue from subscriber fees. When you watch the channel, there is no advertising. And as such, it’s the job of Showtime’s management to create and bring content to the channel that is compelling and will make people want to pay extra for access to the channel. Besides movies, their own series, and other sports programming, Showtime, in conjunction with the NASCAR Media Group, developed Inside NASCAR to add to their inventory. The network also carries the similarly formatted “Inside The NFL” series.
The most common solution offered by angered fans is for NASCAR and Showtime to put episodes of Inside NASCAR online where they can be downloaded for free. But by doing so, Showtime relinquishes the value the show provides. If a viewer can just download the episodes for free, then they won’t need to subscribe to Showtime. And by not having to subscribe to Showtime, the network ends up engaging in a losing proposition by producing the show. So my question to these fans, is what does Showtime owe you, and why should they allow you to consume their content for free?
I understand that many of you miss having a weekly program dedicated to breaking down the previous weekend. But NASCAR, SPEED, Showtime, or any other network are under no obligation to offer you NASCAR programming for free just because you are a NASCAR fan. This whole thing is after all, a business. If having a weekly NASCAR show is a money making endeavor, then you’ll have what you want - if it isn’t, like in the case of SPEED and TWIN, then it goes away. Don’t forget too that both SPEED and ESPN are premium pay channels as well. They may not be as expensive as Showtime, but their business models are very similar.
Something else that bothers me about some of the fan comments, are those people that say this is just another way for NASCAR to squeeze more money out of the fans. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Many folks almost make it sound like there was some back door, shady meeting where SPEED, Showtime, and NASCAR all got together to move TWIN to Showtime, give it a new name, and charge a gazillion dollars for it. Unfortunately for them, this just isn’t true. Showtime does pay rights fees to NASCAR for the show, but so does ESPN/ABC, FOX, and SPEED for their respective programming. The difference is that Showtime is 100% supported by their subscriber revenue, while the other networks rely more on advertising. The reason NASCAR charges those rights fees, is because they own the racing. Just like Showtime, NASCAR creates content/entertainment (i.e. the racing), and they charge for the access to watch. You may not always have to pay a direct cost to consume that content, but an exchange is occurring.
I’m probably going to get blasted by some of you about the opinions I’ve shared here, but that’s fine. I understand the passion, and I understand that you want as much NASCAR as you can get. I don’t blame you for either, in fact I’m grateful to you for it because it keeps me and many others employed. Don’t forget though that the entertainment NASCAR provides is a product that has a cost, not a right that you are entitled to.
The last two seasons have been rough for this sport. Sponsors have left, fields have shrank and teams have folded. Mergers became the new name of the game for many fledgling organizations and layoffs plagued the industry. What NASCAR was faced with was a forced correction thanks to a bad economy. As a result the strong just got stronger and the weak generally got a lot weaker.
On top of a weakened economy NASCAR alienated a lot of fans with the introduction of the COT in 2007. The car, with it’s boxy appearance and rear wing, didn’t sit well with a lot of people. Some have argued that it’s hurt the competition. Whether that’s the case or not is open to argument – I know NASCAR would disagree.
To be sure, the last 10 years can be summed up in one word – change. Over the last two seasons though we have seen a sanctioning body more willing to listen and embrace changes everyone can get behind. We saw NASCAR institute double-file restarts, more attempts at G-W-C finishes and the return to the spoiler.
Their recognition that the sport isn’t perfect has benefited everyone. What I’ve seen over the first few weeks of this season is a sport that is more tough, more rough and more exciting.
While we’re far from where we once were, things are starting to look up. The ratings for this season’s races haven’t been all bad – they were up at Phoenix and Atlanta and they performed pretty well against the backdrop of a compelling USA v. Canada hockey game. The rain delay didn’t help at Martinsville, but overall Fox is down around 4%. While down is certainly not good, 4% is better than the 11.5% they were down this time last year. More than growth, NASCAR needs these numbers to stabilize. Hopefully they’re starting to do that.
On the competition side we’ve seen a competitive Earnhardt Ganassi team and an almost renewed Penske Racing team. In seven races we’ve had five different winners from five different teams. Sure Jimmie Johnson has won three races, but maybe he’s peaking early? All I know is, is I’ve seen some great finishes this season.
Like a recession in the economy, it’s going to take time for recovery to take hold and for the effects to be seen. I’m hopeful after a couple of tough seasons we’re starting to see the signs of recovery in NASCAR.
What do you think of the season so far? Have you been enjoying the season? Do you like the changes NASCAR has made? Has the competition been better?
A Happy Belated Birthday!
I’m disappointed TNI readers. It was our birthday on April 7th and no one remembered – me and TC included. Oops.
As we enter our third year on this project I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who comes to the site, reads the posts, and contributes to the conversation. TC and I have enjoyed our time working on this and look forward to the year ahead.
As always if you have any questions, comments and/or concerns please don’t hesitate to get into contact with us. We’re pretty good about emailing people back.
Thanks again to everybody who comes by. We know your time is valuable and we appreciate you make us a part of your day!