March 26, 2007
- Overnight Bristol TV Ratings down: Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway earned a 4.9 overnight rating from Nielsen Media Research and an 11 market share, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports. The rating is 7.5% lower than the 5.3 the race drew overnight in 2006 and 12.5% lower than the 5.6 overnight figure in 2005.(SceneDaily.com), see past ratings and news, plus the Ratings Chart on my 2007 TV Ratings page.(3-26-2007)
- Dodge execs repeat commitment to teams [and the sport]: Dodge will remain committed to the NASCAR Nextel Cup series regardless of whether Chrysler is sold, the director of Dodge motorsports said Sunday. “Yeah, there are some things going on, things we’re looking at, but it’s not going to affect our racing program,” Mike Accavitti said during the Car of Tomorrow’s debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. Accavitti and Tom LaSorda, the chairman of DaimlerChrysler, visited with the owners of three of Dodge’s top teams — Evernham Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and Penske Racing — before Sunday’s race. “We talked to everybody today,” Accavitti said. “The message is pretty consistent. We don’t intend on going anywhere.” That doesn’t mean Chrysler won’t. KeyBank Capital Markets analyst Brett Hoselton recently reported that Canadian-based Magna International Inc. and an unnamed equity group have offered $4.6 billion to $4.7 billion for Chrysler. “This is being handled by people at a much higher level than I am,” Accavitti said. “As far as they’re concerned, they’d like to bring a quicker resolution to it than a slower resolution. Every indication I have is it’ll be sooner rather than later.” There have been reports that the sale could happen within the next week or so. “Under any scenario, as far as we’re concerned, we see us remaining involved in NASCAR,” said Accavitti, noting Dodge’s contracts with its NASCAR teams range from one to five more years. It’s a great way to reach those fans and tell them about the performance brand of Dodge.”(ESPN.com)(3-26-2007)
- Jarrett to test at Kentucky: Michael Waltrip Racing driver #44-Dale Jarrett is scheduled to test at Kentucky Speedway Tuesday, March 27. Test sessions begin at 9:00am and conclude at approximately 5:00pm. Mark Green tested the #44 on Monday. Fans can watch from the Turn 3 Fan Center at no charge. Schedule subject to change daily. Test times vary.(Kentucky Speedway PR)(3-26-2007)
- Commercial breakdown for the Food City 500 at Bristol:
Total number of commercials: 138
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 64
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 28
Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 27
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 2 min. 30 sec.
Items of interest this week: ABC missed more than one restart during the Busch race of Saturday. At one point during Sunday’s race, Fox returned from commercial and did an app. 25 seconds of promos, nearly missing one restart. Just as the cameras focused on the track, the green flag flew and the cars surged forward. Close one. So far this year, have not recorded Fox missing one restart.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:11 P.M.
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:45 P.M.
Total minutes: 214
Minutes of race broadcast: 154
Minutes of commercials: 60
See full report at CawsnJaws.com.(3-26-2007)
- Study: Will NASCAR’s Increased Safety Efforts Increase Accidents? When NASCAR debuts the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25 [yesterday], Todd Nesbit, an avid NASCAR fan and assistant professor of economics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will be busy counting the number of accidents—and how many of those drivers walk away without a scratch. In 2006, Nesbit and Russell Sobel, professor of economics at West Virginia University, produced a study that explored how drivers react to having cars so safe that they can generally walk away with no injuries after crashing into a concrete wall or another car at a very high rate of speed. “Based on results of our study, we would project that drivers will drive more recklessly and take more risks while driving the Car of Tomorrow,” Nesbit said. “Initially, there will be a learning curve for everyone, which will likely increase the number of accidents as drivers and crews get used to the vehicles. Once the learning curve has passed, we predict that the new normal rate of crashes will be higher than it is currently because of the response to additional safety features on the Car of Tomorrow.” The study, “Automobile safety regulation and the incentive to drive recklessly: Evidence from NASCAR,” shows that NASCAR drivers, in fact, do drive more recklessly in response to the increased safety of their vehicles. However, even with an increase in accidents, there is a reduction in total injuries—because the increase in riskier driving is not enough to offset the benefits from an increase in safety features. See the full article/study at (Penn State University)(3-26-2007)
- ESPN360.com To Feature All 26 ESPN2 NASCAR Busch Series Races Live: ESPN announced that its signature broadband service, ESPN360.com, will deliver live online simulcasts of every remaining ESPN2 NASCAR Busch Series telecast – 26 in all, beginning on April 7 at the Nashville Superspeedway. Coverage will also include simulcasts of ESPN2’s pre-race programming, including each week’s NASCAR Countdown. ESPN360.com’s live coverage will be integrated directly into the ESPN.com RaceCast, allowing fans with access to ESPN360.com to not only watch the live race Webcast, but also follow the in-race animated graphic display and get track information, lap leaders, race leaders, driver stats and live chat with ESPN NASCAR contributor Tim Cowlishaw throughout the race. ESPN360.com is available at no charge to consumers in more than 15 million homes nationwide, via highspeed Internet connections provided by ESPN affiliated service providers. ESPN360.com’s coverage will make it the live online home of the NASCAR Busch Series, complementing ESPN2 as the television home of the Busch Series.(ESPN PR)(3-26-2007)
- Cale Gale to Make Debut with KHI at Nashville: Cale Gale will drive the #33 Camping World Chevy in the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway.(KHI PR)(3-26-2007)
- Busch Series Testing at Richmond This Week: UPDATE: NASCAR instituted a new track testing policy last year that pre-sets a schedule for when and where NASCAR Busch Series tests are to be conducted. The scheduled tests are the only opportunities teams will have to test at NASCAR Busch Series tracks. The policy was implemented to serve as an aid to maintain better overall competitive balance for the teams and contain costs. The next NASCAR track test is Richmond International Raceway on March 27-28, (Rain Date March 29).(3-25-2007)
UPDATE: NASCAR’s press release of Richmond testing is posted on the Richmond Testing News page.(3-26-2007) - Cale Gale to make Busch Series debut with KHI at Nashville: Cale Gale will drive the #33 Camping World Chevy in the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway.(KHI PR)(3-26-2007)
- Cook to run Big Car Series Race: The second season of the Premier Racing Association’s Big Car Series will kick-off Saturday night April 7th with a return visit to South Georgia Motorsports Park. Truck Series regular, Terry Cook [#59] has told PRA officials that he will be there, making a rare appearance in an open wheel car. Cook will be driving for his father-in-law, famed car owner Bob East at South Georgia. Nextel Cup regular Ryan Newman is also scheduled to be there.(PRA Racing PR)(3-26-2007)
- Raybestos Rookie News & Notes: Joey Clanton was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the March 16 American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Clanton scored a ninth-place finish, his second top-10 in four career Craftsman Truck Series starts. He has grabbed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors in each of his two starts this season. Kelly Bires posted a 10th-place finish at Atlanta, his best effort in four career Craftsman Truck Series starts. Aaron Fike leads Clanton by just one point (30-29) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the March 31 Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Fike is 13th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He trails 10th-place Dennis Setzer by just seven points. Erik Darnell was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Kroger 250 at Martinsville, claiming an 11th-place finish. Two Raybestos Rookies have won a pole at Martinsville in the Craftsman Truck Series: Greg Biffle (1998) and Carl Edwards (2003). The best finish by a Raybestos Rookie at Martinsville Speedway is second, shared by Travis Kvapil (2001 spring race), Carl Edwards (2003 fall race) and Todd Kluever (2005 fall race).(Raybestos PR)(3-26-2007)
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