May 9, 2013
- Final Talladega TV Ratings: NASCAR Sprint Cup series racing on FOX posted a 4.6/10 with 7.3 million viewers on Sunday afternoon for the Aaron’s 499 which was impacted by rain. While that’s off -10% from last year’s 5.1/12 (8.3 million viewers) it managed to rank as the highest-rated and most-watched event of the day, beating the NBA Playoffs on ABC by +18% (vs. a 3.9/8 for the Pacers and Knicks). Sunday’s rating excludes the rain interrupted portion of the race as it opened with a 4.1/11 (6.4 million viewers) at 1:10p and rose to a 4.4/10 (6.9 million viewers) at 3:15p before the rain delay. The race resumed at 6:54p with a 4.0/8 (6.2 million viewers) which was below the initial tune-in of the telecast, spiked to a 4.7/9 (7.9 million viewers) at 7:30p, and peaked with a 6.0/10 (10.3 million viewers) at 8pm. The 6:54-8:17p portion of Sunday’s race averaged a 4.9/9 with 8.1 million viewers, off -14% from last year’s 5.7/13 (10.0 million) for the final 75 minutes of the telecast while the rain interrupted portion averaged a 3.6/8 with 5.5 million viewers. To put that rating in better perspective, Sunday’s nearly four hour rain delay easily outdelivered most sports events for the entire weekend, including the three NHL Postseason games on NBC. Season-to-date, NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on FOX is averaging a 5.0/11 with 8.2 million viewers. That’s flat with last year’s season-to-date performance of a 5.0/11 with 8.4 million viewers. NASCAR on FOX currently ranks as the highest-rated and most-watched sport in season. See past races for 2013 and 5-year comparison chart on the 2013 NASCAR TV Ratings page.(5-9-2013)
- First win for car #34 since 1963: When David Ragan won the Aaron’s 4099 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega on May 5, 2013, it was the first time since December 1, 1963 that a driver had won a Sprint Cup Series race in a car #34. Wendell Scott won at Jacksonville on that day. Ragan’s win was only the third time a car #34 won a Sprint Cup Series race. The first was by Jim Roper at Charlotte in 1949, the first ever NASCAR race. The car #34 has three wins in its history. See more about car numbers on my Wins by Car Numbers page.(5-9-2013)
- Sadler’s sponsor pulled from market: Wrigley is pulling its new “Alert Energy Caffeine Gum” from the market temporarily, as the United States Food and Drug Administration looks more closely into the proliferation of caffeine-added products in the marketplace. Alert Energy Caffeine Gum has sponsored Elliott Sadler’s #81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, with plans for another. A spokesperson for the company said today, however, that production and sales of the gum will be halted temporarily while the FDA clarifies its guidelines concerning caffeine-added products. There is no word from Joe Gibbs Racing on how Wrigley’s decision may affect the Sadler sponsorship.(Godfather Motorsports)(5-9-2013)
- Nemechek gets Darlington sponsor: Joe Nemechek and The #87 Sprint Cup Series Race Team will be sporting a new paint scheme this week with RoyalTeakCollection.com as the primary sponsor for the race in Darlington. Joe Nemechek says; “I am very excited to have RoyalTeakCollection.com on our #87 car, and look forward to promoting the premium brand of teak wood casual furniture. ” In celebration of Royal Teak Colletion.com’s first primary sponsorship in the Sprint Series, they will be offering a special promotion for race fans on their website. Royal Teak Collection.com is one of the largest manufacturers of premium patio/casual furniture in the world, offering a wide range of Solid Teak and All-Weather Wicker collections.(NEMCO-JRR)(5-9-2013)
- Almirola looks to extend streak: Aric Almirola and the #43 Smithfield Ford team are looking to make history this weekend at Darlington Raceway with a fifth consecutive top-10 finish. If the team can finish in the top-10, it will mark the first time that the Petty-owned #43 has more than four consecutive top-10 finishes since Richard Petty posted seven consecutive top-10s in 1983. It will also mark the first time Richard Petty Motorsports has posted five consecutive top-10 finishes. With a 10th-place finish at Talladega, the team moved to the seventh position in championship points, a first for any Richard Petty Motorsports team after 10 races. The #43 team is trailing the sixth spot by six points and has a 14 point lead on 11th.(RPM)(5-9-2013)
- Stewart thinks Kurt Busch could make Indy 500: Consider Tony Stewart officially jealous that fellow NASCAR driver Kurt Busch gets to test an Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this week. The five-time Indianapolis 500 starter said that he plans to call Busch “to see if there’s anything I can do to help him.” “There’s not a doubt in my mind that he could make the (500’s) field,” Stewart said following a sponsor event at the garage where he stores his classic cars. “If he gets with the right team – and obviously he’s going with Andretti – I don’t see any problem making the starting field for sure.” Busch isn’t targeting this month’s 500, but he has told reporters he’s open to pursuing a ride next year if all goes well with this test.(Indianapolis Star)(5-9-2013)
- Court opens France’s divorce documents: NASCAR chief executive Brian France said in court documents that his former wife spent a “staggering” amount of his fortune on her family and friends. Megan France said her former husband spent little time with their two children and became verbally abusive when he didn’t get his way. Voluminous court documents unsealed Wednesday revealed new details about the couple’s bitter second divorce, years after the contentious 2008 breakup. France’s lawyers had fought for years to keep the records confidential. France married the Charlotte woman twice and they divorced twice. Their first marriage lasted from 2001 to 2004. They married again in 2005 and the second divorce was finalized in 2008. Several news organizations fought to unseal the documents, arguing those were public records, and a North Carolina appeals court last year agreed. So on Wednesday, 3,000 pages of documents were released, including dozens of court motions, depositions and emails. According to statements in open court, the couple’s 2008 separation agreement included paying Megan France $9 million, alimony of $32,000 a month for 10 years and $10,000 a month in child support. The unsealed records showed Brian France is wealthy. A 2005 financial statement included in the court documents show he had $564 million in total assets – including stock and real estate – and that he was likely to inherit “substantial wealth from his parents,” which could exceed $1 billion.(Associated Press)(5-9-2013)
- Ambrose, Almirola complete test at Sonoma: Richard Petty Motorsports teammates Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola completed a successful two-day test session at Sonoma Raceway on Wednesday. It marked the first test for the new Gen-6 car on a NASCAR-sanctioned road course, and the debut of the new car on the 10-turn, 1.99-mile Sonoma circuit. Ambrose completed approximately 75 laps, while Almirola completed 100 laps, all in race trim. Lap times were not available. “We always want to try to get an advantage on the competition, so we feel like it’s been worthwhile to be out here and hopefully it will pay off for the race,” said Ambrose, who won the pole in Sonoma last year. “We’re happy with the progress, but we would love to be faster, always. We’re confident that we’ve learned a lot and we’ll come back with a better package in June.” (Sonoma PR)(5-9-2013)
- Johnson goes emerald at Darlington: #48-Jimmie Johnson has his own stripes this weekend, albeit of a different hue but, in either case, he hopes the color doesn’t show up on the Darlington walls. Johnson’s #48 Lowe’s Chevy SS will sport emerald stripes this weekend. The color was chosen as the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year, which is featured in the new PANTONE UNIVERSE Paint Collection by Valspar.(TrueSpeed Communications), see an image of the car on the #48 team paint schemes page.(5-9-2013)
- Meguiar’s on Biffle’s Ford at Darlington: The #16 Meguiar’s Ford will feature a black paint scheme for Darlington. Meguiar’s has a special “Black Wax” which is perfect for black to dark colored cars since they require a formula that provides “gloss” to the paint to give it a deep reflection. This specially formulated wax is designed to make your paint shine with the help of its polishing oils.(Roush Fenway)(5-9-2013)
- Chassis selections for this weeks race: see the list of many teams [that report or post these] and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Darlington on the Darlington Race Info page – Chassis selection area.(5-9-2013)
- Darlington continues Mother’s Day tradition: With its annual event falling on Mother’s Day weekend, Darlington Raceway has built a longtime tradition with its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 race. Each year, the grand marshals for the race have been the moms of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers, a tradition that fans, drivers and their families have enjoyed over the last several years. The moms will once again say the command to start engines for this weekend’s race, but will also be joined by a special honorary mom, Stephanie Decker, who has her own story of courage and perseverance to tell. Decker will join the likes of driver’s moms, including Carol Bickford (Jeff Gordon), Gaye Busch (Kurt & Kyle Busch), Tammy Kahne (Kasey Kahne), Beverly Ragan (David Ragan), Janna Bowyer (Clint Bowyer), Kay Keselowski (Brad Keselowski), Brenda Jackson (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), Mary Lou Hamlin (Denny Hamlin) and Carol Mears (Casey Mears), among others. Decker, a resident of Henryville, Ind., was injured shielding two of her children from a devastating tornado that hit their home in March of 2012. Decker lost the use of both of her legs in the incident and now utilizes prosthetics to walk on. Her up-hill battle to walk again was a national news story of courage, leading to the creation of the Stephanie Decker Foundation, supporting prosthetics for kids and access to leading-edge prosthetics for every person.(Darlington Raceway)(5-9-2013)
- Iowa Senate passes bill that would help Speedway fund improvments: An appropriations bill approved by the Iowa Senate includes $8 million in state money spread over four years for the Iowa Speedway at Newton to upgrade the track’s facilities to attract NASCAR Sprint Cup races. The track money was included in the so-called standings appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday night. The special appropriation received no debate, although Sen. William Dotzler, D-Waterloo, who pushed for the funding, said Wednesday that both the Democratic and Republican caucuses were aware the track money had been inserted into the spending package. The legislation says the state money would be appropriated to the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the development and promotion of a national sporting event at the automobile racetrack location in the City of Newton. The Newton speedway has already hosted the Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Race, but Sprint Cup races would be “the big Kahuna” for the facility, Dotzler said. Those races could draw more than 100,000 fans and nationwide media coverage for one of the most popular events in the country,he said. But the track would need to expand its stands, restrooms, and concession stands and make other upgrades to offer the next-level races, Dotzler said. The $8 million state appropriation would be provided to the Newton speedway in increments of $2 million for four years, starting in fiscal year 2014.(Des Moines Register)(5-9-2013)
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