There was a time when TV ignored NASCAR. It took a horrendous crash to get a blip on the evening sports news, and telecasting a race was unheard of.
Times have changed.
Last week it was announced that TV will spend a reported $4.4 billion for the rights to televise NASCAR races over eight seasons, starting in 2007. That's a 38 percent increase over NASCAR's current TV package.
"It's great for the sport and great for all the tracks," said Cliff Hawks, vice president and general manager of Nashville Superspeedway, which will get a slice of the juicy TV pie. "It benefits everybody involved in NASCAR."
Approximately 65 percent of the $4.4 billion will go to the participating tracks. Race team owners will get about 25 percent and NASCAR 10 percent.
Nashville Superspeedway won't reap the biggest bounty because its NASCAR events consist of two second-tier Busch Series races and a third-tier Craftsman Truck Series race. The lion's share of the TV loot will go to tracks that hold Nextel Cup races, but some will trickle down.
"It will most definitely help," said Hawks, who launches the track's sixth season in April. "Each track is responsible for its race purse, and those purses increase every year. The additional TV revenue will come in handy."
One drawback to the TV deal is that the races will be scattered over an assortment of channels — Fox, TNN, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and the Speed Channel — making it confusing for fans to follow.
Another more serious drawback: some fans don't have cable, and even those who do may not get all of the racing channels. Speed Channel, for instance, is unavailable to many Nashville-area cable subscribers.
The truck races will continue to be carried on the Speed Channel except for two on Fox. Most Busch races will be on ESPN2, except for three on ABC.
"It can be a bit confusing," Hawks said. "I'm anxious to see exactly where everything falls as we find out more about the details."
NASCAR's TV era began with the 1979 Daytona 500. Much of the eastern U.S. was socked in by a blizzard on the day of the race, giving CBS a captive audience for one of the wildest finishes in the sport's history.
Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed while battling for the lead on the last lap. Bobby Allison stopped, jumped out, and he and brother Donnie started a helmet-swinging fight with Yarborough. Meanwhile Richard Petty sailed past and held off Darrell Waltrip for the victory.
Ratings went through the roof and TV executives began to see the potential in NASCAR's sheet-metal gladiators.
In 1981, ESPN, a fledgling all-sports network, carried five Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) races. At the time ESPN was
18 months old and available in eight million homes. Today it is in more than 80 million homes and is ready for a NASCAR homecoming.
ESPN did for NASCAR what it did for the NCAA basketball tournament — its flag-to-flag coverage drew unprecedented attention to the sport and attracted a huge national following. Eventually the major networks began to move in and take over. ESPN was cut out of NASCAR's current TV deal, which divides the season between Fox/FX and NBC/TNT.
Would NASCAR be where it is today — second only to the NFL in attendance and TV ratings — without ESPN?
Probably, because it would be impossible for television to ignore NASCAR's estimated 75 million fans. But ESPN definitely helped start the avalanche.
"The sport has changed tremendously," said Ned Jarrett, one of the first NASCAR TV commentators, "and ESPN deserves credit for taking it to the higher levels."
Under the new deal the season will still be divided, with Fox keeping most of the first half, TNT carrying six races, and the rest going to ABC/ESPN/ESPN2. Franklin's Darrell Waltrip is expected to continue as part of the highly-rated Fox broadcast team.
Hamilton sponsor: Mt. Juliet's Bobby Hamilton Sr. has landed a sponsor for his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team for the next two years.
The Fastenal Company, a Minnesota-based industrial and construction supply company with 1,700 stores in the U.S. and abroad, will back the trucks Hamilton fields out of his Mt. Juliet headquarters. Hamilton, the 2004 champion, will carry No. 18 next season, starting with the Feb. 17 opener at Daytona.
Motorplex awards: The Music City Motorplex Awards banquet will be held Feb. 4 at the Airport Hilton. For reservations, call 615-726-1818.
Motorplex General Manager Jack Deery said the 2006 rules are being completed and will be posted on the track's Web site.
The 49th season of racing at the Fairgrounds track will start in mid-March.
Patrick leading: Danica Patrick, the Indy Racing League's Rookie of the Year, is leading the balloting for the U.S. Sports Academy's Female Athlete of the Year.
Patrick, the first female driver to lead the Indy 500, leads gymnast Nastia Liukin, WNBA player Yolanda Griffith, swimmer Natalie Coughlin and LPGA player Annika Sorenstam.
Voting in the USAToday.com poll runs through Dec. 24.
Dirt track nationals: Clarksville Speedway has joined a national dirt-track racing series, and its drivers next year will compete for regional and national titles.
The track will participate in the StormPlay.com Weekly Racing Series for crate engine dirt-track late models.
This past season, track owner William Scogin tried the crate engines — generically-manufactured motors which drivers can buy and install, reducing cost and making the competition more equal.
The national dirt-track series will open Jan. 7-8 at Talladega Short Track.
Kahne to visit: Kasey Kahne, the 2004 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, will make a promotional appearance at Opry Mills tomorrow. He is scheduled to participate in a Q&A session and sign autographs. The session will be restricted to the first 125 fans. Wrist bands will be issued at 5 p.m. for the 7 p.m. autograph session.
Sparks fly: A NASCAR-themed romance novel is scheduled for release next month. Harlequin Enterprises, which specializes in the genre and sold 130 million such books in 2004, will release In the Groove by Pamela Britton.
Last year Britton wrote the racing romance novel Dangerous Curves. The main character in her new novel is a teacher named Sarah Tingle.
The book will have a "very low level of sensuality by romance novel standards," according to a Cox News Service reviewer, who adds: "Nevertheless, it makes Sarah tingle."
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/SPORTS09/512140411/1328/SPORTS
Times have changed.
Last week it was announced that TV will spend a reported $4.4 billion for the rights to televise NASCAR races over eight seasons, starting in 2007. That's a 38 percent increase over NASCAR's current TV package.
"It's great for the sport and great for all the tracks," said Cliff Hawks, vice president and general manager of Nashville Superspeedway, which will get a slice of the juicy TV pie. "It benefits everybody involved in NASCAR."
Approximately 65 percent of the $4.4 billion will go to the participating tracks. Race team owners will get about 25 percent and NASCAR 10 percent.
Nashville Superspeedway won't reap the biggest bounty because its NASCAR events consist of two second-tier Busch Series races and a third-tier Craftsman Truck Series race. The lion's share of the TV loot will go to tracks that hold Nextel Cup races, but some will trickle down.
"It will most definitely help," said Hawks, who launches the track's sixth season in April. "Each track is responsible for its race purse, and those purses increase every year. The additional TV revenue will come in handy."
One drawback to the TV deal is that the races will be scattered over an assortment of channels — Fox, TNN, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and the Speed Channel — making it confusing for fans to follow.
Another more serious drawback: some fans don't have cable, and even those who do may not get all of the racing channels. Speed Channel, for instance, is unavailable to many Nashville-area cable subscribers.
The truck races will continue to be carried on the Speed Channel except for two on Fox. Most Busch races will be on ESPN2, except for three on ABC.
"It can be a bit confusing," Hawks said. "I'm anxious to see exactly where everything falls as we find out more about the details."
NASCAR's TV era began with the 1979 Daytona 500. Much of the eastern U.S. was socked in by a blizzard on the day of the race, giving CBS a captive audience for one of the wildest finishes in the sport's history.
Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed while battling for the lead on the last lap. Bobby Allison stopped, jumped out, and he and brother Donnie started a helmet-swinging fight with Yarborough. Meanwhile Richard Petty sailed past and held off Darrell Waltrip for the victory.
Ratings went through the roof and TV executives began to see the potential in NASCAR's sheet-metal gladiators.
In 1981, ESPN, a fledgling all-sports network, carried five Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) races. At the time ESPN was
18 months old and available in eight million homes. Today it is in more than 80 million homes and is ready for a NASCAR homecoming.
ESPN did for NASCAR what it did for the NCAA basketball tournament — its flag-to-flag coverage drew unprecedented attention to the sport and attracted a huge national following. Eventually the major networks began to move in and take over. ESPN was cut out of NASCAR's current TV deal, which divides the season between Fox/FX and NBC/TNT.
Would NASCAR be where it is today — second only to the NFL in attendance and TV ratings — without ESPN?
Probably, because it would be impossible for television to ignore NASCAR's estimated 75 million fans. But ESPN definitely helped start the avalanche.
"The sport has changed tremendously," said Ned Jarrett, one of the first NASCAR TV commentators, "and ESPN deserves credit for taking it to the higher levels."
Under the new deal the season will still be divided, with Fox keeping most of the first half, TNT carrying six races, and the rest going to ABC/ESPN/ESPN2. Franklin's Darrell Waltrip is expected to continue as part of the highly-rated Fox broadcast team.
Hamilton sponsor: Mt. Juliet's Bobby Hamilton Sr. has landed a sponsor for his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team for the next two years.
The Fastenal Company, a Minnesota-based industrial and construction supply company with 1,700 stores in the U.S. and abroad, will back the trucks Hamilton fields out of his Mt. Juliet headquarters. Hamilton, the 2004 champion, will carry No. 18 next season, starting with the Feb. 17 opener at Daytona.
Motorplex awards: The Music City Motorplex Awards banquet will be held Feb. 4 at the Airport Hilton. For reservations, call 615-726-1818.
Motorplex General Manager Jack Deery said the 2006 rules are being completed and will be posted on the track's Web site.
The 49th season of racing at the Fairgrounds track will start in mid-March.
Patrick leading: Danica Patrick, the Indy Racing League's Rookie of the Year, is leading the balloting for the U.S. Sports Academy's Female Athlete of the Year.
Patrick, the first female driver to lead the Indy 500, leads gymnast Nastia Liukin, WNBA player Yolanda Griffith, swimmer Natalie Coughlin and LPGA player Annika Sorenstam.
Voting in the USAToday.com poll runs through Dec. 24.
Dirt track nationals: Clarksville Speedway has joined a national dirt-track racing series, and its drivers next year will compete for regional and national titles.
The track will participate in the StormPlay.com Weekly Racing Series for crate engine dirt-track late models.
This past season, track owner William Scogin tried the crate engines — generically-manufactured motors which drivers can buy and install, reducing cost and making the competition more equal.
The national dirt-track series will open Jan. 7-8 at Talladega Short Track.
Kahne to visit: Kasey Kahne, the 2004 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, will make a promotional appearance at Opry Mills tomorrow. He is scheduled to participate in a Q&A session and sign autographs. The session will be restricted to the first 125 fans. Wrist bands will be issued at 5 p.m. for the 7 p.m. autograph session.
Sparks fly: A NASCAR-themed romance novel is scheduled for release next month. Harlequin Enterprises, which specializes in the genre and sold 130 million such books in 2004, will release In the Groove by Pamela Britton.
Last year Britton wrote the racing romance novel Dangerous Curves. The main character in her new novel is a teacher named Sarah Tingle.
The book will have a "very low level of sensuality by romance novel standards," according to a Cox News Service reviewer, who adds: "Nevertheless, it makes Sarah tingle."
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/SPORTS09/512140411/1328/SPORTS
