NASCAR TV Ratings Declining

[Don]

Appears NASCAR has it's challenges with TV viewing. Having only 2 out of 12 chase contenders for the Cup as possible season champs at the final race, and both from the same race team , probably did not help.

From USA Today:

NASCAR: Ford 400
Sunday, 3:45
3.8 (2.9 million)
ABC

The comparison: Down 12% from comparable coverage last year.

The spin on the spin: NASCAR finishes its Nextel Cup season likely to end up with national ratings down about 10% from last year and 20% from 2005 as it gets tiny ratings in big cities outside the South. Maybe NASCAR could add some New York City cabs to its fields.

[CobraEd]

NASCAR is the Velveta Cheese of motorsports!


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[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by CobraEd

NASCAR is the Velveta Cheese of motorsports!


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I always thought it was the professional wrestling of motorsports.

But then my friends got mad at me for making professional wrestling look bad.

[767Jockey]

I just can't get into NASCAR. I wish I knew why, but I just can't. In my youth I was a huge open wheel Indy car fan. The glory days of the Unser brothers, Foyt, Andretti (the REAL Andretti - Mario), Rahal, and so many more. Then they screwed it all up with the splitting up of CART and IRL, and the whole damn thing fell apart. I used to love CanAm as well, with Donohue, Hall and the rest - that went away as well.

F1 is just way too much drama and politics for me, IRL has no appeal, with these foreign drama queen drivers climbing fences when they win (reminds me of soccer players ripping off their shirts and crying when they score a goal), and the biggest star on the circuit being a woman of questionable talent who apparently got her ride more due to beauty than talent (shoehorned right into a top notch ride, with a hugely financed team - so far ZERO wins), I just can't latch on to any particular series like I used to with the old USAC / CART. Hopefully they get that straightened out one day.

[Ron61]

NASCAR has had problems all year filling the seats for races and in several they had a lot of empty ones but made sure to never point the camera that way. I have always been a road race fan and really wish they would bring back the Trans Am series. And I do like the LeMans racing. And their lousy TV coverage isn't helping either.

Ron

[Rick Parker]

The only part of the entire Series that interests me is the Engine Tech. These guys are at the top of the Food Chain in the pushrod V8 crowd. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in one of the engine assembly rooms. Anyone that can spin a 358" V8 to 9500 RPM and make it live has got my attention, there are no others that have a pushrod V8 dialed in like these guys. If you follow the sampling of the tech information that dribbles into magazines such as Circle Track you can apply it to our engines to a lesser degree. Light parts, new superior materials, parts design and trends are all discussed to some degree.
The rest of the show is to me a bunch of Hype, much like Sensationalized Jounalism or newscasting, for increased ratings and viewership. I'd rather watch the old Can Am Clips on You Tube!

Maybe Vince McMahon and Rick Hendricks willl join forces????

[Don]

767Jockey

I used to love CanAm as well, with Donohue, Hall and the rest - that went away as well.

Noticing your from West Islip, agree, some of the best racing was at Bridgehampton , including the Chaparrals with Hall & Sharpe in the #65 & 66 in the Can-Am.series At one race prior to qualifications, it appeared they both took turns setting the fastest lap.

Having the sand blow onto the track sure made the corners interesting. The December issue of Hemmings Motor News has an article " Under the Bridge: Long Island's Bridgehampton circuit was more than just a track "

The only big block Ford powered Can Am car , original engine was an aluminum 427, participating in vintage racing is a McLaren M6-B, Peter Revson drove for Caroll Shelby.

[CobraEd]

I kinda like the Top Fuel engine technology. 9,000 hp out of a pushrod V8.

A HUGE blower with God know what volume running at 55 lbs of boost!!!

More HP in one cylinder than an entire NASCAR engine

2 1/2 inch fuel lines!! Dual spark plugs, 5:01 compression.


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[Don]

NHIS, north of Boston, has sold out every one of it's two Cup races since day 1. Burton Smith & SMI just spent $340 Million to purchase, which was not the high bid


Price for N.H. oval: $340m
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | November 3, 2007

FORT WORTH - In announcing his purchase of New Hampshire International Speedway for $340 million in cash, O. Bruton Smith, chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., yesterday declined to disclose what, if any, changes he had in store for the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon he acquired from Bob and Gary Bahre.

Smith, however, did unveil one immediate alteration during a press conference at Texas Motor Speedway. He rechristened NHIS by holding up a blue placard that read, "New Hampshire Motor Speedway."

The acquisition increased SMI's holdings to seven tracks and 12 NASCAR-sanctioned Cup dates (including four Chase dates). According to the 80-year-old Smith, the purchase increased SMI's investment in racing to $2.5 billion.

"First, I want to thank Bob and Gary Bahre," said the flamboyant Smith, who now owns Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.; Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway; Atlanta Motor Speedway; Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; Texas; and New Hampshire. "I don't know if I've ever had to thank anybody for taking $340 million of my hard-earned money, but anyway, he did. I do appreciate the friendship I had with Mr. Bahre and Gary in putting this deal together."

Apart from the sticker shock of NHIS's purchase price, the remarkable aspect of Smith's acquisition was that he wasn't the highest bidder.

That distinction went to Jerry Carroll, co-owner and chairman of Kentucky Speedway, who, according to court documents filed in conjunction with a lawsuit brought against International Speedway Corp., offered $360 million in cash.

In May, when he was mentioned in the lawsuit, NHIS chairman Bob Bahre, 80, disputed Kentucky's allegation that NASCAR threatened him with the loss of his two Nextel Cup dates if he sold to Carroll's group. Bahre, who said he bore Carroll no ill will, vowed never to sell to Kentucky because of the track's association with Darrell Waltrip, the former NASCAR champion driver turned TV commentator who Bahre felt maligned NHIS as an unsafe track after the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin seven years ago.

Smith competed against George Gillett, owner of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens who recently bought a stake in Ray Evernham Motorsports; Nextel Cup car owner Roger Penske; Fenway Sports Group; and Carroll.

A Penske Racing spokesman indicated the legendary car owner never made a firm offer. FSG president Mike Dee indicated his group had "one discussion" with the Bahres, who expressed a desire to get a deal done sooner rather than later.

"Soon wasn't soon enough, I guess," Dee said last night by phone from Boston. "We thought we had our hands full with our flagship [the Red Sox winning the World Series]. But at that reported price, we would've had a hard time reaching that level [to make an offer]."

And so Smith was left to jockey against Gillett and Carroll. In the end, Smith said, he believed his friendship with Bahre helped swing the deal. Although Smith admitted "we didn't start off" as good friends, "we ended up that way" even after butting heads over their forced marriage in the 50-50 purchase of North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in 1996, which led to a split of the track's two Cup dates. Smith took his to Texas, while Bahre used his to create a second race at NHIS.

Yesterday, Smith said his acquisition of NHIS also gave him controlling interest in North Wilkesboro.

"I'm now the proud owner of 100 percent of North Wilkesboro," Smith said. "I offered to give that to Bob for a Christmas present, and he said, 'Go to hell.' "

Smith's purchase gave rise to speculation he would move one date out of the Granite State, where the track routinely draws 101,000 fans to a facility with a permanent seating capacity of 91,000. Smith has expressed a desire to seek a second date for Las Vegas, but he seemed intent on seeking it from elsewhere when he made a not-so-subtle lobbying attempt to get ISC to give up one of its dates on the 36-race schedule.

"I plan to talk to NASCAR within this coming week and see if they'll grant us another date [at Las Vegas]," Smith said.

Brian France, NASCAR's chairman and CEO, released a statement in which he said all sanctions for 2008 had been signed and finalized.

"As a result, there will be no location changes to the 2008 schedule that was released last month," he said. "This is important to the fans, competitors, broadcast partners, and sponsors who have already made plans for the 2008 races.

"Looking beyond 2008, NASCAR will continue to consider requests by any track operator, including SMI, to relocate race dates."

Smith indicated his desire to retain Bob Bahre as a consultant.

"Gary [his son, the track president] and I would like to thank all of our employees and loyal fans for their continued support of New Hampshire International Speedway over the past 18 years," Bob Bahre said in a statement.

[Wayne Maybury]

NASCAR seems to have lost their concept of what product they are supplying to their fans. Years ago the race cars were actually production cars that were modified for racing. The engines transmissions and many other parts were the same basic parts that were used on the street.

Today, they are using a spec race car that has absolutely nothing in common with the cars in the show room. Most production cars today are front wheel drive, automatic, V-6, with fuel injection and OHC while these race cars are rear wheel drive, 4 speed, V-8 with push rods and a carburator. One more thing, all the drivers have to be good looking and capable of doing an interview while in the car. Next thing they will be expected to tell us how they are doing, as an accident is occuring.

In addition, NASCAR has decided that the "show" is much more important than the race. They want close finishes so they keep having stupid meaningless yellow flag caution laps to bunch up the field and have scheduled pit stops. They even have the rediculous "lucky dog" rule so that guys that are a lap down can get back on the lead lap. IS THAT RACING?

As Ron said, there are many empty seats and if they keep on producing shows or events instesd of races, their popularity will continue to decline. Watch what happens when sponsorship money begins to get tight.

Someone said a few weeks ago that the best way to watch a NASCAR race is to only watch the last 5 or 10 laps. All the rest is little more than a very expensive parade.

Wayne

[RACER X #99]

I am starting to lose interest and I am a die hard Nascar Fan. I find it real interesting that a car dealer from North Carolina can somehow build better race cars than Jack Roush or that one time "king of Horsepower" Robert Yates can no longer keep up much less dominate the others like he used to.
I would be the last to accuse anybody of cheating or trying to buy championships but a certain North Carolina Car dealer was idicted and convicted for bribing car companies in the past.

I will agree with Rich Parker about Nascar and building small block horsepower. No other series gets the power and longivity out of their engines like Nascar engine builders.

I know lots of guys here have no respect for Nascar drivers but the drivers from other series certainly do.
When road racers start beating up on Nascar drivers on the ovals on a regular basis then you can tell me about "only turning left"

[blykins]

I think there's a huge bias towards the bowtie guys as well....it seems in times past that they get a lot of nods while the Dodge/Ford boys lag behind.

I've heard stories of Ford engine builders being extremely upset because the restrictor plates were more restricting to Ford head designs than Chevrolet heads. This of course made the Ford guys have to work a lot harder to keep up.....no one else seemed to mind though.

I'm with the rest of you guys....I don't even watch anymore. It's pitiful, boring, and money/ratings is making most of the decisions now.

[Joe Wicked]

I am still a fan and I still enjoy it, but I also do not like some of the new rules and stuff. I think that the lucky dog rule needs to change. I understand that they had to do something when they got rid of racing back to the caution, but to automatically give it to someone who is behind is not right. Especially if that person is way behind the leader. I feel that if you are going to do it, then you give it to any car withing a specified distance of the leader. Be that 1 second, 100 yards, whatever. So if there are 2 cars in that distance, then both get it. If there are no cars that are within that distance then no one gets it. These cars are cars that could get their lap back under the old system because they are close enough. This is the more fair and back to racing approach IMO. Also there should be a separate rule for the first lap after the caution flag. If the caution comes out because of a wreck into turn 1 then everyone could be close enough and that is not realistic either.

[Joe Wicked]

Another think that I think with the lap traffic and Lucky dog pass, is that if you are going to give the 1st car 1 lap down and only the 1st car, then why do they need to line up on the inside of the leaders. They should go to the back and stay there. Then the leaders can race for the win without having to deal with slow cars. Too many times the leader can pull away solely because the others are dealing with lap traffic. That also is taking away from the racing IMO.

[Don]

Wonder what the true story is on why Gibbs switched to Toyoto ? One comment made he was not the #1 Chevrolet team when compared to RCR, DEI, Hendrick and/or others, even after winning 2 Championships.

Another reason may be the additional direct factory support and funding as Toyoto did not have a strong team in the Cup series

A few seasons ago, DEI was dominant in the restrictor plate races, even when compared to other Chevy teams

[Ron61]

Don,

Remember that Gibbs started with Pontiacs and then they all vanished. Now that none of the cars are even close to any name brand, I don't think they should be called Chevy, Ford, & etc. Just call them the NASCAR Car and forget it. More sponsors are leaving all the time. Bush has sponsored that series since it begin and he is pulling out. Next year Nationwide Insurance will sponsor the Bush series and they will most likely drop it in a year or so. The Nextel Cup will be the Sprint Cup. Although I have always liked road racing better, I have been a big NASCAR fan until about 5 years ago and now I just don't care who wins in their phony set up. When they raced real cars that they had modified for racing it was a lot better racing.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

Another thought about the lucky dog rule. Lets face it, they can talk about racing back to the start finish line but that is BS. Everything is now timed electronically so they can freeze the field at the push of a button no matter where the cars are on the track. The only reason they have this rule is to get cars back on the lead lap because NASCAR wants the finish to be as close as possible. They have 10 to 15 cautions per race so it is possible to have as many as 10 to 15 cars getting back on the lead lap in one single race. It is rediculous. Of course they could also have a phantom yellow if one of the "star" drivers is in a position to be the lucky dog, thereby getting him back on the lead lap.

Can someone please explain why a caution for a small piece of debris on the track has to last 5 laps? If there is a piece of crap on the track, bring out the yellow for one lap, pick up the stuff, and immediately go back to green. Instead they go round and round behind the pace car giving everyone a chance to pit under the yellow. They should force the teams to pit under green as much as possible by significantly reducing the number of laps run under caution. Wouldn't it be great fun to have 25 or 30 cars heading into the pits and they immediately go back to green?

Wayne

[Ron61]

Wayne,

What about the so called debris cautions and they never send a person out on the track. Just another way to get in a TV time out like in basketball and football. If a coach doesn't call a time out, then they will for TV. If you notice and green flag run that gets close to a pit stop window will suddenly have a caution so their stars can catch up and also the TV can get in their 15 minutes of crap. I hardly ever watch a complete race anymore and I used to really look forward to them. Of course in a race now that takes 5 hours to finish, you only seem maybe 40 minutes of actual racing. The talking heads in the booth don't even notice when the lead changes half the time. I really feel that NASCAR is losing more fans with that type stuff than most anything else. I don't care to see 4 1/2 hours of commercials, Larry McRenolds telling how great he was as a crew chief and that idiot with the cut away car.

And this is just my non important opinion, but I wish they would do away with the so called Lucky Dog and also the top 35 in points and whoever qualifies fastest races.

Ron

[stengun]

Howdy,

I'm a Huge Nascar fan!

But this year, it has been like, it's no big deal. Why bother to watch when you already know who's going to win. It's either Jeff Gordon, or Jeff Gordon Jr. Between the two of them, they won 16 of the 36 races, came in 1st and 2nd in the points championship and Mikey Waltripfinished 44th in points, ran in only 14 races and is still more popular than Jeff or Jeff Jr.

Why Nascar wants to force them down everybodies throat is beyound me.

I guess that's why Texas Motor Speedway had 50,000 empty seats for the fall race which was in the "heat of the battle" during the chase.

I guess Nascar needs to decide if they want to be know as the greatest race on 4 wheels, or the WWE of auto racing.

Paul

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by stengun

I guess Nascar needs to decide if they want to be know as the greatest race on 4 wheels, or the WWE of auto racing.

Paul

Paul, all NASCAR is now missing is a bunch of scantily clad females with silicone boobies running around and they would definitely be the automotive equivalent to the WWE.

Wayne