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Die-Cast Specials
2008 Nascar Controversy Will it effect the Sport?
From: The Sporting News Mar 13, 2008 06:42 PM |
In this Winston Cup season we've had four races and a lot of verbiage from Tony Stewart, Jack Roush, and Toyota on several issues, and some are celebrating this outburst of verbiage because it somehow has brought the sport's "personality" back. The sport, according to Brian France, needed to "show more personalities."
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So what has been the net gain for the sport from these eruptions?Some point to surprising spikes in TV ratings, notably for Vegas and Atlanta, as evidence that these outbursts are galvanizing fans back to the sport. Perhaps Tony Stewart and company screaming in the media has had some effect, but it's impossible to believe that it can sustain any improvement in the sport's popularity, especially given the continuing low quality of the competitive product on the racetrack.
Daytona was an exciting race. Fontana had some good racing in spots but hardly enough of it. Vegas wasn't much to write home about, and Atlanta wasn't any better - enough that it caused comment from H.A. Wheeler about the COT, "If this thing doesn't work, let's fix it and let's do it right now."
MD80891 remains a most perceptive analyst of things NASCAR and he has noted among other things what most people overlooked about the Atlanta weekend - the radical change in weather from day to day and its effect on setup. His comments remain must-reading when discussing the on-going tire controversy, for as critical of Goodyear as I am in a general sense, what it comes back to is the COT and its role in both tire issues and general raceability or lack thereof.
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Just having "personalities" is not going to benefit the sport long-term. This sport would have seen similar spikes in ratings - not to mention stronger crowds than have generally come through track turnstiles - if the races following Daytona had shown the same competitive depth the 500 showed.
STP43FAN
Events
2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule
| 02/09/08 | Budweiser Shootout | Daytona International Speedway | FOX/8 p.m. | MRN/8:30 p.m. | |
| 02/14/08 | Gatorade Duel 1 | Daytona International Speedway | SPEED/2 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 02/14/08 | Gatorade Duel 2 | Daytona International Speedway | SPEED/3:30 p.m. | MRN/3:30 p.m. | |
| 02/17/08 | Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway | FOX/2 p.m. | MRN/3:20 p.m. | |
| 02/24/08 | Auto Club 500 | California Speedway | FOX/3:30 p.m. | MRN/4 p.m. | |
| 03/02/08 | UAW-Dodge 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | FOX/3:30 p.m. | PRN/4:30 p.m. | |
| 03/09/08 | Kobalt Tools 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | PRN/2 p.m. | |
| 03/16/08 | Food City 500 | Bristol Motor Speedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | PRN/2 p.m. | |
| 03/30/08 | Goody's Cool Orange 500 | Martinsville Speedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 04/06/08 | Samsung 500 | Texas Motor Speedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | PRN/2 p.m. | |
| 04/12/08 | Subway Fresh Fit 500 | Phoenix International Raceway | FOX/8 p.m. | MRN/8:30 p.m. | |
| 04/27/08 | Aaron's 499 | Talladega Superspeedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 05/03/08 | Crown Royal Presents "Your Name Here 400" | Richmond International Raceway | FOX/7 p.m. | MRN/7:30 p.m. | |
| 05/10/08 | Dodge Challenger 500 | Darlington Raceway | FOX/7 p.m. | MRN/7:20 p.m. | |
| 05/17/08 | NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race | Lowe's Motor Speedway | SPEED/7 p.m. | MRN/7:30 p.m. | |
| 05/25/08 | Coca-Cola 600 | Lowe's Motor Speedway | FOX/5 p.m. | PRN/5:30 p.m. | |
| 06/01/08 | Dover 400 | Dover International Speedway | FOX/1:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 06/08/08 | Pocono 500 | Pocono Raceway | TNT/12:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 06/15/08 | Michigan 400 | Michigan International Speedway | TNT/12:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 06/22/08 | Toyota/Save Mart 350 | Infineon Raceway | TNT/3:30 p.m. | PRN/5 p.m. | |
| 06/29/08 | LENOX Industrial Tools 301 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | TNT/12:30 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 07/05/08 | NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 400 | Daytona International Speedway | TNT/6:30 p.m. | MRN/8 p.m. | |
| 07/12/08 | Chicagoland 400 | Chicagoland Speedway | TNT/6:30 p.m. | MRN/8 p.m. | |
| 07/27/08 | Allstate 400 at The Brickyard | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | ESPN/1 p.m. | IMS/2 p.m. | |
| 08/03/08 | Pennsylvania 500 | Pocono Raceway | ESPN/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 08/10/08 | Centurion Boats at The Glen | Watkins Glen International | ESPN/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 08/17/08 | 3M Performance 400 | Michigan International Speedway | ESPN/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 08/23/08 | Sharpie 500 | Bristol Motor Speedway | ESPN/7 p.m. | PRN/8 p.m. | |
| 08/31/08 | NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 500 | California Speedway | ESPN/7 p.m. | MRN/8 p.m. | |
| 09/06/08 | Chevy Rock & Roll 400 | Richmond International Raceway | ABC/7 p.m. | MRN/7:30 p.m. | |
| 09/14/08 | Sylvania 300 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | ABC/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 09/21/08 | Dover 400 | Dover International Speedway | ABC/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 09/28/08 | Kansas 400 | Kansas Speedway | ABC/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 10/05/08 | Amp Energy 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | ABC/1 p.m. | MRN/2 p.m. | |
| 10/11/08 | Bank of America 500 | Lowe's Motor Speedway | ABC/7 p.m. | PRN/7:25 p.m. | |
| 10/19/08 | NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 500 | Martinsville Speedway | ABC/1 p.m. | MRN/1:30 p.m. | |
| 10/26/08 | Pep Boys Auto 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | ABC/1 p.m. | PRN/2 p.m. | |
| 11/02/08 | Dickies 500 | Texas Motor Speedway | ABC/3 p.m. | PRN/3:30 p.m. | |
| 11/09/08 | Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil | Phoenix International Raceway | ABC/3 p.m. | MRN/3:45 p.m. | |
| 11/16/08 | Ford 400 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | ABC/3 p.m. | MRN/3:45 p.m. |
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