Here’s something you can bet on this summer- the ratings will be down for NASCAR.
However, here’s something that should be known- it really isn’t that big of a deal.
The simple reality is that every Cup race this summer, save for Daytona, will be on less established sports networks compared to TNT and ESPN. Daytona will easily have the biggest share of the entire summer, being run in prime time on a Sunday night on NBC with no competition in the sports world- NBA will be done, no baseball that night, and no football. In fact, there’s a pretty great chance that outside of the 500 in February, the 400 in July will have the biggest share out of every race in the season. Not a bad year for Daytona, I guess.
Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network are lower on the totem pole than TNT and even ESPN 2. The reality is that Fox and NBC are the only two companies interested in NASCAR right now because they know it can be used, like it was in the 80’s with ESPN, to help build their cable sport networks. As has been shown time and time again, live sport is the key to building networks- just ask ESPN, or TNN (Now Spike TV), both networks that took the NASCAR contract and, along with their other offerings, went from nobodies to major players in cable.
NASCAR isn’t going to be canceled or even really feel much blowback just because ratings are down this year. Live sport is also the key to today’s advertising- with more DVRs making advertisers become more cautious in putting real money into a typical show, live sport is DVR-proof and more of a big deal to advertisers. Just look at last year, when the WWE attempted to paint themselves as live sports during negotiations for a new TV contract while pointing out that they provide weekly programming and thus week-to-week have better ratings than NASCAR, usually having some of the overall highest ratings on cable. Obviously, even though WWE had a sizeable increase, they didn’t have anywhere near NASCAR’s TV contract because advertisers see NASCAR and really most television shows in general as much, much, much more viable than pro wrestling, but I digress.
In fact, here’s my prediction for the next five years. Ratings compared to this summer will be around the same for the next two-three years. As these networks grow, with more and more providers putting them on better tiers, the ratings will artificially grow in years four-five.
Either that or the cable bubble will completely burst and everybody will turn to online, Roku, or services such as Sling TV, making it either harder to watch NASCAR or easier- it depends on a number of factors. I’m either going to be completely right, wrong or something else will happen. Just how much the TV industry has changed in the last five years alone makes it pretty hard to tell.
Pocono Predictions
The Favorite
This week, I’m going with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet is coming off a sweep of this track last year, winning both this race and the August race. He was fast in Friday practice, running fourth, and with his Talladega win, he can now afford to gamble a little bit to get a second win this season.
The Sleeper
Carl Edwards hasn’t done particularly well at this track lately, with an average finish of 17th in the last 10 races here, but he was fast in both Friday practice and qualifying. I’m iffy on the No. 19 busting out like Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick did in the past two years, but if he can win or even just get a top five at Pocono, it could be the start of a cool summer for Cousin Carl.
One to Watch
Austin Dillon only has two starts at this track, a 17th and a 15th in the two races last year, but like Edwards he was fast off the truck on Friday, being sixth in practice and qualifying fifth for the race. Could he join Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano* by breaking out and winning his first Sprint Cup race on Sunday? We’ll have to see on that one, but at the very least expect the driver of the legendary No. 3 to grab his second top-10 of the season.
*= Although Logano won before his win at Pocono, in reality it isn’t like the rain win at New Hampshire in his rookie year wasn’t really a breakout win.
Book Review Number 1- “Riverside International Raceway: A Photographic Tour of the Historic Track, its Legendary Races, and Unforgettable Drivers” by Pete Lyons.
(It should be noted that I received a review copy of this book from the publisher).
Riverside International Raceway will go down in the history books as probably the most important track in the world that no longer exists. Like it or not, it was, in its prime, the center of road course racing in America and the most relevant track in California’s history.
Lyons has written a fascinating book that uses amazing photos to weave together a great history of not just Riverside but of California racing history. There is some stuff in this book even I didn’t know about, such as Ken Miles, the British sports car star that should have won the 24 Hours of LeMans for Ford in 1966, designing the track in the 1950’s.
I was aware of the one Formula 1 race at Riverside, but I had no idea how big of a bomb it was. Without Ferrari and the local champion Phil Hill in the race (They had already clinched the championship and had no reason to be there), nobody really seemed to care all that much. To be completely honest, it’s probably for the better in Riverside’s case that the race was a failure- being shoehorned as a Formula 1 track and trying to make everything grand like Circuit of the Americas has the last few years have been a failure from both a money and image point. Instead, Riverside was able to create a niche for themselves with just about all kinds of American racing.
For those wondering, “Well, what does this have to do with NASCAR?,” NASCAR was probably the most important promoter of the track, running races from the 60s to the track’s closing in the late 80s, and no man has ever dominated a track in NASCAR like Dan Gurney during the 1960s. In five starts in a rare second car for the Wood Brothers in that decade at Riverside, Gurney won four and had an engine problem in the fifth race. Along with another win in a Holman-Moody Ford in 1963, from 1963 to 1968, Gurney only lost one spring Riverside race.
When a picture book comes out, there are plenty of books that just slap on pictures and don’t spend much time at all on the actual text. This book is different from that. It introduces and provides background to the colorful stars of the speedway, from Ken Miles to the man of Riverside himself, the legendary Gurney. Gurney also writes a wonderful foreword; you can tell the Riverside native had fun writing it and revisiting the old days.
Overall, my only real complaint about the book is the price and my own relatability. At $50, it just seems a little too pricey to me. The book is definitely well made though. It kind of reminds me in many ways of the Greg Fielden NASCAR history books, which is probably the best thing that can be said about any racing history book.
Overall, I give it a four out of five. It’s well done and well made, but the price is a sticking point for me and really, eventually the price will probably go down in a few years. If you are a sports car fan in America, get this. If you are a California racing fan, get this. If you are a racing fan, in general, this is definitely worth a look. You can get it on Amazon or at bookstores, if you can find one nowadays.
