Sparkplug

The report was encouraging for NASCAR fans who have longed for the respect of a bunch of guys turning left for three hours. Recent Nielsen numbers revealed that this past Sunday’s Daytona 500 was viewed by 37 million people. Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? Well, the number has to be considered impressive when you look at these facts:

• This Daytona 500 was the most watched NASCAR race ever.
• This Daytona 500 had more viewers than three of the four World Series games from this past October (White Sox-Astros) and six of seven NBA finals games of last June (Spurs-Pistons).

Who cares, right? It’s a much longer list than meets the eye. There is the most obvious: people who know what a restrictor plate does for starters. True NASCAR fans are suddenly looking around wondering how big was the bandwagon that stopped by the racetrack. Add two parts Corporate America: Fortune 500s who are looking for a new sports audience with a constant presence and Madison Avenue agencies looking for a new athlete to craft an image of for many of those Fortune 500s. Throw in your friendly neighborhood civic leaders looking for ways to bring NASCAR to your city. It looks to be that NASCAR is building its audience with these players all at once whereas the other predominant American sports took years to rein them in. Does this now mean that NASCAR has become one of the major sports in our country? Better yet, have they eclipsed some of those majors?

First of all, let’s make one thing clear before reading further. Unfortunately, the recent five-part series by ESPN’s Sportscenter did not make the clear distinction between the various races. There are three unique races within NASCAR: The Craftsman Truck Series, The Busch Series and the more popular Nextel Cup Series which features Daytona. Though the popularity of the entire racing umbrella has grown, most of the attention is focused on the Nextel Cup. NASCAR has mistakenly been synonymous with the Nextel (once the Winston) Cup in the media. What else is new?

Just as the other sports, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing built its earliest stars through a grassroots following and a unique ambiance. Most look at Johnny Unitas as the first superstar of the NFL and teams fed off of the tailgating elements prior to the contests. NASCAR found that it could built itself the same way. Richard Petty would be considered the Johnny U of stock car racing, and the Petty name is synonymous with STP (one of the most longest-running and lucrative sports sponsorships of all time). Its deep Southern roots cultivated a similar feel at the track: you’re there for an experience from the parking lot to the stands. Yet, the drivers were considered everyman and because they were predominantly Southern, most up in media markets such as NYC, Chicago and LA thought of NASCAR as a sport full of hicks, trailer-park trash and holdovers of the Confederacy. It was as much a novelty to Northerners and some Westerners as hockey is to the Bible Belt.

Though the 1970s brought about some progression in sports marketing, it is starting to take notice three decades later. The sponsors at the time were North Carolina-based R.J. Reynolds (to promote Winston cigarettes) and Goodyear. Admist controversies of having alcohol sponsorts such as Jim Beam and Smirnoff, NASCAR has been able to lock down any Fortune 500 company it wants. The trend had gone from using drivers in any of the three series as platforms to financing the driver’s team and essentially, the business of stock car racing. Tide and Home Depot not only outfit the cars and uniforms of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, but they are responsible for the research and development of their race cars. It is now discussed at length now because to the casual fan and non-fan, the sport has come out of nowhere.

So the questions are asked: is NASCAR a major sport now? You would have to consider this so despite any bias. Personally, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a racetrack in Oklahoma and a track in Bristol, CT. Yet, I could tell you that through major network deals with FOX, ABC, NBC, TNT and Speed Channel, it’s taken the hold that the NHL failed to. Speaking of the NHL, during the lockout season, networks and channels scrambled for content that would deliver some sort of audience and turned to entities such as Arena Football, Major League Lacrosse and of course, NASCAR. The latter took great advantage of the diminished audience the NHL abandoned and provided a growing sports segment. Momentum has built into this year as the Association has hoped to expand their audience. Just as the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and the NFL league office created Football 101 and merchandise for women, NASCAR has devoted webspace to filter the testosterone a bit. Endorsements and TV appearances by Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have added some sex appeal to a sport formerly known for Skoal-chewing, backwoods-y types. Its Hall of Fame has been courted to several cities around the country including Atlanta (which doesn’t have much to do with the sport) and Charlotte (which does). Even the year-end awards ceremony takes place in New York as a courting tactic to build a track in Staten Island. From this, one would assume that the popularity has grown past other sports such as the NBA and even baseball. Don’t be so sure. The NBA’s national popularity is much more debatable than advertised as it is more an urban sport than anything else. Baseball is helped and hurt by the fact that there is such a long season, allowing for great attendance numbers despite questionable ratings. The verdict is still out to see where NASCAR lies, but there is no doubt who they want to be: the next coming of the NFL.

(For more on the sport's history, this is a good reference.)

Say What?!?!: Apparently, we are supposed to be glued to the seats when it comes to the Winter Olympics, especially with the 2006 American contingent. I’ll just say this now, it is the worst of all time. Charles Barkley was chided for hanging on the rim in a game against Spain and ridden for some hotel fun. Yet, because he was Charles Barkley and it was the first pro-filled basketball team for the US and because it was the Summer Olympics, it gained much more backlash. Yet, Barkley and others who have had a mishap here and there in the Olympics brought home some gold. Bode Miller and all of these other yahoos aren’t even good enough to be mediocre, but because of the ultra-nationalism of the Olympics, shouldn’t we be a little ticked off? Even if it’s the Winter Olympics, we should wonder how were they supposed to honor the American flag if they makes excuses, whine and compete with a hangover. Someone should remind these people that millions of dollars and time were not dedicated for people to watch sixteen days of college kid-like recklessness.