CONCORD, N.C. - Fox Sports president Ed Goren not only believes the NASCAR Winston Cup Series has finally shed its regional perception, but he also says the racing circuit has become one of the "healthiest" sports on television.
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In the three years since Fox, NBC and Turner Sports started their $2.8 billion, six-year contract with NASCAR, ratings have skyrocketed. According to figures compiled by Sports Business Journal, ratings in the past three years have increased 109 percent in Chicago, 35 percent in New York and 34 percent in Los Angeles.
"As far as ratings go, I don't know if there's a healthier sport in his country," Goren told the magazine. "The national ratings week in and week out declare that this is a national sport."
The national ratings for the first 11 races of the season have averaged a 5.6. A year ago, the average rating was a 5.8, but NASCAR officials quickly said the small decline can be attributed to two rain delays during the season-opening Daytona 500 and three weeks of war coverage.
The national ratings continue to support the racing series' contention it's the second-most popular sport on television. It trails only the NFL in ratings.
The top six markets in the country for racing are: Greensboro, N.C. (15.9); Greenville, S.C. (13.4); Charlotte, N.C. (13.1); Indianapolis (11.8); Knoxville, Tenn. (10.6); and Dayton, Ohio (10.6).
What has NASCAR doing cartwheels is that ratings also are up in nonracing areas such as Buffalo and Seattle (both up 22 percent) and Boston (21).
HARD SELL: The Indianapolis 500 barely had enough cars to fill all 33 starting positions. The Coca-Cola 600 will have only a couple nonqualifiers.
"We're in a war, and it's real tough to find sponsors right now," said Robby Gordon, who will drive in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. "When the economy is like this, it essentially eliminates the privateers. The big teams, the Penskes and Andrettis and Richard Childress in Winston Cup get the big sponsors, and that doesn't leave a lot for everyone else."
Gordon said he thought about driving his own car in the Indianapolis 500. Those plans changed as soon as he found out it cost $330,000 to rent engines for the month of May.
"The IRL and NASCAR aren't in trouble," Gordon said. "We're going through a war, and it's tough times. We still had full fields at both races, and I think you'll see a great Indy 500 - probably the best one since '95."
NASCAR RULES: Two crew chiefs were fined and Robert Yates Racing had an engine seized last week at The Winston all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Lee McCall, crew chief for Sterling Marlin's Dodge, was fined $10,000 for having an improperly mounted weight, while Chad Knaus, who along with driver Jimmie Johnson won the all-star race at its $1,017,604 payday, was penalized $1,000 for an unapproved air directional device.
In what might prove to be the most significant sanction, NASCAR took away Dale Jarrett's engine after his team changed it before the race.
According to rules, Jarrett's team is allowed to make the change only if it can prove there was a problem and get NASCAR's approval. The penalty for changing engines is a move to the end of the starting grid.
NASCAR ruled the change was unnecessary, so it took the engine from the team.
PIT STOPS: Bill Elliott donated $10,000 worth of books to Union County Primary School in Blairsville, Ga., as part of the Grands! Biscuits' most popular driver award. ... Homestead-Miami Speedway started reconstruction on all four turns Wednesday to add banking, with hopes of making races more competitive. All four corners will go from six degrees of banking to 20. ... Thunder Road USA, a $12 million racing museum in Bill Elliott's hometown of Dawsonville, Ga., has asked for a 10-year advance on its share of sales taxes as it tries to erase nearly $10 million in debt. The museum was supposed to attract 250,000 fans last year, but officials said 48,000 fans came through the doors.
