Racing Of The United States Variety

[Massa 0]

Future of SPEED Channel?

SPEED, FOX Soccer, and FUEL TV are set to become FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, and FOX Sports 3 respectively.

FS1 will expand Major League Baseball program, National Football League programming, soccer programming, college athletics programming, and generic sports talk programming. UFC cage fighting and that stuff will end up on FS2/FS3.

So what happens to auto racing for the American TV viewer?

You may see NASCAR Camping World Trucks on FS1, but the main plan is to move auto racing on SPEED over to FS3. SPEED currently has contracts with Formula One, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Grand-Am Rolex Series, MotoGP et al, GP2, GP3, AMA stuff, V8 Supercars, BTCC, DTM, and WTCC. I'm assuming some of that stuff will disappear (BTCC, DTM, WTCC, GP2, GP3). The rest likely ends up on FS3.

SPEED (FS1) is currently in 77,200,000 U.S. households (there are 114,500,000 households with televisions in the U.S.) and is the third most-watched cable sports network behind ESPN and ESPN2. FOX Soccer (FS2) is in 32,000,000 households. FUEL TV (FS3) is in 26,000,000 households. Obviously a move to FS2 or FS3 really cuts the potential viewership for a lot of these series.

We'll see how it plays out but I suspect how auto racing is viewed in America is going to get a big shakeup soon, whether it's on smaller networks or moves to a subscription, online-only platform like SPEED2 currently offers for a lot of racing series. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series broadcasts get good viewership and Formula One is slightly higher than IndyCar. I'm assuming Bernie Ecclestone would want to keep F1 on FS1 only because he already mandates four races on FOX (in all 114,500,000 households).

However, FOX is investing a lot in soccer as a growth sport in the U.S., and those matches are going to conflict with F1 at times. Few things are going to get 600,000 viewers at 8 AM as F1 does, but it also costs a lot to get the rights to show F1, and morning timeslots can be used for infomercials, cheap talk, or live soccer.

I can't wait to get this all squared away so we can figure out what cable package we need to get to watch racing since at the moment I don't get FUEL TV (I do have SPEED and FOX Soccer, though neither are in HD which sucks so I'm so excited for Montréal being the only race that is both live and in HD on FOX).

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Nascar got cool graphics though, F1 can learn a thing or two. But they still could'nt hide the fact that Danica was passed left right and centre. sad sad fellas

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Future of SPEED Channel?

SPEED, FOX Soccer, and FUEL TV are set to become FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, and FOX Sports 3 respectively.

FS1 will expand Major League Baseball program, National Football League programming, soccer programming, college athletics programming, and generic sports talk programming. UFC cage fighting and that stuff will end up on FS2/FS3.

So what happens to auto racing for the American TV viewer?

You may see NASCAR Camping World Trucks on FS1, but the main plan is to move auto racing on SPEED over to FS3. SPEED currently has contracts with Formula One, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Grand-Am Rolex Series, MotoGP et al, GP2, GP3, AMA stuff, V8 Supercars, BTCC, DTM, and WTCC. I'm assuming some of that stuff will disappear (BTCC, DTM, WTCC, GP2, GP3). The rest likely ends up on FS3.

SPEED (FS1) is currently in 77,200,000 U.S. households (there are 114,500,000 households with televisions in the U.S.) and is the third most-watched cable sports network behind ESPN and ESPN2. FOX Soccer (FS2) is in 32,000,000 households. FUEL TV (FS3) is in 26,000,000 households. Obviously a move to FS2 or FS3 really cuts the potential viewership for a lot of these series.

We'll see how it plays out but I suspect how auto racing is viewed in America is going to get a big shakeup soon, whether it's on smaller networks or moves to a subscription, online-only platform like SPEED2 currently offers for a lot of racing series. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series broadcasts get good viewership and Formula One is slightly higher than IndyCar. I'm assuming Bernie Ecclestone would want to keep F1 on FS1 only because he already mandates four races on FOX (in all 114,500,000 households).

However, FOX is investing a lot in soccer as a growth sport in the U.S., and those matches are going to conflict with F1 at times. Few things are going to get 600,000 viewers at 8 AM as F1 does, but it also costs a lot to get the rights to show F1, and morning timeslots can be used for infomercials, cheap talk, or live soccer.

I can't wait to get this all squared away so we can figure out what cable package we need to get to watch racing since at the moment I don't get FUEL TV (I do have SPEED and FOX Soccer, though neither are in HD which sucks so I'm so excited for Montréal being the only race that is both live and in HD on FOX).

u interrupted my "flow" there dude...

[Massa 0]

Yeah, I admit it. I watched Nascar the other day. Danica was 3rd and seemed a sitting duck, everyone passing left right and centre. Whats that all about? Car set up for qualifying perhaps??. God knows, I lost interest after like... 5 laps. Then DP was like... 20th or something...

Hey, I didn't get the alert I usually do when someone replies while I'm replying!

I listen to the driver/crew chief scanners and Danica just doesn't have a lot of feel for these cars yet. I don't know the technical stuff (I think "technical stuff" in NASCAR is a hammer and some sheet metal anyway ), but unlike an IndyCar where the trailing car sucks up to the leading car, "dirty air" is a big deal in NASCAR. The car gets really hard to hang onto and squirrely. With single-car qualifying, it's easier to keep the car planted and driving well, but once you get into traffic, the car acts unpredictably. A more experienced driver will get used to that, but it's been a big problem for Danica because she can't really figure out how to counteract the car not being the same in "dirty air" as in "clean air."

Also depends on the tires she started on. Some start on fresh tires (stickers), others start on worn in tires (scuffs), and that can make a difference in how the car is driving versus in qualifying. Danica's with a great team and qualifies well, but these cars are just really odd in traffic and Danica's known to be a bit tentative when pressured by other cars. She's fiery in spirit but sometimes her driving is timid.

[Massa 0]

The other thing with setup: cars can be setup of short runs and long runs. Danica's car may have been setup to come into its own over a longer green run, which I think is a mistake because 1) you get a lot of yellows, 2) it'd build her confidence to not drop like a stone, and 3) once she fades away, even as the car improves, she struggles to climb back up. But there's that theory, too.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

yeah, I think it's a confidence thing... but I can understand her tentativeness, it takes great guts to drive those cars in single or double files at that speed.

Whats with the "other guy" that kept spinning around at the same plce at the pit entry, man, that was weird....

[Massa 0]

Because it takes great guts to get there, but not always great talent.

I'm thinking you were watching the race from Charlotte, since Danica started third in that one, and you may be talking about Travis Pastrana in the #99 spinning. If that's the case, Travis was very successful in motocross and did an American rally car championship. He's also done the Race of Champions unsuccessfully. He's new to NASCAR and he just moved up to Nationwide too quickly. To be quick in NASCAR, you need to run the cars loose (with a lot of oversteer) since the car is naturally very tight (understeer). Pastrana's probably trying to run the cars really loose because of his experience in rally and the a**-end just comes around on him a lot.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

yeah Travis was the guy, and he was getting pretty frustrated......

I'm off...

EDIT: You deserve a medal for all your knowledge dude, I can't remember a thing nowadays... As they say, death is a day closer when you hit 21...on this sombre note I'm off to sleep, and you have a day to catch up

[Massa 0]

I've been looking for it on YouTube since it happened, and here it is, let me have my moment everyone.

Track announcers are really loud and not that great, but this is the stuff I grew up with: USAC Midgets. This is the Night Before the 500, run in Clermont, Indiana the night before the Indianapolis 500.

If you don't want to watch the whole thing, I am demanding as a moderator that everyone who made it this far in my post at least go to 3:00 in the video and see the final two laps. The finish was incredible.

The guy who lost, Kyle Larson, is the guy Chip Ganassi is developing for his NASCAR team...probably to replace Juantoya in a few years...

[Massa 0]

Well damn, the still on the YouTube shows you who won, that's no fun!

[JHS18 0]

Dario Franchitti was on David Letterman's show last night. Letterman owns Sato's car.

http://www.cbs.com/l...osk1sVRcD9YpSCV

Nice guy when he's winning.

Apparently Vettel's going to be on Letterman the Monday after the Canadian GP too.

I bet hardly anyone who watches that will know who he is. Saying that, I doubt many of them knew who Dario was either...

[Massa 0]

Who?

[Massa 0]

I remember Letterman rejecting Lewis Hamilton in 2007 during the Montréal/Indianapolis swing because he had already had Franchitti on for winning the 500 and said they didn't want to show too many racing drivers. Surprised if Vettel is on.

Dario Franchitti is actually moderately well-known in the U.S. because he's won the 500 three times and is married to Ashley Judd. By name, no, people might have to really think about it, but when you see him, the general person says "oh, that's Ashley Judd's husband, he races."

Vettel...yeah, no one knows who he is when they say him or his name.

[Rainmaster 7]

Vettel should wear red and pretend he's Schumacher and see if anyone notices.

[JHS18 0]

Vettel should wear red and pretend he's Schumacher and see if anyone notices.

Well if rumours are to be believed, it won't be long before he IS wearing red anyway.

I think Vettel is probably a guy a lot more people like away from F1 than when he's actually racing. I remember when he appeared on Top Gear last year a lot of people afterwards were saying "I didn't know he was that nice" etc. He's got a good sense of humour, so I guess he is one of the "better" international racing drivers to have on a show broadcasted to a majority of people who have probably never heard of him...I guess.

Letterman strikes me as knowing a decent amount about racing so that it won't be too awkward as well with stupid questions, so we'll see.

[Massa 0]

Letterman grew up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His TV career began as a pit reporter for the Indy 500. The guy absolutely loves IndyCar and Formula One and NASCAR and always has the 500 winner and the NASCAR champion on.

Of course I don't find his show all that great but that's personal preference.

[JHS18 0]

Letterman grew up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His TV career began as a pit reporter for the Indy 500. The guy absolutely loves IndyCar and Formula One and NASCAR and always has the 500 winner and the NASCAR champion on.

Of course I don't find his show all that great but that's personal preference.

Yeah, I'm not a great fan of talk shows either on the basis that almost all of them revolve around "So you've got a new book/film/single/album/TV programme coming out/that is out tell us all about it."

[Massa 0]

I noticed something.

The Indy 500.

"The preceding program was paid for by the GoDaddy Corporation."

It used to say "The preceding program was paid for by ESPN, Inc."

The 500 is an infomercial. They have to buy the time now. We're ****ed.

[Massa 0]

Danica Patrick will be a character in a Sonic the Hedgehog game. I am more concerned with what's going on with her hair.

http://blogs.sega.com/2012/06/05/segae3-sega-partners-with-nascar-superstar-danica-patrick-for-sonic-all-stars-racing-transformed/

[Massa 0]

I guess the aerokit stuff is about team owners wanting a fully spec car, and not so much about cost (aerokits may actually be cheaper than the current DW12, though the advertised price always goes up on everything).

Why?

Because TV ratings are low, so you have to be competitive. IndyCar team owners saw with Lotus this year that not everything is equal in competition (wow, good job figuring that one out, guys, that's sort of the point of it all ), and when you have ratings as low as Indy does, your sponsors don't have time for "well we chose the wrong aerokit you see, Wirth got it all wrong for HPD and..."

The only way they can all guarantee their sponsors are getting some kind of exposure during a race is to have a spec car.

I'm not presenting that as right or wrong, just presenting it.

[Massa 0]

FOX Sports got the rights to the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup broadcasts in the U.S. from ESPN. Presently, big games (the final and any knockout games the U.S. may be in, which is usually between 0 and 1 ) are on ABC, and the others are on ESPN and ESPN2. FOX can't possibly show every match, and thus they will need FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 and maybe even FOX Sports 3 to show the World Cup.

SPEED's contracts with NASCAR are up after 2013, and the new channel is rumored to begin in 2014. I don't know the status of F1 on SPEED, but Le Mans is a multi-year deal.

SparkNotes: This basically just confirmed that SPEED Channel has come to an end because you cannot get broadcasting rights to something that big without a whole arsenal of channels to put games on. I just hope that SPEED stays around as a website because it's actually a pretty good site.

[Massa 0]

Prelude to the Dream is tonight at Eldora. Some just okay drivers are running.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Aric Almirola

Dave Blaney

Clint Bowyer

Kurt Busch

Kyle Busch

Bill Elliott

David Gilliland

Jimmie Johnson

Kasey Kahne

Bobby Labonte

Ryan Newman

Ken Schrader

Tony Stewart

J.J. Yeley

NASCAR Nationwide

Justin Allgaier

Austin Dillon

Danica Patrick

Kenny Wallace

NASCAR Camping World Truck

Ty Dillon

Jason Leffler

NHRA

Ron Capps

Cruz Pedregon

World of Outlaws

Steve Kinser

Donny Schatz

IZOD IndyCar Series

Tony Kanaan

Other

Ray Evernham

[JHS18 0]

Is there a way to watch it online? Would be kinda cool to see it if it's not on too late my time on the basis of that YouTube clip you posted of last year's race. Had a look on regular sites but haven't seen anything to say it'll be broadcasted yet.

[Massa 0]

It starts at 8:00 PM my time, which is 1:00 AM your time.

I'm hoping someone streams it, but I doubt they will. It's on TV exclusively in Australia. In the U.S., you have to buy the race (pay-per-view). If it isn't streamed, I'll be waiting for it on YouTube. No complaints because it's for charity so pay-per-view made the most sense. Only complaint is about me hyping up a race no one is going to be able to watch.

[Massa 0]

This weekend in U.S. racing: Trucks on a speedway tonight, IndyCar on a death trap during the Stanley Cup Finals, Sprint Cup on a newly-paved Pocono overlapping with Montréal. I might try the NASCAR race...it's been a while since I've watched the stock cars.

NASCAR.com and TNT will be offering RaceBuddy during the event. It isn't as good as a live stream, but it has a few different static camera angles to watch. Better than nothing.

One complaint? Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR. I like that Pocono is now 400 miles instead of 500. I don't like that a hashtag is presenting the race.