The decision to bump the final 34 laps of Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 to ESPN2 shouldn't come as a complete surprise.
The contract the network has with NASCAR stipulates the option of shifting programming to other platforms within the ABC/ESPN family of channels.
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| NASCAR head Brian France on ABC's move: 'That was not what we anticipated.' (AP) |
It isn't as if the race was moved to the Oxygen Network or some local cable access channel since ESPN2's reach is close to 100 million households.
Although I don't believe FOX would have switched the rain-soaked and late starting World Series game between the Rays and Phillies to F/X.
Unlike the infamous NFL "Heidi Game" nearly 40 years ago when NBC decided to simply pull the plug on a longer than anticipated game to show its made-for-TV movie, NASCAR fans were given a viable option to finish watching the race, albeit on a different outlet than where it started.
"Well, we didn't like it, said NASCAR head Brian France. "That was not what we had anticipated. But we have talked to them repeatedly in the last couple of days, and have, you know, there were lots of circumstances that they had to consider. I don't have to agree with each one of those, but they had their own issues that they had to manage around. So we were the, you know -- unfortunately, we got the short end of that as a sport. But we're working with them and hope to eliminate that from happening in the future."
But the bigger issue is how NASCAR has sold its soul and control to television. The sanctioning body no longer has a say in when races start because the networks, including FOX and ABC/ESPN, dictate the green flag.
That has led to later and later start times, as the networks try to attract the West Coast audience while dovetailing into its prime time programming lineup.
It's a tactic television uses in other sports whether it's the NFL or Major League Baseball.
But in NASCAR's case it seems to be backfiring.
Fans don't seem interested in starting their NASCAR viewing experience at 2 or 3 p.m. on the East Coast and be forced to sit in front of the tube into the early evening.
"When we were racing at 12 o'clock, people were racing home from church to get to see the start of the race," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "We've just made it too easy and too much. We sort of lost a lot of the substance that we really had before and the character of the sport I think has waned a little bit, but it's part of the times, too."
Before the billion dollar deals were signed with the networks in 2001, each track negotiated its own television package.
NASCAR decided to bundle the schedule up to make it a more attractive property to television and hit a financial home run by doing so.
However, it has cost the sport the power to call its own shots in the process.
Ratings this year have been flat and even down a bit from last season, which continued a downward trend since the landmark 2001 network deal went into play.
Whether it's Jimmie Johnson's dominance, the lack of side-by-side racing in the early COT era, the jumbled and late start times or a little bit of all of the above, it can't be a trend either NASCAR or its television partners are pleased about.
Showing the disrespect ABC did last Sunday by unceremoniously pulling the plug on the second-to-last race of the season isn't going to help draw more fans to the tube.
Garage chatter
• The merger between DEI and Ganassi Racing appears set with the two organization combining forces for at least a three-car team in 2009 with a driver lineup of Martin Truex Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Aric Almirola. A fourth car will be added to the stable if sponsorship can be found. No word yet on whether it will be Ganassi switching to Chevrolet or DEI moving to Dodge.
• Friday night's Craftsman Truck Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway could be one for the ages. Johnny Benson's lead over defending series champion Ron Hornaday is down to three points, the closest battle in any of NASCAR's top divisions heading into the final race in more than 20 years. Both drivers crashed out of contention last week in Phoenix so expect the pressure to be high Friday night in South Florida.
• The decision by the independent Furniture Row team to reduce its schedule for next year is no doubt a harbinger of what's to come for the mid-tier and small teams in the Cup Series. The decision by Junior Motorsports to scale back to a single car full-time effort in 2009 has also set off worry in NASCAR's No. 2 division where fields are expected to be far less than the 43-car limits next season.
