If J J Wins Yet Another Chase Championship, How Will NASCAR Fans React?

Jimmie Johnson continues to prove that he’s a real force to be reckoned with causing disappointment to many provincial NASCAR fans who plain don’t like him.  They complain that he’s won too many championships, five to be exact, and won’t give someone else a chance.  Another reason – they consider him to be an outsider.  This past Sunday, JJ took the pole, a preview of things to come, of what to expect on race day.  He took the Cup race by out-driving his toughest challenger, Brad Keselowski, to the checkers in the closing laps of the Texas event.

 

Keselowski wasn’t timid though, as he aggressively drove til the race came down to the very end bumping his way by JJ as they swapped the lead.  Due to a late race restart, however, Brad lost momentum and had to settle for second place while Kyle Busch ended up third.  It appears that Kaselowski’s problem could have been that he took on only two tires at his last pit stop.  In the all important Chase to the Nextel Cup, JJ leads Brad by +7 with Clint Bowyer third.  Referring to his competition with Brad, JJ said, “Bare knuckles is a great way to describe it.  But I managed to get by him at the end.”

On what the remaining two races will be like at Phoenix and Homestead, Johnson remarked, “I expect a lot more hard racing from Brad. He suprised me when he came into victory lane to congratulate me.  I was also glad that the race was over because it was action packed.  Close to the end when Brad and I got close, we didn’t wreck. “

Keselowski quipped, “I thought I had him but it didn’t work out. I ran him hard, and that’s the way it is.” Kyle Busch, who’s not in the race to the Cup, said, “We had a fast car and we got out front. Those two guys (Brad and Jimmie) were battling very hard, and I was looking for an opportunity (that never happened) if they tangled.  Ricky Craven, ESPN’s NASCAR analyst, gave his assessment, “Jimmie Johnson dominated the race early.  Kyle Busch was also strong, and that’s unusual for him to be that good in the late season.”

As the ESPN TV cameras panned the stands, lots of empty seats could be seen at the Texas venue. Those big cookie cutter mile-and-a- halfers still have problems selling tickets completely.  Between the sagging economy and unhappy fans who don’t think that the quality of NASCAR races are worth the price of the ticket must be the reasons.  A lot of the disenchanted, however, do watch it on TV – the price is right.  The improving TV ratings reinforce that theory, because those fans tune into the long and short races for the last 10-20 laps, the Texas race, especially, because it’s such a l-o-n-g grind.

A day earlier, Kyle Busch won the pole for the Nationwide race.  Yet Kevin Harvick ended up the winner while Elliott Sadler and Rick Stenhouse are tied in that division’s point race.  In the Nationwide Truck Series, Johnny Sauter was the winner as the result of holding off Parker Kligerman at Texas.

In other NASCAR news, sorry to hear that former Cup driver, Sterlin Marlin, was hit with two difficult scenarios – his doctors told him that he has a serious nervous system disease and then his race cars were engulfed in flames at his son-in-law’s garage.

NASCAR’s Nationwide Series could remain in Canada in 2013 possibly at the Triois Riviere, Quebec, street course, provided the promoters can put together a deal with NASCAR for next season.

Over in the Persian Gulf, Abu Dhabi to be specific, Kemi Raikkonen won the Formula 1 race with Fernando Alonso next and then Sabastian Vettel.  Vettle, though, still leads that point chase over Alonso by +10.

ESPN’s live telecast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 28, earned a 2.8 household coverage rating (2.4 U.S. rating), averaging 3,617,199 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. Last year’s telecast earned a 3.6 household coverage rating, while the rating was the same as the 2010 race telecast. Greensboro, N.C., led the nation with a 7.6 rating, followed by Birmingham (6.3), Richmond and Charlotte (5.9) and Norfolk (5.6).

SPEED, the American television home for Formula One racing since 1996, plans an expanded programming slate from the Grand Prix of the United States, the penultimate event on the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship circuit, highlighted by live race coverage on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m. ET from Austin, Texas.  Hosted by Bob Varsha, with analysis from David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, and pit reporting from Will Buxton, SPEED’s live coverage of the inaugural event from the newly built Circuit of the Americas begins Friday, Nov. 16, with the opening practice session on the 20-turn, 3.427-mile track at 11 a.m. ET.“Our F1 team has had this weekend circled on the calendar for quite some time,” said SPEED President Scott Ackerson. “It’s tremendous to have Formula One racing again on U.S. soil, and SPEED’s expanded coverage will match the enthusiasm F1’s passionate fans have for the return.”

 

Earlier in the week, SPEED will air a 30-minute special entitled Building the Circuit of the Americas: F1’s Return to the U.S. (Nov. 11, 6 p.m. ET).  Former racer Sam Posey, who competed in the 1971 and ’72 U.S. Grand Prix events at Watkins Glen, also will provide his unique perspective.

 

In addition to coverage of all on-track action, SPEED.com enhances each broadcast with streaming video from four on-board cameras for each session — two Mercedes-sponsored cameras, one Formula One Management (FOM)-produced feed and one “producer’s choice” feed. All will include natural sound.

 

SPEED.com’s comprehensive online and social media coverage of the Austin weekend also will include exclusive reporting from veteran F1 journalist Adam Cooper, commentary from the SPEED on-air team, event-specific video content and expanded photo galleries. SPEED also will expand its social offerings with the F1 Social Garage, live chats & polls, votes and fan interaction via the Formula 1 on SPEED Facebook account (www.facebook.com/formula1onspeed) and Twitter (@Formula1onSPEED).

 

 

Broadcast schedule for the U.S. Grand Prix on SPEED (all times ET and subject to change):

 

Sunday, Nov. 11

Building the COTA: F1’s Return to the U.S. (6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)

 

Friday, Nov. 16

Mobil 1 The Grid (10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.)

Practice Session One (11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., LIVE)

Practice Session Two (3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., LIVE)

 

Saturday, Nov. 17

Practice Session Three (10 a.m. to 11 a.m., LIVE)

Qualifying Session (1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., LIVE)

 

Sunday, Nov. 18

F1 Grand Prix of the United States (1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., LIVE)

The All-American Victory: Dan Gurney Wins the Belgian GP (4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

 

 

 

With the 2012 NASCAR season nearing the finish line, four of the sport’s biggest stars will open their lives to fans in a one-hour conversation special with ESPN SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

 

SportsCenter Special: NASCAR Face-to-Face with Hannah Storm, will feature NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart. Viewers will get an up-close look at their lives away from the track through a blend of conversation and access as they near the end of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with Johnson and Keselowski locked in a battle for the 2012 series championship.