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Sprint Cup
CUP: Has NASCAR Turned The Corner?
Team owner Roger Penske is bullish on NASCAR’s prospects for a resurgence...
Team owner Roger Penske believes the economy is turning the corner. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jack Roush is not someone who would ever be mistaken for Polyanna.
The bespectacled 68-year-old founder and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing is not prone to irrational exuberance or fits of hyperbole and false optimism.
Notoriously cautious and conservative in his outlooks and prognostications, Roush is surprisingly bullish on the prospectives of NASCAR specifically and the United States economy in general.
“The economy does show signs of getting better,” Roush said. “The lights are back on in Detroit.”
He is not alone in that outlook. A handful of the most influential executives, team owners, team officials and drivers contacted by SPEED.com believe that 2011 will be a year of recovery for NASCAR after two very taxing seasons of declining television ratings and attendance, plus truly trying economic times, especially for the teams.
“I feel better,” said Roger Penske, the hugely successful industrialist and race team owner. “There’s more people that today — maybe not writing big checks, but there are more people interested in putting their toes back in the water. I think that’s so important. And to me, that’s what I see. We can see in the truck leasing business that ton-miles are up, so freight is moving. The retail auto business, we’re up 10 or 12 percent on a same-store basis, year over year. That’s not happening just because we’re so good; it’s happening because we see this marketplace picking up.”
Although there unquestionably has been a contraction in the NASCAR audience in the last couple of years, data released by NASCAR suggests the sport is still very popular.
NASCAR’s 2010 Year-End Summary, a copy of which was obtained by SPEED.com, showed some favorable trends. Among them: NASCAR increased its overall fan size in 2010 over 2009, with 27 percent of the United States population “interested” in NASCAR, up from 24 percent in 2009. And NASCAR counts its “avid” fan base at nearly 30 million, the same as it was in 2000.
Early television returns are encouraging, too: The Budweiser Shootout drew an audience of 7.8 million viewers, with a national rating of 4.5, up from 4.4 last year. Daytona 500 qualifying viewership increased by 19 percent.
Anecdotally, team officials are saying sponsor interest is coming back after a couple of fallow seasons.
“What we’ve seen in the last year is way more interest,” said Steve Newmark, the president of Roush Fenway Racing. “Two years ago, you weren’t getting meetings, because folks overseeing marketing for these companies couldn’t afford to go out on a limb and try to get involved with a new spend on sports, because the companies were trying to watch their money.”
Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick agreed. Hendrick said the total sponsorship dollars for his four-car Sprint Cup team will be up slightly in 2011 compared with 2010.
“I personally think that brighter days are ahead for our economy and for our sport,” said Hendrick. “Again, there has been a lot of activity. ... You’ve got people out looking, shopping, where (two years ago) the phones weren’t ringing and people weren’t returning your calls, either. That part of it feels real good.”
But no one is expecting the kind of huge boom the 1990s produced.
“This sport kind of is behind the flow of economic times and we always get hit later and we always recover later so I think we still have a good year to 18 months of tough economic times in the sport,” said Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. “But as far as fan participation, I believe we will see more excited fans this year. Whether people can afford to sit in the grandstands or not, I don’t know. At the end of the day people have to have jobs and have to have well-paying jobs.”
Without question, NASCAR fans are sensitive to prevailing economic conditions. During a survey last year, 37 percent of NASCAR fans described their household economic situation as worse than it was in 2009. That compares to 33 percent for the U.S. population as a whole.
The bespectacled 68-year-old founder and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing is not prone to irrational exuberance or fits of hyperbole and false optimism.
Notoriously cautious and conservative in his outlooks and prognostications, Roush is surprisingly bullish on the prospectives of NASCAR specifically and the United States economy in general.
“The economy does show signs of getting better,” Roush said. “The lights are back on in Detroit.”
He is not alone in that outlook. A handful of the most influential executives, team owners, team officials and drivers contacted by SPEED.com believe that 2011 will be a year of recovery for NASCAR after two very taxing seasons of declining television ratings and attendance, plus truly trying economic times, especially for the teams.
“I feel better,” said Roger Penske, the hugely successful industrialist and race team owner. “There’s more people that today — maybe not writing big checks, but there are more people interested in putting their toes back in the water. I think that’s so important. And to me, that’s what I see. We can see in the truck leasing business that ton-miles are up, so freight is moving. The retail auto business, we’re up 10 or 12 percent on a same-store basis, year over year. That’s not happening just because we’re so good; it’s happening because we see this marketplace picking up.”
Although there unquestionably has been a contraction in the NASCAR audience in the last couple of years, data released by NASCAR suggests the sport is still very popular.
NASCAR’s 2010 Year-End Summary, a copy of which was obtained by SPEED.com, showed some favorable trends. Among them: NASCAR increased its overall fan size in 2010 over 2009, with 27 percent of the United States population “interested” in NASCAR, up from 24 percent in 2009. And NASCAR counts its “avid” fan base at nearly 30 million, the same as it was in 2000.
Early television returns are encouraging, too: The Budweiser Shootout drew an audience of 7.8 million viewers, with a national rating of 4.5, up from 4.4 last year. Daytona 500 qualifying viewership increased by 19 percent.
Anecdotally, team officials are saying sponsor interest is coming back after a couple of fallow seasons.
“What we’ve seen in the last year is way more interest,” said Steve Newmark, the president of Roush Fenway Racing. “Two years ago, you weren’t getting meetings, because folks overseeing marketing for these companies couldn’t afford to go out on a limb and try to get involved with a new spend on sports, because the companies were trying to watch their money.”
Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick agreed. Hendrick said the total sponsorship dollars for his four-car Sprint Cup team will be up slightly in 2011 compared with 2010.
“I personally think that brighter days are ahead for our economy and for our sport,” said Hendrick. “Again, there has been a lot of activity. ... You’ve got people out looking, shopping, where (two years ago) the phones weren’t ringing and people weren’t returning your calls, either. That part of it feels real good.”
But no one is expecting the kind of huge boom the 1990s produced.
“This sport kind of is behind the flow of economic times and we always get hit later and we always recover later so I think we still have a good year to 18 months of tough economic times in the sport,” said Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. “But as far as fan participation, I believe we will see more excited fans this year. Whether people can afford to sit in the grandstands or not, I don’t know. At the end of the day people have to have jobs and have to have well-paying jobs.”
Without question, NASCAR fans are sensitive to prevailing economic conditions. During a survey last year, 37 percent of NASCAR fans described their household economic situation as worse than it was in 2009. That compares to 33 percent for the U.S. population as a whole.
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