SPEED Notes: NCWTS Keeps Momentum As SPEED Shifts Into Gear At RIR

Sprint Cup

SPEED Notes: NCWTS Keeps Momentum As SPEED Shifts Into Gear At RIR

SPEED coverage of last Saturday’s NCWTS race at Kansas Speedway was up 21 percent when compared to last season’s equivalent race...

SPEED Staff | Posted April 24, 2012 Charlotte, NC

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NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES MAINTAINS MOMENTUM AS SPEED SHIFTS INTO SHORT-TRACK GEAR

SPEED OFFERS LIVE COVERAGE OF DENNY HAMLIN SHORT TRACK SHOWDOWN; K&N PRO SERIES EAST RACE FROM RICHMOND

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ratings Up at Kansas – According to Nielsen Media Research, SPEED coverage of last Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway was up 21 percent (.86 vs. .71) when compared to last season’s equivalent race at Nashville and peaked at a .98. Ratings were up 37-percent with M35-54 (.86 vs. .63) and 113-percent with M18-49 (.51 vs. .24) over the Nashville event. Season-to-date, the NCWTS is pacing up seven percent with HH (1.11 vs. 1.04), 14-percent with M35-54 (1.16 vs. 1.02) and 49-percent among M18-49 (.67 vs. .45) compared to 2011.

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the May 18 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. SPEED offers live coverage of the race beginning at 8 p.m. ET. NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda airs at 7:30 p.m. ET

Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown – SPEED again offers live coverage of the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway Thursday beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET. The fifth-annual, 100-lap charity race pits the best regional drivers representing the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series against NASCAR competitors in a battle that begins with making the 32-car field.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers scheduled to compete include Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Hamlin, Joey Logano and Tony Stewart, in addition to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers Timothy Peters and Jason White. The Short Track Showdown raises awareness and funds for the specific needs of individuals afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis, as well as other programs that support chronically ill children and underprivileged youth.

“Seeing how big this event is growing over these last few years and with the participation -- SPEED coming back on -- we're exciting about next Thursday and hoping to have double the capacity that we had last year,” Hamlin said. “Rain was a bit of an issue last year with our schedule and we feel like it deterred some people, but we're hoping for great weather and I think we're going to have one of the best races we've had."

Thursday’s Short Track Showdown marks SPEED’s second year carrying the event live. Mike Joy and Phil Parsons call the action with pit reporting by Bob Dillner and Emporia, Va., native Hermie Sadler.

“The Cup guys found out last year that those Late Model stock car drivers, especially the young, up-and-coming ones, were a lot tougher than they thought they were going to be,” Dillner recalled. “Everyone thinks the Cup guys are the favorite, but they’re really not because they’re not used to these cars like some of the young hotshots.”

Is Hamlin, the race organizer, favored to repeat again in 2012?

“My bucks right now are on Darrell Wallace, Jr., who runs the K&N Pro Series East, to beat all the Cup guys,” Dillner predicted. “And of course everyone in the short-track community has an eye on 16-year-old Chase Elliott, son of former Cup champion Bill Elliott. Chase has done so much in a short period of time and has matured so beyond his years that I think he’ll be better than his dad ever was. Kyle Busch, who has won this event twice, has put a lot of preparation into this race and also will be tough.”

K&N Pro Series East – Before Denny Hamlin and company hit the three-quarter mile track Thursday for his charity event, the K&N Pro Series East takes to the track in a race aired live on SPEED beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Scheduled to compete in the K&N race prior to jumping in a car for the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown are series regulars/standouts Chase Elliott and Darrell Wallace, Jr. Mike Joy and Phil Parsons handle play-by-play and analysis while Bob Dillner and Hermie Sadler patrol pit road.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at RIR – SPEED coverage of the weekend’s NASCAR activities at Richmond International Raceway begin with Friday’s NASCAR Live at 11:30 a.m. ET. The network offers seven hours of live programming from RIR on Friday, culminating with the live 11 p.m. ET telecast of Trackside. Hosts Krista Voda, Kyle Petty, Rutledge Wood and Marianela Pereyra welcome Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle to the one-hour show.

SPEED resumes coverage from Richmond Saturday with the popular, pre-race show NASCAR RaceDay live at 5 p.m. ET. John Roberts, Larry McReynolds, Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace handle hosting duties with Wendy Venturini, Rutledge Wood and Matt Clark reporting. Guests include Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex, Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain – SPEED Formula One play-by-play announcer Bob Varsha fills in for Dave Despain Sunday on Wind Tunnel while Despain serves as the Grand Marshall for the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally. Varsha welcomes to the studio Tom Cotter, president of the New Jersey Formula One race, who will discuss the progress of the inaugural event set for next year. Wind Tunnel airs live Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

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