Full Throttle

Brian France, (a/k/a HE, who shall be obeyed) has a plan. Speaking at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit in New York France said he has a plan to “rule the World.”, claiming “Everybody understands auto racing,”

“We’re in the early stages of outlining a long-range international strategy that could capitalize on an already existing appetite for auto racing all over the world,” France said, citing NASCAR’s Busch race in Mexico earlier this year.

He said NASCAR would likely hold a Busch or Craftsman Truck race in Canada, given racing’s popularity there. [ see NASCAR to purchase CASCAR - ed] And he said NASCAR officials have met with people in Europe.

“Europe has the greatest density of tracks and fan interest,” [not to mention EuroSpeedway’s 2 mile tri-oval with 6 degree banking in Germany - ed] he said. “South America has good auto racing interest, too.” [see my post of a few hours ago - ed] And he noted China’s love of Formula 1 racing.

But NASCAR will not rush to establish a presence anywhere until it has the proper business model, including local financial support, France said.

“Do I think we can take that model, whether it’s in China or Europe or somewhere else? I do,” he said. “It will take a long time to do that. We’ve got to be careful. It can’t be us just coming over there with our business plan and spending a lot of money.”

Don’t get your panties in a bunch! All you America-centric NASCAR fans can rest easy, France has no plans to “export such popular U.S. drivers as Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr.” His idea is to “build stars who are from Europe, teams that are from Europe and get manufacturers who have an interest in Europe.” So rest easy you won’t need to apply for a passport, as yet.

But it’s not a bad idea. After all NASCAR isn’t “your sport” anymore, not that it ever was. There is a reason why EuroSpeedway has a two mile oval. It’s the same reason there are two “Rocks.” All of us are familiar with The Rock located in Rockingham N.C., in fact it’s a favorite of many NASCAR fans and some say a break from the “cookie cutter” venues.

But there is another “The Rock” located in in Northamptonshire, Rockingham England. The facility is built around a 2,416m (1.479 Miles) oval and much of the exhaust note heard around the track is produced by [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/stock-rock.gif]cars identical[/avatar] to what is heard at North Carolina’s “Rock.” Run under the sanctioning banner of Stock Car Speed Association (SCSA) with ten events scheduled for 2006.

As alluded to earlier, there is a reason for these type of tracks springing up far outside of the U.S. NASCAR produces the most competitive form of racing on the planet, with the exception of Le Mans and the Daytona 24 Hours, has the largest field of participants, and is the most cost effective venue to potential sponsors. Did I mention it’s also a cash cow? Well, there you have it, the largest incentive of all!

It’s not your GrandFather’s NASCAR any longer. Get used to it, I have - casting aside 40 plus years of stubborness - and Brian France obviously sees a future that none of us “old timers” foresaw even 5 years ago.

Why am I reminded of that guy on that boat in that movie screaming, “I’m King of the World!”

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports

U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman in Covington, Kentucky heard arguments today whether to transfer Kentucky Speedway’s $400 million antitrust case against NASCAR to a Florida federal court. ( a case I’ve covered extensively here and here)

Bertelsman heard arguments from both sides today on NASCAR’s motion to transfer the case. NASCAR contends the track agreed as part of its contract with NASCAR to litigate all disputes in Florida courts.

The Kentucky Speedway, however, argues that the consequences of NASCAR’s alleged antitrust activity directly affect the Kentucky Speedway and the commonwealth of Kentucky. The case should remain in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

I would suspect buried in all the contract legalese ISC and NASCAR can point to that agreement and this case will have a change in venue. Gee, I wonder why ISC wants the case in it’s home State? It also amazes me - if it’s true there was a prior agreement - just how stupid speedway officials are. Do they not know they live in the most litigious society in the world? Obviously this is just a preliminary sparring session and it may be months before the actual meat of this case is heard.

The second track tale of the day comes via the Seattle Times. ISC unveiled the financing proposal for the track it desires in Bremerton Washington. Bottom line is Washington state taxpayers will foot 52% of the estimated $345 million cost for the 1.2-mile-mile, 80,000-seat speedway. It should be noted the taxpayers will own the facility and lease it to ISC and NASCAR for a minimum three events each year.

One can argue from here to infinity and beyond the cost versus benefits of taxpayer supported sports venues. That battle has been waged in nearly every major city in the U.S. I won’t waste my time here debating that issue, but this search, shows how contentious the issue is with valid arguments on both sides.

One thing I have noted personally, I spent a year in Bremerton sheparding a U.S. Navy destroyer through the shipyards. Since my time there the Navy has cut back on much of the work done in the city. The area wasn’t exactly a beehive of economic activity during my time and it’s at the same level, or less now. Area officials would do well to follow the plan laid out by those in Kansas. 20 year bonds were issued to finance Kansas Speedway. It is now estimated they will be paid off in 11 to 15 years due to increased taxs pouring into State coffers.

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports

Speaking at the Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Motorsports Marketing Forum, Dan Sanborn, director of sports marketing for Diageo North America has defended the decision to suspend Kurt Busch for the final two events of the 2005 NASCAR season.

“Our position would not have changed,” said Sanborn, even “if Busch had been leading the Nextel Cup standings with two races left in the season.”

“The issue was never alcohol, it was about behavior and making the right choices,” Sanborn said. “When we hire a celebrity or an athlete to represent our product, we expect them to be an ambassador for us. …The characteristics (Busch) displayed were not those of a champion.”

“We would have done exactly the same thing,” said John Hayes, brand director for Jack Daniel’s. “It would have been two-faced for us to be speaking about being responsible and then turn our cheek to that.” (Source NASCAR Shop Talk)

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports

Who a thunk it!

Helio Castroneves best known as the first driver to win the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” two years in a row since Al Unser won in 1970 and 1971 and only the fifth driver in Indianapolis 500 history to win in consecutive appearances. He was not only the youngest driver to accomplish the fete he is the only one to have done it in his first two appearances at the Speedway.

But there it is for all the world to see, a stock car owner, in Brazil.

Helio Castroneves earned his third win as an owner of NasrCastroneves Racing when Hoover Orsi took the checkered flag at the Brazilian Stock Car V8 Championship season finale at Interlagos in Sao Paulo on November 27th. Orsi, who also won earlier this season at Londrina Parana and Interlagos, earned a third place finish in the Championship point standings, just 51 points from first place.

Teammate Juliano Moro finished 26th in the in the Championship. NasrCastroneves Racing is in its second year of competition in the Brazilian Stock Car V8 Championship. The cars are modified Chevrolet Astra’s (a popular model in Brazil) and have similar specs to the cars that compete in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Cristiano da Matta and Tony Kanaan also competed in the Interlagos event. More information can be obtained at Stock Car Brasil.

What were they thinking may also fit.

McGlynn Racing (pdf file) and Derrike Cope have announced they will run a full NEXTEL Cup schedule in 2006. Former Daytona 500 winner, a veteran of over 400 Cup series starts, will run the #00 for the team. New sponsorship for the team is nearing completion and will be announced in the coming weeks.

My customary two cents: I guess one could say loyalty is a good thing, but how much can there be when Cope only started one event (Martinsville) for McGlynn Racing in 2005 and finished 33^rd. I’ll be the first to admit McGlynn Racing is one, among many, that swim near the bottom of NASCAR’S barrel but how do you get to the top by hiring Cope for an entire year? (Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio Ward Burton?)

In 23 years, 399 Cup starts, 2 wins (one being a “God is my co-pilot” Daytona 500 win, the other being Dover Downs the same year), 6 top fives and 32 top tens Cope hasn’t exactly been the brightest performer. Add in 99 Busch starts and only one win and you have a recipe for mediocrity on a grand scale.

It’s not all bad. The announcement could have been the return of Buckshot Jones to the double zero..

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports

I’m SHOCKED… on second thought… I’m shocked ratings only dropped by 45%. Television viewing analyst ‘Initiative Futures’ has recorded a decline in formula one figures over the last year.

A report showed that 800 million people, combined, tuned in to the nineteen grands prix in 2005 - that’s a tad over 42 million per race. But a year ago, in 2004, the same report showed that 43 million watched each grand prix.

There were 18 races in ‘04, so the overall count is up this year.

There are probably several reasons for the decline; Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s lack of speed, for one, accounted for dips in television viewing in the huge German and Italian markets.

Taking a chunk out of the figures, however, was the ill-fated and disastrous United States Grand Prix (derisively called The FIAsco around the Full Throttle office.), at which only six cars started the race following Michelin’s order for its teams to pull out.

‘Initiative Futures’ found that as much as 45 per cent of the pre-Indy TV audience in America did not watch any of the subsequent ten grands prix.

Formula One, Auto Racing, Sports

I’ll keep this short as it is a very long article but noteworthy for fans of [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/irl.png]IndyCar[/avatar] and Dario Franchitti. Kenny MacAskill writing for the Scotsman newspaper has penned “Big star, big country,” a piece that details his meeting and interview with Franchitti before and after the IRL’s event in Nashville.

I’ll leave it at that but will add this short exerpt and also recommend you read the rest:

Scots have followed the exploits of Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and David Coulthard in F1 motor racing. Scots cheered their success, commiserated with their defeats, and grieved Clark’s death. Scotland would follow the exploits and endeavours of Franchitti with the same zeal, if only they were able to do so, and could read about him and watch him perform more.

Franchitti deserves Scotland’s support and Scotland is entitled to follow his success. He is big in the Big Country. It’s time he was big in his own country.

IRL, Auto Racing, Sports

The Las Vegas Review Journal is reporting the Champ Car World Series will announce a revised schedule during a media teleconference today.

It’s expected Series officials will announce Las Vegas will be replaced on the 2006 schedule with an, as yet, unnamed venue. Speedway general manager Chris Powell said, “I’ve known all along that they might not come back next year.” “We’ve had a good exchange (of ideas) with the people from Champ Car since the first race we had with them.”

Obviously that exchange of ideas didn’t lead to much in the way of consensus and Champ Car will be moving on.

UPDATE: The “venue to be named later” and replacement for Las Vegas is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Plans for the Newton Iowa Speedway have been going smoothly, but now questions are being raised about the financial terms and loans taken out by the developer, U.S. Motorsports Corporation.

Touted as the only track designed by a stock car driver ground was broken in June of this year. Driver, and now track designer Rusty Wallace, along with 7 time ARCA Champ Frank Kimmel and Iowa Gov. Vilsack were among the dignitaries that attended the ceremony. Both the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series and the ARCA ReMax Series thought enough of the tracks progress and signed on to hold events in the fall of 2006.

Now the old bug-a-boo for projects of this type enters the picture. $70 million dollars was loaned to the developers for the project by a Georgia company, UBG Financial Corp. Questions were raised in April about its financing, its operations and its past projects but were met with silence. UBG also has attracted attention for its apparent role in the pending purchase of the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. As part of it’s investigation into that deal a Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter said he found “little physical evidence of a company.” The newspaper said the company headquarters were located in a suburban office building where 20 unrelated companies share secretarial staff.

Now nearly eight months later questions are still being raised and a deadline for answers looms today.

A vote by the Newton city council tonight brings into question whether racing will take place - as scheduled - at the Iowa Speedway. US Motorsports, the group backing the speedway, has yet to show the city proof that it has the money to complete the project. It’s a problem that’s plagued them for months.

Nascar style races are scheduled to take place on the track, under construction near Newton, on September 15th. [the USAR Hooters Pro Cup event] The question is will the roads leading ot the Iowa Speedway and its sewer system be complete by the first race. The Newton city council voted unanimously to reject bids for work on the speedway’s infrastructure, citing the developers inability to prove they have the 60-million-dollars or so needed to complete the project..

The Newton City Mayor has put pressure on Newton’s economic development director who in turn has been getting the same promises from the developers. First UBG said they were making “final arrangments for the transfer of money” in July and again in October they stated “We are currently finalizing the terms of our financing.”

They seem to be in a perpetual state of “finalizing plans,” which isn’t surprising considering WHO TV’s investigators discovered UBG’s Dunn and Bradstreet report shows the company “has little - if any - history of financing projects of this magnitude.”

And as I said the deadline is looming very large: A letter from Newton’s city administrator, dated November 22nd of this year, says, “To keep this project on track, proof of financing should be provided before November 28th.”

As those in the Mid-West can testify to there is another “deadline” they better meet. Old Man Winter has blanketed the area with snow in the last few hours - and will only get worse from now until early spring - something not condusive to rushed construction projects.

Who wins the race is up for serious debate. Will it be potential financiers, Old Man Winter or race fans who want to attend Rusty Wallace’s dream in the tall corn of the Iowa plains? As things stand now I wouldn’t be ordering any season tickets.

UPDATE: The Newton City Council has turned down a $1.7 million contract that would start construction of a road adjacent to the Iowa Speedway “until it receives assurances that the developer has the necessary financing to finish the track.”

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports

As if there hasn’t been enough controversy during the 2005 season. The last thing the sanctioning body, and sport, needs is even the slightest connection to the porn industry.

People Magazine, who else, has the story and connection.

Nick Lachey