I kinda disagree on the Busch series races. I wouldn't watch at all if some of the Cup guys weren't racing. I have a feeling most of the filled seats are there for the same reason. JMO of course.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Posted on 11/20/2006 4:55:50 AM PST by WestCoastGal
See the Cheers & Jeers column re: Busch.
Posted next.
CHEERS to bridges not being as burned as they appeared. Ricky Rudd is going BACK to Robert Yates? Remember the black eye, the fist flying over the shoulders of men, and the whole ugly mess? Unbelievable.
JEERS to the bad cops that roughed up Al Unser, Sr. The more I read about this, and with the testimony of another cop that saw the whole thing, I'm hoping Big Al sues those guys and their department for a few million bucks at least.
CHEERS to Benny Parsons, still in our prayers. Doctors are hopeful that his body will adjust to only one good lung, but until then he's on oxygen. C'mon, Benny, you can do it!
I wonder when NASCAR will announce a change in their acronym. With the take-over of the Desafio Corona Series in Mexico, and the whole mess with CASCAR in Canada, it shouldn't be too much longer before li'l Brian announces the new name, the North American Stock Car Auto Racing series. And next comes GASCAR, the Global Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. Oops, sorry. Wrong column.
CHEERS to Kyle Busch for his assist of Greg Biffle. The Biff says he was knocked out for half a lap, but didn't elaborate if he woke up before the inferno or after. That's hero stuff right there.
CHEERS to Travis Pastrana, the lone American left in the Race of Champions after both of his fellow countrymen hurt themselves in what seemed to be "hurt your left wrist week" in racing. Travis did a bang-up job (no pun intended) of running from car to car, and should have at least been given an award for that!
CHEERS to Rick Houston who posted a review of race movies on NASCAR.com, and called Talladega Nights exactly what it was: "Incredibly unfunny." Isn't it curious as much as NASCAR hyped that movie, and with the number of NASCAR character cameos, the movie still stunk? But even more so, the heavy hand of NASCAR allowed such a review!
JEERS to "Right now the ball's in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality." Seems to me Richard Childress has his fourth spot still available if Junior should find himself tired of the step-mothering coming from his team-owner. And also, those are curious words coming from someone that just hired to oversee the company a guy that is described as "one of the most influential executives in the entertainment industry."
CHEERS to the idea, maybe, about having flag to flag coverage all from the vantage point of the driver in his car. DirecTV will pocket $99 per subscriber next year, and each race will showcase five different drivers. Okay, maybe not five different drivers, maybe fifteen drivers on a five-per-weekend basis, because it's pretty unlikely they'd be so thoughtful of Kyle Petty or Ken Schrader fans.
JEERS, though, to a quote attributed to the ringmaster of this new service who says, "We sort of believe it will be like pet rocks..." I never thought of pet rocks as being especially fast.
JEERS to NASCAR losing another major sponsor because of their greed. And you'd think Brian France would WANT to keep an alcohol sponsorship, wouldn't you? I guess he's just not one for Busch beer.
CHEERS to State Water Heaters, the new sponsor of Ward Burton. Y'know, I've been thinkin' about getting a new water heater for awhile now. I wonder if they make them with race wraps on 'em so whenever you go down to the basement, there's a life-sized picture of Ward standing there guarding the water. That would be cool.
CHEERS to Ryan Newman boldly beating around the bush about his disappointment in the departure of Matt Borland. Apparently Ryan was as disappointed as Matt, but yet unlike Matt, Ryan's still stuck with the team. It will be extra amusing to see DJ's car fly past the Penskes next year, with Matt grinning from atop the war wagon.
JEERS to Brian France escaping his DUI charge because the police were slow to get to him. A technicality that even though he admitted to officers that he was drinking at a restaurant before driving home, ties their hands to cite him because he was already at home. How convenient, though, that officers left out that part of his statement.
CHEERS to Carl Edwards challenge, "You name a person in that garage area that hasn't goofed around on a golf cart, and I'll give you a hundred dollars." My first pick is Tony Glover.
CHEERS to new life. Raise your hand if you counted backwards nine months from "early July".
JEERS to the way it seems DEI treats Kerry Earnhardt like a red-headed step-child. No racing for him, but hey, can you go drive our COTs down in Valdosta?
http://www.racejournalonline.com/index.cfm?Pagename=column&id=201
Anheuser-Busch to end NASCAR sponsorship in 2007
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-buschseries-sponsor&prov=ap&type=lgns
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
December 18, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Anheuser-Busch will end its title sponsorship of NASCAR's No. 2 series after the 2007 season.
The parent company for Busch beer cited A-B's desire to reassess all of its NASCAR marketing as its reason for pulling out of the Busch Series. The company just celebrated its 25th season as title sponsor.
The decision, confirmed by series officials Monday, comes as ESPN prepares to become the sole broadcaster of the No. 2 racing series in the United States. That increased coverage -- the Busch Series has previously aired on as many as four networks in one season -- should increase the sponsorship rights to about three times the estimated $10 million a year that A-B has been paying.
``We think the Busch Series is a property that has been undermarketed and undervalued from a broadcast standpoint,'' said Steve Phelps, NASCAR's marketing chief executive. ``With our new TV agreement and the resources ESPN is going to put against it, this series is not going to be an afterthought.''
Phelps said NASCAR would start serious negotiations in January for a new title sponsor, but had no timetable for securing a replacement for Busch.
``We're doing our due diligence with ESPN to determine how we will jointly call on companies,'' Phelps said. ``We're going to continue to evaluate what this series represents, but right now, it represents great racing.
``If you look at it as its own property instead of the little brother (to the Nextel Cup Series) it's stronger than any motorsports series except Nextel Cup. That's how it needs to be marketed.''
Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand will continue its sponsorship as ``the official beer of NASCAR,'' as well as its role as the primary sponsor of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Budweiser also will continue to sponsor the weekly pole award and the annual Budweiser Shootout, the exhibition race held each February that marks the start of the season.
``On most weekends, we get a very focused message to the consumer, but we're starting to dilute ourselves with Bud and Busch,'' Tony Ponturo, A-B's vice president of global media and sports marketing told The Sports Business Journal.
``In this day and age of competition, the last thing you want is to dilute your own effort.''
According to a Joyce Julius study, no other sponsor in NASCAR received as much exposure as A-B did in 2006.
Busch took over its role as title sponsor for a series that was first known as Late Model Sportsman and later the Grand National Series.
But the series is at somewhat of a crossroads these days because of an infiltration of Nextel Cup drivers who have used it as a playground of sorts and made it difficult to remain a true training ground for young talent.
Kevin Harvick, a Nextel Cup star, won the Busch title this past season by an enormous margin and Cup regulars won all but two of the 35 events. Full-time Cup drivers also earned eight of the top 10 spots in the final standings.
But their inclusion has helped the series grow, and ESPN plans to treat it similarly to Nextel Cup broadcasts when the network takes over next month.
Thanks Norm........also.......
UPDATE: Gordon, 35, hopes to compete on NASCAR's premier circuit well past his current contract with Hendrick Motorsports, which expires in 2010. He might go 10 years beyond that, perhaps longer if he can work out a limited schedule the way Mark Martin has for next season. "I want to do it as long as I can," Gordon said Saturday before the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital. "I've always said as long as I'm competitive and healthy and enjoying being out there [I want to do this], and right now I definitely am. Who knows? Things change. Life changes."(ESPN.com)(12-18-2006)
We'll have to wait and see if that new baby motivates him or not. :)
Now if they would keep the vets out of it, it might be interisting. In fact, if they would make some of the lesser drivers in the Nextel series go back to Busch, that would be even more interisting. Make it sortta like a Minor League.
Heard there was some rumblings out west. Are you tuning up the new four wheeler?
While having harvick, junior & martin in it make it tineresting, ithink of it like they are stealing seats from kids who deserve a shot at the big time.
I'd be OK with it if nobody in the winston cup (intentional) top 35 points in did not run busch.
Oh yeah, I watched Talladega Nights last night. Thoroughly underwhelmed. didn't like the pro-gay agenda stuff, either.
I am so far west that I only hear the echos off the bluffs...
I kinda disagree on the Busch series races. I wouldn't watch at all if some of the Cup guys weren't racing. I have a feeling most of the filled seats are there for the same reason. JMO of course.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
I don't disagree that they fill the seats, and they do make it more interesting (even though I spelled that so badly in post 429). Imagine, though, if it were just cup guys in all 4 of the travelling series, though?
Reminds me of one year at the thompson, CT speedway. There was a guy, bentley Warren, who ran in all 7 divisions they were racing that day, andwas really competetive in almost all of the. From a late model, to a modified, to a midget & sprint. How anyone ould have a feel for 7 ompletely different racecars in one day is beyond me.
It's kind of ones of those "I don't know" situations. I kinda feel they should stick to one series, but by racing Busch, they give some kids a real lesson at the same time.
Mary Christmas to you too.
Thanks WCG and Merry Christmas to you and all.
You find the nicest graphics!
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas West Coast Gal!!!
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