2014 NASCAR Television Ratings The Indianapolis market saw a big increase: from 13.8 last year to 15.0 this year. The national number wasn't so kind to IMS and NASCAR. There was a decrease in overnight rating, from 3.4 last year to 3.2 this year. Last year's final national rating was 3.6. That information will be available Tuesday.(Indianapolis Star).(7-29-2014)
UPDATE: ESPN's live telecast of the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27, earned a 3.4 U.S. rating, averaging 5,196,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media. The rating and viewership were down from the 2013 race, which earned a 3.6 rating and averaged 5,460,000 viewers, but were up from 2012, when the telecast earned a 3.3 rating and averaged 5,055,000 viewers. Indianapolis led the nation's metered markets with a 15.0 rating, up from a 13.7 rating last year, while Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville was second with a 9.4 rating. North Carolina's Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem market was third nationally with an 8.7 rating while Charlotte and Richmond tied for fourth at 7.7. The rest of the nation's top 10 markets for the race were Louisville, 6.9; Nashville, 6.5; Birmingham and Raleigh-Durham, 6.3; and Tampa/St. Petersburg and Orlando, 5.5. ESPN's live telecast of Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at IMS earned a 1.3 rating, averaging 1,988,000 viewers. Viewership was up over last year's race, which averaged 1,913,000 viewers with a 1.4 rating.(ESPN)(7-29-2014)
Gordon approaching some records
Starting with his Cup debut in the final race of the 1992 season, #24-Jeff Gordon hasn't missed a race in 22 years. At Indianapolis on Sunday, he started his 745th straight event. Assuming Gordon stays in the seat of the #24 Chevrolet in every race through the 2015 season, he will break Ricky Rudd's series-record 788 consecutive starts in the 28th race next year.
Gordon led 40 laps on Sunday, bringing his career total to 23,949, sixth most all-time. If he drives for two more seasons beyond the current one, he has a realistic shot at leading 25,000 laps, perhaps catching the next driver on the list, Pearson, who racked up 25,159 laps led. Richard Petty led the most with 51,380.(NASCAR Wire Service)(7-29-2014)
TRACK/RACE NEWS Track Specifications:
Superspeedway: 2.5 mile tri-oval
Track/Race Length: 2.5 tri-oval, 160 laps, 400 miles
Banking: turn 1: 14 degrees, [tunnel] turn 2: 8 degree, turn 3: 6 degrees;
Straights: Front - 3740 feet;
Long Pond (between turns 1 and 2) - 3055 feet;
North(between turns 2 and 3) - 1780 feet
Grandstand Seating: 70,000 [was 100,000]
Pit Road Speed: 55mph
Pace Car Speed: 65mph
Last Re-paved: early 2012
Opened: 1974
Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: Richard Petty
Command to start engines: Richard Petty
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Invocation: TBA
National Anthem: Eric Lee Beddingfield
Flyover: TBA
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying Rules
