Nielsen estimates that an average of 25.9 million
viewers watched all or part of the Daytona 500 on Sunday on
CBS. The race earned a 9.5/25 national Nielsen rating, up
10% from last year's 8.6/23, marking Daytona's highest
rating since '87's 9.8 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/17).
BACK IN NEW YORK CITY: Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon
was in N.Y., and Luke Cyphers writes that, "In true Gordon
fashion, the past two days have been filled with the driven
driver's other talents -- promotion, both for himself and
his sport." Gordon taped an appearance on the "Late Show"
with David Letterman, was at Monday's ESPY Awards, appeared
on "Regis and Kathy Lee" and met with local TV and print
media at the All Star Cafe. Gordon: "I'd love to see a
track in the New York City area. ... We need a race track
around here so we can show the people around here in the New
York City area what it's all about" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/17).
Gordon: "I've never had so many people say: 'Man, what a
great race.' ... Everyone from David Letterman to the guy
who runs the elevator here at the Waldorf-Astoria has been
talking about it. It was absolutely the biggest win of my
career by far" (Tarik El-Bashir, N.Y. TIMES, 2/17).
