In N.Y., Kevin Armstrong notes the NFL "intends to add game-day testing for performance-enhancing substances this season" under the new CBA. NFL Senior VP/Law & Labor Policy Adolpho Birch yesterday indicated that tests "weren't conducted in the past on days there were games due to 'logistical issues' more so than any 'philosophical issues.'" Birch added that the league "developed a test that should not interfere with the normal game-day preparations made by teams" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/10).
STALLING OUT: In Buffalo, Keith McShea wrote no sport "is more dependent on the economy than auto racing," so the "better business is for companies, the better business is for NASCAR." McShea: "When the economy is bad, major league sports might lose season ticket holders or luxury box rentals -- but it's rarely going to affect the actual product on the field. It's different in auto racing, where race teams are right now in limbo because of companies leaving NASCAR." Those pullbacks "are a sign that NASCAR's figurative stock may have hit an all-time high during the early 2000s, and NASCAR needs to realize that it might not get back there again." McShea added, "The foundering economy is certainly to blame, but that can't fully explain the television ratings dive in recent years" (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/9).
NEW CONCEPT: SCENEDAILY.com's Bob Pockrass reported that Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage and NASCAR Senior VP/Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell "had an informal discussion" during TMS' IndyCar weekend in June about whether the concept of running two Nationwide Series races in one night "could work." Pockrass noted it is "an idea that could shine a spotlight on the series." A "typical Texas race has been 300 miles, so it's likely splitting the event would result in two races of 150 miles." Gossage: "I haven't even talked to (NASCAR President) Mike Helton about it. Steve O'Donnell and I have had conversations. ... But that's the extent of it, just casual conversation. We haven't talked about it seriously for 2012" (SCENEDAILY.com, 8/6).
