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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Martinsville Speedway's Use Of Kenseth-Logano Crash Footage In Ad Sparks Debate

Martinsville Speedway has been using footage of a crash between Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano from last November's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the track "as part of its commercials leading up to Sunday's STP 500," and it is difficult to "find a consensus within the sport" on whether it is fair game, according to Jeff Gluck of USA TODAY. Kenseth drew a two-race suspension for wrecking Logano, and he said, "If it’s so bad you get suspended from it, if it’s that bad of an act, maybe it shouldn’t be used to profit from. Because I certainly didn’t profit from it. But on the other hand, a lot of people come to see controversy and action and wrecks. That’s what the fans love. So it’s hard to see both sides of it." Gluck writes if looking at it "purely from Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell’s standpoint, he’s right." Even Kenseth said that he "would do the same thing if he was in Campbell’s shoes." But Gluck notes it "becomes harder to reconcile when looking at the NASCAR industry as a whole." Martinsville is "not technically owned by NASCAR, so NASCAR will draw a distinction between its own marketing materials and those produced by the track." But the actual track owner, Int'l Speedway Corp., is "operated by the France family and shares its headquarters building with NASCAR in Daytona Beach." So if NASCAR "had any objections to what Martinsville was doing, the footage wouldn’t have appeared in the commercial." Gluck: "In that sense, it feels like NASCAR is talking out of both sides of its mouth" (USA TODAY, 4/1).

CHIMING IN: ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven in a roundtable discussion said that he has "no problem" with the track using the footage. Craven: "Martinsville is publicly owned; NASCAR is privately owned. ... It's not as though we can or should erase the memory of last fall's incident." He added, "I'm not advocating we celebrate the moment, but there's also no reason to pretend it didn't exist." ESPN.com's Ryan McGee said, "I don't think Bristol is going to stop showing Rusty vs. Dale vs. Terry in 1995 and Daytona isn't going to stop showing Cale vs. Donnie in 1979. So, Martinsville isn't going to shop showing Matt vs. Joey." But ESPN.com's John Oreovicz said, "It's definitely in bad taste. The relationship between NASCAR and ISC makes it all pretty convoluted, and to my eye, it looks like ISC is using something that [NASCAR Chair & CEO] Brian France and NASCAR considered inappropriate as a tool to sell tickets." ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass said of Campbell, "While his motivation is understandable, this comes down to how important is the almighty dollar versus celebrating a heinous move that jeopardized the integrity of the sport" (ESPN.com, 3/31).

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