NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano got into a fight yesterday following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but instead of showing the leadup to the incident, Fox "started showing clips of race-winner Martin Truex Jr. and his team celebrating," according to Nick Bromberg of YAHOO SPORTS. Busch was "visibly fuming" after an incident with Logano on the last lap, but Fox showed Truex instead of keeping its main feed "trained on [Busch] waiting for Logano to come down pit road." As Busch "fumed and took off in a brisk walk down pit road in the direction of Logano and his parked car, Fox kept showing Truex" doing burnouts. The net also showed Truex "attempt to retrieve the checkered flag from the flagstand," another "fairly routine action for a winner." By the time Fox "cut anticlimactically to the tussle between Busch and Logano’s team, Busch was already on the ground in a headlock, six seconds after he quite predictably punched Logano." The "best coverage" of the incident came from reporter Jeff Gluck, who was on pit road and "followed Busch to Logano’s car." Bromberg: "Just like Fox should have done." In a series "searching for rivalries and mainstream exposure amidst sagging television ratings, Truex doesn’t move the needle for casual fans." Bromberg: "Right or wrong, fights do. ... Fox knows this." The mistake in "missing the buildup and start of the biggest story of the young NASCAR season so far can’t be chalked up to ignorance or unfamiliarity." And that is what makes the "lack of coverage so grating." Bromberg: "Fox can do so much better. But it somehow doesn’t" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/12).
SWINGING INTO THE NEWS: The Busch-Logano fight was covered on all three network morning shows today, with "GMA” and “Today” both showing footage early in the second hour of their broadcasts. Both reports were short news updates, while “CBS This Morning” also aired a short report about 30 minutes into their broadcast. NBC’s Matt Lauer said, “Things got a little hot under the helmet in a NASCAR race in Las Vegas on Sunday.” He added, “Stay tuned: NASCAR season just getting started.” ABC’s Paula Faris: “At the NASCAR race in Las Vegas, it got ugly” (THE DAILY). In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski writes NASCAR is "gonna love" the social media "hits after this latest skirmish." That is even while NASCAR "would never say that for the record." Kantowski: "Will a fight to the finish, and a fight after the finish, move the needle toward an upward spiral while people are filling out their March Madness brackets? Certainly cannot hurt" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 3/13).
PACKING A MARKETING PUNCH: In Orlando, George Diaz writes under the header, "Kyle Busch-Joey Logano Fight Is NASCAR Marketing Gold." Every sport is "in the business of selling tickets, establishing rivalries, and sparking fan interest." Diaz: "So what was wrong with what happened again in the emotional post-haste at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 3/13). ESPN.com's K. Lee Davis wrote if the sport's trend of declining attendance and TV ratings is "going to be reversed, NASCAR needs more days -- or at least 10-minute stretches -- like it got in this one" (ESPN.com, 3/12). In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis writes fights can be "good in occasional doses" for NASCAR, though they "can't be forced" (NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.com, 3/13). The AP's Mike Cranston writes, "Nothing beats a good old-fashioned brawl to get everyone buzzing" (AP, 3/13). To demonstrate the wider impact of the incident, Gluck tweeted out an email he received from TV2 in Denmark requesting use of his footage. Gluck: "I mean, seriously. Please explain how the fight is bad for NASCAR?" (TWITTER.com, 3/13).
KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF: Fox' Larry McReynolds noted there were "probably 100,000-plus people here today, and I would have to believe everyone knew" Busch was trying to find Logano "when he got out of that race car." He said if he was part of Busch's team, he was "going to get him as soon as he gets out of the car and say ‘You know what, let's move on.' You do not need to go down there. I think we all knew exactly what was going to happen” (“NASCAR Victory Lane,” FS1, 3/12).
