NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France on Friday said that if any changes are going to be made to the Chase for the Sprint Cup in '15, they "will be modest." France: "I would say very modest, modest to zero." This year's Sprint Cup finale takes place today with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, featuring four drivers each vying for their first series title. France said the new Chase format has "exceeded what I had hoped for, and it's done precisely what we thought we wanted to do" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/14). France: "It has a chance to be one of the most successful seasons in NASCAR history" (USATODAY.com, 11/14).
ESPN today concludes "28 seasons of televising live NASCAR racing," as Fox Sports and NBC Sports Group pick up the TV rights next year. Today's broadcast marks ESPN's 398th Sprint Cup race (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/16). The 9:00am ET edition of "SportsCenter" today first covered the race 21 minutes into the telecast, with a montage teasing the net's coverage followed by two on-site reports. The show's coverage spanned three minutes and thirty-four seconds. Meanwhile, NBC's "Today" show covered the race 21 minutes into Sunday's telecast, referring to the finale as "NASCAR’s Super Bowl" (THE DAILY).
