NASCAR is "poised" to "take motorsports to yet another
summit," according to Robin Miller of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR-
NEWS, who writes that Saturday's Pepsi 400 at Daytona Int'l
Speedway, carried live on CBS in primetime, "promises to be
one of the most highly-watched auto races ever because of
good timing, good planning and a good product." Miller says
CART should follow NASCAR's lead, "As solid as CART's teams,
sponsorships and competition are, it needs to get on the
bandwagon and stage a night race." Citing a "sad
statistic," Miller notes that CART's cumulative TV crowd for
'98 is 9.169 million viewers, while NASCAR drew 8.428
million for the Daytona 500 alone (STAR-NEWS, 7/1). Also in
Indy, Bill Koenig wrote that the Pepsi 400 "may be the most
important telecast for NASCAR and CBS since the network
first aired the Daytona 500 live in 1979." CBS Sports
VP/Programming Rob Correa: "It's not only to capture casual
race fans but capture new ones as well" (STAR-NEWS, 6/30).
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand
writes that a big question about the race "is whether it
will lead to more NASCAR night driving." Hiestand predicts
that CBS "might end up with a 5 rating" (USA TODAY, 7/1).
