Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

NASCAR Still Weighing Any Busch/Logano Punishment; Did Fight Help Sport's Popularity?

NASCAR Exec VP & Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell yesterday said that penalties for Kyle Busch and Joey Logano for getting into a fight at Sunday's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway are "not a certainty," according to Pete Pistone of MOTOR RACING NETWORK. O'Donnell, appearing on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio with Chair & CEO Brian France, said, "We’ve got to have discussions with both drivers. Our intention is not to react unless we see something we haven’t seen yet, and something that comes up from those discussions. It’s an emotional sport and this shows exactly how much every position means on the track." France added, "We’re going to have moments. We shouldn’t come out of our chairs over this. The pressure on these guys is difficult so it shouldn’t surprise anybody that every once in a while, somebody will boil over, somebody's going to think they saw an incident in a different way." France said that he "does not believe" Busch will retaliate on the track (MRN.com, 3/13). FS1’s Alan Cavanna noted NASCAR "has a lot of leeway when it comes to what it can do, if anything," with fighting. FS1's Shannon Spake said, “In every sport, we see emotions, we see fights, we see people get into it. Now in NASCAR, you feel like almost with Monster Energy coming in -- they're a little edgier (with) the emotions -- they want the drivers to show their emotions a little more.” Richard Petty Motorsports crew chief Drew Blickensderfer said, “With NASCAR and with Monster wanting to show some of that emotion, they're not going to downgrade that. They’ll say, ‘Hey, that happened. We're going to celebrate the racing, but we're going to show some of the emotion, too,’ and you see it in other sports" ("NASCAR Race Hub," FS1, 3/13).

WATERCOOLER TALK: The AP's Jenna Fryer wrote the Busch-Logano tussle "shoved NASCAR into the watercooler talk" alongside the NCAA Tournament, and the reason why "should be a wakeup call to every stakeholder in the stagnant sport." Like it or not, Busch "getting pummeled by Logano's crew is the lasting memory of the race." NASCAR can "make any format change under the sun, try gimmicks, slick marketing or the Monster Energy Girls, but its mainstream audience wants drama." NASCAR "doesn't want to be known for brawling, and its drivers don't particularly enjoy the scrutiny and/or punishment that comes from bad behavior." But this sport is in "desperate need of rivalries, and nothing gets people talking like a bloodied face after a race." Fryer: "This incident certainly hasn't hurt NASCAR, and a little bad blood could really liven up an otherwise slow start to the season" (AP, 3/13). In Richmond, Randy Hallman writes the brawl could be the "spark NASCAR needs to reverse the declining interest in the sport -- reflected by sagging attendance and TV ratings." The best marketing strategy "might be to let their anger simmer, threatening to boil over at any race, on any lap." NASCAR and its track operators are "working hard to win back fans who have lost interest, and to attract new ones." Hallman: "Will a testy feud -- and the prospect of revenge -- help?" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 3/14).

BOOST IT UP: In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis wrote Busch will be "proud to know he took one for the team" assuming there is a "little TV ratings boost" this weekend at Phoenix Raceway (NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.com, 3/13). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote NASCAR is a "niche sport that moves to the mainstream of general interest morning shows and gets attention at the forefront of numerous sports media outlets when a car goes flying into a fence or when a driver attacks another driver." And while NASCAR "isn’t in a position to be shying away from the attention the atypical events bring, it’s also unclear what the real impact of the increased exposure is" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/13).

IT'S JUST BUSINESS: France said that he "saw a business connection with a segment" of President Trump's supporters when he endorsed him last year. France: "People don't buy tickets to a race to hear my political views. But I do think that the middle class, the factory worker, has lost ground in recent years with job layoffs and exporting jobs. That's our core fan. They're good Americans, playing by the rules, trying to get ahead. The more you make life better for them, obviously, the more disposable income they'll have to enjoy the sport they love. That's a good thing for us" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/14).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/03/14/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NASCAR.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/03/14/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NASCAR.aspx

CLOSE