Logano, Busch, Truex Jr. and Harvick together made the media rounds ahead of championship weekendNASCAR
Homestead-Miami Speedway is closing in on its fifth consecutive grandstand sellout for Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400, where NASCAR will crown the winner of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. HMS seats about 46,000 people, and a scan of the track’s ticket microsite on Thursday showed only around a hundred seats remaining to be sold. Sources said that ISC tracks can announce grandstand sellouts when within 1.5% of having no tickets left. HMS President Matt Becherer said that hospitality sales are also strong and he is expecting to announce the sellout prior to the race (Adam Stern, THE DAILY). In Miami, Jordan McPherson notes all three national NASCAR series will conclude their season this weekend, but there will be "much more to offer" than just racing. When the gates open each day, "live music, exhibits and displays will make up a majority of the pre-race entertainment." Becherer said, "What's fantastic about any race weekend is that it's really more of a festival atmosphere that culminates with a championship race." This marks the 17th straight year the Cup series will conclude at HMS, which Becherer called "'unprecedented' when looking at how other professional sports ... handle their championships" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/16).
FANTASTIC FOUR, IF YOU NOTICE: The AP's Jenna Fryer notes Sunday's race is "expected to be the most competitive championship race" since the stage-playoff format was launched in '14 thanks to the "four title contenders" in Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano. Truex is the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, and he, Busch and Harvick "combined to win 20 of 35 points races this season." Meanwhile, Logano has two victories "but had the steadiest playoff run." NASCAR "shipped the four title contenders off" to N.Y. this week for a "full day of promotional activities, then brought them together Thursday for the opening of championship weekend." They "had lunch together, filmed a segment on the beach for 'The Today Show,' then previewed the title race in a posh South Beach hotel" (AP, 11/15). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg noted NASCAR, from a racing perspective, has "arguably the best final four field its ever had," and the "ingredients are there for a tantalizing finale." However, the race will "probably continue the trend of terrible ratings" for the finale. Last year's race at HMS saw viewership drop 1.4 million from '16 despite it being Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s last race. Bromberg: "No matter how awesome Sunday's finale is, a slog of a transition year like 2018 isn't going to create a ratings bump if a sendoff for Dale Freaking Junior couldn't lead to one" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/15).
IN A TIME OF NEED: In Miami, Greg Cote writes NASCAR "is not healthy as a sport or business." It has been "trending wrong for around 10 years but the downturn is getting worse." Attendance and TV ratings "are down -- those two main barometers of interest indicating stock-car racing has gradually lost a major chunk of its audience." NASCAR fans "still love their sport as much as ever," but there "just aren't as many of them, evidently." There is "scant evidence that inventing the stage-playoffs format has worked." Star power is "down, too, surely a contributing cause." NASCAR "needs a Next Big Thing, somebody to market, a bright new star whose popularity transcends the sports and makes race fans of folks who don't know a restrictor plate from a dinner plate." it needs "somebody to break through and front a new generation to lead a renaissance, so that the sport's most interesting and popular drivers are not the ones who just retired" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/16).
