NASCAR had been hoping that this year’s Daytona 500 would reverse the recent trends of declining TV viewership. The arrival of Danica Patrick in the Sprint Cup promised to draw in more fans and boost the numbers, but for the first time in its 54-year history the race had to be called off because of rain. It is rescheduled today, but TV audiences at midday on a Monday are unlikely to match those at the weekend, and that is not going to go down well with the sport’s sponsors.
NASCAR officials spent more than four hours hoping for a window in the weather to dry the track, but it did not happen and when it rained rained again at 5pm, it was time to give up. To have held on would have meant a race under lights, and in direct competition with the NBA All Star basketball game, and the Academy Awards. The Oscars are one of the biggest rating TV events of the year and one does not want to be in direct competition with them, even if the NASCAR audience may not be that interested in movie love-ins.
The bad news is that weather forecast for Monday is not good either but teams have to start heading off to Arizona on Tuesday, in order to be ready for next weekend’s event. Such disruptions are not good for TV audiences and a percentage of spectators will have to head home to go back to work.
The Daytona 500 has been the United States’s biggest motorsport event since the mid-1990s when interest waned in the Indy 500 after its split with CART. The Daytona 500’s biggest ever rating was back in 1978 when Nielsen rated the event at 20.90 million. The best rating in the modern era was in 2006 when it clocked 19.35m, but since then there has been a slide. In 2008 the figure was 17.75m but the 2009 event was disrupted by rain and was shortened. The result was a rating of just 15.95m. There was worse to come in 2010 when the race was delayed because of potholes forming, which resulted in a rating of 13.3m. Last year the number rose to a more respectable 15.6m, but this was still nothing to get excited about.
joeblogsf1 
Joe, isn’t the Indy 500 the biggest ever spectator sporting event in America, in terms of spectators at the venue? Last year’s Indy 500 was even watched by US marines stationed in Afghanistan (or Iraq) on TV particularly since JR Hildebrand’s car was sponsored by the US Army.
It has more spectators on the ground, but as my story says it has not been a bigger TV spectacle since 1995
Joe, on Dave Despain’s show on Speed today it was mentioned that Lotus had not been able to deliver the engines they had committed too for the Indy series; they don’t have enough engines for all the teams. Had you heard this?
No, I have not.
True. Chevrolet, Honda, and Lotus agreed to supply ten cars each a year and a half ago when the engine announcement was made in November, 2010. Chevrolet and Honda have honored their agreement, however Lotus only has six cars covered. Consequently, there will be several cars that will not make the first races. I really have no idea how they will explain this pathetic situation to their respective sponsors.
All 3 engine suppliers agreed to supply up to 40% of the field. At the time, most people expected 18-22 cars but there are now at least 26. It’s a big difference especially when you’re building brand new engines.
As for cars not making the first few races, so far no one has missed out on an engine if they were planning on entering the first race of the season. All manufacturers have suggested (possibly stated but I haven’t seen anything written) there will be no problems supplying the expected 33+ entries for the Indy 500.
There’s nothing else to do in Indiana than watch clown cars go roundy round the ole brick yard.
Florida on the other hand, has lots of other entertainment options.
Actually, I guess every other place the .1rl races has lots of other entertainment options, as they keep reducing the number of seats at their events. 😆
The indy 500 isn’t even the biggest race of the day. NASCAR’s Coka Cola 600 pulls better Nielsen ratings than the hapless 500. :-p
The Indy 500 has the biggest number of on-site spectators.
IMS never reveals attendance #s. They leave it to others to give an estimation of the number of spectators there.
There’s been growing areas of aluminum showing at the race. 2 years ago, it was so bad that a certain “place fan” said 10s of thousands were hiding under the bleachers to escape the heat. 😆
Last year, for the 100th, reports were that they admitted anyone who showed up, regardless of if they bought a ticket or not.
Anyway, the hoosiers will still turn up to watch the 500 in numbers. Outside of Indiana though, fewer and fewer care to watch their brand of AOWR. It’s the perfect place to advertise if you only care about marketing to >50 year old white males in Indiana. 😆
They done fixed things GOOD!!! YeeHaw!!!! 🙄
I believe that, at its peak, the Indy 500 was the world’s biggest spectator draw, and the second biggest was Pole day of Indy 500 qualifying.
At its peak is, sadly, history.
It’s with glee that I report that the Nielsen overnight rating for the rained out NASCAR Daytona 500 race pulled a 4.5 and the final is likely to increase. Last years 100th Indy Razing League 500 pulled a 4.3 overnight, and dropped to a 4.0.
America has spoken. And in a loud, clear voice said: “Rain is more interesting than the .1rl 500” 😆
oh well.
And THIS is why they should learn to run in the wet. It’s not like Goodyear doesn’t know how to make wets or inters – they did it for F1. The only possible reason I see them not doing this is on safety grounds, but motorsport has, and will always be, dangerous, no matter what the weather.
Sorry Journeyer, but I couldn’t disagree more. The sheer wear rate for tyres at even slower (but constant) speeds would lead to non-stop pit-stops and in a far more serious scenario, the danger aspect would rocket up.
Daytona may be surrounded by SAFER barriers, but they are still a hard, hard hit even if you knock 50 mph off.
Wet in Florida is like monsoon rain. There is no drizzle or light rain. I doubt F1 or many other modern motorsport will have raced either if it was that bad.
The severity of the rain being another factor, of course.
TV audiences won’t wait for them, though. No one wins in a rain delay. There MUST be a better solution than waiting, surely? At the very least, this would be a challenge to Goodyear to make a tyre that CAN run in those conditions without wearing in 10 minutes.
At those speeds, not a chance. Only a madman or a complete fool would run full whack on an oval in the wet, irrespective of the tyre – I suspect the NASCAR contingent are neither.
As an add-on, putting the importance of the TV audience ahead of the safety of the drivers and in house fans – that’s just plain wrong.
Oval racing is areadly heck dangerous. With rain it’d be just impossible to drive.
A 30-car pack, going flat out, and very close together (that’s oval racing) and in the rain makes no sense at all. The constant forces on the right side tyres would kill them too. They’d need a pit stop every 5 laps.
It’s pointless. It’d be impossible to watch too. We’d only see the first car.
It’s just not practical or safe to race in the rain on a high-speed oval. No, it’s just plain crazy. I remember it was back in the 1980s, I think, where Goodyear said they could produce a 200-mph rain tire for Indianapolis, but nobody could see anything because of the obvious spray. The NASCAR cars probably wouldn’t kick up that much spray, but with a 30-car pack, it would be enough, I’m sure…
How about mudflaps?
I’ve never heard anyone say this, but from my own racing experience here’s my view re why no oval rain-racing: on a road course, in the lower-speed sections you get some respite from the really big water-roostertails, but on fast ovals there’d be none and visibility would constantly be around zero. What makes rain-racing hard and scary isn’t so much the reduced traction; it’s the low visibility (paraphrasing Carrol Smith).
They will just have to man up and get wet tyres (or in their case tires). I suppose for safety, NASCAR would have to mandate a much smaller “wet” carburettor restricter to reduce power to around 400 BHP but the racing in the wet, with even that reduced power, would be very spectacular.
Wilson
I quite enjoy NASCAR, but the races are far too long and there are too many of them. Also I would love to see a couple more ‘road courses’ added to the schedule – those events are always fun!
Part of the decline in viewers could be down to Nielsen’s move to a BARB style Verifiable data gathering system, and away from the Diary system they used for many years.
It’s a shame, I was also watching last night. Here we are with a drought in February in the UK and Daytona in Florida is rained off! I first went to visit in 85 and I was amazed by two things; that pole (in those days) was an average of 210 mph and that the drivers and teams were so accessible. So a 3400 lb sedan could lap a 2.5 mile oval in less time than an F3 car could navigate the 1.2 miles of Mallory Park. And you could bump into a “star” driver in the lift of your hotel and he’d be happy to chat with you. I was myself have been a NASCAR fan ever since, with not a little joking from my European F1 fan friends I hasten to add. Why you can’t appreciate two differing skills at once is beyond me…
I think Bernie could learn a little from the way they operate. Particularly their online offering and the way the paddock is accessible to ordinary folk.
Im really surprised how low those numbers are. NASCAR does a really good job of making itself seem a lot bigger than it is.
Those are Nielsen numbers. Averages. Fix says that 30 millions watched it, but not all the way through.
Just imagine…in 1978 the (equivalent of) the entire population of Australia would have tuned in to watch the Daytona 500 on TV (if they had TV). Wouldn’t the footy fans (the game the Australians and the Irish play chasing a potato around a big oval field) have been hacked off by that!
It is the hauler drivers who may have it rough if the race goes long on Tuesday. Most work on the pit crew in one position or the other. They will have to drive the rigs from Daytona to Charlotte, try to get some rest as the rigs are restocked and Phoenix cars are loaded, then head out on I40 to cross the US, hopefully with co-driver….. .all that and they have to be in Phoenix Thursday afternoon. Can you say “long week at work” ?
Joe: Yes, a big disappointment for this motorsports aficionado here in the Middle East. Hung in there until midnight, but no joy. And friends & family at the race itself were even more disappointed, obviously! Today doesn’t look too good either, as you mentioned. But there is always tomorrow…however, there will be some VERY tired teams assembling in Phoenix in a couple of days! As for the NASCAR/Oscar connection; I was up at 03:30 local to watch the movie “love-in”! 🙂
Hi Joe,
As far as I’m aware, the weather forecast for Daytona shows a very high chance, hence the early start time – it gives them a far greater TV window to work with in case the race can start.
Alternatively, should it not run today, I have been led to believe the next viable date is April 6th.
Joe, given that such a significant portion of NASCAR income must come from the kinds of revenues to get hit in this sort of situation, at least indirectly, is this an occasion where NASCAR really has something to learn from F1 in terms of being able to run wet races? Surely it’d be in the teams’, constructors’ and circuit owners’ interests to make sure the show can go on?
Having skimmed through the very basic write up of NASCAR vs Rain linked below, it seems that wet NASCAR tyres do exist but that track construction is the notable weakness, both the quality of the surface and the in-field area drainage. I’d have thought that both issues could be overcome with accurate application of “not-lost-to-rain-delay” dollars.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/nascar-basics/nascar-rain.htm
Come to think of it, has an F1 race ever been completely cancelled due to bad weather? I know we’ve had red flags for a few (Canadialand last year, although that did run the whole distance, Malaysia a few years before, etc.) but my feeble memory isn’t flashing up any occasions when the race hasn’t started at all.
The last case I remember of a race being postponed altogether was at Spa in the mid-80s (1985, I think?) – and that was due to track breakup, not bad weather.
I can’t recall an F1 race (since 1950) ever being cancelled entirely. The 1991 Australian GP at Adelaide did start, but only lasted 14 laps – 24 1/2 minutes of racing…
There have been races cancelled but not usually at the moment they were due to happen. The Belgium GP of 1985 was scheduled for June but was called off after practice when the track surface broke up. It was rescheduled for September. I remember the race in Adelaide. It was a bit of a drag to have travelled all that way for 14 laps, but it would have been complete madness to have gone on. It was a similar story with the race in 1989, which I always felt should have been stopped sooner than it was.
It is impossible to drive a race car, no matter what tyres one is driving with on an oval in the rain. Do you remember Dan Wheldon??? That would happen to half of the field racing cars in the rain on an oval. Being a racing fan is about identifying with a particular driver, following their career, and loving watching them compete. I still cry every year when the anniversary of Senna’s death comes up. Actually, if i watch a clip of him driving and i think about his death, i will cry at any time. We are mere mortals watching Gods at 200 mph, complaining that you didn’t get to watch an event at the exact time it was scheduled for does a disservice to the men and women that put their lives on the line every time they get into their cockpits for the chance at imortallity. I don’t intend this to be mean, I just would rather be able to watch racers next week, and the week after that, and not have to imagine what could have been.
Joe, a current story on the “Forbes” website on NA$CAR team valuations and salaries says that after several years of declining TV ratings, last year’s figures were up 10%. Which is good news for NA$CAR since they will start negotiating new TV contracts soon (which expire in 2014. Also the highest rating in 1978 was due in part to the race been on the “Wide World of Sports” anthology show which had bits two-three sports alternating. The Daytona 500 wasn’t broadcast live and in full until the 1979 race that featured Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison fighting for lead and crashing out on the last lap, which led to a fist fight on TV,
My understanding is they have tried to develop rain tires but can’t because the water just can’t get out on an oval and that will lead to hydroplaning. There is also a problem with the heat inside the car, reaching 130F, would cause the windows to steam up.
One final thing is historically the race has been on a Sunday of a three day holiday weekend but was moved back a week this year out of fears the NFL would push its championship game back a week. Which didn’t happen but nobody tries to compete with the NFL if they can help it.
NASCAR should follow cycling and build covered circuits, that way coverage would be guaranteed all year round come rain or come shine. That would be easier for them than running in the rain: god forbid the Le Mans organizers get wind of canceling a race because of rain!!!
And Bernie wants (ed) to introduce artificial rain to make F1 more exciting.
Here in Canada the roads stay open all winter even when snow is falling: I guess that, in Florida, everyone takes to their boats when it rains.
I find this situation, and the excuses, really quite pathetic and disrespectful of their live and TV audience.
I have watched one NASCAR race (last year) where rain interrupted play; most god-awful boring thing ever.
Perhaps the audience is dropping because the events have become ‘entertainment’ rather than sport and people have a lot of choices in entertainment!
Dangerous for sports to lose sight of their origins in search for dollars…
Damn, it’s raining today, have to go now to call in to work that I won’t be able to drive in because the windscreen will mist over as my tyres become too hot…
The problem with running in the rain on an oval is that there would be virtually zero visibility. All those cars going around an oval in would generate a lot of spray. And unlike a road circuit where the cars are more spread out, and the laps times are much longer, there is no chance for the spray to dissipate on an oval like on a road circuit. Anybody who has raced on a road circuit in the rain knows how appalling the lack of visibility is. It would be so much worse on an oval that the drivers would be racing blind.
This is probably the most convincing (and difficult to overcome) point that I’ve seen on the issue.
Anyone advocating running in the rain on an oval, just doesn’t understand the issue of safety involved. To begin with, the bank at Daytona is not like the curve at Stowe or Copse. The degree of banking is 31 degrees! Combine 31 degree banking with water and it’s an invitation for disaster. Likewise would be true at Indianapolis, which has but 9 degrees. What do you think Sir Jackie Stewart would say to running in the rain on an oval? Michael Schumacher has stated he won’t race on an oval… and that was in the dry! Additionally, Stock Cars don’t have wipers! 😉
I was just thinking that most Monday’s I come in to work and discuss the past Sunday’s F1 race (rain or shine) and this week we would have talked Daytona BUT no race due to rain. F1 is much bettere than most NASCAR races because we run in the rain.
This to go with a Minor Blow to NASCAR announced recently.
Australian V8SC first round (Clipsal 500 Adelaide, Mar 01-04 in Oz) to be televised across USA on Speed TV (HD). I believe a select Bathurst, Yas Marina, and Surfers Paradise rounds of the V8SC championship this year will also get Speed USA coverage too! V8SC do race in the rain if necessary (short of an unsafe monsoonal downpour, of course), they run road courses in hot battles, little drafting, and they don’t idle around every five minutes under a Caution light.
Look out NASCAR. Your traditional market may just like what they see. JF
I think Nascar really missed an opportunity by not showing the race on the internet or doing a replay on a cable channel in prime time. It may be moot if they don’t get the race in today or delay it till later but most people have work today. I forgot to set the DVR to record it and the only replay is on Wednesday. This means I either miss the race while I am at work or have to find a copy on the internet. Either wait it does not help NASCAR.
Half a century of no rain in Daytona for the race is pretty spectacular.
It happens. Even if you believe that wet tires make sense for ovals (they don’t) there was far too much rain, far too hard, and not enough time between rain showers to get a whole race in.
If you don’t mind me asking : why don’t wet tyres make sense for ovals?
I’ve seen a bit about slip angles and so on, but is this not the kind of issue which can be dealt with by 1) reducing speed and 2) intelligent tyre construction?
Ron’s comment above about spray and visibility is the only one I can see which can’t either be overcome by intelligent regulation (and design in some cases) or by allowing the teams & drivers to learn how to handle the rain.
“…back in 1978 when Nielsen rated the event at 20.90 million. The best rating in the modern era was in 2006…” Considering that Nascar has been racing in one form or another since the 1950’s, and 1978 is apparently ancient, just when did this ‘modern era’ start?
I consider the modern era to be about 20 years. A generation.
There were lots of race parties and get togethers scheduled for yesterday-it is a shame they could not run…and I really believe there is no solution to the weather problem. I know that sometimes this race is scheduled on the President’s Day holiday weekend-so if it rains on Sunday there is still the Monday holiday for the race. I was suprised to see it on a different weekend.
I have had to miss a rained out race more than once because of work.
I understand they have rescheduled for 7PM Monday night. Maybe they can turn this around and get a good viewing audience tonight.
Good observations Joe. NASCAR has rescheduled the race for 7PM EST (12AM GMT Tuesday) tonight. That certainly will make it more available to many, though the west coast US fans most likely will still be at work, for the most part (4PM there).
Joe, they only have to ask bernie for some tips. Im sure he wont help, but they are going to have to take a leaf out of bernies book!
nascar has become a joke. they have allowed themselves to promote people like dale earnhart jr and danica patrick at the expense the real drivers. and they still have no clue why the rating are falling. nascar is not alone with low rating look at espn trying to manufacture fan interest with tebow time and linn sanity
I think it is incorrect to suggest that Dale Earnhardt Jr and Danica Patrick are not real drivers. It is not a sustainable argument.
I concur. NASCAR remains the #2 watched sport in the US, despite it’s fall in ratings. One of the things that NASCAR and American racing in general does, be it NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, what have you, is offer an environment where their drivers are very approachable and accessible. This is good business, unlike F1 where so many drivers seem quite aloof regarding the people who actually are the main reason they have quite good salaries to begin with. By the way, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second yesterday, while Danica Patrick was on the pole for the Nationwide race. Not bad for a couple people who are not “real race drivers”. Hello.
I can’t believe some of the comments here about oval racing being rubbish because they can’t race in the rain. Even a brief consideration of the safety aspects of high average speeds in a continual wall of spray (even if you manage to halve their speed, they are still averaging over 100mph!) in a big pack of 40 cars leads to the inevitable conclusion that it would not have ever been possible to race the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
Perhaps more can be done to allow oval races in light rain, but I can’t see a way to overcome even reasonable amounts of rain with oval racing.
Le Mans cars mist up in the rain quite badly, and have measures in place to mitigate it, but as said by someone else, they don’t maintain the Mulsanne Straight speeds for lap after lap after lap with no respite. And Le Mans often gets slowed to a full-course caution under safety car for lengthy periods in heavy rain because of the danger, which is not really any different to stopping altogether in viewing terms.
Oval racing is spectacular. Oval racing in the rain would be suicide. And if anyone can afford to fund a roof over a 2.5 mile superspeedway, they probably have better things to do with those billions…
According to Adam Cooper it was a big succes on monday night: “Apparently the Daytona 500 got 36.5m viewers, I guess a Monday night marathon might become a regular thing…”
And it figuered great balls of fire thanks to JPMontoya!
36.5m was not an average, but total viewership. That would equate to around 18m, but I’d need to check the numbers.