nascar <strong>new</strong>s & notes by RICHARD TEAGUE TINyNASCARS@yahoo.com “Wanted – NASCAR Series Sponsor” Yes sir, the want ads are out and NASCAR & ESPN are looking for a sponsor that will put tons of money in the old Busch Series of NASCAR. Seems that the people at Anheuser-Busch feel they are, “starting to dilute ourselves” according to vice president of global media and sports marketing Tony Ponturo. The A-B Boys think that with all the money they put in the Busch Series, and the big bucks in Cup, people won’t know the “la difference” between Bud and Busch. Now how can they think that when everybody knows that Bud is in a red can and Busch is in a blue one? Are they afraid that fans will buy one beer more that the other or is there another reason? They have been diluting the company for <strong>year</strong>s now, or at least I think so. Heck, I remember when I had my fake ID and you could only get either a Bud or a Busch in either can or a bottle and then only in maybe 3 different sizes. Then someone invented a fancy beer named Michelob and it was all downhill after that. Now you can go into almost any store and buy one of seven different kinds of Bud, a measly four different Busch, and seven kinds of Michelob. Now just who is diluting what? It doesn’t stop there. Also available are the NINETEEN other brands that fall under the Anheuser-Busch banner along with a few imported by them. Now just who is doing what when Tony says, “In this day and age of competition, the last thing you want is to dilute your own effort.” NASCAR stated that, “We think the Busch Series is a property that has been undermarketed and undervalued from a broadcast standpoint.” The guess is that Busch pays 10 million bucks a <strong>year</strong> for the rights to the series and now that ESPN has sole broadcast rights for all the races it should be worth three or more times that. One financial guy said that the series should be worth around $100 million what with the way the Cup drivers have been using the 30 december 28-january 3, 2006 | entertaining u <strong>new</strong>spaper series as a “playground” the past season. Do you think that NASCAR told A-B that they better P-U the big money if they wanted the series, or did ESPN tell them it was a good idea to raise the rent? Whatever the case may be, there will be no more NASCAR Busch Series racing after 2007 and that sure sounds strange. Oh well, we got over Winston leaving did we? Yeah Right! In what some call a first, the two are looking for a series sponsor that will ante up to have their name next to Nextel (no pun meant here) hoping NASCAR has 26 more <strong>year</strong>s. Now who could do that? Well the rumors are already in play with the likes of Wal- Mart and several others. Now that wouldn’t sound too bad: “The Wally Series” on Saturday. The races could even be run on Saturday mornings between the kid’s shows. How about an oil company? Say Exxon or BP, or maybe a food store chain like Winn- Dixie or Publix? Put the WD Brand back on a plate. Perhaps Sears might want to move up to the number two series and let another company takeover the trucks. We don’t have to worry our small minds one bit, because the series will still be there in 2008, cause there is way too much money involved. Now Wait One Minute!! I have got the perfect sponsor. Since Nextel took over Cup and has restricted what company can and cannot sponsor a Cup car, how about Cingular / AT&T? NASCAR talks about the value of the Busch Series, Bubbas. If it was called “The Bell Series” there would be all kinds of in-fighting between the two series sponsors and NASCAR would be the winner, what with all the money those two would be spending. I can see it now, NASCAR could raise the rate and whoever could spend the most would have their series finish up the weekend. With the Cup guys already running both races, just what would it matter what day of the week the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series raced? Why NASCAR could just have a two day event with say an 800 or 1000 mile race on a weekend and change the types of cars each day. There could even be more cars in the field, say 70 or 80, starting on Saturday and surely it would reduce in size by Sunday, with all the wrecks there would be. Even the fans would like it more because of more crashes and the real rookies getting put out one day and not racing the next. NASCAR would surely sell more tickets that way because more fans would come both days, and that’s what NASCAR wants anyway isn’t it? I even think that the TV companies would love it. It would certainly be a brand <strong>new</strong> way to promote the sport of racing, and with the money ABC & ESPN have spent to have the broadcast rights, any way to make more money is great. I guess what I’m saying here is that if you believe that Busch is pulling out because it’s a dilution of their products, well then I’ve got some fantastic South Florida land you can buy cheap and I’ll show it too ya at low tide. NASCAR is raising the cost of the series and that’s the reason Busch is leaving. Who can blame them? It seems that things like history, the building of a sport, meaningful ties with one another, and partnerships have gone out the door and the almighty dollar has taken over for NASCAR. And don’t you know just who NASCAR is? Well if you don’t, then I’m not going to tell ya. Oh, and by the way, I got one more name to add to the list of <strong>new</strong> sponsors, how about “The NASCAR Goodwrench Series”? Moving right along, I hope that all of y’all had a nice Christmas and got some neat stuff and had plenty to eat. I also hope that you celebrated with your family and friends this past weekend and you did something nice for someone. I got a few NASCAR gifts and my Mate in Australia, Pete, and his wife Deb sent us some real neat stuff from over there. We had our second annual Christmas breakfast this <strong>year</strong> since my wife, Ann, found out how much easier it is than a big dinner. I really don’t understand her thinking about that because she really seems to work just as hard at a breakfast as she does for a dinner, but I’ll tell ya this, the family, including myself, really does like it better this way. It lets you have plenty to eat in the morning and then time to go to a movie, or visit others and come back for an afternoon or early evening pig out with easy-to-fix stuff. You just might want to try it sometime and see what you think. We start around 10:30 AM, so you could call it a brunch, and then in the afternoon just a small deal with a Honey Baked Ham, tater salad, baked beans, chips and dip, more candy, and a cheesecake, I call that meal “linner.” Well, after all the stuff this weekend and now, dad burn it, I get to get ready to do it again with the food and family and friends. There is one bad thing, and that is that there’s no NASCAR to watch. Guess I’ll break out the ol’ “Days of Thunder” tape and watch that. I have decided that this New Year I will not make any resolutions at all, only because I am tired of breaking them by the next weekend. I hope that if there ain’t any to break, perhaps I can do better. O K, I’m done, and if you need to contact me it can be done at tinynascars@yahoo.com. Just one more thing, the word “contact” reminds me of the word “contract” and things are not going well with my negotiations. So you may be reading one of my last few articles right now, and I want you to know that it’s not me, I’m really trying to jump through their hoops, but there’s just so much I writer can do. Again this week I’ll refrain from my usual ending and say, HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
eujacksonville.com | december 28-january 3, 2006 31
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