SPEED Channel to Broadcast ASA Racing in 2003
Pendleton, IN (October 30, 2002)
For 35 years, SPEED has been ASA Racing's middle name. Beginning with the 2003 season, SPEED will be the first name of the American Speed Association's new television broadcast partner.
Officials from ASA and SPEED Channel announced today that they have reached an agreement calling for SPEED to become the exclusive television network for the 2003 and 2004 ASA Racing Series seasons.
The agreement calls for flag-to-flag coverage of the entire schedule. The majority of the races are planned for live coverage. The 2003 ASA Racing Series schedule will be announced this weekend at the ASA National Awards Banquet at Caesars Indiana Hotel Casino. The 2003 schedule will consist of 20-events with the season spanning from March through October.
"The ASA Racing Series is viewed by most in the motorsports industry as the premier short track stock car racing series in the country. Placing it on SPEED Channel elevates it further by offering more live coverage of its events," said ASA Vice-President of Sales and Marketing Mark Gundrum. "With SPEED Channel, our fans will have a new destination to find us. I'm certain that our drivers, teams, tracks and sponsors will receive added value through the additional programming and promotional avenues."
SPEED Channel, the nation's fastest-growing sports cable network, is the first and only 24-hour cable network devoted exclusively to motorsports and the human fascination for speed. In addition to extensive original NASCAR programming, SPEED Channel is home to many of the world's marquee racing events including CART, F1, Classic Cars, LeMans, the American LeMans Series, World Rally and car shows from around the globe. Currently seen in nearly 54.5 million U.S homes and 4.5 million more in Canada.
Fox Cable Networks acquired the former Speedvision in July of 2001, and since then, SPEED Channel President Jim Liberatore has orchestrated an on-air makeover that includes unprecedented coverage of numerous major racing sanctions and events. In addition, there has been increased in-depth race analysis featuring key drivers and participants. The new mix has helped increase SPEED Channel's primetime audience by more than 63 percent over the past year.
"SPEED's commitment to its viewers since our February re-launch has been simple - more racing, more live cars on the track at every opportunity," Liberatore said. "Adding a strong, competitive series like the ASA and welcoming all the passionate fans that follow it simply strengthens that commitment."
ASA made its television debut in the mid-1980s, running companion events with the CART/IndyCar Series at Michigan International Speedway. Several more races were televised during the late 1980s from tracks such as The Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Motor Speedway.
Beginning with the 1991 season, ASA began a relationship with TNN that lasted through the recently completed 2002 season. The 1992 season saw ASA redesign its race cars giving great attention to the overall appearance of the cars, with an attempt to replicate as closely as possible the look of their consumer passenger counterparts.
Between 1992 and 1995, a total of 51 races were televised live by TNN and Prime Sports Network. During the 1996 to 1998 period 48 of 60 ASA races were telecast, with primary coverage on TNN and remaining races shown on Prime Sports Network, Fox Sports Network and ESPN2.
IN 1999 all 20 events were shown with 13 on TNN, six appearing on Speedvision and one race telecast on the Fox Sports Network.
The previous three seasons, from 2000 to 2002, have seen all of the events carried exclusively by TNN.
ASA will wrap up the 2002 season with the National Awards Banquet at Caesars Hotel Casino near Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, November 2.
