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A quick story from last year.
Many stories are told of driver exploits, but this one is about a track owner/promoter. Drivers are not the only NASCAR personalities who are modern day steely eyed gunslingers.
After the mega deal between NASCAR and the new TV networks many of you may remember the sponsor wars between Fox, NBC and the sponsors. Fox started the deal at Daytona, threatening to blot out sponsor logos unless the sponsors anted up to buy time from Rupert's network. NASCAR stepped in and squashed that deal, but Fox was not done yet.
At last year's Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta, the sponsoring restaurant chain was mentioned just once an hour. Cracker Barrel was paying a hefty $1.4 million a year to the track owner, Speedway Motorsports, and was furious when a Fox voice described the race as "Winston Cup racing live from Atlanta presented by UPS." In two previous years on ABC, Cracker Barrel heard its name over the air 60 times. Cracker Barrel rejected the idea of paying extra for Fox's "on air" naming rights, believing its contract provided for that. So Cracker Barrel sued NASCAR, Fox, and the track.
And yet when another Speedway Motorsports track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, sold its track's name to Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse in 1999 for 10 years for $35 million, the track's owners lined up squarely behind the sponsor when NBC wouldn't play ball. In rambled an irate Humpy Wheeler, general manager of the track, who hooked up some tow trucks to the NBC production trucks. "Say the name as 'Lowe's Motor Speedway,' or we'll yank you outta here" was the message, and since the track has its own police department, it would be wise to assent. NBC did.
Many stories are told of driver exploits, but this one is about a track owner/promoter. Drivers are not the only NASCAR personalities who are modern day steely eyed gunslingers.
After the mega deal between NASCAR and the new TV networks many of you may remember the sponsor wars between Fox, NBC and the sponsors. Fox started the deal at Daytona, threatening to blot out sponsor logos unless the sponsors anted up to buy time from Rupert's network. NASCAR stepped in and squashed that deal, but Fox was not done yet.
At last year's Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta, the sponsoring restaurant chain was mentioned just once an hour. Cracker Barrel was paying a hefty $1.4 million a year to the track owner, Speedway Motorsports, and was furious when a Fox voice described the race as "Winston Cup racing live from Atlanta presented by UPS." In two previous years on ABC, Cracker Barrel heard its name over the air 60 times. Cracker Barrel rejected the idea of paying extra for Fox's "on air" naming rights, believing its contract provided for that. So Cracker Barrel sued NASCAR, Fox, and the track.
And yet when another Speedway Motorsports track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, sold its track's name to Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse in 1999 for 10 years for $35 million, the track's owners lined up squarely behind the sponsor when NBC wouldn't play ball. In rambled an irate Humpy Wheeler, general manager of the track, who hooked up some tow trucks to the NBC production trucks. "Say the name as 'Lowe's Motor Speedway,' or we'll yank you outta here" was the message, and since the track has its own police department, it would be wise to assent. NBC did.
