Month: August 2024

By David G. Firestone

Hello one and all, this week, I have three stories out of NASCAR this week. The first features the 2025 Clash. On August 17,the new venue for the 2025 Clash has been revealed, and I love this move! This is from NASCAR.com:

“Today, NASCAR announced The Clash will come to historic Bowman Gray Stadium for the first-time as the opening exhibition event for the 2025 season on Feb. 2. The announcement was made by Ben Kennedy as part of pre-race for tonight’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series event at the racetrack. This will mark the first NASCAR Cup Series event at the racetrack in 54 years. The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium will be broadcast live on FOX.

“Bowman Gray Stadium has a storied history in motorsports, so we look forward to bringing the Cup Series back to this revered racetrack for the first time since 1971,” said Kennedy, Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer, NASCAR. “As NASCAR’s first weekly racetrack, Bowman Gray Stadium holds a special place as the original home to grassroots racing. With a history of intense competition, we are proud to host The Clash at the ‘The Madhouse.”

If this leads to the Clash being held in smaller, historical racing venues that never get any real national coverage, then I’m all in! I love this idea! It’s the idea that SRX was founded on, and the Clash would do these venues wonders! I hope this idea works, and I hope its expanded on. No more football venues, more classic racing venues!

Now we move on to Jack Link’s. I like beef jerky, even though I don’t eat it all that much. I’m more of a meat-stick man myself. Jack Link’s has been a staple in the ever-expanding beef jerky market. On August 22, NASCAR made the following announcement:

“Today marks a moment worth savoring, as America’s No. 1 motorsport and the nation’s No. 1 meat snack brand join forces to help race fans feed their wild side. NASCAR and Jack Link’s together announced that the U.S. meat snacks market leader has become an Official Partner of NASCAR through a multi-year agreement set to begin in 2025.

As the Official Meat Snack of NASCAR, Jack Link’s will activate across multiple areas of the NASCAR ecosystem including at-track, social and digital media, and radio and television. Jack Link’s will also leverage the NASCAR relationship at retail, as the company continues offering consumers a wide amount of real, high-quality protein snack options that span multiple flavors, formats, sizes and sub-brands.”

First off, I had to cut a lot of marketing bullshit out of the quote I used. Second off, I like the idea of an official meat snack sponsor, will this drive away other meat snack sponsors? The Cup Series did away with entitlement sponsor exclusivity, but other series may still have it. NASCAR and its teams are in desperate need of sponsorship, and any move that jeopardizes them isn’t a good move.

This isn’t an idle threat. Sunoco bullied Shell into reducing the size of their logo on Kevin Harvick’s car after a Daytona 500 win. Sprint bullied both Verizon and AT&T out of car sponsorships. Is it really out of the realm of possibility that there may be the threat of Jack Link’s using their power to bully a sponsor, particularly a regional, low power meat snack company out of a car sponsorship? Possibly, there certainly a precedent for it.

This is my issue with “Official partners of X” across the board. Even if a team has a deal with a sponsor, sometimes this leads to issues. With NASCAR, and racing in general, this can, has, and will lead to teams and sponsors getting screwed. The incidents I talked about have been a drop in the bucket. Again, will Jack Link’s bully other meat stick sponsors? I hope not, but time will tell.

Now, for the final story, we go back to the Hooters VS Hendrick Motorsports saga. While Hendrick and Hooters had parted ways due to the struggling chain losing money, closing locations, and not paying Hendrick, the saga took a turn this week. On Thursday, August 22, lawsuits were filed, according to the Charlotte Business Journal:

“An entity affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports is suing Hooters of America LLC for $1.7 million, plus interest, for alleged unpaid sponsorship fees.

HMS Holdings LLC filed its complaint against Hooters on July 30, according to Mecklenburg County court records. The lawsuit was filed just weeks after Hendrick Motorsports dropped Hooters as a sponsor, citing the restaurant chain’s failure to meet its financial commitments. Hooters had sponsored Chase Elliott’s No. 9 car in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2017. Hendrick Motorsports is suing Hooters for breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The complaint states that Hooters was obligated under the sponsorship deal to pay Hendrick Motorsports four installments annually totaling $1.75 million. The 2024 payments of $437,500 each were due on March 10, June 10, Aug. 10 and Oct. 10, court records state. The NASCAR team operator alleges Hooters made a partial, $45,000 payment in March before failing to make the June payment.”

Basically, Hooters signed a contract with Hendrick, refused to honor the terms of said contract, and is getting sued. Hendrick lived up to their ends of the contract, and Hooters didn’t. Hooters really doesn’t have a leg to stand on here. Hendrick will win, or at least take a nice settlement. Not a bold prediction, but just the truth.

This downfall of Hooters is glorious indeed. Hooters is a concept whose time has passed. Their wings are mediocre, the whole “sexy waitresses flirting with men while serving food” concept has been obsolete for a good long time. Other such companies have gone under, and it’s only a matter of time before Hooters goes under. Other chain restaurants that have better food than Hooters have gone under, so why should I feel bad for Hooters?

If you are the kind of person who actually likes to eat at Hooters, explain to me why? When it comes to wings, Buffalo Wild Wings blows Hooters out of the water. When it comes to their other offerings, Chili’s and TGI Fridays are better. Why would you eat at a place with mediocre food, when there are other places that have superior food? It boggles my mind that in 2024, with all the options we have, that an outdated, mediocre place like Hooters still exists. As I said, it’s only a matter of time until Hooters disappears, and I can’t wait.

With that, this week’s column is over, and I will work on something for next week.

Sources Cited:

Season-opening Clash exhibition heads to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025

2025 Clash to be held at Bowman Gray Stadium

Jack Link’s partners to become official meat snack of NASCAR

Jack Link’s jumps into wild world of racing with new NASCAR partnership

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2024/08/22/hendrick-motorsports-sues-hooters-lawsuit-nascar.html

Hendrick Motorsports ends sponsorship with Hooters UPDATE

By David G. Firestone

Welcome back. I was only going to talk about my thoughts on the NASCAR 2025 Cup Series TV deal, and I will, but before that, I have to talk about the end of the Richmond race. I had to deal with things during the week, so I didn’t get around to talking about this. As we all know, on the last lap at Richmond, Austin Dillon wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to collect the win. Hamlin and Logano were upset, and made their feelings known after the race.

This naturally sparked a series of debates on if Dillon’s actions were justified. The responses were all over the place. Some felt that Dillon was justified in doing what he had to do to win the race, much the same way Dale Earnhardt Sr. did on more than a few occasions. Others felt he went too far and could have caused more damage and injuries. Many were calling on NASCAR to take action, and they did.

On Wednesday August 14, NASCAR.com released the following:

“NASCAR officials ruled Wednesday that Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond Raceway would not count toward eligibility for the Cup Series Playoffs. The decision arrives three days after the Richard Childress Racing driver bashed his way to victory by crashing Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap of Sunday’s Cook Out 400.

Dillon’s penalty was the most severe of a handful of those issued after Sunday’s race, which was decided by a chaotic last lap of overtime. After a full review of footage and data, NASCAR officials ruled Dillon’s victory would stand, but that his automatic berth in the 16-driver postseason field would be voided for violating Section 12.3.2.1.b of the NASCAR Rule Book, which deals with playoff eligibility and states: “Race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.”

Dillon and the No. 3 team also were docked 25 points in both the drivers’ and owners’ standings, dropping Dillon from 26th to 31st in the former rankings. Officials also indicated that the rescinded playoff eligibility for Sunday’s win applies to both the drivers’ and owners’ championship.

NASCAR competition officials also suspended Brandon Benesch, the No. 3 team’s spotter, for three Cup Series races for his guidance of Dillon atop the grandstand roof. A review of transmissions from the No. 3 team radio revealed Benesch saying “wreck him” as Dillon battled alongside Hamlin with the checkered flag in sight.”

While Joey Logano was justifiably upset, his reaction didn’t do himself any favors. Going back to NASCAR.com:

“Logano was fined $50,000 for his actions after the race, when he spun the tires of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford in anger near the RCR No. 3 team’s pit box. That show of disgust — a violation of the member code of conduct for compromising the safety of others — sent celebrants from Dillon’s team scattering on pit road and drew a stern rebuke from NASCAR officials at the scene.”

RCR appealed the penalty, but said appeal was denied.

While I get the win at all costs mentality, and I get Dillon’s desperation to make the playoffs, NASCAR had no other choice here. Dillon could have caused serious damage and/or injuries to other drivers or even fans. The era of “checkers or wreckers” ended a long time ago, and safety should be the top priority. Any intentional action that compromises safety should be punished harshly.

Also, while I get that Joey Logano was upset, his actions could have been much more damaging, potentially injuring crew members, officials, or members of the press. I get his anger, but he left NASCAR no other choice.

Now we get to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series TV deal. I’m sticking to what I said last year. Here is the meat of the deal that starts in 2025.

FOX Sports and NBC Sports will return. Each will carry 14 events.

The FOX Sports portion of the Cup Series schedule, which kicks off the season with The Busch Light Clash followed by ‘The Great American Race,’ The DAYTONA 500. This will include races on both FOX and FS1.

FOX Sports’ coverage will also include live events for the entire NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season. This is the best thing to happen in this deal…provided they get Jamie Little out of the booth.

NBC Sports’ coverage of the Cup Series will encompass the final 14 events of the season, including the Playoffs and Championship race. These races will air on NBC and USA.

Both partners will feature a mix of broadcast and cable events, with five Cup events airing on FOX and four on NBC annually. The remaining events will air on FS1 and USA Network, respectively.

In addition, two new partners, Prime Video and TNT Sports will evenly split a series of 10 mid-season races. Both have also obtained exclusive rights to practice and qualifying sessions for the entire Cup Series schedule through 2031.

Prime Video will stream practice and qualifying live for the first half of the season through their last race of the mid-season series.

TNT Sports will host the next five mid-season races simultaneously broadcast live on TNT and streaming on the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On on Max. Practice and qualifying for the remainder of the season will stream on Max and air on truTV.

Well, they did exactly what I thought they were going to do, which is precisely what I thought they shouldn’t do. TNT is a sports powerhouse, but many NASCAR fans aren’t exactly fond of their classic “sell as many ads as humanly possible” style of broadcasting. However, as they will be broadcasting on traditional television, it’s defend-able.

With Prime Video, however, NASCAR decided to put the horse be cart. As we saw with the NFL’s Peacock only game, fans were PISSED! Many fans who pay for NFL-created streaming platforms couldn’t watch through those platforms. Well, this is what’s going to happen for NASCAR.

As I’ve said before, NASCAR should focus on what they have, instead of what they want. Well, they’ve shit the bed with this new deal. Fans are irate, and justifiably so. Why? At the time of production, Amazon Prime Video is Prime Video membership is $8.99 per month. With a five race package, that would mean that fans will have to pay a total of $17.98 to watch five races. which amounts to $3.60 per race.

In addition since many TV sets aren’t automatically of the smart variety, and some cable services don’t offer apps with certain packages, this is going to limit how many fans are going to watch. Remember, the streaming-only tactic has been tried with the Honda Indy Toronto in IndyCar, and the viewership numbers were so low that Peacock was too embarrassed to release them. The number was so bad, neither IndyCar or Peacock would release them. Let that sink in…go ahead, I’ll wait…

With that, I do understand why NASCAR isn’t doing a Peacock-only race for that reason. It should also be noted that Peacock might be on the way out sooner rather than later. Early last year, I claimed that Peacock would lose $3 billion in 2023, the losses are actually $2.8 billion. They lost $200 million less than last year. Let that roll around in your head for a bit. How anybody could justifiable losing over $6 billion in three years is perplexing, and how much longer Peacock can last is questionable. There was a short period where sports streaming was at its peak, but that ship has sailed.

Again, NASCAR should have focused on what they have instead of what they wanted. This new deal is going to run off more fans…which, given how they are currently losing fans, is the worst move. Why? Well…

Remember, NASCAR’s core fan base is traditionally lower-income blue collar conservatives. The are much more traditional in views, and, in addition, might not have the money for a five race Prime Video package. Many don’t watch on cable as opposed to broadcast.

Let’s take a look at the cable losses for 2023.

-2023 FS1 LOSS -1.08 rating -1,962 million

-2023 USA LOSS -0.38 rating -0.774 million

-2023 TOT LOSS -0.64 rating -1.389 million

When you take those yearly losses into consideration, why is blocking out 5 races to your whole fan-base a good thing? I at least gave NASCAR credit for their deal with the CW. I also like that the Truck Series is back on FS1, but they need a new lead announcer.

Bottom line here is that this new move isn’t a good move, and this will run off fans. It’s not a good look at all.

I may or may not do a column next week, I may have something to take care of. I will be back soon though.

Links cited:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nascar/news/nascars-steve-phelps-discusses-future-media-rights-package-schedule-horsepower-status

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/football-fans-irate-exclusive-peacock-game-f-k-you-nfl

https://variety.com/2023/streaming/news/peacock-30-million-subscribers-peak-losses-1235820372/

https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/2023/12/13/24000092/tony-khan-updates-aew-media-rights-negotiations-wbd-ring-of-honor-cw-streaming

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-cw-new-strategy-explained-1235486774/

By David G. Firestone

So I’m back with four news stories that I felt that I needed to discuss. These aren’t in any particular order.

The first is the controversy of Hendrick Motorports and Hooters. Long time NASCAR fans know that Hooters has a long history sponsoring teams, drivers, and races in NASCAR. Hooters has sponsored Alan Kulwicki, Loy Allen Jr., Rick Mast, Brett Bodine, Jason White, Derrike Cope, Nelson Piquet Jr., Greg Biffle, and, most recently, Chase Elliott.

Well, the sponsorship with Chase Elliott came to an end on July 1, 2024. In a statement, Hendrick Motorsports stated:

“Hooters has been a valued partner of Hendrick Motorsports since 2017, contributing to our shared successes both on and off the track. In recent months, however, Hooters has not been able to meet its business obligations to our organization. Due to these unfortunate and unexpected circumstances, and despite extensive efforts on both sides to identify a workable solution, it became necessary for Hendrick Motorsports to end the relationship. It has been a privilege having Hooters as a part of our team and we wish them the best.”

The Jayski article has also noted that: “Hooters has struggled recently and just announced the closure of 44 locations nationwide.”

Let’s be honest, Hooters sucks. Their wings are meh, and there are plenty of other places that make better wings. The whole “hot women serving food” trope has been going out of style for years, and justifiably so. Hooters is another example of a product from a bygone era that is struggling to stay afloat. It’s just not good at all, so this comes as little surprise. Sometimes the end of an era is a good thing, and this one of those times. Goodbye Hooters, you won’t be missed.

Speaking of sponsorships, its come out that NASCAR is looking for a fifth “premier partner” for the Cup Series. Currently, the four premier partners are Xfinity, Geico, Coke, and Busch Light. According to Jayski, these partnerships are $15 million for 2-3 years, and Geico and Xfinity’s deals are soon to expire. NASCAR is working to resign, but is also looking for a fifth partner.

According to Jayski:

“Xfinity Mobile is a key product for Comcast and figures to be an important part of the next deal. Xfinity currently spends more than $10 million in the sport annually, all told, according to sources. The major question is whether Comcast will continue being both a premier partner of NASCAR and title sponsor of the Xfinity Series. Sources say it’s possible Xfinity could do a short-term renewal as title sponsor before shifting its relationship in the coming years to just being a premier partner.

Geico also is said to be in renewal discussions, and industry executives have waffled all year on whether the Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurer will renew. The company has had a multitude of executive and agency changes in recent years, which often equals change in sports marketing deals.”

All of this is understandable, but here is one my questions…Why aren’t Goodyear or Sunoco premier partners? The official tire and gas providers aren’t premier partners…why? How? Wouldn’t those two be perfect fits for the new premeir partners? Second How will this affect the charter negotiations? I honestly thought that the deal would be done by now. Let’s say that there is a fifth partner brought on before the end of 2024. Would the teams leverage for more money? There is already issues with a potential Netflix special being derailed due to charter negotiations. So how would this potential deal affect them? We will have to wait and see.

Now we get to the Grau Gauldng suspension. This was something i’ve had bookmarked for some time, but never got around to. We start on April 2.

According to TobyChristie.com:

“Gray Gaulding, a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was arrested by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office at 7:17 AM ET on Tuesday, April 2 on Misd. Crime of Domestic Violence. Gaulding was released at 12:42 PM ET on Tuesday, April 2. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest to TobyChristie.com.”

The next day,NASCAR issued this statement:

“NASCAR officials issued an indefinite suspension to part-time driver Gray Gaulding on Wednesday evening.

The Charlotte (N.C.) Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Department listed Gaulding among its arrest records Tuesday. According to department records, the Cornelius Police Department arrested Gaulding on Tuesday morning on misdemeanor domestic violence charges. Gaulding was released from custody later that afternoon.

Gaulding has made 158 career starts across all three NASCAR national series, none of which have come this year.

The final update came on July 25, this one from Queen City News:

“A domestic violence charge has been dropped against a suspended NASCAR driver in Mecklenburg County, court records confirm.

Dwayne ‘Gray’ Gaulding Jr. had been charged with a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence for an incident that allegedly happened back in April.

In court on Thursday the charge was ‘voluntarily dismissed,’ according to documents.”

Well, it’s not like NASCAR lost anything of value. Gray Gaulding isn;t a powerhouse, he’s a back of the pack jack. He’s not in demand, and his career is really over by this point. Why waste any more time on him then?

With that, this week’s column comes to and end, and I will discuss the upcoming WWE and NASCAR broadcasting deals.

Sources cited:

Hendrick Motorsports ends sponsorship with Hooters

https://x.com/KellyCrandall/status/1807796747378315637

NASCAR looking at adding fifth premier partner

Gray Gaulding arrested on crime of domestic violence: UPDATES

https://tobychristie.com/nascar/xfinity-series/gray-gaulding-arrested-on-crime-of-domestic-violence-charge/

NASCAR officials issue indefinite suspension to Gray Gaulding after arrest

https://www.qcnews.com/charlotte/suspended-nascar-driver-in-court-on-domestic-charge/