Tag Archives: motor racing

NASCAR on TV: Still A Lot of People, But. . .

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Last Sunday the NASCAR Daytona 500, the opening race and a special one for the entire season, was held. It was televised on Fox Sports.

Reportedly, the audience was 8.9 million. Which would be like everyone in Chicago tuning in.

However, the number of viewers has been declining for the race over the years:

  • 2013: 16.65 million
  • 2015: 13.36 million
  • 2017: 11.92 million
  • 2019: 9.17 million

So since 2013 the Great American Race has lost about half of its viewership.

Some people say that there is a falloff in the viewership of Major League Baseball because the game is so slow.

The average speed at the Daytona 500 was over 140 mph.

Slow is not the issue for televised sports, it seems.

Acura NSX Sets Track Record in Long Beach

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Perhaps it is home track advantage. Or the paint.

By Gary S. Vasilash

A 2022 Acura NSX Type S, driven by Ricky Taylor of Wayne Taylor Racing, who happens to drive an Acura in IMSA racing, set a record for a production car on the street course in Long Beach, California, which happens to be the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach circuit.

He lapped the two-mile course in 1:32:784, besting the 2019 record time set by Peter Cunningham of 1:35:663. Cunningham also drove an Acura.

Ricky Taylor setting a record on the streets of Long Beach in an Acura NSX Type S. (Image: Acura)

The car that Taylor drove—realize that this is a car that you can get at your local Acura dealer—produces 600 hp and 492 lb-ft of torque.

And it is a hybrid. (Makes you rethink the econo-characteristics of hybrid powertrains, eh?)

It is worth noting that they’re going to produce a total of 350 Type S models this, the NSX’s final year, of which 300 will be available in the U.S.

So maybe you should head on down to your dealer at Ricky Taylor speed.

One more thing about the record-setting car: the color it is painted is Long Beach Blue Pearl.

Coincidence?

The Math of Watching Sports

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NBC renews its IndyCar coverage for 2022

By Gary S. Vasilash

There’s the Indianapolis 500. Then there’s everything else.

At least that’s what the numbers seem to say.

The TAD, or Total Audience Delivery.

(Image: IndyCar)

According to NBC, the TAD for the 500 was 5.581-million viewers.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, which was run on July 4, had a TAD of 1.303-million viewers, which allowed it to best the season opener, the Streets of St. Petersburg, which was at 1.225-million viewers.

Clearly there is a significant gap between first and second places.

But what do those numbers mean?

Well, the National Hockey League recently finished up its Stanley Cup Series.

The Tampa Bay Lightning took it in five from the Montreal Canadiens.

The final game had 3.6-million viewers. The first four games had an average TAD of 2.23 million.

So the Indianapolis 500 crushed the Stanley Cup final but the run of the hockey games annihilate the top races of the IndyCar series.

Oddly enough, NBC, which had hosted the NHL, is no longer going to carry the games, which will shift to ESPN and WarnerMedia.

However, the network just announced NBC Sports will be providing coverage of the entire NTT INDYCAR SERIES on its outlets (NBC, USA Network, Telemundo Deportes).

TAD is clearly a curious metric.