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NASCAR MUSCLES OUT DRAG RACING Well, it's official. After purchasing 34 percent of cable networks Speedvision and the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) in 1998, Fox Cable (then Fox/Liberty Networks) recently exercised its option to buy out the cable channels' other partners. Speedvision reached only about 14.5 million subscribers when it was launched in 1996, but is now available to about 41 million U.S. homes, so it's acquisition is a significant development for the entire domestic motorsports industry. That's because Fox Sports Net is now well on its way to creating the often-talked-about, much-anticipated, tentatively-titled NASCAR Channel -- at the expense of most of Speedvision's current programming. This includes IHRA Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Sportsman racing, IHBA drag boat coverage, magazine shows with NHRA and IHRA features and news, and enthusiast shows with a drag racing component like Hot Rod TV and American Musclecar. Fox and NASCAR suggest -- initially at least -- there won't be any more than 12 to 18 hours a day (!) of NASCAR-related material on the revamped network, with several of the sanctioning body's lesser-known divisions gaining airtime. Now, I like NASCAR as much as the next guy. In fact, I've attended many races as both a fan and as a journalist, but I don't want to lose even one minute of drag racing coverage to what I see as an already over-hyped racing series that will just abuse its power once it has a proprietary channel. Need proof? The New York Daily News recently reported that NASCAR Vice President of Broadcasting Paul Brooks said the stock car sanctioning body intends to promote itself through the revamped racing channel by co-branding with existing Fox shows. "We're finding out about getting into the [production] process so that Ally McBeal can talk about going to Daytona in a natural way," Brooks said, presumably with a straight face. He claimed NASCAR would crop up as "subtle product placements" in the Fox TV show about a waif-like Boston lawyer who tends to spend more time navel gazing than lawsuit phrasing, but who apparently will soon go stock car racing. "We're looking for those types of placements to show NASCAR is cool, NASCAR is hip, NASCAR is the trend in entertainment," Brooks continued. Hip? Uhhh, okay ... whatever you say, Daddy-O! Brooks also hinted that movie star Richard Gere will stand in front of a "NASCAR on Fox" billboard in an upcoming film. That I don't mind -- as long as it's not a remake of Days of Thunder. I don't think any of us should be subjected to that, no matter how powerful NASCAR becomes. Thankfully, not everyone is standing idly by as NASCAR and Fox pencil in another detail in their plan for world domination. Speedvision enthusiast Lee Janotta has put together a well-reasoned online petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/svsn/petition.html), addressed to Fox Television and its associates, asking them to retain as much current Speedvision material as possible. Admirably, the first person to "sign" the petition was drag racing fan Tom Molyneaux, who wrote, "There is already enough NASCAR Racing on TV. We need more Drag Racing Coverage. Not the Pros But the Stock and Super Stock cars!" Amen, Tom. The most vocal respondents seem to be Formula 1 and motorcycle road racing fans, but plenty of drag racing types are weighing in, too. Paul Crandall, the 34,200th person to submit a response, said, "I watch Speedvision all the time and I WOULD NEVER MISS the IHRA shows!!! Please keep us drag racing fans in mind when you rearrange the channel. We don't have nearly as much on TV as everyone else already and it would be a crying shame to lose this too." Yes it would, Paul. Yes it would. Conspicuously absent from news reports or the petition, is any mention of what will become of Speedvision's extensive Web site (www.speedvision.com), where Drag Racing Online columnist Dave Densmore also plies his trade. Who knows? Maybe DRO will soon be getting exclusives from Dave. That might be the only positive development to come out of this deal. NASCAR already dominates the mainstream press, and the loss of Speedvision will eliminate most other racing series from television, too. As it stands, NHRA's five-year deal with ESPN and ESPN2 is looking more valuable by the moment. We can only hope IHRA will quickly find a new home for its Pro Stock and Funny Car coverage once the NASCAR machine takes over -- preferably added to its Top Fuel/Nitro Harley/Pro Mod show on TNN (where it should have stayed in the first place). Perhaps the greatest problem with losing Speedvision as an exposure tool is that recent gains made by some drag racing divisions and participants will be diminished. Appearing in specialty print and Internet publications like DRO is all well and good, but it just doesn't equal the impact of TV time. Unfortunately, some of the drag racers that Speedvision was making recognizable will fade back into obscurity, and with that loss of recognition they will lose marketability and sponsor appeal, with some perhaps being forced to scale back their racing or even get out of the sport altogether. And that's sad. Especially when ultimately they are just sacrificial
lambs to the wolf that is NASCAR, eating up everything in its path,
even when it already rules the forest and the field.
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