Wednesday, October 21, 2009

RCR announces changes: Richard Childress Racing continues to retool
team leadership with its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR
Nationwide Series teams. Following this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series race at Martinsville Speedway, Todd Berrier will take over the
crew chief duties of the No. 31 Caterpillar team with driver Jeff
Burton while Doug Randolph assumes Berrier's duties on the No. 07 Jack
Daniel's team with driver Casey Mears. Starting this week at Memphis
Motorsports Park, Dan Deeringhoff will replace Randolph in his return
to the No. 29 Holiday Inn team with drivers Burton, Clint Bowyer and
Stephen Leicht in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Scott Miller, who has
led the No. 31 team since 2005, will move fulltime to the director of
competition position he was named to in September. Minimal changes
will also be made among crew members for the No. 07 and No. 31 teams.
The crew chief position for RCR's development program will be named
later. "I said previously that RCR would continue to adjust our team
lineups in order to have the right personnel in place and this is the
next step in that process," said Richard Childress, president and CEO
of Richard Childress Racing. "Todd, Doug and Dan are all proven
winners so the goal of these moves is to put them in the best
situations to continue that success. I'm confident that making these
changes now will be a benefit to the teams for the rest of this season
as well as in preparing for 2010."(RCR PR)
http://www.racewayreport.com/rcr

ABC ratings down at Charlotte: ABC's live coverage of Saturday night's
NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.,
earned a final national household rating of 3.5, averaging 5,484,745
viewers. The rating was down from a 3.8 for last year's race that also
aired on ABC. ESPN2's live coverage of Friday night's NASCAR
Nationwide Series race at the same track earned a final national
household coverage rating of 1.4, averaging 1,711,780 viewers and up
from the 1.1 for last year's rain-delayed race that also aired on
ESPN2.(ESPN)
http://www.racewayreport.com/tv

NASCAR ratings are down double-digits from 2008: There have been many,
the sky is falling stories about the NASCAR TV ratings so far in 2009.
While the TV numbers are down from 2008, and way down from their peak
in 2004 and 2005 the sky is hardly falling. IN fact NASCAR Sprint Cup,
Nationwide, and Camping World Truck racing remain a very valuable TV
property. However, the numbers are down and many older NASCAR fans are
not happy with the current version of NASCAR or completely sold on its
current class of drivers. On average over TV broadcasts on Fox, TBS,
ESPN, and ABC the TV ratings are down 12% from 2008. Since attendance
is also down it seems to paint a picture of a sport in crisis. However
each Sprint Cup race of the 2009 season is averaging just under five
million TV viewers. Nationwide series races, predominantly shown on
ESPN2 are averaging about 1.6 million TV viewers. TV ratings for the
Truck series are actually up, and up significantly even though they
are broadcast on Speed TV and average around 450k TV viewers.
(Inquisitr)
http://www.racewayreport.com/tv

Busch and Logano to appear on WWE RAW: Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are
scheduled to serve as special guest hosts of WWE's Raw in Buffalo,
N.Y., this Monday night. The show airs on the USA Network at 9:00pm/et.
(WWE)
http://www.racewayreport.com/jgr

Daytona Preseason Thunder dates confirmed: Daytona International
Speedway confirmed its Preseason Thunder Fan Fest dates as Jan. 15-16.
The top NASCAR stars will be in attendance as race fans get a preview
of Speed Weeks 2010 and the Daytona 500. "The NASCAR Preseason Thunder
Fan Fests have become a great opportunity for fans and drivers to
interact," Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said.
"What better way to get pumped up for the new NASCAR season than
spending time with the stars of the sport at NASCAR's most storied
race track." (Daytona Beach News-Journal)
http://www.racewayreport.com/daytonanews

Robby Gordon Motorsports announces new crew chief: Robby Gordon
Motorsports announced Doug Richert as the crew chief of the No. 7
Camry for the remainder of the 2009 season. Richert, a NASCAR veteran
with more 25 years of experience and 15 Cup wins, will assume the crew
chief responsibilities starting at Martinsville this weekend. "Doug
brings experience and knowledge to our team, which I hope will help
elevate our Cup performance. He has spotted for us since early June,
but we are happy to have Doug come on board as crew chief this
weekend. He will fill this role for the final five races, and we will
see where it goes from there," commented Robby Gordon. "I am really
looking forward to this opportunity. Even though I have helped Robby
and the No. 7 team as a spotter, I haven't been associated directly
with a team since last May. This opportunity will allow me to be more
hands-on in the decisions of the No. 7, which I hope will directly
improve the team's performance. I am looking forward to the rest of
the year and continuing to push forward," commented Doug Richert.(RGM
PR)
http://www.racewayreport.com/rgm

Danica Patrick in talks with JR Motorsports and MWR? ESPN.com has
confirmed that IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick is talking with JR
Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing about running a limited
schedule of about eight Nationwide Series races -- plus a few Truck
and maybe ARCA events -- in 2010. Kevin Harvick Inc. could be a
player. But sources say those aren't the only options as Patrick
begins preparing for a potential NASCAR career after her IndyCar
career is over.(see more at ESPN.com Insiders)
http://www.racewayreport.com/danica

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