MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : The Sport Gets Bigger, Faster, More Lucrative

Motor racing, coming off a record year in popularity--both in attendance and TV ratings--shows no signs of backing off in 1995.

NASCAR, the most successful racing organization, will start its 31-race schedule with its prime event, the Daytona 500, on Feb. 19. Qualifying for the two front-row positions is scheduled Saturday, kicking off a run of eight stock car races in eight days at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Interest will revolve around Dale Earnhardt, who has won seven Winston Cup championships but no Daytona 500; and Steve Kinser, a 14-time winner of the World of Outlaws sprint car championship who is making his debut in stock car racing in Kenny Bernstein’s car.

NASCAR’s Winston Cup circuit attracted more than 4.8 million spectators last year, an increase of 875,780, according to statistics compiled by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in its annual survey of U.S. auto racetracks.

Besides the more than 150,000 who saw Sterling Marlin win last February’s Daytona 500 in person, another 9 million watched CBS’ television coverage.

Financial World, in a special report on sports as a growing industry, took a look at auto racing and where it’s headed.

“Although the sport’s popularity is not yet strong enough to warrant more coverage by the major networks at the expense of more lucrative sports, such as pro football and college hoops, some of the major cable networks can’t seem to get enough of the sport,” wrote Keri Goldman and Michael K. Ozanian, assistant managing editor of the business weekly.

As an example, in events shown on ESPN, the article reported a rating of 3.2 for last year’s NASCAR Winston Cup, compared to 1.5 for prime-time college basketball. And on Ted Turner’s TNN, Winston Cup races in 1993 had a 3.3 rating against a 2.5 for the Atlanta Braves during their National League pennant race.

“The demographics (for Winston Cup racing) are very good--usually men age 18 to 49,” said Mark Kuchan, director of motor sports for TNN. “Basically, we find that sponsor interest has become greater as time goes on because racing is spreading north and west at a rapid pace.”

The attraction of moving into new regions was a major factor in the development of the McDonald’s drag racing team, according to owner Joe Gibbs, the former coach of the Washington Redskins.

“Drag racing is just taking off,” Gibbs said during last week’s Winternationals at Pomona. “Corporate America is waking up to the fact that it offers the best bang for your buck that you can get. With the NHRA (National Hot Rod Assn.) we get a presence in major markets such as Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Houston and even Southern California, which we don’t get with NASCAR.

“Motor racing sponsors used to be primarily automotive, beer and tobacco products, but look around the garage area here--there’s McDonald’s, Fruit of the Loom, Rug Doctor, In-N-Out Burger, La Victoria Salsa and more.”

The PPG Cup Indy Car series, which will open March 5 in Miami, also had a record year in 1994 with 2 million fans in the United States, a 3% increase over 1993 figures. Indy car races were also televised to 130 other countries.

The popular open-wheel, open-cockpit series anchored by the Indianapolis 500 is undergoing a political struggle, however, between Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. and the newly organized Indy Racing League. Although the IRL won’t be in operation until 1996, it has an unsettling effect on the Indy car program because it is headed by Tony George, who owns and controls Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.

“It’s going to be very difficult to know what to do next year,” one area owner said, not wanting to tip his hand toward either side. “Not many teams, except maybe Penske, Newman-Haas and Rahal, can afford to build two different cars and run both series, but the rules are so different that you can’t run the same car in both places.

“The new guys (IRL) said one reason for their series was to cut down on expenses, but it isn’t working out that way.”

The IRL is scheduled to open Jan. 27, 1996, at a track yet to be built on the Walt Disney World grounds in Orlando, Fla.

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Motor Racing Notes

MOTOCROSS--Murrieta’s Jeremy McGrath, who has won all four U.S. Supercross events this season, will go for No. 5 Saturday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The Honda rider, who received the Mickey Thompson Award for excellence in motocross at the Anaheim race, is going for his third consecutive national series championship. Damon Huffman of Saugus is favored to win his third 125cc support race.

ROAD RACING--Bill Huth, owner of Willow Springs Raceway, has created the International Road Racing Assn. to conduct a series of events at his 2.5-mile, nine-turn track. Featured will be the Toyota Sportsman Challenge, which ran last year as part of the Sports Car Club of America’s Cal Club schedule. Also on the IRRA program, which will have its first races this weekend, are Toyota MR2 world sports racers, Renault-powered pro spec racers and international pro mini-stocks.

FORMULA ONE--Despite bitter feelings between Nigel Mansell and McLaren team boss Ron Dennis, Mansell signed to become a teammate of Mika Hakkinen on the Marlboro Mercedes McLaren team for the coming season. Dennis has been an outspoken critic of Mansell but reluctantly signed him under pressure from his sponsors. Mansell, returning to Formula One after two seasons with Indy cars, had been rejected by the Williams team in favor of 23-year-old David Coulthard. . . . The start of the F1 season in Argentina has been postponed three weeks to April 9.

INDY CARS--Jimmy Vasser, who drove the last three seasons with Jim Hayhoe’s team, will join Bryan Herta on Chip Ganassi’s Target team this year. Both will drive Reynard-Ford Cosworths. Hayhoe, a Palm Desert-area land developer, will become an associate of Ganassi. . . . Christian Fittipaldi, nephew of Emerson, is leaving Formula One to join Robby Gordon on Derrick Walker’s team.

MISCELLANY--Speedway USA in Victorville will hold its Arenacross championship on Saturday. . . . The Santa Maria Speedway’s annual Danny Simkins Award of Excellence went to Jim Pluhar of Nipomo, who began racing at the track in 1972. . . . Street stocks and factory minis will race Sunday at Sunrise Valley Raceway in Adelanto.