"Car racing in the early days was primarily oriented toward the image of man and machine against the elements.  Builders set out to prove that their vehicles strong, fast, and reliable."(Raitz, 24)  In the beginning days of NASCAR the media simply were not interested in this dirty, ill-organized, middle- and lower-class sport.  Dirt track stockcar racing just did not create the “right images” to gain the attention of the nation’s aspiring middle class, thus television coverage of the sport did not make monetary sense.  Yet, promoters tried everything to gain national attention during the early 1960’s.  Organizers of stockcar racing set up and tried to make attractive special races, “safe wrecks,” and international races.(Raitz, 27)
 
 

The first network television coverage of NASCAR racing was a filmed segment of the "Firecracker 400" at Daytona on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" program in 1961.  ABC relied on filmed and taped highlights of the "Daytona 500" on "Wide World of Sports" through 1973. From 1967 through 1971, there was also a closed circuit telecast of the Daytona race, presented by a Tele-Prompter. It was obvious however, that network TV offered more exposure.  In 1974, ABC televised the final 90 minutes of the "Daytona 500," which it continued to do through 1978.  Race fans could listen to the first couple hours of the race on MRN then switch to ABC for the end of the race.(Jennings) However, one important event that really attracted the television networks to NASCAR was the close dramatic finish between Pearson and Petty in the 1976 Daytona 500.  This particular finish set the stage for CBS'stelevising the race from flag to flag only three years later.  After these developments with CBS and continued exciting endings, CBS pioneered the idea for the in car camera, which allowed TV viewers to experience the race from images filmed from inside the race cars.

Netowork television coverage of NASCAR increased the numbers of fans and racetracks significantly, but perhaps the most important development for media coverage of was "the wedding of ESPN and NASCAR."(Jennings) Before ESPN, there might be six or seven Winston Cup races on television each season, but ESPN needed inexpensive live programming and NASCAR needed weekly television.  Television coverage on ESPN and the three traditional networks is becoming more common and audience surveys continue to demonstrate an increasingly national following of NASCAR events.  "Today it is on the brink of becoming an international sport."(Raitz, 28)

As the 1999 Winston Cup season wound down, NASCAR announced a multi-year television package beginning with the 2001 season. "A conglomerate including Fox, NBC and Time Warner, and HBO put together a contract that will bring $400 million annually and up to $2.8 billion over six to eight years to NASCAR for exclusive television rights."(Jennings) Although, this may seem great to the industry of NASCAR, many NASCAR fans have expressed dismay over the new TV package, preferring the coverage from longtime NASCAR television partners ABC, ESPN, CBS and TNN.

Increased media coverage has taken the stockcar series from its early beginnings as a weekend gathering for moonshine runners to its current status as America's fastest growing sport.  However, this has threatened the sport's local roots and Southern identity. Gone are the grammar fracturing drivers who used to tell how they “ knowed” when their engines “blowed.”(Hinton)  Today, young and successfull dirvers like Jeff Gordon, speak with the non-accent of high-class Bay Area upbringing and sophistication.

NASCAR's current labor situation has also become a perfect example of the sport’s growth, and a perfect example of the law of supply and demand. "There are now more sponsors than car owners," says Steve Hemill, crew chief for driver Mark Martin's branch of the Roush Racing operation. He continues to say, "There are more owners than drivers. There are more drivers than crew chiefs." (Hinton)  The result is that crew chiefs now routinely command six-figure salaries and companystock. Soon there will be more teams than there are mechanics to support them.  As a result, the price of labor is soaring. Not many years ago, the typical NASCAR mechanic got a handwritten check for a couple hundred dollars after the race—and there were no benefits. The mechanic was expected to do everything: prepare the car during the week and be part of the pit crew during the races. Now-a-days, observed in 1997, the typical entry-level NASCAR mechanic will start at $40,000 a year with full health, life and retirement benefits, and free fitness-club membership (team conditioning, from the owner to the driver to the gofers, is becoming a NASCAR-wide obsession).(Hinton) Also, chances are good that he will be a specialist. Some teams are now recruiting pit crewmen for their strength and speed rather than for their mechanical knowledge. If you combine these huge NASCAR developments with the "average sponsorship packages of about $7 million per driver per season and teams that are hurtling along packing in $14 million to $21 million per organizational wallet, with nothing but bigger cash flow in sight" (Hinton), it becomes obvious that the modern era of NASCAR is extremely different that it was when it began as an industry in the early 50s and 60s.  Today is is a sport focused on media direct and indirect advertising, merchandising, and ticket sales.  These new adaptations and influences on the sport connect some fans that may have never been interested in NASCAR before, but it distances other that are nostalgic for the small town heroes and less business involvment in the sport.  And for all these changes, NASCAR has television and the increase in corporate sponsors to thank.  NASCAR image has changed from a local Southern sport to a national corporate orgainzation. Hendrick, an experienced commentator of the sport, describes the modern era of NASCAR perfectly when he says, "This thing is a marketing tool, this thing is entertaining, this thing is national, and this thing is going international."(Hinton)
 
 

Two names that usually show up at the forefront in conversations about the greatest driver in NASCAR Winston Cup Series history are Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.(Earnhardt Network) And through the lives and NASCAR careers of these men, the developments of the sport’s television coverage and corporate sponsorship become very apparent. Petty, whose career highpoints came during the 1970’s, has the “all-time” numbers on his side, and Earnhardt has the more recent history of Winston Cup racing. Petty leads the sport's career winning list with 200 victories, more than twice as many as his closest pursuer.  However, "more than half of his victories came in an era when there was often more than one race a week and not every driver competed in every event."(Earnhardt Network)  All 76 of Earnhardt's triumphs came after the circuit was reorganized and significantly streamlined, meaning, in theory at least, he was assured of competing against the best each and every time he raced. To continue this comparison, it is also important to point out that Richard Petty has the title of "The King of Stock Car Racing," and deserves much credit for the recognition he brought to the sport. Yet, when Petty retired in 1992, Earnhardt picked up where he had left off and become the dominant personality representing NASCAR.  It is obvious that these two drivers that drove at different time periods were very significant to the historical and current developments of NASCAR media coverage and corporate involvement. Thus to further highlight these changes, it is helpful to investigate each driver individually and really understand where NASCAR truly began to rise and where it is today.
 
 
 

RICHARD PETTY:  Media and Sponsorship in the 1960s

DALE EARNHARDT: Media and Sponsorship in the 1990s