As far as the on-track product goes, the 2014 Daytona 500 could not have been more of a rip-roaring success for NASCAR.
There’s always a certain amount of buzz about the Sprint Cup Series’ season-opening race. The most prestigious race at the sport’s most hallowed ground pretty much guarantees extra media attention.
It’s a little like the Indianapolis 500 in that it picks up a lot of casual viewers who probably don’t watch many other NASCAR races all year.
Then, the sport’s most popular driver by the length of the back stretch at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr, held off the field in a frantic last-lap dash to the finish line, recording his second victory in what’s known as the ‘Great American Race’.
It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that there could be no more popular winner at Daytona than Earnhardt.
His legendary father, known as The Intimidator and driver of the black #3 Chevrolet, lost his life on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, when blocking for his team’s cars, driven by Dale Jr and eventual winner Michael Waltrip, as they went like scalded cats for the line.
Did I mention that the weekend’s signature moment happened during prime time because of a record-breaking weather delay of more than six hours? A few late-race cautions bunched the field up and set the stage for a thrilling service.
NASCAR’s Twitter and the companion account run by host broadcasters FOX were working in overdrive late in the race, pounding out tweet after tweet, encouraging people to tune in, promising a memorable finish.
NASCAR got what they wanted, and they got the winner they must always yearn for whenever there’s a race at Daytona – or anywhere, really, given Dale Jr’s ‘Junior Nation’ fans so outnumber the fans of the next most popular drivers it isn’t funny.
Take a walk through the stands at any Sprint Cup Series race and you’ll see at least one in every three fans wearing something with Dale Jr’s face, sponsor or car number emblazoned across it.
The man is a marketing machine. Even before his father’s tragic death he had always generated huge fan buzz, and will continue to do so for as long as he is even reasonably competitive in NASCAR.
The only problem was that the race’s climax didn’t make the sort of inroads television executives at FOX were surely hoping for.
Unlike two years ago, when Brad Keselowski tweeted from his car during a red flag period brought about by Juan Pablo Montoya ploughing into the jet drier during a weather caution, this year’s race was a television disappointment with an average overnight rating of only 5.6.
To put it into layman’s terms, the race averaged 9.3 million viewers this year; last year’s averaged 16.7 million viewers. That’s down a whopping 44 percent from last year.
Against the race was the spectacular closing ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, which never fails to generate big viewers. It’s tough sledding going up against an event that draws in sports fans and non-sports fans alike.
Certainly, it’s not the result NASCAR would have been hoping for, particularly not on the eve of what you feel is, if not exactly crucial, certainly an important season for the Sprint Cup Series.
Why? It’s all about eyeballs, as 2014 marks the final year for long-time TV partners ESPN and TNT. The sport’s powers-that-be in Daytona Beach will be hoping for an uptick in crowds and television numbers this year.
Despite a relatively mediocre showing in terms of eyeballs at the time, Earnhardt Jr’s memorable win is generating headlines in newspapers, on ESPN’s SportsCentre, in magazines and online.
He’ll do the media tour this week, starting in New York City with an appearance on Letterman before racing in Phoenix over the weekend.
That exposure on various platforms suggests we’re likely going to see a renewed interest in the sport from some fans whose interest might have waned over the last few years, which have mostly been a parade of Jimmie Johnson race wins and Championship titles.
It’s the best publicity the sport could hope for, far more effective than even if another favourite – say, Tony Stewart – had gone to Victory Lane. Even Stewart’s popularity is miniscule in comparison.
Earnhardt Jr really carries the torch of popularity for Hendrick Motorsports. His teammate, Johnson, is nowhere near as beloved as the man who sits behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet.
Nor is the other big gun in the Hendrick stable, Jeff Gordon. And that’s with all due respect to the team’s fourth, and oft-forgotten driver, Kasey Kahne, who isn’t quite there yet in terms of superstar status.
A four-time Sprint Cup Series champion, Gordon is hated because he dared challenge Earnhardt Sr, while Johnson, who has won the series six times and is easily the era’s most dominant driver, is loathed in most circles because he simply doesn’t have the persona of so many legends of the sport.
He’s clean cut, polished and barely says anything bar tired racing clichés and sponsorship plugs in media interviews. You get the distinct feeling that The Intimidator would be appalled at the way the sport has become such a corporate machine.
The lack of wins has been holding back Junior Nation from launching into the stratosphere. Earnhardt Jr hasn’t exactly been what you’d call a frequent race winner since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.
In fact, it’s been 55 races and nearly two years since he last won, at Michigan International Speedway in the summer of 2012. He suffered through an interminable 143-race slide before that.
Crucially, Earnhardt has visited Victory Lane only five times since 2005. From a marketing standpoint, that’s far too long for NASCAR’s most popular driver to be out of Victory Circle. Even five races is too big of a gap, really.
Now here he comes, making the biggest of big bangs by winning the sport’s biggest and most important race.
You get the feeling that with Junior goes NASCAR’s fortunes. People tune in and want to watch him win. He has brand recognition through a raft of ads, arguably the most mainstream driver not named Jimmie Johnson.
His win on Sunday was perfect, and exactly the sort of narrative that’s going to get people tuning in and, perhaps just as importantly, talking about NASCAR racing on social media. That’s what really counts these days – social media buzz.
With Junior running well, the sport can start scaling back towards the heights of the early 2000s, where tracks were throwing up grandstands just as quickly as their construction could be organised.
It is true that the sport has fallen from there recently – horrible economic conditions affecting the sport’s traditional southern heartland certainly has not helped – but you might also trace poor attendance and receding TV numbers to Dale Earnhardt Jr not winning.
When he drove the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Junior was winning Sprint Cup Series races often enough.
His first Daytona 500 crown came 10 years ago, driving that now-famous Budweiser ‘Born on Date’ car. The sport was about as high as it had ever been, catapulted even higher after its favourite son finally emulated his father in winning the biggest event there was.
There is a chance here and now. Many believe this is Earnhardt Jr’s year.
He and his crew chief Steve Letarte – who will leave the pit box for a less stressful job as an NBC Sports analyst in 2015 – seem primed and ready to take a shot at that elusive Sprint Cup Series championship after a placing fifth last year.
Certainly, Sunday evening did little to dissuade many of that.
Under NASCAR’s new ‘Chase for the Championship’ rules, a win gets you in, so Earnhardt figures to be a focal point from now until the weekend before Thanksgiving, when the Sprint Cup Series ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway. If Junior wins a few more races early this season, watch the promotional machine kick into gear.
If Junior wins it all in 2014, especially if it involves a close battle with Johnson, then watch out world – NASCAR racing might well be on the way back.
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