Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Hamlin Blasts Childress' Grandson Following Texas Nationwide Race; Crashes Austin Dillon Into Pit Wall!

Current NASCAR

He may be wearing a black hat and driving a black #3 car, but Richard Childress' grandson, Austin Dillon obviously didn't intimidate Denny Hamlin at Texas in the Nationwide race Saturday night. The best part of the entire Texas race telecast was ESPN's post-race inteview with an animated and agitated Denny Hamlin talking about Austin getting his ride because of his name and how he ought to be made to fix his own car.

I note in their story that Sporting News has cleaned up the language a little from what I heard Denny say on ESPN that Austin ought to do, though. Wonder how many Sporting News readers know the definition of "Nepotism," lol. Boys have it!

By the way, I couldn't agree with Denny more... the kid may have a #3 on his car and drive a black car, but we all know who he's not.

Denny Hamlin-Austin Dillon feud: Hamlin levels nepotism charge against Childress driver

Bob Pockrass

Sporting News

FORT WORTH , TexasAustin Dillon thought Denny Hamlin didnt race with a whole lot of respect late in the Nationwide Series race Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Dillon, who finished sixth while Hamlin was fifth, showed his displeasure by crowding Hamlin on pit road following the race. Hamlin responded by putting Dillons car in the wall and then making what could be considered quite a disrespectful comment.

He got his ride because of his name, Hamlin said.

Dillon is the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, whose daughter married former driver Mike Dillon.

My last name is Dillon, Austin Dillon said. If you look back in the books, there isn't really anybody named Dillon that ran real well.

My dad hit the wall a lot so I'm going to blame it on him. But no That's a good comment for him (Hamlin) if he wants to think that way. Ill take the high road.

Hamlin said that Dillon has a history of not giving anyone room and thats why Dillon has gotten into wrecks earlier this year.

If hes points racing, you cant crowd a guy thats running (just to win), Hamlin said. Im on the bottom. Im all the way to the apron.

Im doing everything I can and after the checkered flag he wants to run into me? So I ran him into the fence.

Dillons crew was angry with Hamlin after the race and surrounded him by his car but there was no altercation.

(His crew chief) says, Look, he aint got to fix it, Hamlin said. Maybe (Dillon) needs to take his little (butt) over there and fix the racecar if he wants to keep wrecking.

He needs to learn a lesson.

Sitting third in the standings at 21 points behind leaders Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler, Dillon said he needs to race hard for every spot.

He put us four-wide and it wrecked (two other cars), Dillon said. I was just letting him know I wasnt happy about it so we got into it after the race.

Dillon said he and Hamlin have played basketball and golf together and he didnt think they had a history of bad blood.

With where were at in the points with (now two) races to go, I need to get everything I can get. I have nothing to lose right now, Dillon said. You dont get these opportunities to race for a championship very often.

Denny knows that, too. So Im just trying to take as much of an advantage of it as I can.

Hamlin wasnt impressed and made a comment about Dillon driving the No. 3 made famous by seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. at RCR.

After the checkered flag, he runs into meI dont know if he feels entitled by the number on his door to think hes tough, Hamlin said.

If hes going to start it, Im going to finish it.

Dillons response?

Im sure it would be all right, Dillon said. Im running races next year, too. So Ill still be here.

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM

Race Sponsor Bails (or as they call it in Texas - the event naming partner)

Current NASCAR

Jeez, Dennis... then how we could we have the "Official" whatevers of NASCAR?

Race Sponsor Bails (or as they call it in Texas - the event naming partner)

Current NASCAR

And the sponsor losses keep mounting. How are things up there in the ivory NASCAR tower, Z?

Business

Race is on at TMS to find new naming partner for April race

Friday, Nov. 02, 2012

By Barry Shlachter

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On a large poster promoting next year's races at Fort Worth's Texas Motor Speedway, the big Sprint Cup series event in April carries only a generic moniker, a sort of space saver: Texas 500.

It won't be the Samsung Mobile 500 any longer.

The South Korean cellphone manufacturer, which began as the race's co-sponsor in 2002 with RadioShack and assumed sole naming rights when the electronics retailer fell on hard times five years ago, is taking a different marketing direction and opting out.

The loss of Samsung comes amid declining overall NASCAR attendance, down 2.4 percent by midsummer, according to USA Today, and down 8.5 percent from 2009. In its most recent quarterly report, the local track's owner, Speedway Motorsports Inc., blamed the down economy for lower revenues from admissions, broadcast and naming rights.

The situation could be worse.

Eight companies have expressed interest in naming rights of the April race, the track disclosed.

Each will send executives to the track today to get an up-close look at what NASCAR means to fans, says Devron Jeffers, the speedway's director of sales. His staff started by making face-to-face pitches to more than 70 companies after Samsung announced it was waving the checkered flag on its sponsorship.

"My gut tells me we may have a deal fairly soon," said Eddie Gossage, 54, president of Texas Motor Speedway. He gave Jeffers' team an 85 to 90 percent chance of "reaching some kind of agreement in the next month or so."

After three years of declining TV ratings, NASCAR viewership recovered last year.

Stephen Ho, a Cornell University MBA student who has analyzed the speedway's publicly traded parent, SMI, noted in mid-October that ratings dipped this year but quoted a Fox executive as attributing the trend to 18- to 34-year-olds channel-hopping to other eye candy.

On Sept, 8, the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway had top TV ratings for its time slot on ABC, beating Fox's college football matchup, UCLA vs. Nebraska. In April, when Fox had the Samsung Mobile 500, it trounced ABC, which televised Titanic, by pulling 6 million viewers to the film's 4 million.

"Viewership is the biggest barometer of how well and how quickly sponsorship will be sold," said sports business consultant Dean Bonham of Vancouver, B.C.-based Bonham/Wills.

"Viewership is not down that much," he said.

Bonham warned that U.S. interest in professional soccer was expanding quickly and could put greater pressure on NASCAR, even though it has established itself as a major sport.

Citing company figures, Ho says that naming rights and sponsorships provide SMI with about 13 percent of revenue, which works out to about twice that of merchandise sales, or half of gate receipts and slightly less than a third of broadcast fees.

Jeffers says naming rights could bring Texas Motor Speedway $1.5 million to $2 million, depending on the various marketing and signage options the eventual sponsor chooses.

That said, Gossage disclosed that the local track won't instigate a bidding war if more than one company is keen on sponsorship.

"That's not our style to have people bid [against each other]," he said.

Gossage also said that the local track has set a flat base price for naming rights and that it's somewhat lower than what Samsung paid. "It's a tougher economy than when we signed with Samsung."

"There's no doubt especially during the last few years when the economy went south, that attendance and ratings took a decline, and pricing also took a reset," said Jimmy Bruns of Charlotte, N.C.-based GMR Marketing, which has negotiated NASCAR race naming rights in the past. "Still, NASCAR gets 100,000 people each race weekend."

The April Sprint Cup Series race is a highly prized property because football and basketball seasons are finished, and Dallas-Fort Worth is a sizable metro market, Bruns said, adding: "And there's little motor sports competition elsewhere in Texas."

True, but attendance here has slipped -- from 169,000 at the 2011 Samsung 500 last year to 158,000 this past April.

Jeffers said that the eight potential sponsors include a large automaker, a financial services firm, a maker of household cleansers, a logistics company, a mattress retailer, a cheese snack maker, a communications infrastructure company and a convenience store chain.

During a speedway visit, representatives of the potential sponsors were given VIP treatment that included tours and presentations. Each saw original mockups of their respective company trademark redone as a naming rights race logo.

"They get a 360-degree look," said Jeffers. "They're going to see the suites, the midway and what people in the grandstand seat will see." At one such visit recently, he said an executive got up and grabbed the logo placard, saying, "I'm taking this to the board!"

The track insists that race naming rights imbues more than symbolic linkage with NASCAR. Sponsors will see a real return on investment. "We are going to over-deliver," Jeffers asserted.

Still, Bonham expressed surprise that five months before the April race a deal hadn't yet been struck. "I tell my clients that it takes six months to a year between contact and contract."

Gossage agreed, explaining that talks with the possible sponsors had been ongoing.

"Contact with these various prospects began many months ago," the track president said. "And even after we shake hands, it still takes months to have a contract signed. So it could well be six months to a year."

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM

The Creepy Danica Song

Current NASCAR

Kyle tried to do too many things at the same time. As Pkl pointed out, he could have had a good career in Country Music. He was hooked up with Don Light, a very knowledgeable Nashville insider.

The Danica song is very much tongue-in-cheek. I wish he had picked one or the other and excelled, but that was not his style.

The Creepy Danica Song

Current NASCAR

The Creepy Danica Song

Current NASCAR

I did not expect such a nice comment!

The Creepy Danica Song

Current NASCAR

The Creepy Danica Song

Current NASCAR

Am I the only one who missed Kyle Petty singing his creepy "Danica" song on tv a while back?If you didn't see/hear it, check the reply box below.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM

At Atlanta on November 3, 1985 The Wood Brothers Made Me a Hero

Stock Car Racing History

Thanks, fellas. Much appreciated.

At Atlanta on November 3, 1985 The Wood Brothers Made Me a Hero

Stock Car Racing History

Thanks, Tim. Joyce, too has often urged me to write a book, but the very best parts I can think of I would not want to repeat in my lifetime or the lifetime of some of the other guilty parties.