Backseat Blonde - Pre-Chase Coverage Focuses More on Format, Less on Action

November 22, 2004

Pre-Chase Coverage Focuses More on Format,
Less on Action
By Allison Wagda

While ultimately I never was able to convince myself to
buy into NASCAR’s new Chase for the Championship, I
remained very interested in the season finale.

And, I figured, with so much hype surrounding the
Chase, at least I would be able finally see NASCAR take
its rightful place in the sporting news world. Headline
news, the front page, above the fold…right?

Well, not quite. Saturday, the night before the vaunted title race, I spent hours
scouring the Internet to see what the top outlets would choose as the big story.
Would it be the Chase itself? Or a nice feature on one of the Chase drivers? What
face would the news put on the new NASCAR to the general public, those who don’t
love and watch racing the way we do?

I didn’t find much. The major Internet sports outlets largely ignored the Chase. Oh, if
you went to the ‘racing’ section there was certainly coverage. But SI.com, the ‘Net-
based version of Sports Illustrated, left NASCAR off the home page completely, yet
saw fit to include boxing and golf.

ESPN.com had a small story link on the whole Hmiel story buried in a laundry list.

FOXSports.com, one of NASCAR’s broadcast partners? Absolutely nothing.

NBCSports.com, the very network broadcasting the race? A small link buried in a
secondary laundry list if you scrolled the page, and a few stories way down the page
under “motorsports.”

On my local 11 p.m. news there was no mention of the Chase, although that’s hardly
surprising since I’m solidly in blue country.

Even when I found a new story by following the links or searching for NASCAR on
Yahoo news (many on major media sites were a day old), it was inevitably about
Steve Hmiel getting the boot from Homestead (shocking), or Rick Hendrick’s return
to the track (moving), or yet another reporter talking about how wonderful NASCAR’s
new championship format is (tiring).

In other words, hardly anything to satisfy a fan’s fix the night before the big race.

I really wondered why. I mean, this is supposed to revolutionize NASCAR racing.
What good to a fan is coverage of the concept itself? Weren’t there tons of angles
emanating from such a ‘brilliant’ format, stories good enough to make the front
page? What about the other 38 or so drivers on the track…nothing interesting about
any of them on the eve of the finale?

Part of the problem I think was the result of too much focus by NASCAR and its
broadcasting partners on the Chase, and the few drivers still in contention. They all
believed the so-called buzz would build on its own.

Following a weekly pre-race press release Thursday, the only official communication
sent out by NASCAR PR was the transcript of Friday’s press conference. Then the
wire went silent.

Perhaps they assumed the media had all come to them in Homestead, or that
sportswriters don’t work weekends, but as a PR pro I know that many of the most
interesting stories ideas need to be uncovered by those on the inside and offered to
the media. These reporters are often under deadline pressure and don’t have the
luxury to dig for stories. A nice feature idea can spark others too.

I would have been sending out news and story idea bulletins on the weekend’s
events every few hours from about Tuesday on, for wire noise if nothing else. All I
received was a release about how it was the closest championship race in so-many
years…blah blah blah.

Here are a couple ideas: How about yesterday was Terry Labonte’s last race as a
full-time Cup driver after 26 years on the circuit? Or what about little known facts
about Chase drivers? Or how about Boris Said, one of the most versatile drivers in
all of racing, getting another Nextel Cup chance after qualifying at Watkins Glen was
rained out, and how he is planning a partial schedule next year at 42? Or how the
final race of the season would be a great preview of the future since several up-and
coming drivers like Travis Kvapil, Martin Truex Jr. and Shane Hmiel would be on the
track?

Perhaps part of my frustration was also with the lack of pageantry with the entire
event. I know the Daytona 500 is supposed to be our Super Bowl, but this was the
culmination of our new playoff. We should have had fan promotions and interactive
marketing (perhaps some driver chats live from Homestead?) and special features
and advertising everywhere and maybe even a parade or something NBC could have
aired the night before. Anything, ANYTHING to give us a sense of anticipation that
was apparently felt at the track.

And hyping the race during the Busch event isn’t adequate. Talk about preaching to
the choir.

NBC ran a few 15-second promos during Saturday Night Live, but if I was not a
NASCAR fan I wouldn’t have ever known yesterday was the final race, or anything
about it. My local papers had all the stories buried.

Ratings tomorrow will tell the story better, however I strongly feel NASCAR wasted an
opportunity here to vault the sport to another level in public perception. No matter my
opinion of the Chase itself, I would like to see the sport flourish.

The front-page headlines may appear this morning (although it was little more than a
footnote on SportsCenter last night), and that would be nice.

Gaining the public’s attention in advance of the event would have paid far more in
dividends over the long run.

Late side note: NASCAR did make one of the lead stories on the local San Francisco news
last evening...however it wasn't about the Chase. San Jose, Calif. is set to become the latest
Champ car road course in the downtown area. For racing footage, the station leaned heavily on
NASCAR crash video. Why? Because they don't know the difference. Seriously.

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