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2011 TV Ratings for Edmonton Double from 2010

Per IndyCar PR ...

Viewership of VERSUS' broadcast of the Edmonton Indy on July 24 doubled over the 2010 race at City Centre Airport.

The 80-lap race on the 2.224-mile, 13-turn circuit won by Will Power registered a .60 rating -- the highest-rated IZOD IndyCar Series race on VERSUS this season.

Through seven races, VERSUS has seen a 25 percent ratings increase over its 2010 season average. It will televise the Honda Indy 200 at 2 p.m. (ET) Aug. 7.

"While I'm excited as we all are to see it I'm not surprised by it," said Robby Greene, president and COO of IMS Productions. "We have a fantastic product that gets better each week.

"From the support and leadership we receive from VERSUS through the strategic thinking of our producers and directors to the hardest-working group of professionals in the business actually making it happen on the course, we have an unbelievable opportunity here.

"While this does represent our highest rating thus far, we are seeing the signs regularly that growth is happening and an explosion is imminent. New sponsors, new cars, new tracks and promoters mixed with the fastest and most versatile seat in motor sports, what doesn't spell growth in that formula?"

Maryeve Dufault Gets Called up to NASCAR Nationwide for Montreal Race

Woman of pressdog® Maryeve Dufault will get a ride for the NASCAR Nationwide race in Montreal, very near her hometown of Sorel, Quebec, on August 20.

For Maryeve (pronounced Mary-ev), it will be a return to the track that opened the door for the former open-wheel driver into stock cars. A race on the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010 got the attention of Dodge sponsors and put Maryeve in a full-time ARCA ride in 2011.

For more on Maryeve, read my July 16 interview HERE. News release on her Nationwide race below.

Notes from the 2011 IndyCar Race in Edmonton

Notes taken during the VERSUS broadcast of the Edmonton Indy, Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Airport on July 24, 2011.

pressdog® Beer of the Race is 483 Pale Ale, Great River Brewery, Quad Cities, Canada. KIDDING. The Quad Cities are Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, in Illinois. I know that's FIVE, not FOUR, but let's not quibble.

If Attendance Matters at One Track, It Should Matter at Them All

Curty Cavin of the Indy Star continues his rampage of reader service by giving us an idea of how many seats there are at Edmonton today. Read it here. A LOT was made about attendance at Milwaukee. There was much ridicule over the 12,000 to 15,000 estimated attendance. Actual attendance figures are usually NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Subsequently (four syllables!) the contention has been that Milwaukee will lose its race due to poor attendance, even tough the racing was pretty fine on TV. Fair enough. BUT, if we're going to analyse and praise/condemn a race based on attendance, we should do it for ALL races not just a few. For some readon Toronto got a total pass on attendance discussion. 

At least Curt took the time to give us an idea of what the capacity of the track is, so we can apply a Milwaukee-like analysis to it after today. Read it here.

I Stand with Norway

And on the side of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Prayers and condolences to the people of the great nation of Norway.

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS Penalties are BULLSHIT, IndyCar

Did you know there have been SEVEN infractions of the rules so far this year in IndyCar?

SEVEN, including one that affected race competition, and the league thought they were all NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Curt Cavin and the Indy Star are out with a story today about an INSANE number of double-secret penalties handed out by IndyCar in the recent past. Read it here.

Nothing more disrespecting to your fans than keeping penalties secret. Total horseshit. That's like having refs call penalties during a football game and saying "who the penalty is on and what it is for is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. We've handled it internally."

The reason these penalties are secret is that Brian Barnhart does not want to embarrass sponsors by announcing that their team cheated. Well la tee da. This "we'll tell you what we think you need to know" attitude toward fans is beyond condescending, especially since fans ultimately pay for everything, a concept IndyCar has serious difficulty grasping. A lot more concern about pissing off fans and less concern about stroking sponsors is in order.

An attitude of "don't worry about it; quit bitching; just pay your money and unquestioningly watch whatever we decide to put on the track" is a GREAT way for the league to go belly up -- witness the progress it's made in that direction over these last few years as proof. Thanks to the Indy Star for finally speaking up for its customers (readers, you know, the people who buy the papers?) and getting IndyCar on record, sort of. Read it here.

Nicole Briscoe Promoted at ESPN

Freshly anointed Woman of pressdog® Nicole Briscoe has been promoted at ESPN. Read about Nicole's life in two racing worlds here. News release below ..

Bestwick, Briscoe to Expand Roles in ESPN’s NASCAR Coverage

Allen Bestwick and Nicole Briscoe, two veterans of ESPN’s NASCAR coverage team, will have expanded roles as ESPN’s telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of the season begin next week.

NASCAR Says "I Got Your $5 Million Challenge Right Here, Buddy."

OK, there might be NO correlation at all. It might be total coincidence that IndyCar is staging a $5 Million Insurance Money Challenge during its Las Vegas finale and NASCAR just announced a $3 million Sprint Summer Showdown.

And monkey's MAY or may not be flying out of my ass right now ...

No, that's not fair. I'm not that sure that NASCAR has launched it's "Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO™ 3D" to pee on IndyCar's head. It's just a hunch, but I think a good one.

Iowa Speedway Adds Temporary Seats, Expects 45,000 at Second NASCAR Nationwide Race

Iowa Speedway Tuesday announced it was adding sections of temporary seating for the NASCAR Nationwide racing coming August 6.

The 30,000 permanent seats are sold out and the speedway is adding temporary seating that extends toward both turn one and turn four. Iowa Speedway has added temporary seating -- which is shipped in from a company in Indianapolis -- for previous races. Much of the track record 56,087 that watched the first-ever Nationwide race in 2009 sat on temporary seating.

Dallara's Stefano de Ponti Talks about Progress on the Speedway Dallara Building

The posse over at IndyCar Garage (British pronounciation: GAR-idge) rolled to a media update re: the Dallara buidling in Speedway, Indiana today. Check the video HERE.