The Honda Racing F1 Team picked up two more World Championship points when Rubens Barrichello finished seventh in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix. Rubens survived an incident-filled race in Montreal to finish seventh. Barrichello drove a tenacious race from start-to-finish.
“I’m pleased with the two points today,” said Rubens, “particularly as we thought our chances of a points finish were slim when we started the weekend. It was a very tough race and I have not been feeling well since yesterday due to a cold, which made it an even tougher physical challenge. “Yesterday I didn’t know if I was going to be well enough to race, so all things considered we did a good job today and I'm pleased to keep up the points-scoring momentum from Monaco."
Coming away from Canada, Team Principal Ross Brawn said: “We always knew this was going to be a tough race for us but we made the best of the opportunities and came away with more points. That is the approach we need to maintain. We are heading to Barcelona next week ahead of the French Grand Prix (22 June) in Magny-Cours, where the higher downforce characteristics of this track and potentially high temperatures will suit our car better.”
Robert Kubica achieved his first Formula One victory on the Montreal circuit. Kubica didn’t put a foot wrong as he led home team mate Nick Heidfeld to record his, Poland’s and BMW Sauber’s maiden win.
Well, Bobby Hamilton Jr. is not running in Mexico, which results in him not being a Nationwide Series regular, in my opinion. I have known this for a month and had been hoping Bobby would get another ride. But it hasn't happened.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2008) -- Team Rensi Motorsports announced today the signing of Boris Said to pilot the No. 25 No Fear Energy / Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion for the two NASCAR Nationwide Series international races -- in Mexico City (April 20) and Montreal (Aug. 2).
So it is time to change horses.
This week, the Germain Racing team heads south of the border to Mexico City, Mexico, for NASCAR’S first road course race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for their first practice on Friday, April 19th, at 2:00 PM (ET). Final practice is also on Friday at 4:05 PM (ET), followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon at 11:35 AM (ET). The Corona 200 is on Sunday, April 20th, and it will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
O.K., so it isn't pretty. It might not even be anything to brag about. But Bobby Hamilton Jr. is steady and he perseveres as he moves in to sixth place in the Busch Series standings this week. Bobby remains second in the Busch regular standings to Jason Leffler.
From bobbyhamiltonjr.com
The ability to overcome adversity allowed Bobby Hamilton, Jr., driver of the Eckrich Meats/Kroger/McDonald’s Ford, to finish in 13th place on Saturday Night. After a penalty for speeding on pit road dropped Hamilton back to 28th position with less than 100 laps to go, Hamilton began his charge back to the front. The determination allowed Hamilton to grab the 13th place finish and move to sixth in the NASCAR Busch Series Point’s Championship.
“The penalty hurt us, it kept us from probably finishing around sixth or seventh,” Hamilton said. “Our car was strong all night long, and we helped ourselves in the point’s race again.” “We really enjoyed driving this car for Eckrich Meats and Kroger. We got to meet a lot of their customers and employees this week and that’s always a lot of fun.”
Jason Leffler, a regular driver on the Busch Series, rocketed his way past Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle for the win late in the race. The Busch Series will now head North of the border for a road course race in Montreal on Saturday. Check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.
Companies like Subway, Dish Network, Dunkin' Donuts and Wal-Mart have reportedly been interested in replacing Busch. However, there is the little matter of the $30 million price tag NASCAR is asking for the series, second only to Nextel Cup in popularity among U.S. race fans.
When you think about it, $30 million is really not all that much money. A primary team sponsorship in Cup these days is creeping ever closer to that level right now, and that's just for one car on a top-flight team. The sticking point seems to be what the company will get for its investment. There's the outlay for the rights to the sponsorship, and then there are related costs like marketing, personnel, signage and more.
To help understand why this is a difficult process, you must first apply the economics against the potential for return. NASCAR's asking price for the Busch Series sponsorship is a little less than half what Nextel pays for the Cup Series, which is an estimated $70 million a year for 10 years. The outlay for the Busch Series sponsorship will likely be around $300 million over a 10-year period. Chances are the terms won't be much less than 10 years -- continuity is a big deal these days to NASCAR.
According to its research, there are 75 million NASCAR fans in North America, and that number has been static for the past six years. That suggests that the sport is maturing, and while it gains new fans every year, the overall number hasn't gone up very much. A company looking to get into the NASCAR arena will look at that and measure potential value against the numbers and come up with the following equation: invest $300 million for the right to market to 75 million fans over 10 years, and add in the associated costs.
The Busch Series, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last season, has grown by leaps and bounds alongside the Cup Series during the past 15 years or so, and is a valuable sports property in its own right. In addition to running many combo events with the Cup Series, the Busch Series has stand-alone events across the country. It also has the only two races on foreign soil, in Mexico City and Montreal. The Busch Series also fills the role of test pilot when NASCAR officials consider expanding the schedule. Mexico City and Montreal are the first steps in that expansion, and a potential race in Asia is probably next on the list.
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