NASCAR Daily News Headlines * July 17, 2008

AMS Hires Ad Firm

The decline is usually blamed on the expense of gas because NASCAR depends on fans to travel long distances, many in gas-guzzling RVs and campers. Part of the new marketing plan likely will involve shrinking the radius around Atlanta to which AMS markets, Clark said.

AMS is the site for two Sprint Cup events, as well as NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series events in March and October. This likely will be the last season Atlanta’s fall race will be in October.

Clark said the track has been working with NASCAR to move into the Labor Day weekend slot previously occupied by Auto Club Speedway, which would move to a date later in the season. The schedule realignment wouldn’t take effect until 2009 at the earliest.(scenedaily.com)

Matt Kenseth Wins at Slinger Speedway

“It was good hard racing,” Kenseth said, according to a speedway race report. "It was a little bit [of] back and forth, but everybody’s trying to win, and that’s what you do, try to race as hard as you can every lap, and these guys did a great job. They sure made us work for it.”(scenedaily.com)

TNT Ratings Match Last Years Numbers

The network averaged a 4.2 coverage area rating and 5.7 million viewers for the six events, the Daily reports. Its first race this year, the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway, earned a 4.6 coverage rating, up 27.8 percent from last year, but it was the only TNT event to see a ratings increase. The Daily reports that three of the next five races declined from '07.

Coverage of Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, which moved from a Sunday afternoon race last year, saw ratings drop 22.9 percent and viewership fall 19.4 percent. Direct comparisons are somewhat skewed because Saturday night events typically draw smaller audiences.

The race-by-race ratings: June 8 Pocono 500 at Pocono, 4.6, up 27.8 percent; June 15 LifeLock 400 at Michigan, 3.9, even; June 22 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, 4.3, down 8.5 percent; Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire, 4.0, down 2.4 percent; Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, 4.5, even; and LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland, 3.7, down 22.9 percent.(scenedaily.com)

General Motors Cuts Back

GM announced Tuesday that it had suspended its stock dividend and will sell up to $4 billion in assets, moves made necessary by the downturn in sales and the rising cost of gas. And motorsports sponsorships will not be exempt from the cutbacks.

"Like all areas of the business, these areas have not gone without a certain level of scrutiny, and there will be modifications and changes in our promotional footprint in all of those areas," Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, said Tuesday. "We're not going to talk about the details today, and specifically NASCAR, but all those areas have been reviewed and will continue to be as we work these action plans through."

Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns eight tracks that hold NASCAR events, already has been told GM will not renew contracts at two tracks — New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.(AP)

CJM Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing Form Alliance

“We are excited about the opportunity to build a relationship with JGR,” announced Tony Mullet, co-owner of the CJM team along with his brother Bryan. “They are dedicating an incredible amount of time, energy and resources to build their program. For us to be able to tap into some of that is great. Even better that we share the same goals and values outside of racing.”

J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, added, “We look forward to partnering with CJM Racing as they continue their growth in NASCAR. We’ve had a great relationship with Tony and Bryan Mullet and have known them for quite a while. We think very highly of CJM Racing and the way they operate their businesses.”

Earlier this season, CJM Racing announced America’s Incredible Pizza Company as their primary sponsor.

“We are in this for the long haul, so it is important for us to continue to build a strong foundation. We signed the long-term deal with Incredible Pizza Company and by adding the technical support from JGR and Toyota, we feel we have a lot of momentum leading into the 2009 season,” added Mullet.