Television ratings for the eight NASCAR Sprint Cup points races run this season are down 13 per cent, however the slumping economy is not to blame according to a veteran racing writer.
Last Saturday's race in Phoenix, beginning at 8:44 p.m. EST, was down 18 per cent from 2008 drawing an estimated 6 million viewers compared to 7.2 million last season. All individual race TV ratings are down on their equivalent races in 2008.
"I truly believe ratings are down because of the COT (new race car), not the economy," said Don Coble of Morris Communications, a racing writer who has covered NASCAR since 1979.
"If the economy is bad and people aren't going to races, it should increase ratings, not kill them. I've had three track general managers tell me the COT, not the economy, is their greatest threat because there's no such thing as side-by-side racing on the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks. The COT also was supposed to make it easier for new teams to win, but in fact it's narrowed the field - and one of those on the outside looking in is Dale Earnhardt Jr."
The first eight Sprint Cup races have drawn an average total of 9.3 million viewers compared to 10.6 million last year.
