| By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
October 26, 2006
11:06 AM EDT (15:06 GMT)
It's probably the most asked question among race fans since ESPN/ABC announced they were getting back in the NASCAR business: When those networks begin televising races next season, will they be showing commercials in split screen like they do with the Indy Racing League? Don't bet on it. "Our current contract with NASCAR doesn't allow us to do that unilaterally," said Rich Feinberg, coordinating producer for ESPN/ABC motorsports coverage. "It's something that requires many, many people to sign off on, including all those individual sponsors in their totality because you don't want to do it sometimes and not others." "It's being looked at, but it's not something that's currently planned." As far as the number of commercials fans can expect, Feinberg said it won't be much different than what you're seeing now. "It's a challenge and a very fine balance between when you go to commercial and when you don't because ... we have to air commercials. That's what pays the bills," Feinberg said. "We're working very, very closely with NASCAR, our partners, in trying to keep the appropriate amount of commercial time that they feel is right for their sport and we think is right for our sport." Feinberg said his networks do plan to break into commercials if something significant happens on the racetrack. Still, what is the appropriate number? "Similar to what the fans are experiencing today," Feinberg said. "If the concern was that the rights fees went up X percentage, so will the amount of commercials go up X percentage, that's not the formula. "NASCAR only wants to have so many minutes of commercials and ESPN only want to have so many minutes of commercials, because if you have too many, then you risk losing viewers, ratings go down and now you can't sell the commercials you are airing for the price you need to get for them." NBC will have an abbreviated pre-race show from Atlanta this week beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled for 2:55 ET. Bobby Labonte will fill in for Wally Dallenbach in "Wally's World," since Wally will be in Memphis on Saturday (the day the segment is usually taped) covering the Busch Series race. Frank Kimmel, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin are the scheduled guests for Friday's Trackside from Atlanta (9 p.m. ET, SPEED). If you're going to Atlanta, the show will be taped at 5 p.m. at the SPEED stage behind the main grandstand. The ratings news continues to be disappointing. Sunday's Subway 500 from Martinsville drew a 3.5 overnight rating and a 7 share, nearly 8 percent below what the race drew one year ago. In this week's edition of "Ask Wally and Benny," many fans want to know what drivers do when they are not wheeling their cars around the racetrack. Wally Dallenbach served up this one: "The thing that most people don't realize about NASCAR drivers is that away from the racetrack there are a lot of other things they have to do," he said. "It's not hanging out for three or four days before heading back to the racetrack, these guys are businessmen like a lot of other people. "It's different for everybody though," Dallenbach said. "Most of the drivers fly home after the race on Sunday and a lot of times on Monday the driver will either go into the shop or call the shop and debrief on how the weekend went, what they did right, what they did wrong and what they'll do differently next time. They will also talk about the next race and the setup and things like that." Of course, there are also sponsors to keep happy, Dallenbach said. "Also, a lot of times drivers have appearances almost every day, so they might have to be somewhere with a sponsor commitment," he said. "It really depends on the driver, but guys like Jeff Gordon have tons of sponsor requests and appearances they have to do. Other drivers may go into the shop once or twice a week. There is also the possibility of the team testing somewhere, though there's only a certain number of times a team can test at the tracks they race on during the year. But they are usually back at the track on Thursday afternoon or Thursday evenings." There also might be some non-racing business to deal with. "Most people think that drivers just drive cars and that's how they make a living, but they are also involved in a lot of other different things during the week that are not connected to racing," he said. "These drivers are involved in their own businesses now and have investments. "You also have drivers like Kevin Harvick that not only have their Cup deal but they have a Busch deal as well. So a guy like Harvick, he's probably at his Busch shop every day that he's not at his Cup shop. "To the outsider, it looks like a great life and it is -- I don't think a lot of drivers are complaining -- but there isn't a lot of time to go play. It's not like they can take the weekend off or go to the Bahamas for two weeks or any of that kind of stuff. Out of 365 days a year, they're working 358 of them." Now on to this weekend's busy schedule. Nextel Cup Series: Bass Pro Shops 500 Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway • 1.54-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• 5-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 2,332 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,800 feet Race length: 325 laps/500.5 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • NASCAR Live: 6 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 9 p.m. Fri, SPEED
• Practice: 10:30 a.m. Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 11:30 a.m. Fri., SPEED
• Final practice: Noon Sat, SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: 12:30 p.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 2:30 p.m. Sun., NBC
• Race: 2:55 p.m. Sun., NBC One year ago, Edwards lost a lead of more than 6 seconds when the last of nine caution flags waved for debris on Lap 283. But he was able to regain control and pulled away to earn his third victory of the season, beating four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon to the finish line by 2.713 seconds, half the front straightaway on the 1.54-mile oval. The most recent checkered flag went to Jimmie Johnson, who got his second Martinsville victory Sunday while then-Chase leader Jeff Burton had engine trouble, giving the championship lead to Matt Kenseth and bunching up the field. Keep an eye on Kasey Kahne. He got a break last week when Burton suffered his engine woes and now trails Kenseth by just 99 points in the Chase. Kahne won at Atlanta back in March and he has been devastating on 1.5-mile tracks this season. Busch Series: Sam's Town 250 Track: Memphis Motorsports Park • .75-mile oval
• 11-degree banking in turns
• 4-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 1,100 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,100 feet Race length: 250 laps/188 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • Race: 2 p.m. Sat., NBC One year ago, Clint Bowyer won his second Busch Series race of the season, rallying from deep in the field to win. The most recent checkered flag went to Dave Blaney. Blaney inherited the lead when Casey Mears wrecked Carl Edwards as the two battled for the top position with two laps to go. After the race's third red flag, Blaney held on for his first career Busch Series victory in the Dollar General 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Keep an eye on Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya will pilot the No. 42 Dodge Saturday his third stock-car race since joining the organization. Montoya competed in his first stock-car event in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 6, where he grabbed the outside pole on his way to finishing third. He ran in the ARCA Series finale at Iowa Speedway where he started third and finished 24th. He led 12 laps before making contact with another competitor that sent him behind the wall for repairs. Craftsman Truck Series: EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway • 1.54-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• 5-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 2,332 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,800 feet Race length: 130 laps/200.2 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • Race: 4:30 p.m. Sat., SPEED One year ago, gambling on a late pit stop for fresh tires, Kyle Busch charged from eighth to a victory in a three-lap dash. The most recent checkered flag went to Jack Sprague, who took the lead when NASCAR took it away from Ted Musgrave with 61 laps to go Saturday and won for the first time in 13 career starts at tight and tricky Martinsville Speedway Keep an eye on the final lap. In four previous NCTS races held at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the total margin of victories is .920 seconds. | 
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