Speedway Motorsports Announces Record Event Weekend at Texas Motor Speedway
5 April 2000
Speedway Motorsports Announces Record Event Weekend at Texas Motor Speedway
CONCORD, N.C., April 4 - Officials of Speedway Motorsports,
Inc. today announced that the March 30 - April 2 racing weekend at
Texas Motor Speedway drew more than 300,000 total spectators over the four-day
weekend and produced record results for the company.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. scored his first career NASCAR Winston Cup victory in
the DirecTV 500, while Mark Martin reaffirmed his dominance in the NASCAR
Busch Series, Grand National Division by winning the Albertson's 300 Presented
By Pop Secret after a five-hour rain delay. Li'l Texas Motor Speedway opened
with capacity crowds for the debut of the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Sprint Car
Series.
"While we did have some weather challenges to deal with this past weekend,
the weekend was a great success for the Company," stated Bruton Smith,
chairman and chief executive officer.
"We continue to believe in the strength of NASCAR racing. The television
ratings for the first four Winston Cup Series broadcasts have ranked first or
second for all sports programming during the week in which they were broadcast
further demonstrating the strength of motorsports racing as a media leader,"
stated H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, chief operating officer and president.
Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports
entertainment in the United States. SMI owns and operates Atlanta Motor
Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor
Speedway at Charlotte, Sears Point Raceway, and Texas Motor Speedway. SMI
provides event food, beverage and souvenir merchandising services through its
Finish Line Events subsidiary, and manufactures and distributes smaller-scale,
modified racing cars through its 600 Racing subsidiary. SMI also owns
Performance Racing Network which broadcasts motorsports programming to over
500 syndicates nationwide.
The top ten network and cable telecasts by the week are listed below.
For the week of 2/14/00 - 2/20/00
Network
1. CBS NASCAR: Daytona 500
2. CBS PGA: Nissan L.A. Open Final Round
3. NBC NBA Basketball
4. CBS PGA: Nissan L.A. Open Third Round
5. ABC Chevy Skating Spectacular
6. CBS Gatorade Twin 125's
7. CBS NASCAR: NAPA Auto Parts 300
8. NBC NBA Basketball
9. NBC NBA Basketball
10. ABC NBA Basketball
For the week of 2/21/00-2/27/00
Cable
1. TNN NASCAR: Dura-lube/Kmart 400
2. HBO Boxing: De La Hoya-Coley
3. HBO Boxing: Gatti-Gamache
4. ESPN PGA: World Golf Championships
5. ESPN PGA: World Golf Championships
6. TNN NASCAR: Dura-lube/Kmart 400 Preview
7. TNN NASCAR Garage
8. TNN Trucks!
9. TNN Car & Driver Television
10. ESPN PGA: World Golf Championships
For the week of 2/28/00-3/5/00
Network
1. NBC NBA: Lakers-Heat
2. ABC NASCAR: CarsDirect.com 400
3. NBC PGA: Doral Open Golf
4. NBC NBA: Jazz-Knicks
5. CBS NCAA Basketball: Indiana-Wisconsin
6. NBC NBA: Kings-Spurs/76ers-Bulls
7. NBC PGA: Doral Open Golf
8. CBS NCAA Basketball: UCLA-Stanford
9. NBC NBA Tipoff
10. ABC European Figure Skating Championship
For the week of 3/6/00-3/12/00
Network
1. CBS NCAA Basketball Selection Show
2. ABC NASCAR: Cracker Barrel Stores 500
3. ABC International Race of Champions (IROC)
4. NBC NBA: Spurs-Knicks/Raptors-Sonics
5. CBS NCAA Basketball Postgame
6. CBS NCAA Basketball: Mich. State-Illinois
7. NBC PGA: Honda Golf Classic
8. CBS NCAA Basketball Between Games Show
9. ABC Horse Racing: Florida Derby
10. ABC Figure Skating: ISU 4 Continents
Source: Neilson Media Research, Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal