The year before, the Daytona 500 was largely viewed as underwhelming. This showed the rest of the country and non-fans that NASCAR was a major league sport because it was on the networks, just like the football games, just like the NBA games, just like major league baseball.īob Pockrass, then-reporter at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, now at Fox Sports: I think everyone felt like it certainly could help the sport … but I don’t know if people knew what to expect yet from that type of TV deal except knowing that it was bringing in more money. You have the beginning of NASCAR, you have the era where Winston came in (1972) and this was the next era. NASCAR has its start point this was NASCAR. So here you had one network and its cable partner going to do the whole first half of the season, and everybody thought, “Yes, this should give NASCAR the kind of week-to-week traction that the NFL enjoyed.ĭustin Long, then-reporter for Landmark Newspapers, which published the News & Record (in Greensboro, N.C.), Virginian-Pilot and Roanoke Times now at NBC Sports : It was the debut again of NASCAR. Mike Joy, Fox Sports play-by-play announcer : Previously, the Daytona 500 was on CBS, but CBS was not excited about promoting Rockingham on TNN or Atlanta on ESPN. Those who had upfront seats that day, from those who presented it live to television and radio audiences to the writers who captured and froze those transformative events for years to come, recall what unfolded on Sunday, Feb. The race caught the world’s attention - for a reason no one foresaw. And the 2001 Daytona 500 was going to further that ascent. With the strength of Gordon’s corporate image (which made him a Madison Avenue darling), Earnhardt’s connection to stock car racing’s old-school roots, and a new television deal that would make races easier to watch, there was little reason to think NASCAR wouldn’t become a dominating force in the sports landscape. helped push NASCAR from a predominantly niche Southeastern-based sport to one with broad coast-to-coast appeal. Jeff Gordon’s arrival in the early 1990s and his rivalry with seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. ![]() NASCAR’s new television contract came amid burgeoning popularity.
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