To The Victor Go The Spoils

Here is the new issue of Sports Illustrated with Jimmie Johnson gracing the cover. The issue should be on news stands soon. Many thanks to our friends at Sports Illustrated for providing this sneak peek.

Truck Series Finale Gets Big TV Ratings

Here is the official scoop from the folks at SPEED:

The dramatic NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finale on SPEED peaked at more than one million households and put an exclamation point on the most-watched season since the series moved to the network in 2003.

The race at Homestead-Miami Speedway scored a Nielsen Household Rating of .96, up 146 percent from last year’s .39. The broadcast peaked at a 1.39 and marked the highest year-to-year average rating increase of the season.

“What a way to finish,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “The last lap of the last event and we still weren't sure who the champion was going to be. Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday put on an awesome show for the fans."

The 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season on SPEED was the highest rated ever, averaging a .80 rating. On the year, 19 of the 22 races on SPEED saw year-to-year Nielsen Ratings increases, 15 in double digits.

SPEED will air highlights from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Banquet on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET.

Update: The TV ratings for the ABC Sprint Cup Series Homestead race declined by slightly over 5% compared to last season. 2007 was the first year for ABC back in NASCAR TV.

Nice job by SPEED this season, but a tough road for the ESPN and ABC group. Feel free to leave comments on these topics below.

"This Week In NASCAR" Ends A Successful First Season

NASCAR fans got word that SPEED was re-working the longtime Inside Sprint Cup TV series for 2008 and would make some big changes. While the timeslot and the studio stayed the same, SPEED wanted to freshen-up the Monday franchise.

Out as host was Dave Despain and in was the NASCAR TV veteran Steve Byrnes. In was Michael Waltrip and out was Kenny Schrader. Although very popular, one reason for Schrader's departure was the "expert panel" being cut from three members to two.

Greg Biffle was the sole survivor of the faces that had come and gone from the "second guest" chair since original member Johnny Benson had been fired several years ago. This was not the end of the changes, as SPEED had a surprise to unveil.

Chad Knaus would join the panel and rotate appearances with Biffle. This was the first non-driver on the program and it was going to be interesting to see how a crew chief perspective would fit-in with the rather unique views of Waltrip.

Click here for a TDP column that talked about some of the early struggles this new series faced in early 2008. Byrnes and Waltrip worked hard to establish a relationship on this program and it took a while before it clicked. It was interesting to watch these early shows when Byrnes was still doing his best Despain imitation and trying to keep order.

Only when Byrnes finally relented and let the frequent Waltrip tangents flow did the show find an order. One big reason that worked was Chad Knaus. At first, Knaus had a classic deer-in-the-headlights look at almost everything Waltrip would say.

Then, one day Knaus started to give it right back to "Mikey" and suddenly things clicked. SPEED's version of The Odd Couple was born and the show has never looked back. When both Byrnes and Knaus just totally take whatever Waltrip throws-out in stride, the shows are great.

Credit this season also goes to Greg Biffle. Finally emerging from his TV shell, Biffle has proven to be a focused and intelligent person. He enjoys Byrnes and Waltrip because suddenly Biffle's opinion counts. That was a struggle for Biffle in the earlier version of the program with a different host.

Speaking of the third voice, the only way the final show could have been any better is if Chad Knaus was present. Several times this year TWIN has done special shows with three panelists and the results have been a much more diverse conversation.

As the program heads into next season, the suggestions have been simple. Add a third panelist and eliminate the long edited features. Scanner chatter, race highlights and a Humpy Wheeler monologue are plenty to overlay on some good conversation.

Fans were very appreciative earlier this season when the SPEED executives finally put the review of Sunday's race before the preview of the upcoming event. Several format changes were also made, including extended email questions and a review of all three NASCAR races from each weekend.

Watching the final program on Monday night revealed three tired guys who had worked and traveled hard over the past ten months. The commitment of all four personalities involved in this show should be applauded. The flexibility of The NASCAR Media Group who produce the show should also be commended.

After a rough start, it seems that SPEED has once again put together a cast of characters very capable of entertaining NASCAR fans for an hour on Monday night.

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