MRN Radio Announces New Online Programs

With the 2012 racing season almost completely out of hibernation, Motor Racing Network is set to start the New Year by rolling out a fresh lineup of exclusive online programming. The network’s schedule of live streaming content will feature the launch of “The Straight Line,” a weekly one-hour look at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The show will be streamed at MotorRacingNetwork.com and debuts Feb. 8 from 12-1 p.m. (EST) in advance of the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals Presented by Super Start Batteries.

Doug Herbert co-hosts "Straight Line."

“The Straight Line” is an outgrowth of MRN producer Marty Hough’s weekly podcast, which began in 2011. Hough is co-hosting the one-hour online show with current Top Fuel competitor Doug Herbert. The program’s debut will feature 15-time NHRA champion John Force; his daughter Courtney, currently competing in Funny Car; and that division’s 2011 champion, Matt Hagan. Following its one-hour webcast, “The Straight Line” will be available for download from the MotorRacingNetwork.com Media Center as well as iTunes and Stitcher.

Motor Racing Network’s digital programming lineup will also expand into coverage of IndyCar racing and NASCAR Modifieds, with all streaming shows available exclusively at www.motorracingnetwork.com. “The Paddock,” a weekly review of open-wheel racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Formula One, will be co-hosted by MRN producer Eric Morse and driver John Andretti and streamed live from 1-2 p.m. each week beginning Tuesday, March 13, with a preview of the season-opening F1 race in Australia. The program is an extension of a weekly Formula One podcast produced by Morse last year.

MRN’s Kyle Rickey and Buddy Long will co-host “Modified Madness,” debuting Wednesday, March 14, in the 1-2 p.m. time slot. The show will focus on Modified racing across America and feature the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

“MRN Motorsports Monday” and “Winged Nation,” a weekly look at the World of Outlaws Series, already have returned to MotorRacingNetwork.com and are streamed weekly. All of MRN’s online programming is produced by Web Manager Craig Moore.

MRN RADIO Exclusive Weekly Online Programming

(All times Eastern)

Monday, 12 p.m.

“MRN Motorsports Monday”

Tuesday, 12 p.m.

“Winged Nation” -- World of Outlaws

Tuesday, 1 p.m. / Starting March 13

“The Paddock” -- IndyCar and Formula One

Wednesday, 12 p.m. / Starting Feb. 8

“Straight Line” -- NHRA drag racing

Wednesday, 1 p.m. / Starting March 14

“Modified Madness”

AM FM-Energy To Back Hornaday, Gresham

Joe Denette Motorsports has announced that AM FM-Energy.com will continue its support of the team as an active member of their 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series sponsorship lineup. The Virginia-based company will serve as an associate sponsor for former series champion Ron Hornaday’s No. 9 Chevrolet and newcomer Max Gresham’s No. 24 Chevrolet.

"AM FM-Energy.com is proud to partner with Joe Denette Motorsports again for the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season," said Andy Mays, president of AM FM-Energy.com. "With a veteran like Ron Hornaday and an up-and-coming rookie like Max Gresham, we know the duo will be powerful spokesmen for our brand. As a small company in Virginia that sells pellet and wood stoves on our website, we know the power of a NASCAR partnership. We look for both drivers to 'heat things up' in 2012."

AM FM-Energy.com, based in Amherst, VA, is celebrating its seventh year in business in the alternative energy solutions field. The company specializes in multi-fuel stoves, wood stoves and pellet stoves. They also distribute the Timber Ridge line of wood and pellet stoves from England Stove Works.

AM FM-Energy.com sponsored Elliott Sadler's No.24 Joe Denette Motorsports entry in the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Sadler captured JDM's first Keystone Light Pole Award and led 53 laps en route to a ninth-place finish. 

"After partnering with JDM and Elliott Sadler in last year's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol, we saw a tremendous boost in sales through our online store," continued Mays. "We hope this is a winning combination for both sides and we wish Joe, Ron and Max the best of luck in 2012."

National Speed Sport News Returns!

With an all-new monthly print publication launching in March and an aggressive plan for the future, Turn 3 Media, LLC, is bringing back the National Speed Sport News brand, identified for its namesake weekly newspaper that was widely recognized as the “Bible” of American auto racing news.

Turn 3 Media, LLC, a North Carolina company founded by publishing veteran Curt Moon, former SPEED executive Joe Tripp, and motorsports television personality Ralph Sheheen, has acquired the exclusive rights to National Speed Sports News from The Kay Publishing Company.

Founded in 1934 and edited by “The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism” Chris Economaki beginning in 1950, National Speed Sport News ceased publication of its venerable weekly newspaper following the March 23, 2011 issue.

While the realities of the publishing world, which contributed to the demise of the newspaper, haven’t changed, the Turn 3 Media partners are confident the new National Speed Sport News will succeed.

“We’re starting with a clean slate,” said Tripp, “building upon all that was great about the former publication by expanding the content and delivering it through a broad variety of platforms relevant to the times. Specifically, we will provide race fans with credible and timely coverage of all forms of professional motorsports – two wheels and four – on everything from mobile (SPEED SPORT Mobile), tablet (SPEED SPORT Digital Edition) and web (www.nationalspeedsportnews.com) – plus a new magazine that will be available in print and digital editions.”

“We listened to our fans – and while most are getting race results and breaking news online these days, they still really wanted a print edition.” explained Moon. “The new monthly SPEED SPORT Magazine will include exclusive stories and interviews, thought-provoking editorial, and a comprehensive view of all motorsports not found in other publications.”

For many years, former National Speed Sport News Editor Chris Economaki was a fixture on national television. With his iconic voice and unique style, Economaki was unparalleled in the business. Most of today’s motorsports journalists and personalities credit Economaki with forging a path for their own careers.

"The first nationally televised race broadcast I was a part of more than 20 years ago, Chris Economaki was my colleague on pit road,” explained Sheheen. “Chris set the standard for motorsports journalism on TV and with National Speed Sport News. We have assembled some of the best writers and reporters in motorsports to continue that tradition. We'll be giving our readers insightful and thought provoking commentary and features on every form of motorsports involving cars, motorcycles and anything else that belches flames, slings mud or singes the asphalt."

As Publisher, Sheheen will manage the editorial direction of the new SPEED SPORT Magazine and will help drive reach and brand awareness through his extensive television exposure. He will also lead efforts to expand the brand into video and television media.

Readers will benefit from the continuity of an editorial staff led by Editor in Chief Mike Kerchner, who has served NSSN continuously since 1991.

“I think our readers will enjoy seeing the familiar faces, names and opinions with which they have become accustomed through the years,” said Kerchner. “SPEED SPORT Magazine will deliver racing information to its readers in an updated manner and style, but we’re confident it will have the same warm, fuzzy feeling that readers have enjoyed when finding National Speed Sport News in their mailbox for nearly 80 years.”

SPEED SPORT Magazine will debut with a March Season Preview issue, exactly one year after the original National Speed Sport News ceased publication.

Subscriptions to SPEED SPORT Magazine are available for $24.95 per year for 12 issues. A digital edition of the magazine will be available for $12.95 per year. Access to www.nationalspeedsportnews.com will remainfree.

Turn 3 Media is planning to announce more details of its plans during Florida Speed Weeks later this month.

COMMENTARY: Pandering To The ADD Fan

Daytona International Speedway announced yesterday that as part of a record purse of more than $19 million, the track will pay a $200,000 bonus to the driver who leads lap 100 – the halfway lap -- in this month’s season-opening Daytona 500.

“There is plenty of incentive for drivers to run up front the entire race, but even more so at the halfway point and the last lap of the Daytona 500,” said DIS President Joie Chitwood in a news release announcing the program.” The good news is that the fine folks in Daytona Beach are trying. They’re promoting the heck out of the “Great American Race,” adding what they consider to be spice to the soup, rather than simply clasping their hands and praying for a sold-out grandstand.  

Unfortunately, our friends at DIS have bought into the erroneous belief that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing is… well, boring. They’ve begun pandering to a group of race fans demanding that something – anything – bring them to their feet in a screaming fit of euphoric bliss, every minute of every day.

As a whole, our society has been decimated by a mass outbreak of Attention Deficit Disorder. We fast-forward through movies, skipping past those pesky plot points in order to determine “Who Done It” and move on to whatever comes next. We heat our pre-packaged meals in a microwave oven, eating them over the sink because cooking and washing dishes take too long. We eschew old-fashioned conversation in favor of Twitter, dumbing our thoughts down to 140 characters or less in the interest of time.

NASCAR Nation has been particularly hard-hit by this epidemic. Our demand for constant stimulation has become so overwhelming that for many, the Daytona 500 is no longer good enough. Our insistence on instant gratification has rendered us incapable of enjoying the action, strategy and competitiveness of a full, 500-mile race. Incapable of waiting for the actual finish, we now demand a “Halfway Bonus” to spice-up the middle stages of the race and make our favorite driver risk it all for our entertainment pleasure, every single lap.

Last year, Talladega Superspeedway attempted a similar ploy, offering a $100,000 bonus to the driver who created the 100^th lead change in October’s Good Sam Club 500. The track’s previous race had produced a record 88 lead changes, breaking the previous mark of 87 set just one race earlier. Track President Grant Lynch – like Daytona’s Chitwood – bought into the “bonus money makes drivers try harder” premise, anteing up a six-figure bonus that resulted in reams of pre-race publicity, but few results on race day.

Talladega’s $100,000 bonus went unclaimed last fall, despite a highly competitive event that tallied 72 lead changes. Why weren’t the drivers beating their brains out trying to run-up the number of lead changes? And more importantly, why did drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Carl Edwards – all of whom had very fast cars and would have been prime contenders to claim that $100,000 bonus – never go to the front until the very end of the race?

The answer is simple. Because no matter how we try, we cannot make the middle matter.

It’s the Daytona 500, not the Daytona 250. This is big-time professional stock car racing, not Youth League soccer, where no score is kept and everyone gets a popsicle after the game. NASCAR races are marathon events, not sprints, and fans incapable of understanding the difference deserve education, not pandering.

If we are no longer capable of enjoying a full, 500-mile event the way our fathers and grandfathers did, maybe it’s time to simply admit defeat. Let’s pull the plug on live, flag-to-flag TV coverage, since people say they’re sleeping through the middle 300 miles anyway. Let’s revert back to the “Good Old Days” when the race was delivered in an easy-to-digest, 30-minute highlight package a week after it took place; showcasing the start, a couple of wrecks and the final 10 laps.

That way, we’ll have more time to devote to the non-stop excitement of our VideoStation 3, where someone’s head is exploding at all times.