Nov 19, 03:14 PM
For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, here is the breakdown from the race on Sunday afternoon.
Here is my breakdown, thoroughly unprofessional, and, hopefully, easy-to-understand.
I started recording the times as the Invocation for the race was given at 2:50 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:31 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.
Please note that in addition to all of the following, there is always a company logo visible in the upper right hand corner by the race ticker scrolling across the screen.
Yes, we will be doing the commercial breakdowns once the season starts back up again in February 2007. The fans have enjoyed the information, and we will provide it for as long as they continue to do so.
Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Ford 400
Total number of commercials: 151
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 76
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 25
Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 18 (companies: Sony, Bank of America, Nextel, Ford, Allstate, Budweiser, State Farm, Fed Ex, NAPA, NFL ‘Chargers vs. Broncos’ game, ‘Heroes’, ‘Deal or No Deal’, ‘My Name is Earl’, ‘Studio 60’, Principal Financial, Home Depot, UPS, Ford ‘Race to the Dream’ Sweepstakes)
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 2 min. 35 sec.
Also, there is the following race statistics during the broadcast, sponsored by companies:
Budweiser ‘Bud Pole Award’
Harley Davidson ‘Starting Grid’
Nextel ‘Race off Pit Road’
Craftsman ‘Pit Summary’
Home Depot ‘Virtual Garage’
Allstate ‘Good Hands Driver Award’
DLP ‘Race Recap’
Cingular ‘Race Talk Question of the Day’
Auto Zone ‘In the Zone Drivers’
AFLAC ‘Trivia Question’
Restarts missed due to being away at commercial: 0
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:50 P.M.
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:31 P.M.
Total minutes: 221
Minutes of race broadcast: 147
Minutes of commercials: 74
Breakdown of what the commercials were for, by category:
NBC Previews/Promos
‘Heroes’ – 4
‘ER’ – 3
‘Deal or No Deal’ – 2
NFL Flex Game 2 – Broncos vs. Chargers – 2
‘Law & Order C.I. and S.V.U.’ – 2
NBC Thanksgiving lineup – 1
‘Medium’ – 1
‘Madonna: Confession Tour’ – 1
NFL ‘Football Night in America’ – 1
State Farm Bayou Classic game – 1
www.nbcsports.com – 1
Total: 19
Movie Previews
‘Cars’ DVD – 2
‘Ice Age: The Meltdown’ (DVD) – 1
Total: 3
Local News/Sports/Points-of-Interest in Penna.
Local news – 6
Northwest Realty – 1
Dormont Appliance Center – 1
www.pittsburghauto.org – 1
‘Celebrate the Season’ parade in Pittsburgh – 1
Total: 10
Restaurants/Food
Mountain Dew – 2
Subway – 1
Burger King – 1
McDonald’s – 1
Uncle Charley’s Sausage – 1
Reese’s (Kevin Harvick/Tony Kanaan) – 1
Little Debbie – 1
Total: 8
Beer
Miller Lite – 3
Budweiser – 1
Budweiser (Earnhardts) – 1
Busch – 1
Total: 6
Car/Truck/Bike
Ford – 9
NAPA – 4
Auto Zone – 4
Enterprise Rent-a-Car – 3
Star/Yamaha – 2
KIA – 2
Duralast batteries at Auto Zone – 2
Harley Davidson – 1
Pennzoil – 1
Suzuki ATV – 1
Total: 29
Credit Cards/Financial
Bank of America – 2
Principal Financial – 2
AmeriQuest (Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards) – 1
Total: 5
Insurance
AFLAC – 3
Allstate (Kasey Kahne) – 2
State Farm (Jeff Burton) – 1
Safe Auto – 1
Total: 7
Health/Medical
Highmark BC/BS – 1
Total: 1
Wireless Phone
Nextel (Kevin Harvick) – 3
Nextel – 2
Cingular – 2
Total: 7
Home Improvement
Home Depot – 4
Lowes (Jimmie Johnson) – 3
Total: 7
Technology
Sony SXRD HDTV – 4
DirecTV – 3
DLP (Tony Raines) – 3
Sirius Satellite Radio – 2
Total: 12
Products/Services for the Home and Personal Use
www.video.aol.com – 3
Wrangler Jeans (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) – 2
Men’s Wearhouse – 2
Tylenol – 2
Craftsman Tools – 2
Best Buy – 2
www.usepropane.com – 1
Gillette Fusion (‘Young Gun’ drivers) – 1
ADT Security – 1
Sharpie mini – 1
www.freecreditreport.com – 1
www.themoreyouknow.com (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) – 1
Total: 19
Shipping
Fed Ex (Denny Hamlin) – 3
UPS (Dale Jarrett) – 1
Total: 4
Racing Related
nascar.com superstore – 4
Coca Cola Racing Family (various drivers) – 4
Daytona 500 – 2
Ford Racing (Carl Edwards) – 2
‘Race to the Chase’ – 1
nascar.com performance – 1
Total: 14
Breakdown of specific times, broken into two categories (race broadcast times, and commercial broadcast times):
Race brdcast times:Total min:Comm. brdcast times: Total min:
2:50 PM – 2:53 PM -3//2:53 PM – 2:56 PM – 3
2:56 PM – 2:59 PM – 3 //2:59 PM – 3:02 PM – 3
3:02 PM – 3:19 PM – 17 // 3:19 PM – 3:21 PM – 2
3:21 PM – 3:26 PM – 5 //3:26 PM – 3:28 PM – 2
3:28 PM – 3:34 PM – 6 //3:34 PM – 3:37 PM – 3
3:37 PM – 3:42 PM – 5 //3:42 PM – 3:43 PM – 1
3:43 PM – 3:46 PM – 3 //3:46 PM – 3:48 PM – 2
3:48 PM – 3:53 PM – 5 //3:53 PM – 3:55 PM – 2
3:55 PM – 4:00 PM – 5 //4:00 PM – 4:03 PM – 3
4:03 PM – 4:08 PM – 5 //4:08 PM – 4:10 PM – 2
4:10 PM – 4:15 PM – 5 //4:15 PM – 4:18 PM – 3
4:18 PM – 4:23 PM – 5 //4:23 PM – 4:26 PM – 3
4:26 PM – 4:30 PM – 4 //4:30 PM – 4:32 PM – 2
4:32 PM – 4:37 PM – 5 //4:37 PM – 4:40 PM – 3
4:40 PM – 4:45 PM – 5 //4:45 PM – 4:48 PM – 3
4:48 PM – 4:51 PM – 3 //4:51 PM – 4:53 PM – 2
4:53 PM – 4:57 PM – 4 //4:57 PM – 5:00 PM – 3
5:00 PM – 5:04 PM – 4 //5:04 PM – 5:07 PM – 3
5:07 PM –5:08 PM – 1 //5:08 PM – 5:10 PM – 2
5:10 PM – 5:17 PM – 7 //5:17 PM – 5:19 PM – 2
5:19 PM – 5:21 PM – 2 //5:21 PM – 5:24 PM – 3
5:24 PM – 5:28 PM – 4 //5:28 PM – 5:31 PM – 3
5:31 PM – 5:33 PM – 2 //5:33 PM – 5:36 PM – 3
5:36 PM – 5:42 PM – 6 //5:42 PM – 5:44 PM – 2
5:44 PM – 5:47 PM – 3 //5:47 PM – 5:50 PM – 3
5:50 PM – 5:52 PM – 2 //5:52 PM – 5:58 PM – 6
5:58 PM – 6:00 PM – 2 //6:00 PM – 6:02 PM – 2
6:02 PM – 6:05 PM – 3 //6:05 PM – 6:08 PM – 3
6:08 PM – 6:31 PM – 23 //6:31 PM – checkered flag flies
Total race brdcst time: 147 min Total comm. brdcst time: 74 min
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RODNEY Says:
Nov 20, 04:57 AMI’m not a fan of commercials or a fan of NASCAR, Im a fan of the Driver’s. If I have to sit though 74 minutes of commercials well that is what i will do to see my favorite driver’s. Commercials and sponcer’s help pay my driver’s team so I sit and I watch, or i go to the fridge for a snack, or my own pitstop.I belive that it is only going to get worse. With the purse going up each season commercials well be more and more. Race brdcast times:Total min:Comm. brdcast times: Total min:
as best as i could tell is right on for my local station that had the race on, but the commercial breakdown is off. must be the local carrier went with local coverage a few mintes. So no matter how many commercials a race will have i will always be a driver/race fan and not a NASCAR/COMMERCIAL FAN.
See you in the spring
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former na$car fan Says:
Nov 20, 07:39 AMSo there was a race this weekend? I thought it was just a Jimmy Johnson / Matt Kenseth special… Except for that really long Bud commercial when Little E was up front.
23 minutes of commercial free red flag coverage! Gotta love it…
Memo to Bill Webber – ever consider full time job in the print media? You should.
I finally got it – NBC = Nothing But Commercials
Good riddens.
Thank you Cheryl for doing this. I look forward to seeing the comparison next season.
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Rick Says:
Nov 20, 08:42 AMCheryl, I just want to thank you for these commercial breakdowns that you do week after week.Its a lot of time and effort on your part to do this and we enjoy it. hope you continue next year
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Langmotorsports Says:
Nov 20, 10:58 AMRidiculous!!!! Wayyy to much time spent on commericals, whats with showing 3 laps and then commercial break???? Thank god for DVR!!
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bill Says:
Nov 20, 11:21 AMI thought yesterday was the worst tv coverage I have ever seen. All commercials. But we had none during the red flag. Is NBC the worst? How do they compare to FOX and TNT ? I’m hoping that ESPN will do a much better job next year. That was a joke yesterday.
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jay Says:
Nov 20, 03:55 PMN:ASTY
B:ORING
C:HANNELNBC is so anti-Nascar it’s unreal! Good riddance to the worst network on tv! atleast i can now delete them from my tv memory!
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Tom Says:
Nov 21, 05:15 AMI doubt that the total commercial time is much different than on any show because I think it’s regulated. Thirty percent commercial time is probably pretty normal. IMO the problem is the short segments of racing we see. We had 24 segments or racing that were 5 minutes or LESS and 12 of those were only 3 minutes…OR LESS! Of the racing segments that were longer than 5 minutes only 2 were longer than 7 minutes, 17 minutes early in the show and the last 23 minutes. Now the question becomes, do we want fewer interruptions with longer breaks or more interruptions with shorter breaks? We can be sure that the percentage of commercial time is NOT going to be less than what it is now.
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Cheryl Michaels Says:
Nov 21, 07:22 AMThe last race was the day with Jimmie Johnson. Just how many times did everyone say his name.
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Dan Says:
Nov 21, 01:37 PMJesus…all the people whining and moaning about commercials each and every week…week in and week out…gets annoying.
Get use to it…the cost of everything goes up through the years. The cost of broadcasting the shows, the cost of production, the amount of the purse goes up…
It all goes up through the years, and that is why the commercials increase…to help pay for all of this.
I will bet anyone that everyone’s precious ESPN will be the same exact way…and then, we get to hear the whining and moaning yet again.
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Paul Cline Says:
Nov 22, 03:37 PMDan is right…it’s all about money. Hey, I dislike TV commercials too….especially when they interrupt my NASCAR viewing.
And I thought NBC’s NASCAR coverage created a huge vacuum in television viewing, notwithstanding the announcing staff, pit reporters, et al.
But, every network, no matter who it might be, has to sell commercial time in order to pay the bills…and the current bill for this NASCAR contract was about $400 million. That’s a lot of commercial time, guys & gals. And whose fault is it…..NASCAR’s.
Yes, its all about the money with the France folks. If there is a dollar to be made, the France people will be there with bells on and with their hand out. Sure, they are trying to rid NASCAR of it’s “redneck” image. Why: Because there is money to be made through diversity (or what ever other un-politically correct term you want to use.) If they can get 10,000 – 20,000 non-white, non-redneck fans to watch NASCAR, attend races and buy the “stuff”, their wallets will only grow.
As for television (and the commercials) its like this: We are race fans. We will watch racing because we love racing, can’t get to all the races and we can hardly afford to go to a race anyway. So television is our medium through which we can satisfy our craving. The Frances know this and so they sell the rights to televise the races for an awesome amount of money and we are stuck with the results. And so it goes…face it, its all about money and that is not going to change (as Dan so appropriately put it!)
So people, get NASCAR-in Car, flip over to the network to watch the crash(s) and the end of the race (if its close) and listen to the scanner chatter. The chit-chat between driver and crew chief is more interesting to the a real racer than anything the announcers have to say. Come to think of it, the networks could save a bundle of $$ (and therefore decrease the need to sell more advertising) if they fired 75% of the announcing staff and just let us listen to scanner traffic…now there’s an idea!
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Paul Cline Says:
Nov 22, 03:39 PMAnd by the way Cheryl..thanks for your hard work and dedication….we apprecaite it and look forard to next year.
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Russell Kendall Says:
Nov 23, 03:26 AMFirst off thanks to Cheryl for all of time putting together something we fans should know about and good bye finally to NBC and their poor coverage to the sport and finally, as a fan for over 40 years i watched this grow from a proud regional sport to a distant out of touch sport like all of the major sports are and how now its strickly dollars and screw the fans that put this thing on the map one day when they have their diverse fan base in the stands and next time they will wonder why they are losing their appeal they can look at the way they pushed the true fan away from the sport
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Bill W Says:
Nov 23, 05:36 PMThe information on this page is why this race fan is choosing NOT to watch very often anymore. I love racing and come from the era of Sunday afternoon between ice skating, but I would rather see 15 minutes between skating than 2-3 between excessive commercials. I am NOT watching nearly as often as I did even 2 yrs ago. My friends are the same way, we cannot tolerate the commercials. Why not run the commercials and post the race ticker above the ads? That is almost what is happening anyway. AND…to make it worse, Brent Musburger is going to be doing pre-race commentary? I guess Jackie Stewart and David Hobbs are not far behind. Thanks Mike Helton….you are driving our sport out of our homes!!
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don Says:
Nov 26, 02:12 PMwas wonder if next year at year end u can have a total of everything for a year in review. would like to be able to see what if any changes are happening with this mess they have now. i start watching the race about an hour into it and just fast foward though the commericals now with tivo’s help when im home on sundays to watch the race.
HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Checker 500 edition HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Ford 400 edition

Nov 20, 04:46 AM
Damn it sucked near the end of the race. My in-car view tells me they missed alot of restarts..thanks Derek