My decision to keep records of how many commercials there are during Cup races and how much time they take of every broadcast was in response to many fans’ unhappiness with those numbers. I began keeping records of the commercials in September of 2006, and fan response has been quite positive. I plan on continuing to do this until my computer wears out, my husband finally has enough of his wife being unavailable every Cup race day, or races go commercial-free. (You can make your guesses about which one is most likely to happen.)

During this time, I realized that while I have myself concentrating on these races from start to finish, that I could also keep records of other things for the fans. Another controversial topic seems to be how much camera time different drivers receive during races. I had heard it conjectured in many conversations and on various message boards that either Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon must get most of the cameras’ focus, and while my stats have borne that out, there are other things that can be learned from keeping track of who is on-screen. Some things we already knew (such as that Chad Knaus is the favorite crew chief to have a camera on); and some things might be a surprise (like exactly how much of a vast difference there is in the totals between the most-viewed driver, Jeff Gordon, with 928, and the least-viewed driver, Ward Burton, with a seemingly paltry 32).

It should be noted that I did not begin keeping these records until April, so this does not represent the whole 2007 season. Also, just to make clear what constitutes being record-worthy: If the driver and/or his or her car is on-screen for longer than a brief glimpse, then it is marked as a camera focus.

The following are the totals for the races that I kept track of in 2007. As you look over the list, remember that sponsors pay premium dollars to have their logos flashed on-screen for the home viewers. While it is obvious that sponsors such as Dupont, Lowe’s, and Home Depot are getting their bangs for their bucks, what about the sponsors for the drivers whose on-screen presences average out to be less than once per race? It is a situation with no easy solution.

SEASON TOTALS:

Car No. / Driver / Focus Total

(24) Jeff Gordon – 928
(48) Jimmie Johnson – 906
(8) Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 763
(20) Tony Stewart – 604
(17) Matt Kenseth – 579
(2) Kurt Busch– 567
(5) Kyle Busch– 566
(11) Denny Hamlin – 507
(1) Martin Truex Jr. – 500
(99) Carl Edwards – 461
(29) Kevin Harvick – 432
(12) Ryan Newman – 387
(31) Jeff Burton – 352
(07) Clint Bowyer– 293
(42) Juan Pablo Montoya – 245
(9) Kasey Kahne – 231
(16) Greg Biffle – 194
(25) Casey Mears – 175
(26) Jamie McMurray – 169
(43) Bobby Labonte – 138
(22) Dave Blaney – 127
(41) Reed Sorenson – 121
(01) Mark Martin– 116
(83) Brian Vickers – 104
(38) David Gilliland – 103
(6) David Ragan– 102
(96) Tony Raines – 100
(70) Johnny Sauter – 100
(7) Robby Gordon– 97
(55) Michael Waltrip – 90
(18) J.J. Yeley – 87
(40) David Stremme – 80
(19) Elliott Sadler – 77
(45) Kyle Petty – 76
(66) Jeff Green – 75
(88) Ricky Rudd – 65
(10) Scott Riggs – 62
(15) Paul Menard – 62
(44) Dale Jarrett – 54
(36) Jeremy Mayfield – 42
(84) A.J. Allmendinger – 36
(00) David Reutimann – 33
(4) Ward Burton– 32

Partial Season Drivers/’Ringers’:

Joe Nemechek – 50
Bill Elliott – 49
Kenny Wallace – 32
John Andretti – 24
Sterling Marlin – 21
Aric Almirola – 16
Boris Said – 13
Jacques Villeneuve – 13
Ron Fellows – 12
Patrick Carpentier – 12
Regan Smith – 9
Chad McCumbee – 5
P.J. Jones – 4
Johnny Benson – 4
Terry Labonte – 3
Sam Hornish Jr. – 3
Kevin Lepage – 2
Mike Bliss – 2
Marc Goossens – 2
Kenny Schrader – 1
Butch Leitzinger – 1
Scott Wimmer – 1
Chad Chaffin – 1

Crew Chiefs:

Chad Knaus – 57
Steve Letarte – 44
Greg Zipadelli – 23
Tony Eury Jr. – 12
Alan Gustafson – 9
Robbie Reiser – 9
Bob Osborne – 9
Todd Berrier – 7
Kevin Manion – 6
Pat Tryson – 5
Gil Martin – 4
Mike Ford – 4
Jeff Meendering – 4
Darian Grubb – 4
Tony Gibson – 4
Bootie Barker – 3
Brandon Thomas – 2
Larry Carter – 2
Greg Erwin – 2
Mike Nelson – 2
Frankie Kerr – 1
Donnie Wingo – 1
Ryan Pemberton – 1
Doug Richert – 1
Frankie Stoddard – 1
Michael McSwain – 1
Jimmy Makar – 1
Scott Miller – 1

Other Team Members:

Joel Edmonds – 1
Art Harris – 1
Ron Lyddell – 1
Mark ‘Hollywood’ Armstrong – 1
Scott Rodel – 1
Larry Hartle – 1

Car Owners and Other VIPs:

Rick Hendrick – 12
Delana Harvick – 3
Ray Evernham – 2
Felix Sabates – 2
Mike Helton – 2
Chip Ganassi – 1
Joey Lagano (’07 Busch East Champion) – 1