For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, or wonder how often your driver was focused on, here is the breakdown for Sunday’s race.

I began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 3:02 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:37 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

ESPN was the broadcast team for this event. Included in this broadcast was ‘NASCAR Non-Stop’, commercials shown split-screen with the race broadcast. Below the regular commercials’ breakdown, you can see a breakdown of the participating sponsors and the times their ads were shown. Big thanks go out to ESPN for offering ‘NASCAR Non-Stop’, and the sponsors who permitted their products to be advertised this way.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At a later date you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race (this part of my report has been delayed due to the illness of a family member, and the care they require).

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2011 AAA Texas 500

Total number of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 69
Total number of ‘NASCAR Non-Stop commercials’ (split-screen): 54
Total number of commercials: 123
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 67

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 32

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 21 (companies: GiveUSO.org ; Ford F150; Toyota; GoodYear; Sylvania SilverStar headlights; Sprint.com/speed; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award – text to 234567’; Papa John’s; Gillette Fusion ProGlide; Lowes; ‘Jack and Jill’ movie; NHRA ; ‘SportsCenter’ on ESPN; Monday Night Football on ESPN; WatchESPN.com; ‘Roll Tide/War Eagle’ – ESPN Films; NASCAR.com/RaceBuddy; ‘NASCAR Now’; next week’s Nationwide race; next week’s Sprint Cup race)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 3 min. 40 sec.

Also, there are the following race statistics during the broadcast, sponsored by companies:

NASCAR on ESPN ‘Weather – Fort Worth, TX’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Starting Grid’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter’
Gillette Fusion ProGlide ‘Profile’
ESPN.com ‘Mailbag Question’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Car Cameras’
Dodge ‘On-Board’
Office Depot ‘On-Board’
American Ethanol ‘On-Board’
M&M’s ‘On-Board’
Rheem ‘On-Board’
My Lowes ‘On-Board’
National Guard ‘On-Board’
Sprint ‘On-Board’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Biggest Movers’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Up-to-Speed’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Joe Gibbs Racing – Currently’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Texas Motor Speedway – Air Temp/Track Temp’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Race Off Pit Road’
Aaron’s ‘Lucky Dog Free Pass’
American Ethanol ‘Green Flag Restart’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘NASCAR Non-Stop presented by Nationwide Insurance’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup – Points’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Over-the-Wall Reporter’
ESPN/Craftsman ‘Tech Garage’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Jeff Gordon – Last Ten NSCS Starts’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Motorsports Schedule’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Race Summary’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:02 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:37 PM

Total minutes of complete race broadcast: 215
Total minutes of race broadcast: 182
Minutes of traditional commercials: 33
Minutes of ‘NASCAR Non-Stop Commercials’: 24
Number of times ESPN utilized ‘NASCAR Non-Stop’ to show split-screen commercials: 9
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 2

Click here for last year’s commercial breakdown of this race.

Breakdown of what the commercials were for, by category:

ESPN/TV Previews/Promos

Monday Night Football on ESPN – 7
‘Roll Tide/War Eagle’ – ESPN Films – 3
Carrier Classic on ESPN – 1
‘Sunday Night NFL Countdown’ on ESPN – 1
BCS Countdown – 1
ESPN Sports Center – 1

Total: 14

Movies

‘Jack and Jill’ – 1
‘Immortals’ – 1

Total: 2

Local News/Sports/Points-of-Interest in Penna.

F&M Bank – 1
Robert Peirce & Assoc. – PeirceLaw.com – 1

Total: 2

Restaurants/Food

Ruth’s Chris Steak House – 2
Coca-Cola and ArcticHome.com – 2
IHOP – 2
Bush’s Baked Beans – 1
Carrabbas Italian Grill – 1
Coke Zero – 1
M&Ms (Kyle Busch) – 1
Papa Johns – 1
Subway (Carl Edwards) – 1

Total: 12

Beer/Alcohol

Budweiser – 1

Total: 1

Car/Truck/Bike

Ford – 4
GoodYear – 4
Sylvania SilverStar Headlights – 3
Chevy – 3
NAPA on FaceBook (Michael Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr.) – 2
Toyota – 2
Cars.com – 2
Chevy – 1
RamTrucks.com/gutsglory – 1
Midas – 1
Toyota Camry – 1

Total: 24

Insurance/Health

Geico.com – 4
Nationwide (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) – 3
AFLAC – 2
Travelers Insurance – 2
Progressive – 1
RealCity.org – 1
21st Century Insurance – 1

Total: 14

Wireless Phone

AT&T/impulse – 3
AT&T.com/network – 2
Sprint/unlimited – 2
Sprint (Carl Edwards) – 1
Verizon Wireless – 1
Verizon.com/plus – 1

Total: 10

Home Improvement

Craftsman – 4
Lowes – 2
Craftsman and Porter Cable – 1

Total: 7

Financial

Bank of America/getcashback – 3

Total: 3

Education

EcoTech Institute – 1

Total: 1

Technology

Vizio – 2
Century Link – 1
GoPro.com/win – 1
Xfinity.com and ‘Cars 2’ – 1

Total: 5

Products/Services for the Home and Personal Use

Gillette Fusion ProGlide – 3
Aaron’s (Michael Waltrip) – 1
5 Hour Energy – 1

Total: 5

Travel

Atlantis – 1

Total: 1

Political/Special Interest

Vic Stabile – 2
Kopas and Lucia – Working for Westmoreland – 1
Mike Eakin – 1

Total: 4

Racing Related

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Jimmie Johnson & various drivers) – 5
NASCAR Cup Champions’ Week in Las Vegas – 4
NASCAR.com Superstore (various drivers) – 4
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Dale Earnhardt Jr. & various drivers) – 2
Race Buddy – 1
Bristol Motor Speedway – 1
Nationwide Series (various drivers) – 1

Total: 18

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:

3:02 PM – 3:06 PM – 4 // 3:06 PM – 3:07 PM – 1

3:07 PM – 3:11 PM – 4 // 3:11 PM – 3:14 PM – 3

3:14 PM – 3:26 PM – 12 // 3:26 PM – 3:28 PM – 2

3:28 PM – 3:37 PM – 9 // 3:37 PM – 3:40 PM – 3

3:40 PM – 3:46 PM – 6 // 3:46 PM – 3:48 PM – 2

3:48 PM – 3:55 PM – 7 // 3:55 PM – 3:58 PM – 3

3:58 PM – 4:03 PM – 5 // 4:03 PM – 4:06 PM – 3

4:06 PM – 4:09 PM – 3 // 4:09 PM – 4:12 PM – 3

4:12 PM – 4:22 PM – 10 // 4:22 PM – 4:25 PM – 3

4:25 PM – 4:31 PM – 6 // 4:31 PM – 4:33 PM – 2

4:33 PM – 4:38 PM – 5 // 4:38 PM – 4:41 PM – 3

4:41 PM – 4:44 PM – 3 // 4:44 PM – 4:46 PM – 2

4:46 PM – 4:51 PM – 5 // 4:51 PM – 4:54 PM – 3

4:54 PM – 6:37 PM – 103 // 6:37 PM – checkered flag flies

Total race brdcst time 182 Total comm. brdcst time 33

Commercials during race broadcast: ‘NASCAR Non-Stop presented by Sprint’ (‘Thank you!’ to all of the participating sponsors!)

5:04 PM – 5:06 PM

Nationwide Insurance (Dale Earnhardt Jr.); AT&T/impulse; Bank of America/getcashback; Vizio; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Jimmie Johnson)

5:13 PM – 5:16 PM

AT&T/impulse; Geico; 5 Hour Energy; Carrabba’s; Carrier Classic on ESPN

5:24 PM – 5:27 PM

Sylvania SilverStar headlights; Ruth’s Chris Steak House; Verizon Plus; IHOP; Champion’s Week in Las Vegas; Monday Night Football on ESPN

5:30 PM – 5:33 PM

‘Roll Tide/War Eagles’ – ESPN films; AFLAC; EcoTech Institute; Craftsman; Craftsman; Nationwide Series (various drivers); NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Dale Earnhardt Jr.); ESPN ‘SportsCenter’

5:39 PM – 5:41 PM

Sprint.com/unlimited; Craftsman and Porter Cable; Traveler’s Insurance; BCS College bowl; NASCAR.com/SuperStore

5:47 PM – 5:50 PM

AT&T/network; 21st Century Insurance; Aaron’s (Michael Waltrip); Bristol Motor Speedway; Monday Night Football on ESPN

5:54 PM – 5:56 PM

Lowes; Progressive Insurance; GoodYear; Ruth’s Christ Steak House; Champion’s Week in Las Vegas; ‘Rip Tide/War Eagles’ – ESPN films

6:01 PM – 6:04 PM

Bank of America/getcashback; Verizon.com/plus; IHOP; Atlantis; AFLAC; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Jimmie Johnson); NASCAR.com/SuperStore

6:13 PM – 6:16 PM

Geico; GoodYear; Subway (Carl Edwards); Vizio; Sylvania SilverStar headlights; Monday Night Football