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 3:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:08 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

Fox was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2010 Shelby American

Total number of commercials: 114

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 61

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 34

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 20 (companies: Pennzoil; Pennzoil Ultra; Subway; UPS; Nationwide Insurance; Chevy; Budweiser; Lowes; Win Jimmie’s Silverado contest ; AMPUpthe88.com ; Ford F Series; Verizon Championship Racing ; AFLAC; AFLAC KnowQuack.com “ ; DirecTV; DirecTV.com ‘Head 2 Head Knock Out Racing’ ; AT&T; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year’ text to 2258; SprintMobile.com/speed ; Sprint.com/speed; Sprint.com/nownetwork; ‘Fast Track to Fame’ on SPEED”:http://fasttracktofame.com/ ; next week’s Atlanta race on Fox; FoxSports.com)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 4 min. 5 sec.

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

Verizon ‘Check List’
Verizon ‘Race Check’
FedEx ‘Understanding the Race’
NASCAR on Fox ‘All Star Pit Crew’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Race Analysis’
AFLAC ‘Do You Know Quack Trivia Question’
Sunoco ‘Race Fuel’
Sprint ‘In-Car Camera’
Lowes ‘In-Car’
AMP Energy Juice ‘In-Car’
Pennzoil Ultra ‘In-Car’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough Track Facts’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Richard Childress Racing Running Order’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Biggest Movers’
AFLAC ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Crank it Up’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough In-Car’
Pennzoil Ultra ‘Race Summary’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Involved in Wreck’
Budweiser ‘In-Car’
NAPA ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Weather Station’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Green Flag Pit Times’
Verizon ‘Speed Shot’
AT&T ‘Race Break’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Joe Gibbs Racing Running Order’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award’
Ford ‘Roush Fenway Ford 360’
Toyota ‘Top Performers’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Olympic Hockey Score’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Most Wins at 1.5 Mile Tracks’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:08 PM

Total minutes: 188

Minutes of race broadcast: 136
Minutes of commercials: 52

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 0
Number of mysterious cautions brought on by malfunctioning caution lights: 2
Number of actress/socialites and legendary automotive designer/race car drivers to give the call to start the engines: 2 Kim Kardashian and Carroll Shelby
Number of special dates noted by the analysts: 1 50-year anniversary of Richard Petty’s first win
Number of new uses for sugary colas: 1 To help with pit box traction
Number of male enhancement commercials: 1 Many NASCAR fans find these types of ads very offensive

‘Digger the Gopher Cam’ Sightings:
Animated Digger shots: 10
Still Digger shots: 0
Total: 10

Number of Digger shots not identified as such: 18

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2010 Shelby American ...

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 3:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:51 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

Fox was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2010 Auto Club 500

Total number of commercials: 108

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 64

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 57

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 31 (companies: NAPA; Subway; Home Depot; Lowes; DirecTV; DirecTV.com ‘Head 2 Head Knock Out Racing’ ; UPS.com/racing; AMP Energy Juice; GoDaddy.com; AAA; AT&T; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year’ text to 2258; Verizon Wireless; Budweiser; Sprint; Sprint.com/speed; SprintMobile.com/speed Sprint.com/nownetwork; FedEx.com/weunderstand; Chevy; Toyota; Win Jimmie’s Silverado contest ; Ford F Series; AFLAC; AFLAC KnowQuack.com ; Viagra; ‘Fast Track to Fame’ on SPEED ; next week’s Shelby American race on Fox; FoxSports.com; FoxSports Fantasy Auto Racing ; FoxSports.com on MSN ‘Lunch With Benefits’; FoxSports.com Supports Ronald McDonald House Charities)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 10 min. 10 sec.

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

Verizon ‘Championship Racing Race Check’
FedEx ‘Understanding the Race’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Race Analysis’
Budweiser ‘In-Car’
M&M’s ‘In-Car’
AFLAC ‘In-Car’
AFLAC ‘Do You Know Quack? Trivia Question’
NAPA ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Hollywood Hotel’
AT&T ‘Race Break’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Crank it Up’
FedEx ‘In-Car’
AMP Energy Juice ‘In-Car’
NAPA ‘Race Summary’
Ford ‘Roush-Fenway Ford 360’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough Track Facts’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough In-Car’
GoDaddy.com ‘In-Car’
Verizon ‘Speed Shot’
Toyota ‘Top Performers of the Race’
Auto Club ‘Race Summary’
Toyota ‘In-Car’
Home Depot ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Weather Central’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Radio Remix’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Auto Club 500 Leaders’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Childress Running Order’
Sunoco ‘Race Fuel’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:51 PM

Total minutes: 231

Minutes of race broadcast: 177
Minutes of commercials: 54

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 1
Number of male enhancement ads: 3 last week: 1
Many NASCAR fans find these kinds of commercials very offensive
Number of references to an old Canadian race track: 1 Ontario Motor Speedway
Number of pace cars not recalled: 1 Toyota Camry Hybrid Pace Car
Number of weather forecasts given during the race: 1 NASCAR on Fox ‘Weather Central’
Number of ‘Obligatory Kim Burton Shots’, as Jeff Burton neared the front of the race: 3

Number of ‘Digger the Gopher Cam’ sightings:
Digger Animated shots: 13
Digger Still shots: 0
Total: 13
Number of times The Digger shot was used but not identified as such: 33

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2010 Auto Club 500 ...

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. My apologies for the lateness of the report, but I have spent considerable time in snow removal from my home, and that of my parents’.

I began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 1:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 7:33 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

Fox was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2010 Daytona 500

Total number of commercials: 144

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 70

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 73

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 32 (companies: American Forces Network ; Sprint.com/speed; Old Spice; DirecTV; FedEx; Chevy; Lowes; NAPA; Nationwide Insurance; Home Depot; Verizon; Verizon Championship Racing; AT&T; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year’ text to 2258; Toyota; Budweiser; AMPUpthe88.com ; Ford; AFLAC; KnowQuack.com ; Win Jimmie’s Silverado contest ; Alice in Wonderland ; Cop Out ; Shutter Island ; A-Team ; NASCAR.com/RaceView; ‘Fast Track to Fame’ on SPEED ; next week’s Auto Club 500 race on Fox; FoxSports.com; FoxSports Fantasy Auto Racing ; FoxSports.com on MSN ‘Lunch With Benefits’; FoxSports.com Supports Ronald McDonald House Charities)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 11 min.

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

Verizon ‘Race Check’
FedEx ‘Understanding the Race’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough In-Car’’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough Moment’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Race Analysis’
M&M’s ‘In-Car’
AMP Energy ‘In-Car’
Budweiser ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Involved in Wreck’
DirecTV ‘Aerial Coverage’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Weather Station’
NAPA ‘In-Car’
FedEx ‘In-Car’
AT&T ‘Race Break’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Hollywood Hotel’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award’
UPS ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Pit Crew Comparison’
Verizon ‘Speed Shot’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Crank it Up’
Toyota ‘In-Car’
Toyota ‘Top Performers of the Race’
Ford ‘Fusion 360’
Ford ‘Cutaway Car’
Roush-Fenway ‘Ford 360’
Roush-Yates ‘C&R Engine Display’
Nationwide Insurance ‘Pit Box’
Coca Cola ‘Open Happiness’
Lowes ‘In-Car’
DirecTV ‘Head 2 Head Knock Out’
Old Spice ‘Man Up Biggest Movers’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 1:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 7:33 PM *

*The race broadcast was extended for over two hours for pothole repair.

Total minutes: 393

Minutes of race broadcast: 317
Minutes of commercials: 76

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 0
Number of male enhancement ads: 1 Many NASCAR fans find these kinds of commercials very offensive
Number of Kyle Busch ‘power naps’ sighted: 1
Number of Brian France sightings: 1 to talk about the pothole
Number of celebrity sightings: 1 Larry the Cable Guy
Number of tours of Jeff Hammond’s ‘Visual Display Playground’: 1

Number of racing legends to give the call to start the engines: 1 Junior Johnson
Number of racing legends in the pace car: 1 Richard Petty

‘Digger the Gopher Cam’ sightings:
Animated: 13
Still: 0
Number of ‘Digger’ camera shots NOT identified as such: 34

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2010 Daytona 500 ...

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

I began recording the times at the Invocation of the first race at 2:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag for the second race at 5:00 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

SPEED was the broadcast team for this event.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2010 Gatorade Duels

Total number of commercials: 102

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 49

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 17

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 14 (companies: DirecTV; Golden Corral; Hershey’s; Gatorade 2; M&Ms; ToyotaRacing.com ‘Sponsifier’; ‘Alien vs. Predator’ video game; FrontRowJoe.com ; ‘Fast Track to Fame’ on SPEED; SpeedFantasyRacing.com ; SPEEDTV.com/promo ; ‘Race Day’ on SPEED; Daytona 500 race on Fox)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 2 min. 45 sec.

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

Golden Corral ‘Help Yourself to Happiness’
Hershey’s Chocolate Milk & Milkshakes ‘Race Format’
NASCAR on SPEED ‘Sounds of SPEED’
M&M’s ‘In-Car’
Toyota ‘In-Car’
Gatorade ‘Starting Grid’
DirecTV ‘Aerial Coverage’
NASCAR on SPEED ‘Race Analysis’
NAPA ‘In-Car’
Ford ‘In-Car’
Home Depot ‘In-Car’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:00 PM

Total minutes: 180

Minutes of race broadcast: 133
Minutes of commercials: 47

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’: 0

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2010 Gatorade Duels ...

Statistics need no introduction; they speak for themselves. These were culminated from my 2009 Commercial Breakdowns/Driver Focus Reports for the 2009 season.

Total number of commercials per network:

Fox (14 races): 1,836
TNT (6 races): 654
ESPN (6 races): 767
ABC (11 races): 1,253
SPEED (2 races): 183

Total for all networks: 4,693

Total number of minutes of race broadcast to minutes of commercial times per network:

Fox (14 races): 3,297 total (2,466 race/831 commercial)
TNT (6 races): 1,230 total (924 race/306 commercial)
ESPN (6 races): 1,488 total (1,160 race/328 commercial)
ABC (11 races): 2,408 total: (1,864 race/544 commercial)
SPEED (2 races): 421 total: (319 race/102 commercial)

Total for all networks: 8,844 (6733 race/2,111 commercial)

Total number of times that companies that sponsored commercials during race broadcasts were shown over the racing season:

Fox (14 races): 873
TNT (6 races): 335
ESPN (6 races): 412
ABC (11 races): 658
SPEED (2 races): 96

Total number of promos during race broadcasts and the number of minutes they were seen:

Fox (14 races): 898 (2 hrs. 49 min.)
TNT (6 races): 212 (52 minutes 40 sec.) **
ESPN (6 races): 194 (26 min. 15 sec.)
ABC (11 races): 305 (1 hr. 15 sec.)
SPEED (2 races): 35 (6 min. 35 sec.)

**This number is high due to TNT’s ‘Wide Open Coverage’ of the Coke Zero 400 race, where commercials are shown on a split-screen with the race broadcast.

Number of missed restarts per network:

Fox (14 races): 4
TNT (6 races): 0
ESPN (6 races): 1
ABC (11 races): 1
SPEED (2 races): 1

Total for all networks: 7

Number of ‘mystery cautions’:

Fox (14 races): 5
TNT (6 races): 8
ESPN (6 races): 2
ABC (11 races): 15
SPEED (2 races): 0

Total: 30

Read more Commercial Breakdown/Driver Focus Summary Report for the 2009 Sprint Cup Season ...

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 Saturday’s race.

I began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 8:10 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 10:06 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

Fox was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2010 Bud Shoot Out

Total number of commercials: 74

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 46

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 14

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 11 (companies: Budweiser; “Cop Out” movie; Sprint.com/nownetwork; Home Depot; Ford; Ford F150; FedEx; Lowes; Chevy; FoxSports.com Daytona 500 race on Fox; ‘Fast Track to Fame’ on SPEED)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 1 min. 55 sec.

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

NASCAR on Fox ‘Race Analysis’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Digger the Gopher Cam’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Fox Weather Station’
GoDaddy.com ‘In-Car’
Ford ‘Built Ford Tough In-Car’
Lowes ‘In-Car’
Budweiser ‘In-Car’
Sprint ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on Fox ‘Crank it Up’
FedEx ‘In-Car’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 8:10 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 10:06 PM

Total minutes: 116

Minutes of race broadcast: 82
Minutes of commercials: 34

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 0

‘Digger the Gopher Cam’ made his appearance, but not as often as in past Fox broadcasts (despite using the shot from track level several times).
Number of ‘Digger the Gopher Cam’ appearances: 2 (still shots) 3 (action shots) Total: 5

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2010 Bud Shootout 02-06-10 ...

Read more 2009 Summary Coming Soon! ...

^{This was the last race of the 2009 season. It has been a pleasure to keep track of these statistics for all of the NASCAR fans out there, and I look forward to doing the same for 2010. Thanks to all of the fans and media professionals who have contacted me in one form or another to tell me how much they appreciate the work involved.}

^{Please look for my annual report of the season coming soon. Among other items of interest I break down how many times each driver was on-screen during the races, as well as how many commercials were shown.}

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 3:15 and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:40 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

ABC was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 Ford 400

Total number of commercials: 118

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 59

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 18

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 15 (companies: Ford; Ford I’mDrivingOne.com; AT&T; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year’ (winner announced); Sprint.com/nownetwork; Sprint.com/speed; Pepsi; Racing.UPS.com; AFLAC; Coors Light; GoodYear; ESPN.com/deportes; ESPN.com/pick12; Monday Night Football on ESPN (Titans vs. Texans); ‘American Music Awards’ on ABC)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 4 min. 15 sec.

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

NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter Question’
Lowe’s ‘In-Car’
Carquest/Kellogg’s ‘In-Car’
GoodYear ‘In-Car’
Pepsi ‘Race Off Pit Road’
Aaron’s ‘Lucky Dog Free Pass’
Shell-Pennzoil ‘In-Car’
AFLAC ‘Trivia Question’
ESPN/Craftsman ‘Tech Garage’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:15 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:40 PM

Total minutes: 205

Minutes of race broadcast: 159
Minutes of commercials: 46

Number of missed restarts: 0 One restart occurred right as broadcast returned from commercial—too close to call
Number of ‘mysterious cautions’ (reason for caution not given): 1
Number of male enhancement commercials: 1 Many NASCAR fans find these types of ads very offensive
Number of everyman’s everyman, star of ‘Dirty Jobs’, and narrator for various NASCAR video compilations to give the call to start engines: 1 Mike Rowe
Number of commercial-free moments at the end of the race broadcast: 35 Thanks ESPN

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2009 Ford 400 ...

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 3:15 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:23 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

ABC was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil

Total number of commercials: 111

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 58

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 22

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 14 (companies: GoodYear; AFLAC; AT&T; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award’ text to 2258; Racing.UPS.com; Sprint.com/nownetwork; Sprint.com/speed; ESPN.com/deportes; ESPN.com/lockerroomreport; Monday Night Football on ESPN (Ravens vs. Browns); ESPN.com/pick12challenge ; ‘NASCAR Now’ on ESPN; NHRA Finals on ESPN; next week’s Nationwide race; next week’s Cup series race; ‘Modern Family’ on ABC; ‘V’ on ABC)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 5 min. 45 sec.

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

NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter Question’
ESPN/Craftsman ‘Tech Garage’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Award Standings’
Ford ‘In-Car’
Toyota ‘In-Car’
U.S. Army ‘In-Car’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘Phoenix Intern’tl Raceway Track Facts’
Gillette ‘In the Clutch Moment’
Gillette Fusion ‘In the Clutch’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:15 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:23 PM

Total minutes: 188

Minutes of race broadcast: 140
Minutes of commercials: 48

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 2
Number of male enhancement commercials: 1 Many NASCAR fans find these types of ads very offensive
Number of Senators, war heroes, and previous Presidential hopefuls to give the call to start the engines: 1 Senator John McCain
Number of chunks of deep-fried rattlesnake savored by Brad Daughtery during the broadcast: 1

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil ...

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 3:15 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:59 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

ABC was the broadcast team for this event.

Please note that in addition to the commercials and promos listed below there is always a sponsor’s logo that changes throughout the race in the corner of the screen beside the race ticker.

Throughout the breakdown, you can find links to sponsors, or special items-of-interest such as links to contests and movie sites. At the very bottom you can check how many times selected drivers were focused on during the race.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 Dickies 500

Total number of commercials: 123

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 59

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: 22 (companies: Dickies; Dickies ‘American Worker of the Year’; Applebee’s; Chevy; Ford; Ford ‘I’m Driving One’; AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year – text to 2258; Verizon Wireless; Sprint.com/nownetwork; AFLAC; Sprint.com/speed; Nationwide Insurance; UPS; Racing.UPS.com; Miller Lite; ESPN.com/deportes; Monday Night Football on ESPN (Steelers vs. Broncos); ESPN.com/pick12challenge ; ‘NASCAR Now’ on ESPN; NHRA finals on ESPN; next week’s CWTS race on SPEED; next week’s Nationwide race on ESPN; next week’s Cup series race on ABC; CMA Awards on ABC; ‘V’ on ABC)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 5 min. 20 sec.

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

NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter’
NASCAR on ESPN ‘In-Race Reporter Question’
Miller Lite ‘Taste Greatness’
Miller Lite ‘In-Car’
Chevy ‘In-Car’
AT&T ‘Fastest Pit Crew of the Year Standings’
ESPN/Craftsman ‘Tech Garage’
AFLAC ‘Trivia Question’
Bush’s Baked Beans ‘Race Rundown’

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:15 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:59 PM

Total minutes: 224

Minutes of race broadcast: 174
Minutes of commercials: 50

Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 0

Number of times a replay of Johnson’s wreck on lap three was shown: 13
Number of minutes Jimmie Johnson’s car was in the garage under repair: 68
Number of times Jimmie Johnson’s car was shown being worked on during the race broadcast: 17
Number of times Chad Knaus was shown working on Jimmie’s car following the wreck: 5
Number of times a replay was shown of Carl Edwards’ wreck: 5

Number of times the race broadcast was shared with a state lottery drawing: 1 at least in Pennsylvania
Number of male enhancement commercials: 1 many NASCAR fans finds these types of ads very offensive

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

Read more Commercial breakdown, driver focus, and links related to the 2009 Dickies 500 ...