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The last race run against the Olympics (2014) had a long rain delay and still scored a 5.6.
Prior to that, the 2010 race also went up against the Olympics and scored a 7.7.
Translation - the Olympics were a non-factor.
This was the lowest-rated live flag-to-flag broadcast of the Daytona 500.
The sad part to me is there is more likeable young talent in the Cup Series than there has been in a long time. But quite honestly the loss of a few stars along with the constant tinkering of rules, points and the races themselves has been tough to overcome.
this happens regularly though. when i started watching nascar, when it was on TV, i watched guys like richard petty, cale yarborough, darrel waltrip, dale earnhardt sr, david pearson, bobby and donnie allison, and bill elliot, among others. over time they all left the sport one way or another, and were replaced by guys like earhart jr, rusty wallace, jeff gordon, michael waltrip, carl edwards, brad k joey logano, tim richmond, etc.
now we have guys like chase elliot, kyle larson, kyle busch, and many others. they are all fun to watch imo. but the old old guard is gone, the old guard is also gone, and now we have the current guard and the young guns. in twenty years, all the drivers you see today will also be gone and replaced by many drivers from the truck series, the nationwide series, arca, etc. and they will be the old drivers, the new ones are racing go carts right now and range in age from 3 up to 10 years of age.
I was lost looking for a driver to root for after Davey Allison died... I rooted for Gordon for a while but eventually started following Jr in Busch and followed him into CUP. Its easy to score fans when you win.. this new crop of drivers (Chase, Bubba, etc.) will need to score some wins soon to keep the fans that are anxious to jump on their bandwagon... Larson seems to have already surpassed the learning curve and Blaney seems on the cusp of that as well... i expect Larson, Blaney and Chase to dominate the winners circle in the next 10 or so years... i hope Bubba can do the same but i am not convinced that Petty will be competitive on the mile and half tracks.. maybe Bubba can bring in some fresh sponsorship's that will spur them to put more R&D into their cup car and give him a competitive ride.... Fingers Crossed!
i picked out carl edwards to root for in 2004 when he first broke into cup racing. i also thought casey khane would be someone to root for when he replaced bill elliot at evernham motorsports. i got my mother interested in racing, and suggested that she root for kevin harvick who replaced earnhardt sr after he died.
it seems to be easy to pick the people that have the talent to do well in the sport, for me at least. right now i am hoping that suarez can get a win or two this season, and i am also hoping that elliot gets a win or two. a few of the young guns are on the verge of getting their first wins, and some of the young veteran drivers, like wallace and a few others, have moved into better equipment and driving for better teams, and they are on the verge of starting to win. this is a sport of patience with new drivers, but most should get there.
i was disappointed with JJ yeley and danica patrick. both showed a lot of talent, and both were in good rides, but i think bad luck early on hurt them.
Sunday’s Atlanta race moved to 1:06 p.m. ET start with threat of weather
By Nate RyanFeb 24, 2018, 10:37 AM EST
HAMPTON, Georgia – The threat of inclement weather has moved up the start of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway by an hour.
NASCAR announced Saturday morning that the green flag will fall on the second race of the 2018 season at 1:06 p.m. ET.
Races become official after the second stage. The second stage of Sunday’s 500-mile race will end on Lap 170 of 325.
The wunderground.com site calls for an 80 percent chance of rain Sunday with the forecast worsening from 10 a.m.
NBC Sports
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Sunday's Race Time Changed in Atlanta
