The purse for Sunday's race is $18.3 million, with the winner collecting at least a record $1.44 million. Robert Yates Racing's David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd finished first and second in qualifying — exemplifying NASCAR's old and new. Rudd began his career in 1975; Gilliland was born the next year. Even 72-year-old James Hylton attempted to qualify. Hylton was NASCAR Rookie of the Year — in 1966!

On the track, controversy continues. NASCAR disallowed the qualifying times of Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth, and impounded the Toyota of Michael Waltrip after finding "unapproved devices" enhancing the aerodynamic performance of those cars.

Off the track, NASCAR continues with a 90 percent growth rate and a net value exceeding $10 billion (up from $1.5 billion in 1990). It has welcomed Toyota, and is getting ready to unveil its Car of Tomorrow on March 25 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

The sport continues to tweak its Nextel Chase for the Championship — the top 12 drivers in the points standings after 26 races will have their point totals reset to 5,000 and will be eligible for the final Chase for the Championship. Copycat playoff formats permeate golf (the FedEx Cup), tennis (U.S. Open Series), and even horse racing (National Thoroughbred Racing Association).

NASCAR continues to evolve and improve its product, and over 75 million loyal and avid fans appreciate the changes. New blood continues to join the sport — Ginn Clubs and Resorts founder Bobby Ginn, for example, has entered the sport in a big way with his 80 percent purchase of MB2 last summer. Now competing as Ginn Racing, the team will field three Cup cars and seven total drivers in 2007. About Ginn, driver Joe Nemechek says this week in USA Today, "He's a go-getter. He doesn't do anything halfway."

This year, the business of NASCAR focuses on three areas: television, corporate support, and new marketing initiatives.

Sustaining the NASCAR TV Explosion

While 2006 viewership was down, this weekend, NASCAR embarks on a new eight-year television package with FOX, ABC, ESPN, TNT, and Speed. NASCAR Broadcasting suggests that revenue from this package will exceed $505 million this year, with increases of about three percent per year through 2014 — a total of $4.84 billion.

The Nextel Cup Series generates almost 95 percent of that revenue, and may continue that way as the former Busch Series looks for a new sponsor. (Ratings for the Busch Series were flat last year.) FOX seems pleased with the buildup of this year's Daytona 500 — almost all of the 30-second spots have been sold at a cost of up to $500,000 per. In a new twist, driver Kyle Petty will serve as an analyst on TNT's six Nextel Cup races. He plans to call the Toyota Save Mart 350 on June 24 as he races in it.

Maintaining Support from Corporate America

Sponsorship revenue for NASCAR was $5.1 billion last year, and sales of NASCAR merchandise reached $2.1 billion — both records. Corporations spend nearly $600 million in ad revenue with NASCAR (a more than 30 percent increase over previous years). The StockCar Stocks Index Fund shows an average annual return of 4.3 percent over the past five years — about 1.6 percent higher than the Standard and Poors Index.

Corporations also love the brand loyalty and long-term exposure that NASCAR generates. Consulting firm Joyce Julius confirms that teams and events last season created $5.07 billion worth of advertising exposure, up from $4.2 billion the year before.

Such companies as Raybestos, Coca-Cola, Goodyear, Kellogg's, Visa, and Anheuser-Busch have been in the race for nearly a decade. Though Ford Motor Company lost $12.7 billion last year, Dodge reaffirmed its long-term commitment to spend $10-$20 million with the sport through Roush Racing and Evernham Motorsports.

 

While Anheuser-Busch pulled out of NASCAR's "second series" in December, the new deal for that series sponsorship could exceed $30 million annually — about three times what Busch was paying. And look at Nextel. After committing nearly $1 billion to NASCAR three years ago, overall awareness of that company increased to 90 percent among NASCAR fans. Those fans aged 18 to 49 were five times as likely to join or switch to Nextel over the past year, compared to one percent of the general population...