ShareThis''NASCAR comes to Europe," reads a headline out of the weekend's Paris Tuning and Racing Show, an annual car show. But none of the four NASCAR manufacturers here, or any of the Sprint Cup tour teams mentioned, seems to know anything about it.However, the Web site for a proposed 13-race series this season, at a variety of European tracks, including Brands Hatch, Rockingham and Lauztisring, opens with glossy photos of the Bill Davis-Dave Blaney Toyota, the Michael Waltrip Toyota, a Kyle Busch-Rick Hendrick 2007 Monte Carlo, and what appears to be a Rick Hendrick Impala SS.And there are interesting souvenirs for sale -- jackets and clothing from the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Hendrick camp, from the Clint Bowyer-Richard Childress team, from the Mark Martin-DEI camp, from the Robby Gordon camp, from the Matt Kenseth-Jack Roush camp, from the Kasey Kahne-Ray Evernham camp, and items with the NASCAR rainbow quite prominent.Where the cars for this series might come from is unclear. But a similarly mysterious NASCAR-type series is already under way in the Far East, under the logo SpeedCar, with typical NASCAR stock cars built in North Carolina, featuring some ex-Formula One drivers. That series' next race will be later this month as part of the Malaysian Formula One weekend. Who precisely is backing that series is not clear; but Michelin, which has pulled out of F1 itself, is providing tires for that Saturday companion event. Detroit executives have insisted they know little about that tour.There has been speculation that the Far East tour could be a low-keyed attempt by someone within this sport to gauge the potential international attraction of NASCAR-type racing, without making a high-profile marketing gamble.A part of a rough translation of the Paris press release reads:"A European Championship NASCAR (racing stock cars), named All-Stars V8 Cup, will come on stream in 2008 at the initiative of an English group. The professional league will have a minimum of 26 cars and has the ambition to attract a wide audience on 13 circuits, four of which are in France, in its first year of existence."The cars are all equipped with a Chevrolet V8 engine (350 c.i.) with Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford bodies...."-- GORDON to DAKAR?: Robby Gordon is pondering the possibility of running next month in what is billed as the Dakar Series Central European Rally, which is a substitute race for the canceled Dakar Rally, dropped by promoters because of concerns over possible terror threats.The new race is scheduled for April 20-26 in Hungary and Romania. That's an off weekend for NASCAR's Cup tour, though Gordon would be hard-pressed to make it back to the U.S. for the April 27th Talladega 500. And Gordon is scheduled to run the Mexico City NASCAR race on April 20th.Gordon's rally team is sponsored by General Motors' Hummer division, and Gordon said he's been worried about the Dakar group (which also runs the Tour de France bike race) not providing a valid alternative race for his sponsors. It is unclear what GM's response might be to Gordon's participation in the substitute rally.ANNOUNCER SPONSORSHIPS?: Drivers' uniforms are plastered with dozens of sponsorship decals, but keep an eye on the shirts of NASCAR TV announcers, because some of them are rumored to be trying to shop around the space for logo rights on their shirts to various racing sponsors -- in effect offering to wear a sponsor's logo during telecasts in exchange for a fee, of as much as $250,000. Some sponsors who have been approached by the TV journalists have expressed chagrin; however, some sponsors are apparently willing to pay for the extra TV attention.A NASCAR spokesman said he was unaware of the issue and declined to say what the NASCAR's response might be. Of course, any such move could be considered an egregious violation of journalistic ethics.Questions about TV journalism in this sport aren't new. But at Daytona, one top TV announcer raised eyebrows when he publicly castigated the general print-and-web media for what he considered negative reporting about some of this sport's top issues, such as the controversial Car of Tomorrow, sluggish ticket sales, and flat TV ratings. And earlier this weekend a TV executive sent out a five-point memo to TV announcers warning them of topics to specifically avoid -- including ticket sales and TV ratings.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
NASCAR to Europe? Other notes
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