The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and their Morton Buildings Late Model Series have aired two live TV broadcasts, as of this writing.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and their Morton Buildings Late Model Series have aired two live TV broadcasts, as of this writing, on CBS Sports Network.
The third and final broadcast will also have been completed by the time you read this.
I was fortunate to get the opportunity to be an analyst for the Slick 50 Sprint Car Series that ran out in Arizona for two off-seasons during the winters of 1992-‘93 and 1993-‘94.
Jeff Swindell was the analyst the first year and, fortunately for me, he got a ride and raced the second year. He suggested they call me to see if I was interested and, after some real soul-searching and a lot of phone calls, I decided to do it. And man, am I glad I did!
The decision was hard, because it was after my accident, which (for those who don‘t know) left me paralyzed and riding around in a wheelchair.
All the phone calls were to airlines, rental car companies and motels to see what and how all that worked for someone in a wheelchair.
My “crash” was in 1988 and I hadn‘t flown or rented a car, or even stayed in a motel, after it happened. I had been driving my own vehicle with hand controls from the time I got home from rehab, but I didn‘t know for sure if rental cars had them or not.
I didn‘t want someone driving me to and from the track; I wanted to be able to get on the airplane, get the rental car and get to the motel, and do it all myself.
After I got all that worked out and confirmed, that‘s when I called them back up and agreed to give it a try. I never thought at the time that it would basically give me a second career in sprint car racing.
Throughout all the years since the Slick 50 Series I‘ve continued to do TV, whether it was live or taped shows, and I‘ve worked alongside some great people in the booth, and with great people behind the camera as well. There was a period where we did something like 12 to 18 live shows per year for several years.
Live TV costs a crazy amount of money, and over time it just became less and less viable to do live broadcasts, and so that evolved into all taped shows that were much cheaper to produce and get on the air.
Some argue that taped shows just aren‘t as exciting as a live show. There is some truth to that, but if it‘s a race you haven‘t seen — either at the track or online — to me, it can be just as good. I tape a lot of races, and even football games, that I watch later even if I know who won, because I still want to see all the action and see how they won!
When online streaming started, many predicted it to be the wave of the future, and in a lot of ways they were correct. It is tremendously cheaper to produce and broadcast, and for those streaming services that can charge a pay-per-view fee, it is even profitable, whereas a TV broadcast can cost a series or sanctioning body.
As live online streaming continued to grow and gain viewers, as a “TV” guy, I figured my days were numbered. There is no doubt there aren‘t nearly as many sprint car races seen on network TV as there once were, but the WoO series has pretty much continued to do several taped TV shows per year for years now, and the Ollies Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions had about eight to 10 shows per year for the last two years as well.
At this time, it doesn‘t look like the All Stars TV package will continue this season. I have people who quite often ask me, “When will sprint cars be on TV again?” and it frustrates me that the word isn‘t getting out that sprint car racing has been on TV, and some people just aren‘t hearing about it.
When racing was completely shut down because of the coronavirus, fans and people within the sport were desperately wanting to get back to racing. iRacing, which is computerized simulated racing has been around for many years, but they got more involved in short track (and especially dirt) racing in the last couple years.
There has been online racing where sim racers, some who have never driven a real race car, and professional drivers from many forms of motorsports competed against one another every week.
When “real” racing stopped, iRacing seemed to explode, with people all over the world buying the equipment to go sim racing. Many racing organization and sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, televised sim races.
FS1 was actually the first to air WoO sim races, with back-to-back events, which received rave reviews. Shortly after that, the WoO put together several sim races that aired on CBS Sports Network.
There were those who debated how it wasn‘t “real” racing and it was just a “game.” But, for the most part, for the people who held the steering wheel in their hands, simulated or not, the competition was real!
The WoO CBS Sports Network and FS1 sim-broadcasts not only filled a void for the fans and drivers, it allowed the drivers and WoO to get their sponsors‘ names and logos on network TV.
The ratings were very good, and that might just be the reason that WoO and the CBS Sports Network agreed to showcase real sprint car and late model racing on live TV again.
Whatever the reason, I‘m excited to have been able to be a part of it!
On the day of the first live broadcast, CBS aired a one-hour show hosted by Dave Rieff and John Gibson, called The Greatest Show On Dirt, that highlighted the start of the WoO season, the shutdown, the iRacing experience, and then the “return to racing.”
Leading into the live broadcast, CBS Sports Network showed the documentary called For The Love Of Dirt, which mostly highlights the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall sprint car team and driver Sheldon Haudenschild, and what racing an entire season with the WoO entails.
Even with the shutdown, the WoO and short track racing have gotten a lot of attention, which is obviously a great thing for the sport.