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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - GRAND-AM Road Racing got its 2010 Rolex Sports
Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 and Continental Tire Sports Car
Challenge seasons off to another outstanding start last month at Daytona International
Speedway, reaching millions of viewers through expanded television offerings centered
around the respective season openers
Anchoring the Rolex Series television coverage was SPEED's extended live telecast
of the 48th Rolex 24 At Daytona. This year, SPEED featured 16 hours of live coverage,
including a thrilling final eight-and-a-half hours of racing on Sunday, Jan. 31.
Sunday's Rolex 24 coverage was the second highest-rated motorsports program of
that weekend, with over half a million viewers tuning in for the final hour of the
race. In total, 2010 Rolex 24 viewership was up 22 percent over 2006, which was
the last year that all Rolex 24 coverage aired exclusively on SPEED.
Undoubtedly helping grow the Rolex 24 audience were repeated showings of "GRAND-AM:
24 Hours at Daytona" on both the FX network as well as SPEED. The one-hour special
focused on introducing the cars and many of the personalities who participate in
the Rolex Series as well as superstars from other forms of motorsports that annually
participate in the Rolex 24. The special drew 531,000 viewers for its Jan. 23 airing
on FX and drew nearly 500,000 more in five telecasts on SPEED.
The Rolex 24 was also featured in the HBO Series "24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona,"
which wrapped up last week. Johnson's participation in the Rolex 24 with the GAINSCO/Bob
Stallings Racing team was chronicled in great detail during the second episode of
the four-part series, airing for the first of multiple times on Feb. 2 and reaching
a total audience well in excess of one million viewers.
The SPEED telecast of the 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season-opening
Fresh From Florida 200 was also a strong performer when it aired on Saturday, Feb.
13. SPEED television coverage of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge has increased
by one event over the 2009 season, with eight races scheduled to air this year.
The Daytona season opener saw 75 cars participate and the series is poised for another
entry list of 70-plus for the upcoming Homestead 200 on March 6 at Homestead-Miami
Speedway.
"We are certainly encouraged by a solid start to the 2010 season for both of our
series in terms of television coverage," said Kevin Hindson, GRAND-AM Vice President,
Marketing and Communications. "While viewership numbers have increased - which is
always a good thing - the different programs that were available also did an outstanding
job of introducing our sport to new audiences and educating potential new fans on
what we have to offer. All of the programs were very well presented and put GRAND-AM
in a positive light, and we hope viewers of those programs will come back and watch
us throughout the year. We are also working on additional season-long programming
which will air on new channels for GRAND-AM Road Racing."
Next up for the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
is the Grand Prix of Miami weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 6. Tickets
are currently available through RaceTickets.com. SPEED will offer live coverage
of the Grand Prix of Miami for the Rolex Series at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, March 6 and
will show the Homestead 200 for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at 1 p.m.
ET Saturday, March 13.
