Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502220015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
CBS will use 25 cameras, including those in the cars of Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Dick Trickle, Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin. It's the 17th straight year CBS has televised the race live, and this time the network has seven-time Daytona 500 winner Richard Petty in the booth with Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett.
``It's a different perspective up there than on the track,'' Petty said a few days ago in a conference call with reporters. ``You can really see things develop. When you're on the track, you just see what's in front of you. I wish I could have watched some races from the tower while I was running. It might have helped.''
The 1993 Daytona race produced one of the more memorable finish-line calls in racing history when Squier gave up the microphone to Jarrett, who rooted home his son, Dale, to his first Daytona 500 triumph. Petty's son, Kyle, is in the race, too. How would King Richard react if the analysts' sons were dueling for the checkered flag?
``I don't know which one would be more overcome, me or Ned,'' Petty said. ``I've never been in that situation, but I hope I get a chance.''
Petty won't predict a winner. Jarrett is sticking with his son. Squier, the veteran race-caller, likes Terry Labonte.
``I think that car [the Kellogg's Chevrolet] is proving itself pretty bullet-proof,'' Squier said. ``The Labonte people came from 15th to seventh in the points the last half of last year. They've been nothing but improved.''
Petty said he won't become a telecast regular, primarily because he's trying to run his racing team. ``The sponsors pay me to try and do good with the race car,'' Petty said.
Asked how he thought driver Bobby Hamilton [starting 25th Sunday] and the STP team might fare without Petty's up-close advice, the legend said, ``Probably, they're better off with me up there [in the booth] than being in the pit.''
CBS has made its Daytona telecast more intriguing over the years with feature pieces and statistical revelations, like this one: If 1994 Daytona winner Sterling Marlin drove his average speed of 156.931 mph, he could travel from New York to Los Angeles in 15 hours, 46 minutes.
A subject sure to be broached by the CBS crew Sunday will be the fines levied by NASCAR to cheating teams earlier in SpeedWeeks.
``I think they [NASCAR inspectors] are taking more time to look for some things,'' Petty said. ``I also think there's a change in strategy. In the past, I think a lot of people the public didn't hear about were caught and told to make it right and everyone went about their business. Now, I think NASCAR has decided to bring it out into the open. I don't think there are more people cheating.''
Squier said NASCAR Winston Cup series director Gary Nelson ``keeps raising the level of fines until he gets people's attention, and I think he's gotten that. [Driver] Randy LaJoie was fined $10,000 the other day. He told me that's more than he claimed on his tax report last year.''
The 1994 Daytona 500 posted a Nielsen rating of 9.6, a record for a NASCAR race, and the highest for any auto race last year - even better than the Indianapolis 500.
ACC HOOPS: The ACC is about to get richer from its basketball telecast schedule, which already pays the most of any conference. The ACC and Raycom Sports, which owns rights to the home games of all ACC schools, are renegotiating the rights fees to take the contract through the 2000-01 season.
The current contract runs through 1996-97 and this season pays $14.5 million to the ACC for basketball, with the money split equally by the nine members. When the new agreement is reached, the annual rights starting next season will be in excess of $18 million, meaning each school will get more than $2 million.
Raycom and Jefferson-Pilot Sports, which now primarily provides production for the ACC telecasts, started their shared ACC rights in 1982-83 with a $5-million deal. Now, Raycom has exclusive rights to ACC school home dates and, besides airing the Raycom/JP regional schedule, distributes games to other carriers like ESPN and ABC.
THE SCOOP: The departure of defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian from Virginia Tech's football staff could have been reported first by WSLS (Channel 10). Instead, WDBJ (Channel 7) had the scoop that could have belonged to its Roanoke TV competitor.
Both stations had the story that broke last Friday afternoon. Both have 5 p.m. newscasts, and the sports segment on WSLS airs a few minutes before the one on WDBJ. On Channel 10, Greg Roberts ran with the weekly ``Plays of the Week'' segment - plays most viewers have seen on ESPN anyway - and ended the segment by telling viewers to tune in to the news at 6 for a big story in college football.
A couple of minutes later on WDBJ, Mike Stevens reported Elmassian's move to Washington, revealing the story first before going to a video package, thereby getting the scoop. It was a big story on WDBJ. It was a bigger tease on WSLS.
DOGGONE: ESPN makes a big deal about the ESPY awards show, but Monday night the cable ratings for USA Network's live coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show were 11 percent higher than the competing ESPYs.
by CNB