As time passed, more Winston Cup races ended up on TV. ESPN broadcast its first race in 1981, from North Carolina Motor Speedway[1] (its first live race was later in the year at Atlanta International Raceway), and TNN followed in 1991. All Cup races were nationally televised by 1985; networks struck individual deals with track owners, and multiple channels carried racing action. Many races were shown taped and edited on Wide World of Sports and syndication services like Mizlou and SETN, but almost all races were live by 1989. By 2000, the last year of this arrangement, six networks televised at least one Cup series race: CBS, ABC, ESPN, TNN, TBS, and NBC.
Also, a growing number of races in the Busch Grand National Series and Craftsman Truck Series were made available for broadcast, and some track owners even threw in support races in lesser series. Likewise, Winston Cup qualifying aired on ESPN2 or regional sports network Prime Network.
NASCAR wanted to capitalize on its increased popularity even more, so they decided that future deals would be centralized; that is, the networks would negotiate directly with NASCAR for a regular schedule of telecasts.
After years of trying to win it, Dale Earnhardt appeared headed for certain victory in the 1990 Daytona 500 until a series of events in the closing laps. On lap 193, Geoff Bodine spun in the first turn, causing the third and final caution of the race. Everyone pitted except Derrike Cope, who stayed out. On the lap 195 restart, Earnhardt retook and held the lead, only to puncture a tire when he drove over a piece of metal bell housing from the failed engine of Rick Wilson's car on Lap 199. As Earnhardt's damaged car slowed, Cope drove past and earned his first Cup Series victory. It was the first of two victories for the relatively unknown Cope in the 1990 season.[32] In an ironic twist, KIRO-TV, the local CBS affiliate serving Cope's hometown at the time in the Seattle suburb of Spanaway, opted to pre-empt the race to telecast a Seattle SuperSonics basketball game, and the race was delayed until 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time because of the pre-emption.
TBS broadcast the Richmond spring race, held the week after Daytona Speedweeks, from 1983 to 1995, as well as the fall races at Rockingham (1985-1987), Atlanta (1983-1985) and Riverside (1982-1987). For several years in the 1990s, the only Cup Series races aired on TBS were the two races from Charlotte Motor Speedway (Coca-Cola 600 from 1988-2000, UAW-GM Quality 500 from 1989-2000); TBS did not have rights to The Winston, which usually aired on TNN. Also, the channel aired the July race at Pocono Raceway from 1993 to 2000. TBS was also the home of the postseason exhibition races held at Suzuka Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi in Japan from 1996–1998. The now defunct Prime Network meanwhile, was the first to televise NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying races on a regular basis. The telecasts were mainly for races that would be televised by TBS.
After SETN folded, one Pocono race a year was produced by Jim Wiglesworth on pay-per-view for Viewer's Choice (now In Demand) from 1988 to 1990. They were not a huge success, as fans were reluctant to pay for what they could see last week for free. The Viewer's Choice shows were noteworthy in that they premiered viewer phone-in questions during the races.
TNN started showing races live in 1991,[35] but it had aired taped coverage of a few Winston Cup races in the 1980s on its American Sports Cavalcade program. TNN had a self-operating and self-promoting sub-division called TNN Motor Sports, and aired races produced by that division from 1991 to 2000.[36] Under the TNN Motor Sports umbrella, NASCAR series races (including those of the then-Winston Cup Series and Busch Grand National Series, as well as the Craftsman Truck Series) were the most prominently featured, but races of smaller circuits such as the International Motor Sports Association IMSA Sports Car Series, ASA, USAC, the NHRA, and ARCA were also showcased, as was motorcycle and speedboat racing. TNN picked up several of the "second tier" Winston Cup races of the time, whose rights packages were allowed to expire by ESPN. Races at tracks such as Rockingham,[37]Dover, Pocono, Loudon, and Phoenix, were among the events signed. In general, ESPN abandoned slower, longer, races which used large broadcast windows. 500-mile races at Rockingham, Dover and Pocono were known to last upwards of five hours, requiring a broadcast window as long as six hours (to include pre-race and post-race coverage). The races at Rockingham and Dover were shortened to 400 miles in 1995 and 1997, respectively, but remained part of the TNN lineup. TNN's relatively open schedule for Sunday afternoons allowed large NASCAR broadcast windows. TNN also picked up rights to The Winston when it was moved to prime time.
For 1992, Daytona 500 pole qualifying and the Busch Clash swapped days: the Busch Clash was held on Saturday, and qualifying was held Sunday. This move was made at the request of CBS, who wanted the additional time on Sunday for its coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics. The network had aired the Busch Clash since it began in 1979. The race debuted on a Sunday, which CBS broadcast live. Pole position qualifying for the Daytona 500 would start Sunday at 10:00 a.m., followed by the Daytona ARCA 200. The Busch Clash would be held after the ARCA race at 3:00 p.m.
The 1994 Brickyard 400 broadcast was billed as "A Special Presentation of ABC Sports," and technically did not fall under the moniker of Wide World of Sports. Starting with the 1995 Indianapolis 500, ABC Sports started billing their races at Indy under the WWOS banner (that is, of course, not including 1965-1970). The 1995 BY400 shifted to tape delay on ESPN, so the first BY400 to be a WWOS presentation would be the 1996 race. That means that the "first...since" NASCAR race to be a WWOS presentation might have been the 1995 or 1996 spring race at Atlanta (Purolator 500). It is also worth noting that the first permanent "score bug" used on ABC for perhaps ANY sport broadcast was during the 1994 Purolator 500 (spring race) at Atlanta. It was a transparent digit counting down the number of laps left in the race. It was used 2 months later during the Indianapolis 500 (with a different font), then again at the 1994 BY400.
During its tenure on ABC, the Brickyard 400 was subject to the same broadcast policy as the Indianapolis 500, meaning that live coverage was blacked out on the local ABC station (WRTV), and the race was instead shown via same-day tape delay. The blackout ended in 2001, due to all television rights being centralized with NASCAR.[38]
The Winter Heat Series, aired during the winter months between November and January (during NASCAR's offseason). The program began during the 1994-1995 winter and ran through the 1998-1999 winter. The races were held at the 3/8 mile Tucson Raceway Park in Tucson, Arizona. TNN originally broadcast the races before ESPN took over.
In 1998, a CBS-televised race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado, scheduled for 186 laps ran 12 extra laps (totaling 198) because of multiple attempts at a successful Green-White-Checkered Finish.
20 years after its Daytona 500 broadcast, CBS used at least 200 people and more than 80 cameras for their coverage:[40]
33 in-car cameras - three cameras in 11 different cars.
10 "pole" cameras above the pits.
35 cameras around the track.
A camera in a blimp.
A camera with each of the three pit reporters.
A camera in the booth.
CBS also planned to use more computerized graphics and a super slow-motion camera with a long lens.
^The 1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was rained out after 51 laps on Sunday and ran the next day. ABC couldn't televise the remainder of the race due to its daytime programming.
^The 1991 Valleydale Meats 500 had ESPN move the finish to tape delay due to a rain delay that lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes.
^The 1991 Winston 500 was scheduled to be on May 5th but rescheduled on May 6th due to a rain delay.
^The 1992 Hanes 500 was held at the same time as the 1992 NFL draft. ESPN chose to cover the NFL Draft live and forcing ESPN to air the race on tape the next day.
^The 1993 DieHard 500 saw Neil Bonnett drive in this race, making his first start since his sidling crash at Darlington in March of 1990. He crashed in spectacular fashion and joined Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett for the finish of the race.
^the 1995 Pepsi 400 had ESPN air the race while ESPN2 showed onboard cameras and radio with some of the teams.
^The 1995 Brickyard 400 was scheduled to be on ABC but a rain delay that went beyond ABC's broadcast window meant it had to be moved to ESPN which aired the race on tape delay the following day.
^The 1996 DieHard 500 had a three hour Rain delay and CBS switched to Golf, Race was aired on CBS in its entirety on August 4th.
^The 1997 Winston 500 was scheduled to be on April 27th but was moved back two weeks due to rain as it washed out any chance to hold the race on Sunday or Monday. To complicate matters, the series was racing the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 at Sonoma Raceway the following weekend and the travel burden for the teams would be too much to overcome if the race were to be held Tuesday as would be the normal policy (next available day). Series officials decided to have the teams pack up and depart for Sonoma, and rescheduled the Winston 500 for the weekend after that May 10th.
^The 1997 Hanes 500 was scheduled to be on September 28th but rescheduled on September 29th due to a rain delay. John Kernan was there on Sunday but not on Monday.
^The 1997 AC Delco 400 was scheduled to be on October 26th but rescheduled on October 27th due to a rain delay.
^The 1998 Primestar 500 was scheduled to be on ABC but a rain delay to Monday meant it had to be moved to ESPN which aired the race the following day.
^The 1997 Hanes 500 was scheduled to be on April 19th but rescheduled on April 20th due to a rain delay. John Kernan was there on Sunday but not on Monday and replaced by Ray Dunlap on pitlane.
^The 1998 Pepsi 400 was scheduled to be held on July 4th but the 1998 Florida wildfires occurred. At 10am on July 2, NASCAR announced that the race was being postponed and the decision was made to reschedule the race for October 17, to allow additional time for the wildfires to be controlled.
^The rescheduling of the 1998 Pepsi 400 meant that the race would not be televised on CBS, as the network did not want to compete against Fox's broadcast of Game 1 of the Major League BaseballWorld Series which was held the same day. TNN took over broadcasting the race with their own crew.
^The 1998 NAPA 500 saw coverage start on ESPN but move to ESPN2 due to multiple rain delays.
^The 1999 UAW-GM Quality 500 was scheduled to be on October 10th but rescheduled on October 11th due to a rain delay.
^The 1998 Yellow Freight 300 was scheduled to on March 7th and aired on ESPN2 but was rain delayed and with it continuing into Monday meant the race was rescheduled to November 7th and aired on ESPN.
^The 1999 Coca-Cola 300 saw coverage move from CBS to TNN due to a rain delay. TNN used CBS's graphics and commentary for the rest of the race.
