Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
There seems to be a disconnect between the drivers who get mentioned by NASCAR TV broadcasters and the drivers who fans want to hear about the most.
The lastest figures from marketing firm Joyce Julius & Associates were released on Wednesday and show that Paul Menard's name has been mentioned more times this season than Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s.
Sure, Menard won the Brickyard 400 this season – but has his year really warranted being mentioned more often than NASCAR's most popular driver?
Both Menard (who received the ninth-most mentions of any driver as of the Bristol race) and Earnhardt Jr. (10th) aren't mentioned nearly as often as the top driver, though.
In fact, Menard and Earnhardt Jr.'s mentions combined still don't equal the number of times Kyle Busch's name has been discussed on NASCAR broadcasts this year.
Busch has been mentioned 3,829 times – nearly 800 times more than the second-place driver, Jeff Gordon. In addition, Busch has also been interviewed the most often (38 times) and has the most interview time (52 minutes).
After Gordon, it's Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin. Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Menard and Earnhardt Jr. round out the top 10.
Amazingly, Brad Keselowski was not among the 10 most-mentioned drivers through Bristol, nor was Kevin Harvick.
You can visit the Joyce Julius web site to see the full top 10.
2 comments
Comments
Most Popular Driver?
Maybe the NASCAR TV broadcasters, like a whole bunch of the rest of us, are just plain tired of Dale Jr. and his laid back attitude. Ya think?
Isn’t NASCAR supposed to be about winning? Isn’t that what made Dale Sr. a household name who was second only to Michael Jordan (another BIG TIME winner BTW) in name recognition during the 1990’s?
Like it or not, Kyle Bush is a great wheel man and the broadcasters would be remiss if they aren’t standing on one foot and the other to try and get an interview with him. Anyone got a problem with that? Then get out there and win,,, Simple…
by Dwindy1 on Sep 14, 2011 9:52 PM EDT reply actions
Great story....
Nothing like trying to find something in nothing. Paul won a race and was on the Chase bubble all year with a brand new team on a break out year as he collected more top finishes than his entire career. Meanwhile, Dale Jr was a solid top 10 in points with no wins and doing nothing remotely interesting on or off the track. I guess after a decade of talking about him, there’s not much left to say.
by Guy Snyder IV on Sep 15, 2011 6:30 PM EDT reply actions
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