The November 1998 issue of Stock Car Racing Magazine
ran a story about racing on TV. Various people from ESPN pointed out that the
producer and director make every attempt to stay with the action after the
caution comes out to cover pit stops. They also try to make every attempt to
return to the coverage before the re-start. That started me thinking. Knowing
the frequency of commercials that are run during the race, I was curious
as to how long these commercial breaks were and how long they stayed with
the coverage during the green flag, how long they were away during cautions,
and when-and-where they broke away from or returned to coverage.
I broke out my trusty stopwatch and this is what resulted:
Rules:
The start time and finish time reflect what my watch said. They may or may not
be the official time.
The difference between total commercial time plus non-commercial coverage
and the official race duration is the margin of error.
All times are rounded to the second.
Tech Facts, NASCAR 50th Anniversary Moments, etc. are included in
coverage times. "This ... special presentation is sponsored by..." are
not included in coverage times.
Times where green flag racing has gone caution during commercial or caution
has gone green during commercial are roughly divided in half and are denoted
by preceding asterisk (*).
Times preceeded by sharp (#) denotes an estimated time since re-start. Times
are estimated based on average lap time and where the leader was on the track
when coverage was resumed.
Cautions times are started when announcer says "Caution is out!" rather
than the leader at the start/finish line, as TNN has a peculiar habit of
not showing the race to the line.