NASCAR's Johnson Dominates TV Coverage

While it should come as no surprise five-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson received the most attention during race telecasts this past season, the degree to which he dominated is staggering when considering Johnson was interviewed an entire half-hour longer, and mentioned 1,800 more times by the announcers than Series runner-up Denny Hamlin throughout the year.

According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. — which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 25 years — Johnson’s name was mentioned 7,875 times during the 36 live event telecasts (and replays) of the 2010 season. Johnson also appeared in a series-high 88 interview segments, which collectively added up to one hour, 31 minutes, 35 seconds (1:31:35) of television face time for the driver.

Hamlin in comparison, who won the most races (eight) and was leading The Chase heading into the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, drew 6,072 announcer mentions and 56 interviews totaling 1:01:50.

Kyle Busch also proved to be a popular interview subject, as the eighth-place driver finished tied for third among all racers with 47 interviews lasting a combined 1:07:13.

In contrast, Matt Kenseth, a top-five points finisher, appeared in front of the cameras just 14 times in 2010 for a little more than 10 minutes.

Of the three network combinations televising the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this past season, TNT proved to be the most interview-friendly, as the six mid-summer races on the cable network averaged 15 driver interviews per telecast, with each lasting about 1:15. Races on Fox saw 13 driver interviews clocking in at 1:08 apiece, while live broadcasts on ABC/ESPN generally saw 10 interviews conducted for an average of 1:03.

Year-End Top-20 Interview Results:

Rank	Driver	Points Finish	Interviews	Interview Time	Announcer Mentions
1)	Johnson, J.	1	88	1:31:35	7,875
2)	Hamlin, D.	2	56	1:01:50	6,072
3)	Busch, Ky.	8	47	1:07:13	5,500
3)	Harvick, K.	3	47	0:55:00	5,346
5)	Gordon, J.	9	46	0:59:03	5,039
6)	Stewart, T.	7	40	0:39:29	3,957
7)	Busch, Ku.	11	38	0:35:32	3,114
8)	Bowyer, C.	10	36	0:36:08	3,482
8)	Edwards, C.	4	36	0:51:20	3,133
10)	Burton, J.	12	33	0:32:51	3,483
10)	McMurray, J.	14	33	0:49:44	2,899
12)	Kahne, K.	20	31	0:28:37	2,269
13)	Biffle, G.	6	30	0:30:06	3,357
14)	Logano, J.	16	27	0:26:59	1,982
15)	Earnhardt, Jr., D.	21	21	0:18:45	2,155
16)	Ambrose, M.	26	16	0:15:22	1,641
16)	Montoya, J.	17	16	0:08:57	3,343
18)	Newman, R.	15	15	0:14:24	1,966
19)	Kenseth, M.	5	14	0:10:43	2,601
19)	Keselowski, B.	25	14	0:12:44	1,143