It’s nice that two of my favorite things go so well together … auto racing and television.

It’s an interesting relationship. Each seems good for the other and each reveals things about the other.  One thing TV has revealed about racing is not too surprising, just a bit disappointing. NASCAR is the most popular form of racing in the U.S.

Ratings figures for last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 were better than ratings for last May’s Indianapolis 500, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

The final Nielsen Media Research ratings for the NBC broadcast, which include the small markets not sampled in the overnight figures, showed the 400 with a 6.2 rating and a 16 share.

The Indy 500, on ABC last spring, had a final 5.8 rating and a 17 share. The 2001 Brickyard was different in one big way. It was run on Sunday afternoon for the first time. Previously it had been a Saturday night race.

The 2001 Brickyard broadcast exceeded NBC’s previous best rating, the 6.1 pulled in by the Pepsi 400 from Daytona, run on Saturday night, July 7th.

There are, of course many factors which can play a part in how many people watch a television program. Weather is one. Much of the nation was gripped in a heat wave last Sunday and it may well be that more viewers were holed up at home in the air conditioning on August 5th than were on a spring Sunday.

Elsewhere on the dial, TNN is making a major change with  its broadcasts of World of Outlaws Sprintcar racing.

Much to our disappointment, The National Network has announced it will not show any more WoO events live. Instead, the races will be taped and shows on, get this, Sunday afternoon!

TNN’s director of motorsports, Mark Kuchan, says that the network was concerned about the low ratings its Friday and Saturday night live broadcasts were getting, so they will move them.

But Sunday afternoon?

It makes sense that WoO fans are not home watching TV on Friday and Saturday night. They’re out at the local track watching Sprintcars. So TNN was faced with a problem. Either show the WoO races with the panache of live TV, or tape them and show them when the audience is home.

On the other hand, they are going up against NASCAR, the occasional IRL or CART event, not to mention the NFL.

TNN has five Pennzoil World of Outlaws events left to do, including the sports biggest event, the Knoxville Nationals, which will be tape delay broadcast opposite NASCAR’s Watkins Glen race.

They also had taped the Kings Royal from Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH and aired it a week later.

The other events which will be run on Friday and Saturday and aired on Sunday include Texas Motor Speedway, Charlotte, Nebraska Raceway Park and the season closer from Las Vegas.

The usual shenanigans going on in Washington, D.C. may take a back seat next year to an auto race. A press conference was to be held last Thursday in Foggy Bottom and Speedvision.com’s News Bureau Editor, Erik Mauk, says he thinks he knows what will be announced.

Mauk said the evidence is that an American Le Mans Series event will be held in D.C. next summer. He cites several facts, including the meeting announcement that it involves a group called National Grand Prix Holdings.

NGPH has been working with the ALMS for a couple of years trying to schedule a race in Washington.

ALMS would be an exciting event. These are swoopy, sexy looking vehicles with big hairy engines and good old V8 roars.

I hope he’s right.