Beyond the Flag
Fansided

FOX Sports Alienates NASCAR Fans with Trucks Move to FBN

By Alex Herbst

ROSSBURG, OH - JULY 20: Stewart Friesen, driver of the #16 Halmar International Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #24 DC Solar Chevrolet, race during NASCAR Camping World Series 4th Annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150, at Eldora Speedway on July 20, 2016 in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
ROSSBURG, OH - JULY 20: Stewart Friesen, driver of the #16 Halmar International Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #24 DC Solar Chevrolet, race during NASCAR Camping World Series 4th Annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150, at Eldora Speedway on July 20, 2016 in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Fox Sports quietly announced that they are moving the popular Eldora dirt race for the Camping World Truck Series to the Fox Business Network in July.

More from Camping World Truck Series

It is no surprise that the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is often treated as the third division of the nationally touring stock car series, falling behind both the Cup and Xfinity Series. However, the truckers often benefit from similar levels of television coverage, with their races covered by FS1 and FOX. However, one of their most popular races in recent years will now be shifted off of the normal networks.

FOX Sports recently announced a schedule change for the Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, moving the main event to specialty channel FOX Business Channel. The move was necessitated by the network covering the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in soccer, which could include two popular teams, the U.S. and Mexican national teams. The network also noted that qualifying will take place earlier in the day on FS1, then followed by the heat races on FS2.

The move is one that will rile many NASCAR fans, seeing that the race at the track owned by Tony Stewart has become one of the crowned jewels of the Camping World Truck Series. It is one of only two midweek races among any of the nationally touring series, with the other being the Wednesday night Truck Series race at Bristol. Many may question the placement on FBN over another widely distributed network like FX.

Appearances would say that FOX Sports is caught between a rock and a hard place. The sports division does not want to alienate their motorsports audience again, like many felt they did when Speed was turned into FS1. On the other hand, soccer is booming in the United States and can bring in massive audiences across their networks. Meanwhile, FS2 continues to suffer from poor distribution and in many cases only being shown in standard definition. This likely caused the race to be seen on FBN rather than FS2, much like at least one of the Gold Cup matches will be seen on comedy network FXX.

The head men at FOX also appear to be protecting the normal schedule on entertainment network FX, which has seen strong ratings for many of their scripted programs. However, with a large inventory of sports programming and conflicts coming in 2018 with the World Cup, shouldn’t the networks be preparing now for the coming changes? With many games to cover in the FIFA World Cup, it is likely that NASCAR Camping World Truck Series coverage may get shifted again next year for as long a one month.

Next: Money Troubles for the Camping World Truck Series

No matter what happens, it should be an exciting race for the Truck Series on the dirt short track in Rossburg, Ohio. Will you be tuning in to see the action from Eldora Speedway? While FOX Sports may have made the move for their best interest, it will likely be NASCAR and the fans who will suffer the consequences.

Home/Camping World Truck Series