NASCAR Driver Exposure Rankings at the Start of the Chase: Kyle Busch Out in Front

ANN ARBOR, MI, September 27, 2011 -- Although he is off to a slow start in this year's Chase, Kyle Busch's regular season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series could not have gone much better in terms of television exposure for himself and his sponsors. Altogether, Busch's presence during TV coverage of the first 26 Cup Series races helped deliver $57.8 million of exposure value to his sponsors, nearly $14 million more than the next most brand-friendly driver, Jimmie Johnson.

According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. — which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 27 seasons — Busch's sponsors as a group appeared for 21 hours, five minutes, 45 seconds (21:05:45) during live and replayed race telecasts. Also contributing were a season-leading 251 mentions of Busch's sponsors.

Joyce Julius calculates television exposure value by comparing the in-broadcast visual and verbal exposure to the estimated cost of a national commercial during the telecast and applying Joyce Julius Recognition Grading — which takes into account such factors as size and placement of the image on screen, as well as brand clutter and integration of the brand into the activity.

Further evidence of Busch's regular season TV dominance can be seen from the 4,257 times announcers mentioned his name during the telecasts. Likewise, in terms of logo saturated on-camera interviews, Busch ranked second in total interviews conducted and third in interview length.

Defending Series Champion Jimmie Johnson stood second in cumulative sponsor exposure value with $43.9 million, trailed by Jeff Gordon ($42.1 million) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($35.1 million) a distant fourth.

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