Jeff Gordon leads way in TV mentions

   Jeff Gordon, who earlier this season snapped a 66-race winless streak with a victory at Phoenix, has generated more on-screen time for his sponsors during television coverage of the first three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events than any other driver, according to data collected by Joyce Julius & Associates Inc, which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 27 seasons.

   However, overall team sponsor exposure fell 25 percent compared to the same point in the season a year ago.

                                                          Driver                     Sponsor Exp.           Verbal             RG Exp.            Driver          Interview            Driver

                                            Time      Mentions                 Value     Interviews          Durations      Mentions

 1)   J. Gordon                  1:50:16                  18        $7,557,330                    4              0:05:35                453

2)   C. Edwards                1:47:28                  34          7,065,910                    7              0:08:01                362

3)   T. Stewart                 1:41:25                    8          5,330,390                    2              0:00:42                436

4)   Ky. Busch                  1:38:31                  22          9,095,375                    5              0:05:40                409

5)   D. Earnhardt Jr.         1:23:06                    0          9,634,060                    2              0:01:56                290

6)   T. Bayne                    1:16:42                  14          9,259,655                    6              0:06:06                259

7)   J. Montoya                1:11:53                    8          3,679,550                    2              0:01:16                183

8)   J. Johnson                 1:11:06                    6          4,053,770                    2              0:01:41                185