Homestead-Miami Speedway Trackside
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Longtime
South Florida businessman and Homestead-Miami Speedway founder Rafael
“Ralph” Sánchez passed away Monday morning. Sánchez, who was born
in 1948, had been in declining health for much of the past year. He is
survived by wife Lourdes, daughter Patricia and son Ralph Jr.
Sánchez,
who founded and managed the Grand Prix of Miami starting in 1983, led
efforts to bring the motorsports facility to Homestead. He worked
with City of Homestead and Miami-Dade County officials to make the
track a reality. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the track took place on
August 24, 1993 -- exactly one year after Hurricane Andrew wiped out
much of Homestead. The track is credited with being
a major catalyst for redevelopment following the category five
hurricane that leveled large portions of Miami-Dade County.
Businessman
H. Wayne Huizenga joined Sánchez as a track partner before the facility
opened two years after construction began with a NASCAR Busch
(now Nationwide) Series race in November 1995. In 1997, Penske
Motorsports (PMI) and International Speedway Corporation (ISC) became
partners with Sánchez and Huizenga. Less than one year later, PMI and
ISC purchased Sánchez’ remaining interest in Homestead-Miami
Speedway. ISC became the sole operator in 1999. The facility will
host season-ending championship races in NASCAR’s top three touring
series for the 12th consecutive year in November (15-17).
Stepping Back in Time
Heading
into this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR’s most popular
driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and golfer Tiger Woods are No. 1 in their
respective
sports at the same time for the first time since the week of June 13,
2004. Things were quite different back then. For example President Obama
was still an Illinois senator, pop singer Justin Bieber was 10 years
old and Facebook was in just its fourth month
of existence while Twitter and YouTube had not yet been developed.
Statistically
speaking, Martinsville is Junior’s best track in terms of Driver Rating
(99.8) and laps led (868). The driver of the No. 88 car has recorded
ten
top five finishes in 26 races.
Ratings Boon Continues
Through five events on FOX,
television ratings for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are up three percent
year over year in NASCAR’s top series.
The latest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for which full TV ratings are available, the contest in California, was the third
most-viewed sporting event of the weekend (trailing the top NCAA Tournament games on CBS).
History was Made
Homestead-Miami
Speedway provided the setting as NASCAR and Univision made history on
April 1. “Arranque de Pasión, La Historia de Ela,” the first-ever
sports-themed original project for the leading media company serving
Hispanic America, debuted in the U.S. and Puerto Rico on
Univision.com.
Following the premiere on Monday, April 1, a new episode will be
released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, midnight EST, for five
consecutive weeks, culminating with the Univision network television
special on Sunday, May 5
“Arranque
de Pasión, La Historia de Ela,” is a co-production between Univision
Studios and Kate Del Castillo Productions, Inc., in association
with NASCAR. The drama, shot at Homestead-Miami Speedway, stars
internationally acclaimed television and motion picture actress Kate del
Castillo, as well as leading men Carlos Ponce and Christian Meier.
“Arranque de Pasión, La Historia de Ela” is also NASCAR’s
first-ever Spanish language original production.
Around the Next Turn at the Track
April
will be a busy month at Homestead-Miami Speedway. From a novice to
professional, we have an event for you. Below are some highlights of the
more than
280 events that Homestead-Miami Speedway hosts annually.
NASCAR ACTION THIS WEEKEND
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Tune In: on FOX, FOX Deportes,
MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR Camping World Series Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway
Tune In: on SPEED, MRN, SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio Channel 90
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