Did NASCAR buy SPEED Channel?

While there was talk of NASCAR buying SPEED Channel a few years ago and making it the NASCAR Channel, for whatever reason that never came to fruition. Hence, although SPEED panders to NASCAR, they still offer coverage of many other racing series. Interestingly, however, AutoWeek's Dutch Mandel wrote in the November 1, 2004 issue of the magazine about why AutoWeek would no longer be on SPEED Channel after December 19, 2004, a run of almost 9 years. One sentence in the article caught our attention. "In the quick, A.D.D.-addled MTV world, AutoWeek on SPEED couldn't keep pace with progress. First was the progress of NASCAR buying the network and loading up on good ol'boy centric shows that paid the bills."

Some theorize that NASCAR's rise in popularity in the USA was on the back of the pro-NASCAR media, much of which is secretly owned by the France family. Because it's almost all privately owned we may never know if they do secretly own the media under various assumed names or companies, but this theory that some insist has merit, made us think when Mandel said NASCAR bought the SPEED Network. Surely a slip of the tongue……..or was it?