Jimmie Johnson Dominating NASCAR TV Broadcasts So Far In 2012

No driver has been mentioned more often or interviewed more times on NASCAR television broadcasts this season than Jimmie Johnson – and it’s not even close.

According to numbers compiled by Joyce Julius, which measures sponsor exposure during races, Johnson’s name was mentioned 2,873 times by FOX and TNT commentators – a whopping 638 more times than the next-closest driver, Tony Stewart.

Think about that for a moment: Through the first 18 races, Johnson’s name was being mentioned approximately 160 times per race.

The sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was mentioned nearly 1,000 fewer times than Johnson – this despite being ahead of Johnson in the point standings all season. (Update: NASCAR PR’s Mike Forde notes Johnson has led the most laps this season, which could help explain the amount of mentions)

Johnson was also a frequent interview subject. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was interviewed 35 times – eight more than Stewart, who was second.

Not surprisingly, Johnson generated the most exposure for his sponsors – to the tune of more than $45 million, Joyce Julius said. Johnson’s sponsors appeared for a total of 13 hours, 10 minutes and 46 seconds – that’s 95 minutes more than Stewart, who was second in that category as well.

Meanwhile, last season’s No. 1 most-mentioned driver of the first half seemed to barely register. Kyle Busch was only interviewed five times in the first 18 races and ranked 10th in sponsor exposure. Commentators still managed to mention his name more than 1,800 times, though – just 63 fewer times than Earnhardt Jr.

Here is how many times each driver in the top 10 of sponsor exposure was mentioned, according to Joyce Julius (full mention numbers not released):

And here’s how many interviews were given to each driver (remember, this is only for the top 10 in sponsor exposure):