Tarrance Group Findings on Nascar Followers and Voting

MEMORANDUM DATE: OCTOBER 8, 2012 TO: PUBLIC NOTICE FROM: THE TARRANCE GROUP RE: FINDINGS FROM NASCAR FOLLOWERS IN NATIONAL SURVEY The Tarrance Group is pleased to present this memo of key findings of voters who follow NASCAR very or somewhat closely. This data is from a survey conducted via telephone October 1-4, 2012 among N=1,022 registered “likely” 2012 voters nationwide. The margin of error on the national voter sample is +/- 3.1%. Overall, 18% of likely voters in the survey said that they following NASCAR very or somewhat closely. KEY FINDINGS

• Voters who follow NASCAR (68%) are more likely than all voters (54%) to say the country is on the wrong track. Also, while 48% of voters disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, nearly two thirds (63%) of NASCAR followers disapprove. This disapproval of President Obama overall extends to specific issues like the economy (66%) and the budget and spending (69%).
• NASCAR followers have the same priorities as all voters, with 71% mostly concerned with “pocketbook” issues, including the economy (27%), government spending and the budget deficit (19%), and jobs (16%).
• While President Obama is up by +1 on the general election ballot, 49% to 48%, Mitt Romney receives 63% of the vote from NASCAR followers (Obama receives 34%, and 3% are undecided). Additionally, on specific issues, NASCAR followers trust Romney over Obama to handle the following issues:

• In general, Romney is over performing with NASCAR followers, as 58% say that they usually vote Republican, but 63% support Romney on the ballot.