That's almost as long.

In the fifth and final round of the 1969 Australian Touring Car Championship, Norm Beechey held off Alan Hamilton to win by 0.3 seconds at Symmons Plains as Ian 'Pete' Geoghegan clinched his fifth and final championship victory.

Australia's premier motorsport division has been a regular visitor to the Northern Midlands circuit ever since and the third round of this year's Supercars championship proudly celebrated the 50th anniversary.

As the push for inclusion in either the AFL, A-League or NBL trundles on with about as much chance of succeeding as Carlton, Melbourne or the Kangaroos, it is worth remembering that apart from cricket, the Supercars is the only high-profile Australian sport that genuinely includes Tasmania.

It is a mutually beneficial relationship that clearly satisfies both parties - much like when Kevin Pietersen was dating model Caprice, albeit with brighter prospects for a long-term commitment.

Over the weekend, 54,926 fans filed into Symmons to watch Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and co rub door panels.

Actually, that's not totally true. Friday saw 16,008 through the gate, Saturday 19,034 and Sunday 19,884.

So while these three figures do indeed add up to 54,926, many of those attending were present for two or even three days so this would be like saying Hawthorn played in front of 50,312 spectators in Launceston last year.

Pedantry aside, the one-off Sunday attendance is the best yardstick of popularity and while it may be substantially down on the heyday of about 30,000 a decade ago, 19,884 is still pretty impressive in conditions which one visiting journalist described as "two-coat weather" - and he was a Pom.

That's still higher than any footy or cricket match in the state for a decade.

And it's easy to see why.

Supercars chief operating officer Shane Howard described the Symmons Plains set-up as "a well-honed operation", but the same goes for the series itself.

From several weeks out, the operation's assorted media teams and promotion managers were busy publicising the upcoming visit, drivers attended photo ops from the automobile museum to the gorge and nobody was off limits for interviews.

Take Craig Lowndes for instance.

The reigning ABC Sports Personality of the Year may have retired last season but would still have a profile higher than any remaining driver and when he stepped into Whincup's car for Friday's additional practice session the queue of autograph hunters behind the Red Bull pit was as long as those to the toilets after Sunday's main race.

Despite already being late for commentary commitments, Lowndesy not only satisfied all signature requests but also conducted a media conference in which he introduced himself and shook hands to all attending journalists and then made time for seven-year-old Liam Chapman, a life-long fan who has now hugged his idol at Bathurst, Townsville and Symmons.

Contrast that to the rare occasions when the Australian cricket team sees fit to visit Tasmania.

Pre-publicity is virtually non-existent and good luck to any journalist offering to help promote the match by requesting a player interview.

Asked about other national sporting competitions' reluctance to include his home state, Launceston-born Howard evaded the issue as expertly as Whincup avoiding crash wreckage.

Instead, he chose to dwell on the series' milestone commitment to Tassie.

"Tasmania has supported us very well and we're looking to support Tasmania," he said. "This gives us a national footprint which is great for our fan base.

"It works well for the championship to be able to cover every state. We value that and think the fans do too."

Eddie McGuire should take diplomacy lessons from Shane Howard.

The latest agreement between the Tasmanian government and the Supercars ended when Shane van Gisbergen greeted the chequered flag on the John Bowe Straight on Sunday. 

A renewal (probably for three or five years) looks inevitable with both parties expressing their desire to prolong the relationship.

In addition to Howard's comments, the weekend's program included a message written by Premier Will Hodgman, or more likely one of his advisers, which said: "The Tasmanian government is delighted to support this event." 

Any renewal is likely to be timed to coincide with some election, but should be welcomed nonetheless. 

Tasmania should remain loyal to the few sports that remain loyal to Tasmania.