It was a moment on a Monday in a rain-delayed race that perhaps not many Americans even heard. Mike Joy was the perfect person to break the news to the country that Bill France Jr. had passed away. Joy did it in a dignified manner, which we have all come to expect of this veteran TV professional.
The Fox team broke the news before it appeared on ESPN, CNN, SpeedTV, or any of the websites associated with these networks. They even beat our good friend Jayski on this news bulletin. In a way, you have to credit NASCAR for proceeding in this direction. The live Fox broadcast was the perfect place to allow the news to be delivered in a controlled way.
As the race continued to progress, it became apparent that things would have to be approach somewhat differently for the rest of the telecast. The Daly Planet will update what changes were made, and how the telecast progressed when the race is over.
Update: The entire NASCAR on Fox team dealt well with the difficult subject of Bill France Jr.'s passing. The race turned out to have some passing, and some strategy, but overall was the least interesting of the three events run at Dover this weekend. It certainly was not the type of ending that Fox Sports had in mind for its portion of the NASCAR season.
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2 comments:
All sports fan are saddened by the passing of one of the great leaders in Sport! He took what his father had created and built it into the #2 spectator sport in America. With his passing, the responsiblity for NASCAR's continued growth is more squarely on Brian's and Lesa's shoulders. Most would agree Lesa is up to the task. Many wonder if Brian can focus only on NASCAR and not be distracted by less important ventures. Time will most certainly tell.
Rest In Peace Bill, Jr. is was nice to know you.
I was pretty impressed with FOX's handling of France's passing. Mike Joy is a class act. Was it just me, or was there a muffled sob as they went to black on Monday? Everyone in the booth looked like they were on the verge of tears...
-hx
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