After the TV marathon of Sunday, the NASCAR on Fox crew gets right back in the saddle and tries again to finish-off the Sprint Cup race from the California Speedway.
Chris Myers will host the 1PM coverage from the Hollywood Hotel with Jeff Hammond alongside. Mike Joy will handle the play-by-play with Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip in the announce booth as the analysts. Down on pit road will be Krista Voda, Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes and Dick Berggren.
This race needs to reach the halfway point to be official, but we anticipate the entire race being run because there is no rain in the forecast. The issues to watch will be the follow-up on the big stories of the cars involved in accidents because of the poor track conditions on Sunday, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.
There will be no pre-race show, and the cars should be on the track when Fox comes on the air at 1PM. This track has been known for danger, and big accidents after one small mistake. Hopefully, the Cup drivers will contain their enthusiasm with the goal of getting to the end of the race in a timely fashion.
2 Updates: Special edition of Victory Lane tonight at 8PM on SPEED replacing This Week In NASCAR, and one hour version of NASCAR Now tonight at 9PM on ESPN2. Great decisions by two of NASCAR's biggest TV partners.
This page will serve to host your comments about the NASCAR on Fox coverage. This is a TV-related blog, so please limit your comments to issues associated with the TV broadcast, or comments from other posters. To add your opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the instructions.
There will be a new post for the Nationwide Series race on ESPN2 shortly after this event.
The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page, and thanks once again for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
83 comments:
I'm betting there will be Fox stations which do not clear the race.
Just a prediction.
53 degrees with a high of 68 with sunny skies.
I'm cutting Fox a lot of slack for today. They've had a very long weekend.
Fox in Fort Worth/Dallas has an afternoon schedule of Tyra Banks then nothing but fake court shows. I can't imagine anyone being upset about preempting that stuff. It's not like taking on the soap operas.
The Atlanta station was pretty good about showing all of the late updates last night. In fact, during the 10pm news they said that on 1pm Monday they would show the end of the race, whether that meant live or tape delayed from the middle of the night. I wish I had just gone to bed then instead of waiting the 4 hours, but oh well.
Still, nice decision by them to go ahead and remove a block of afternoon programming, even if the race did finish late night.
JD, you're right about cars being on the track at 1. From Bob Margolis on Yahoo:
"Here's an update: Command to start engines will be at 1:00 p.m. Cars rolling at 10:01 and laps will start to count as soon as the cars hit the track."
Wonder how many official laps they'll snap off before getting to full speed.
HotPass is counting down
drivers are in their cars. 30 seconds after fox comes on the air the engines will fire....
Fox is on the air........
It's on here in the Twin Cities. (A good thing indeed since we lost radio coverage this year >:( )
you lost radio coverage Howard? I live up in Duluth, but I'm from Inver Grove Heights
Booth boys look rather tired today, can't say I blame them. And I like how it started, no pre-race, cars engines started, reminds me of the good ole days.
In San Antonio, Fox bumped the race to some channel called "MY TV" on cable channel 7. Looks like it's an independent channel owned by Fox (by glancing at their website). At least they ran a crawl at 12 to let us know where to tune to.
Lisa
Sprint's Sprint Cup Mobile appears to be having problems. No MRN, or in car audio, though they do have pit command like graphic working.
#48 car says it looks alot like it did last night, not much better.
i'm just sayin' . . .
anyone else think its kind of strange to see these guys racing when its so bright? i'm used to these late afternoon races now :S
To Phathead, KOOL 108 dropped coverage this year(Bad move IMO).
I had no idea KOOL 108 even carried the coverage. I used to always catch it on AM
Thanks FOX! I commented here somewhere yesterday that we should have heard some of the driver communications on air describing conditions before the race started.
We just heard Jimmie Johnson say not much of an improvement in conditions from last night. We're racing anyway - I guess nobody think it's that important. (!!)
Hope we don't have any more "incidents." Maybe the sun will help.
Here is a news update from ESPN: There will be a special one hour edition of NASCAR Now tonight at 9PM Eastern from Fontana to wrap-up the weekend.
I am very impressed with the commitment of ESPN to NASCAR this season. Great move!
JD
No race here in Honolulu. FOX is showing regularly scheduled "Regis and Kelly."
Makiki
WXIX in the tri state area of OH,NoKY, and SW Ind, are carrying the race.
As is WRGT Fox affiliate in the Dayton, OH area.
Local FM station carrying MRN. Good deal.
Glad we have faithful FOX affliates.
Makiki,
You should call them right away. This is a MUST CARRY for Fox affiliates and is a part of the NASCAR contract. It is to be carried live until conclusion.
JD
Can't call right now as I am sneaking peeks at work. Will call and e-mail KHON as soon as I get home.
Makiki
Perhaps we should do it for you Makiki... race fans helping race fans lol
phathead, thanks for the thought. I hope this is the only FOX station doing this. Oops, gotta get back to work...
Makiki
maikiki
Do you have an email address or toll free number for the station?
We could email and call.
:)
SophiaZ123 said...
maikiki
Do you have an email address or toll free number for the station?
We could email and call.
:)
February 25, 2008 1:30 PM
Why...Just need some other reason to complain..Just enjoy the race
New Vision Television
88 Piikoi Street,
Honolulu,
HI
96814
(808) 591-2222
(808) 593-8479
news@khon2.com
I called but no one picked up for some reason and it went to a voice mail :S
I'm at work so I'll have to wait until I get home and check Tivo to see if my local Fox station (WFXT, Boston) carried the race.
However, I'm following the race online via Raceview. This is pretty cool. Wonder how much company bandwidth I'm eating...
I think everyone is doing an outstanding job. Big Kudos to FOX and the teams, NASCAR not so much.
ps trackpass scanner is up again
Montoya's crew has had about enough with Jr holding them up. Crew chief said they'll remember this :)
Ya know I really like how Mike Joy seems to enjoy what he's doing and how he relays the inside jokes between himself and the producer.
Nice race, I certainly wish they would run through the field one time from 1st to last. There are a lot of stories from yesterday that are back in the pack.
JD
For some weird reason the Fox feed on HotPass 794 is letterboxed. It's full screen on my local Fox broadcast.
I think they're doing better JD, they were showing some mid-20s racing which is something that you almost never see.
Now that 'theme song' they have is driving me nuts. I know they want to get back to NASCAR's 'roots' but you can tell that they're trying to hard. Whats so wrong with some instrumental music?
I always thought the Metallica song NBC used was great for racing. It got you pumped up in the beginning and when they played without the lyrics going to commercial and such it worked quite well.
looks like a bunch a people came back to the track from yesterday. that's a good thing.
For those of you just joining us, SPEED will have a one hour version of "Victory Lane" tonight at 8PM and ESPN2 will have a one hour version of "NASCAR Now" at 9PM.
The "Victory Lane" show will replace "This Week In NASCAR" tonight and for the Tuesday re-air. That show will return as scheduled next week.
The "NASCAR Now" one hour will include the roundtable with all the ESPN announcers and have extensive highlights and interviews.
This is a fantastic level of commitment on behalf of both networks to NASCAR. It would be easy for SPEED to leave and for ESPN2 to run a highlight show from the studio. Great decisions by both NASCAR TV partners.
Set your DVR's and TiVo's!
JD
" a bunch of people came back " ??
please !! I estimate the crowd at 15,000.
almost any other Cup track would have at least 50% attendance today.
The Fox affiliates in both Milwaukee and Madison are carrying the race. Good job by the Fox boys as it can't be easy to have worked all those hours yesterday and then again this morning. A big thumbs down to Nascar for not calling the race earlier. Not fair to the TV people, drivers and crews. Another reason why Nascar is ticking off their long time fans.
I'm enjoying the race. Boy, DW sure has good eyes. I noticed that last night and today. He'll notice debris on grills, tires going flat , etc. And then the careras guys are listening and go to said car. Godd job, DW.
Looks like the rain killed the gopher!
Sat in the car for lunch, just in time to hear Mikey hit the wall :(. Company doesn't think I need speakers on my PC so can't even stream Trackpass radio (guess they are right since it's really not work related ;) Sounds like a great race, hope FOX is on here otherwise I am DVR a bunch of junk.
Thanks, DW, Dan Gurney was my favorite. He was great. Lots of memories at Riverside.
I can see holding out to race for the fans at the track. For those that traveled, they have nothing better to do, though its makes it much more difficult for anyone watching at home on TV.
Its hard to please the 'TV fan' and the 'at the track' at the same time.
This is also a warning to any and all networks who may want to bid on future contracts, NASCAR can really mess you over by their stupid decisions.
I dont want to get off the subject of TV....but... I think I like the Blue retaining wall.
Looks well on TV.
What do ya think ?
Anonymous said...
" a bunch of people came back " ??
please !! I estimate the crowd at 15,000.
almost any other Cup track would have at least 50% attendance today.
February 25, 2008 2:16 PM
I estimate 50,000. that is about 50%. Why does everyone like to talk bad about California?
ken-michigan: in re: blue retaining wall, it's a bit disconcerting actually since i'm used to seeing white. tire rubs don't show up as well on the blue.
any idea why fontana uses blue? does it help with visibility in high sunlight? or was it just an aesthetic decision?
'ESPN2 will have a one hour version of "NASCAR Now" at 9PM.'
Just a note: there's a live college basketball game (#1 UConn) before NASCAR Now so the game may run over a bit. I'm sure NASCAR Now will still get on the air, but just in case anyone might be surprised or upset if it's delayed - Set some extra time on your recording device...
That timeslot was slated for a two hour poker rerun until today's schedule change, so ESPN2 had obviously previously planned for some game runover.
red said...
any idea why fontana uses blue? does it help with visibility in high sunlight? or was it just an aesthetic decision?
February 25, 2008 2:35 PM
It used to be white. I think they changed it to blue because of the new track sponsor.
anon 2:37: d'oh! i knew that -- new track sponsor = new colors. the blue start/finish line is unsettling to me, tho': some traditions should just NOT be dinked with for any reason! either white or checkered at start/finish.
People in southern California have to work for a living. Homes in Fontana go for about $400K. And this is a blue collar area. Not considered an expensive area. If you go to Riverside, just a few minutes from there, homes are in the $600K+ area. Also not an exclusive area.
Cannot stay home to watch races.
Try NEW Idea ??
on GREEN FLAG stops, lets time each car from the middle of 3 & 4 all the way til they reach the middle of 1 & 2 following their pit stop.
We normally only see the "pit stop time".
This "new way" of timing would depict how aggressive each driver is entering and exiting the pit area. I think we'd be surprised at the difference between drivers.
I predict a side by side finish.
I guess not... they were side by side for a while though.
Nice job all the way around by Fox.
Anyone what to find out if this was the longest race ever, including the red flag period?
Well, not only did they not show any cars other than the winner crossing the line at the end (checkers under caution), they didn't even go back to the track after Carl Edwards crossed the line.
Shot of Carl inside the car, Shot of Jack Roush, shot of crew, shot of Carl inside the car again (ticker started going across top with results), shot of Jack Roush, shot of Carl.
Since they broke away with *two* laps to go for two lengthy live shot of the trophy - what was that about? - no one should be shocked about the end.
Fox isn't changing their policy at the finish, it seems. I guess you could give them a break for this week, but if so, there shouldn't be complaints about it next week.
Final 26 Laps - Uninterupted !!
45 of Final 49 laps with only one commercial break ( under caution)
loved it !!
guess they burned up their commerical inventory
Thanks for the mention on the way out the door, Mike! Good race telecast. Great job of hanging in there in tough times by the entire crew.
JD
the whole point of seeing the cars cross the line is so you can see racing. if it is under cation there is no RACING. so it does not matter what they showed at the end.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Thanks for the mention on the way out the door, Mike!
February 25, 2008 3:28 PM
what did he say? I missed it.
Mike said
"a long days journey into night"
nice touch Mike.
I missed Mike's comment, too! Stepped out of the room too soon. Did he mention this site??
So, did everyone's FOX affiliate cover the race? My local affiliate had it.
JD, Do you know what the penalties are, if any, if a station elects not carry a "must carry" program?
Fox isn't changing their policy at the finish, it seems. I guess you could give them a break for this week, but if so, there shouldn't be complaints about it next week.
February 25, 2008 3:23 PM
I agree. Caution or not, we should have seen the cars come by.
You guys must not have heard Jeff Gordon say his engine BLEW UP on the white flag lap and he coasted to his third place finish when the caution came out. (Luckiest guy in the world, that Jeff Gordon.) Because they were so busy with Edwards and Roush, we didn't see it OR a replay of it; we only found out when Matt Yocum interviewed Gordon.
Frozen field or not, it would have been nice to see that for myself. That in itself should be enough reason to show at least the top 10 coming through, caution or not.
But yeah, folks here will be back to complaining about only seeing the winner at the end at Vegas Sunday. For some reason FOX is getting a pass today.
I heard Mike say it twice during the broadcast. I had to smile both times. :)
Anonymous said...
Mike said
"a long days journey into night"
nice touch Mike.
Mike Joy also said this at the top of today's show about yesterday's coverage. So whether he was quoting The Daly Planet or not, it was a nice bookend to today's telecast.
Boris Said is on ESPNNEWS right now talking about Gordon's blown engine. They showed most of the post-race news conference with Gordon and Johnson, as well.
Solid effort as usual by the guys and gals in the booth and on pit road. Nice to see them making a more concerted effort to mention Lucky Dogs as well.
I'm still very skeptical if Fox would have shown us any cars crossing the finish line at the end of the race but the production crew caught a very lucky break with that last lap yellow flag.
I was ready to destroy the production crew for showing us only a winner, flagman, a crew chief, and probably a mother in this case and am fully prepared to do so again next week at Las Vegas if the production truck botches the final lap and ruins an otherwise great broadcast.
Remember Fox, THE RACE DOES NOT END UNTIL ALL THE CARS FINISH THE RACE!
On to the Nationwide race. ESPN had a very good broadcast at Daytona but all that good work was overshadowed by another last lap debacle. I'm hoping the ESPN guys step up and show ALL the cars finish today.
I hope the ESPN guys realize this is a big opportunity for them. If they can provide good coverage AND show all the cars finish at the end they could very quickly pass Fox as the new fan favorite NASCAR TV network. Take advantage of that opportunity ESPN!
The field is frozen when the caution comes out during the white flag...so, it does not matter that Gordon had his engine die. He was locked in to a 3rd place finish and the race was OVVVVVERRRRR.
Illpolo said...
The field is frozen when the caution comes out during the white flag...so, it does not matter that Gordon had his engine die. He was locked in to a 3rd place finish and the race was OVVVVVERRRRR.
February 25, 2008 3:53 PM
I repeat: I still should have SEEEEEN it. Live and in a replay.
I said the field was frozen in my post. Very aware of that; it doesn't matter. Still should have been on the broadcast and not revealed by Gordon in an interview.
Just want to thank everyone for their concerns when FOX Honolulu did not show the race. I finally got through the endless voicemails....they started showing the race on delay two hours after it began. They didn't see the need to put a crawl on the regular programming announcing this.
Makiki
Pre race is on ESPN2
Anonymous said...
I repeat: I still should have SEEEEEN it. Live and in a replay.
February 25, 2008 3:58 PM
There is nothing to be seen but a slowing car. That would normally happen under cation. That is no different than seeing the finishing order on paper.
All 43 have never been seen crossing the line. And now it seems everyone wants that even under caution.
I'm with most who want to see the cars cross the finish line, but today I will give Fox a break. The cars were so far behind Carl, it would have been boring. Ryan, who was 10th, was more than 20 seconds past Carl. And then when the yellow came out, he was even farther. And that's 10th.
Let's see Las Vegas. I think all the crews did a pretty good job--except for the NASCAR suits.
If any have problems, nascar.com is showing race on live video stream, free.(if you're at work)
There is nothing to be seen but a slowing car.
February 25, 2008 4:08 PM
Not really accurate. Wouldn't I have seen the engine on the #24 blowing up? Wouldn't it have been nice on the last lap (or a replay) to hear the radio chatter from Gordon as he blew up? He said after that he didn't know he finished in third; I believe he was confused and didn't realize the field was frozen and/or that it was white flag.
I never said anything about following 43 cars across the line, but networks have covered top 10 finshers before even at spread-out tracks like Cali-remember the "dropdown as the cars crossed the line" graphic?
This was a special circumstance, and if FOX had kept an eye on the other leading cars they would have have caught a special circumstance involving one of the biggest stars in the sport. It should have been covered.
People in southern California have to work for a living. Cannot stay home to watch races.
Gee, just like everyone else in the country has to go to work every day!
And yet, they manage to see races.
Regardless of how far ahead of the pack Car Edwards was and what else of interest might've been happening on the track, the coverage was some of the worst I've seen. Fox is as bad as ESPN with their fixation on their favorite eight or ten drivers and forgets the rest of the field.
Yeah, I love watching the same driver run twenty laps with no one around him while the t.v. personalities drone on and on about how wonderful he is. Or how wonderful his car is. Or what he's wearing. I don't care. Where's my driver? Where are the other drivers who are running further back that also HAVE FANS??? Do all of the networks really think that EVERYONE is a fan of their favorite eight or ten drivers? Get a grip! Not everyone loves the 18, 20, 24, 48, 9, 99, 1, 88, 11 or 17 cars. And what was with their obsession over the 28 car? Sure, he's driving for Yates and they matter but I don't want to see him on the screen every freaking five minutes, okay?
I'm upgrading my TrackPass subscription to RaceView this weekend so I can bypass the t.v. and their pathetic coverage.
Sorry if this is the wrong blog to post on but I needed to vent. I'll repost elsewhere if need be.
I don't know why you would be so angry. The coverage was great from my view and I think a lot of others agree.
Fox missed a restart on a 2 mile track. That is just horrible.
Anonymous said...
Gee, just like everyone else in the country has to go to work every day!
And yet, they manage to see races.
February 25, 2008 7:14 PM
I think she was trying to point out that it is more expensive to live here in California. Some fans can't even afford to take one day off. especially after paying $100+ for those tickets.
Again, why does everyone love to hate the good residents here?
Anonymous said...
Fox missed a restart on a 2 mile track. That is just horrible.
February 25, 2008 8:22 PM
WHAT? WHEN? they came close once but that was it. I think your just being to picky.
back to Mike Joy's closing comment and whether it did/did not refer to this blog - which I believe it did
I was going to ask if broadcasters or producers read this blog which I know they do but JD the question is whether the read it during the race? Perhaps in the broadcast booth?
hmmmmm
Is it possible that more than one person thought of the phrase "long day's journey into night"? I'm just sayin'.
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