Thursday, February 28, 2008

In-Progress At Las Vegas: Huge NASCAR Friday on SPEED


The party gets started from Las Vegas Friday afternoon at 1PM Eastern Time and continues on SPEED all the way through until 9:30PM that night.

A thirty minute version of NASCAR Live at 1PM kicks-off a long day with host John Roberts from the SPEED Stage. This show will set-up the events of the day, and recap the news from the Cup and Nationwide Series.

At 1:30PM, SPEED will televise Nationwide Series practice for ninety minutes. It should be interesting to see how many cars are on-hand, and what transpires on this fast track with this very diverse group of drivers. Steve Byrnes will host the coverage with Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond. Several SPEED reporters will be on-hand throughout the day in the garage areas.

The network continues at 3PM with Sprint Cup practice for a ninety minute session. The NASCAR on Fox team is on hand, so it may well be Mike Joy leading this program. If not, look for Steve Byrnes to continue hosting.

At 4:30PM, the final Nationwide Series practice gets underway while the Cup Series lines up in qualifying order. This practice should run until about 6PM.

Next up is the quirky Go or Go Home show, which runs for thirty minutes and should end around 6:30PM, depending on the track situation. The idea of this show is to set-up for fans which teams not in the "Top 35" must make the field on time.

The big boys come out to qualify at 6:30PM Eastern, with each car taking two laps at SPEED. The Sprint Cup qualifying show on SPEED is scheduled for two hours.

That will lead directly into Trackside at 8:30PM, hosted by Steve Byrnes. This program is always raucous, and promises to be something special in Las Vegas.

That is a nice big Friday of NASCAR programming on SPEED. Over on ESPN2, do not forget NASCAR Now which will come along at 6PM.

This page will serve to host your comments as you watch the day unfold live on SPEED. Please feel free to post your TV-related comments. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the simple instructions. Thanks for stopping by The Daly Planet.

82 comments:

Unknown said...

What I don't understand, and I thought it would change this year, is why ESPN, the sole broadcaster of the Nationwide races, is not carrying any of the practices or qualifying. I am not complaining, prefer that they be on Speed, but it would seem that ESPN would want exclusive coverage of the series. Unless Nascar charges a seperate fee to broadcast the practices and qualifying, then I could understand them making a decision based on money / viewership / ratings.

You have any inside info on this JD?

BillWebz

Anonymous said...

Since SPEED is owned by FOX, and the FOX guys will be in the booth later today, I'll note the following as sort of on topic to the LV race(sorry if it's a stretch).

My family watched American Idol on FOX three nights in a row this week ending last night(four hours total). From what I understand they average about 27-30 million viewers a night.

Each night they had a 15-second ad for the "Cup Series race from Las Vegas" (no race sponsor and no Sprint named). The ad had the "Let's Go Racing Boys" song in the background and showed animated graphics of 3-4 of the cars. That's it. Short and totally unmemorable. They had the same ad for the Fontana race three nights last week, just changed the race name.

No information about the race and no pictures of Cup "stars" (the more famous drivers) were featured. It's about the most anonymous ad I can think of. My kids even said, that those aren't like football game ads, where they show some of the players and make it sound exciting. There was no storyline advertised at all.

So I'm just wondering why they do such a bad job of advertising NASCAR on FOX when they have American Idol show with the biggest audience outside of the Super Bowl. Even beat the Oscars this week I believe.

I'm thinking two groups of people, the sports and entertainment people, aren't working together.

Anonymous said...

Each night they had a 15-second ad for the "Cup Series race from Las Vegas" (no race sponsor and no Sprint named).
Maybe it's FOX's primetime policy not to list sponsors in their commercials? I don't know. I remember ABC calling it Sprint Cup racing in their commercials at night but don't remember if they gave the race name.

And it may not be Sprint Cup much longer. Sprint CEO said yesterday they had a 29.5 billion dollar loss in the past quarter and are borrowing 2.5 billion in revolving credit. He says they aren't headed toward bankrupcty but...come on! Doesn't look good. Maybe that's why AT&T said earlier they'll be involved in the sport in 2009 even though they're supposed to be out.

Intriguing that I don't see any of the NASCAR news sites mentioning that today. The news came out yesterday around noon. I honestly think we'll be seeing a new Cup sponsor in 2009 (along with the already announced new Trucks sponsor). Too bad Bank of America is also doing badly now, they were rumored to be the go-to sponsor to be courted if Sprint bailed out a year ago.

Anonymous said...

Seeing Rutledge functioning as a reporter equal with Bob Dilner on NASCAR Live disturbs me for some reason.

John Roberts actually went to Rutledge first to get his thoughts on who is going to do well in Las Vegas. Not a Rutledge fan, so this is seeming like an alternate universe for me.

That new fan zone walkway above the inspection stations is cool. Thanks Dilner for showing it on TV, looks like the Vegas track keeps making improvements.

Vince said...

Geez, 12 minutes into the show and we already get the mandatory Rusty Wallace Nationwide driver interview. Why is SPEED, FOX and ESPN so infatuated with Rusty's teams? David Stremme is a good guy, but he's 34th in the standings. Why do Rusty's teams get all the airtime? How about some interviews with Brad Coleman or one of the other young new guys in the Nationwide series.

Anonymous said...

Might have missed the column, but is SPEEDHD available on anything but their own Directv? Missing it here on Comcast.

Unknown said...

anon at 1:21, I was wondering the same thing. I remember JD was going to check with some of the other cable companies to find out the status, but I can't recall if he ever posted the info.

stricklinfan82 said...

I love the fact that Speed Channel is allowed to cover every second of on-track action. Thank you very much guys.

I'm still praying that this doesn't come to an ubrupt halt once ESPN rolls into town at Indianapolis.

Attention NASCAR and ESPN, fans want to see EVERY practice session on live TV. ESPN, if you don't want to cover a Friday or Saturday morning Cup practice session then let Speed do it. Please! It's 2008 so there should never be a Cup practice session that has no TV coverage.

Vince said...

Anon@1:21

No SpeedHD on Charter Cable either.

Anonymous said...

Don't know why Speed and it's parent are playing these games with the HD...Puts a bad taste in my mouth for Directv with this marketing ploy.

stricklinfan82 said...

One thing that I would like to see stopped is all the graphics and announcer talk of drivers having great histories at this track. If the guys in the prodcution truck remember, this track was completely re-built and re-configured in 2007. So I think it's silly to hype up David Stremme and Carl Edwards as being great at this track and threats to win this weekend because of finishes they had here in '04, '05, or '06.

If you want to say a driver might run good here because of something that happened in 2007 or in testing this year then fine. However, any information that is from 2006 on back is completely irrelevant because the track is completely different now than it was back then. The only thing that is the same is the physical location of the speedway.

This is the same as the old flat Homestead compared to the new progressively banked track and the old Richmond Fairgrounds flat half-mile and the new 3/4 mile track. Stats from the old track need to be completely wiped out and should never be used to hype that driver A should run good this weekend based on past success on a completely different track.

Unknown said...

Instead of the ticker at the top of the screen during practice showing top speeds (which are never accurate cause some may be doing long run, some may be doing mock qualifying) I wish they would show who has practiced the longest. It would give you a better feel for who is good and who is struggling.

BillWebz

stricklinfan82 said...

Great job by the Speed guys in both the first Nationwide practice and the first Cup practice.

I think the Speed guys did an excellent job following the go-or-go-home drama in the Cup practice session. They did a very nice job following all day long who would make the field based on practice speeds and who would be in trouble.

At 6:30 comes the big test though. This is the first time a Cup qualifying session has been run with the new qualifying order rules that put the go-or-go-homers together at the end of the session. I hope the Fox guys do the right thing and make sure we see every go-or-go home car's entire qualifying run. I want to see all of those cars take the green flag, the white flag, and the checkered flag, as well as every second of their run in-between.

If they use the TiVo style format then this should be a no-brainer to accomplish. If they let us down and do true-live coverage for some unknown reason then they need to front-load the commercials to the start of the session when the lower-tiered top 35 guys are on the track so we can see the go-or-go-home portion of the session in its entirety without interruption.

I hope the Fox production crew steps up and does a great job following the go-or-go home drama and set the bar high for the TNT and ESPN production crews to shoot for when they start televising these sessions in the summer.

Again, with this brand new exciting qualifying format there is no excuse to miss one second of any go-or-go homer's run during any Cup qualifying session this year. It's time to step up Fox production truck, don't let the great fans of this sport down!

Anonymous said...

I assume stricklinfan has his qualifying diatribe saved somewhere so he just has to paste it every week. :-)

I agree - great coverage so far and I look forward to qualifying this evening.

Sophia said...

I look forward to any and all diatribes if we don't get to see the GOMERS myself.

:-)

stricklinfan82 said...

anon @ 5:23,

Shh, don't give away my secrets, LOL. Along those same lines you can expect a regular dose of "show all the go-or-go homers in qualifying" and "boy it's nice to have TV coverage of Friday and Saturday morning Cup practice, let's hope ESPN doesn't black us out again when they return in July" until the TV networks get the idea :)

Geeze said...

I read somewhere that Direct TV has an exclusive on Speed HD until March 1st.

stricklinfan82 said...

Okay, I say this a lot but I guess I have to repeat myself since these incidents keep occurring:

A TV network should NEVER pre-empt live on-track action for other NASCAR programming that doesn't involve vehicles on the track. Again today Speed Channel cut off Nationwide Series practice to air "Go or Go Home", which is a TALK SHOW that is nothing more than NASCAR Live with a different name.

I don't care what the program is - Trackside, NASCAR Live, NASCAR Performance, Go or Go Home, Tradin' Paint, the Truck Series Setup show, or whatever - A NASCAR TALK SHOW SHOULD NEVER PRE-EMPT LIVE ON-TRACK NASCAR ACTION!!!!

This was a horrible horrible horrible decision to cut off live Nationwide practice to go to a qualifying pre-show. GIVE ME A BREAK!

Newracefan said...

Strick normally I would agree with you but if Speed does this right and concentrates on the go homers I would rather see this show. Last year it was just another Nascar Live (then I'd say give me cars on the track). I guess today will tell and since we yelled all last year about talking to these guys as it might be the only chance we get to see them perhaps that is what we will get.

Anonymous said...

Geez said...
I read somewhere that Direct TV has an exclusive on Speed HD until March 1st.

February 29, 2008 5:53 PM

If that is true I have lost all respect for SPEEDTV> I do not remember any mention of this when this blog was pumping SPEEDHD!

stricklinfan82 said...

Nope, no concentration on go-or-go homers, now they're reviewing Cup practice from earlier and talking to Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Regan Smith's crew chief, and David Ragan. Bob Dillner didn't even ask Ragan about the crash that happened in Nationwide practice 2 seconds before they started the show. He just basically said "well unfortunately you just crashed your Nationwide car but let's put that aside and tell me how transitioning to the Cup car will affect your qualifying lap". Now they're even showing NATIONWIDE practice highlights, what a joke.

Even if they did focus soley on the go-or-go-homers (which they didn't do) I would still have to respectfully disagree with you newracefan. In my opinion you should never leave live on-track racing to go to a show that talks about racing. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I personally want to see what is going on live. I don't want to watch review shows showing highlights of what happened earlier or preview shows for events coming on later in the day. I want to see the vehicles that are live on the track right now.

I guess we got lucky since it doesn't look like the Nationwide cars will get back on the track after Ragan's crash but I still don't give Speed Channel a pass. Practice was supposed to last another 15 minutes or so and they already made a conscious decision to leave practice early to air a NASCAR talk show long before Ragan crashed and ended the session early.

Anonymous said...

I think the problem is TV and Many people do not consider "practice" to be "live on track racing". As do most things, they will show what they have sold advertising for.

Newracefan said...

Didn't get the goers as I hoped but they Reed Sorenson hat for Doc was pretty cool. I wonder if the guys didn't want to talk or Speed didn't try (sounded like DIllner tried to get AJ and he passed).

Anonymous said...

SPEED has been on a major campaign towards cable companies asking them to carry SPEED HD. It is not SPEED's fault your cable CO. does not have SPEED HD, it is your cable companies fault.

Newracefan said...

Emailed Comcast this is what I got back, an obvious form letter.

Comcast is dedicated to providing you with the best service possible.
We are in receipt of your request for SPEED HD. Your request has been forwarded to our Marketing Department for further consideration. You will be notified should we decide to add this channel to your area's line up.

Got the same thing for ESPNClassic last year and I'm still waiting. Hopefully there will be a bigger volume for SpeedHD and I might see it someday

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
SPEED has been on a major campaign towards cable companies asking them to carry SPEED HD. It is not SPEED's fault your cable CO. does not have SPEED HD, it is your cable companies fault.

February 29, 2008 6:42 PM

If Directv has an exclusive in Feb than how can it be the cable co fault?

Anonymous said...

It's SPEED's fault for being so late starting up their HD channel. If they had it for a couple of years, then more cable systems would have picked it up.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

If Directv has an exclusive in Feb than how can it be the cable co fault?

February 29, 2008 6:49 PM

That is not true. From the information I have gathered, DirecTV does not have an exclusive on SPEED HD.

Anonymous said...

It was interesting to hear Mike Joy and DW just now talking about the TV ratings for last Sunday night's rainfill delay (I read it was 4th most popular show of the night in primetime TV and 2nd among non-Academy Award related shows). They usually don't mention that kind of thing.

While it's great that they got such ratings against the Academy Awards (which got their lowest ratings ever), I don't know if it means NASCAR is "back" as Mike or DW said. Daytona only had a 1 percent increase in ratings which is basically nothing. And there were a number of reasons for low interest in the awards.

I'll wait until summer to decide if NASCAR is "back", ratings wise. Just funny to hear them mention it.

BTW, It won't shock me if they schedule a primetime race next year on the Sunday night of the Academy Awards, just b/c the awards are no longer untouchable. They probably will want to see if the ratings were indeed a fluke.

Anonymous said...

"Daytona only had a 1 percent increase in ratings which is basically nothing."

I disagree with that. 1% may not seems like a lot but in TV ratings terms 1% is a big amount.

Anonymous said...

anyone having problems accessing the main Daly Planet page?

Anonymous said...

re: SPEED HD

Maybe SPEED should consider "available in HD" promos at the beginning of every HD show. Like the ones ESPN uses for ESPN HD, saying "this program is available on ESPN and ESPN HD"

I think that would increase the profile of their HD channel and HD programing. Right now, you barley hear anything about HD on SPEED.

GS

Karen said...

Anonymous at 7:29 said...

anyone having problems accessing the main Daly Planet page?

Yes, I am. Had to try 6-8 times.

Sophia said...

Yes, Anon...I also had problems accessing this site and other blogger sites. BEEN MANY ERRORS this and and some times, the entire blogsites have been down for maintenance.

It's odd how many sites have maintenance this time of year...Blogger.com, hositingboard sites, and Weebly...within the same week or 10 days, lol.

anyhoo, if an upgrade is not successful, there can be more bugs going on behind the scenes, thus the intermittent issues.

Least that's been my experience~!

Why isn't the Go or Go home show about the LAST bunch of qualifyiers intead of a show that makes no sense?????

stricklinfan82 said...

Major thumbs down to Speed Channel for not using the TiVo style format.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Sorry about that all, there was a Google Blogger outage that is now corrected.

JD

Kenn Fong said...

Speed must be on a delay for the qualifying, since the NASCAR.com Leaderboard is a driver ahead of Speed's coverage.

Daly Planet Editor said...

It should be interesting to see the first run of the "group" qualifying at the end. I wonder how SPEED will approach that.

Haus14 said...

they are using a little bit of delay in their viewing because they are a few cars behind the Nascar live board...they didn't seem to be doing this at the beginning of the broadcast...

seems like an awful lot of commercials...one car commercial...two cars comercial...etc.

i also was getting an error trying to access this page.

stricklinfan82 said...

It should be interesting to see the first run of the "group" qualifying at the end. I wonder how SPEED will approach that.

Any approach other than a commercial-free one will be a complete failure, especially considering the fact the TiVo style format is not being used today. We've sure missed a lot of qualifying runs today :(

Anonymous said...

stricklinfan82 said...

Any approach other than a commercial-free one will be a complete failure, especially considering the fact the TiVo style format is not being used today. We've sure missed a lot of qualifying runs today :(

February 29, 2008 7:50 PM

It sound like they may be using tivo style for some runs. But I agree we should not miss any "go-or-go-homers"

stricklinfan82 said...

I think it would be a better idea to have the scoring tracker show only the go-or-go homers. Put the overall position in a little box if you want to, that would be fine but I would like to be able to track where the current driver stacks up against the other drivers he has to beat to make the race.

stricklinfan82 said...

I meant the lap tracker, the display on the bottom that shows where a driver's lap is on pace to end up.

Anonymous said...

I thought of that same thing. It would be good to see how they stack-up against the rest of the go-or-go homers. Maybe not a full time graphic but, something at the end of the run that would tell me the position against the rest of them.

GS

stricklinfan82 said...

We missed a go-or-go homer qualify during a commercial! Terrible terrible terrible.

NO GO-OR-GO-HOMER SHOULD EVER BE SKIPPED FOR A COMMERCIAL!

Speed dropped the ball big time today. Hey ESPN, if you're reading this here's another opportunity to win over the fans. If you can commit to not skipping any go-or-go-homers you're going to put yourself ahead of these Fox guys that obviously don't care about doing what's RIGHT for the fans.

What a joke.

Anonymous said...

Who's lap was missed??

Anonymous said...

When did they miss? we saw andretti's lap live.

Newracefan said...

I agree a ssecond graph for just those guys ould be great. Just don't take up too much of the screen

Anonymous said...

"If you can commit to not skipping any go-or-go-homers"

I just don't think that is possible with out using a tivo format. And in some situations ESPN and SPEED cannot use that format due to time restrictions and other logistical issues. They just have to get the commercials in - no matter what.

Anonymous said...

If you don't think they will run breaks during what should be the most viewed part of the broadcast, your insane.

Newracefan said...

Little green target line helps alot, it actually means something with these guys all at the end

Anonymous said...

stricklinfan82 said...
We missed a go-or-go homer qualify during a commercial! Terrible terrible terrible.

Which driver was missed?

Anonymous said...

"Daytona only had a 1 percent increase in ratings which is basically nothing."
-----------
I disagree with that. 1% may not seems like a lot but in TV ratings terms 1% is a big amount.

February 29, 2008 7:27 PM
----------------
Not really - not when NASCAR was averaging 3-5 percent ratings increases year over year until 2005, with some specific races seeing double digit increases. Some races last year had ratings declines in the 17-21 percent range. That's what would be considered a big amount.

Also, when the Daytona ratings came out after the race, the announcement didn't put the 1 percent ratings increase in the headline. Normally it will say "ratings increased 6 percent for such and such race" or whatever. But the official announcement and the headlines based on the announcement it just said "Daytona 500 race sees an increase in viewers" - in other words, very vague because it was only 1 percent.

stricklinfan82 said...

John Andretti. If he hadn't have stopped and turned back around we would have missed his entire qualifying run and not just his first lap.

Anonymous said...

stricklinfan82 said...
John Andretti. If he hadn't have stopped and turned back around we would have missed his entire qualifying run and not just his first lap.

February 29, 2008 8:21 PM

They came back before he completed a timed lap! That is the advantage of the taping they are doing.

Newracefan said...

Strick are you sure they wouldn't have replayed it anyway. They were definately TIVOing earlier because trackpass was 3+ cars ahead

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
...in other words, very vague because it was only 1 percent.

February 29, 2008 8:20 PM

well the other numbers you mentioned are huge, but 1% is still big.

Anonymous said...

stricklinfan82 said...
We missed a go-or-go homer qualify during a commercial! Terrible terrible terrible.

If you blow a gasket over missing a "get up to speed lap" during the last cars, you are really looking for too much in TV Land.

Anonymous said...

Well, they missed the 34, but if they are going to miss the 20 during a commercial and miss the 29 during an interview I guess I can live with them missing one of the GOGHers who looked like they had no chance of making the race based on practice.

Granted, there were WAY too many commercials throughout all of qualifying but SPEED has to pay for the HD stuff somehow, right?

That was exciting! Great move by NASCAR to put the star cars at the end. When they made the rule I thought it was kind of unfair since they could take a lot of poles away so it was nice to see one of the top cars in the series keep the pole they deserved...

Daly Planet Editor said...

I did like that format for the first time. It was concise and gave everyone who needed to get in on time an equal shot.

That was interesting.

JD

Anonymous said...

Dispite the glitch with Andretti. It was good coverage. And I enjoyed it. It was one way to cover the go or go home cars and keep up with who was going to race or not in one group.

Lou
Kingston, NY

Newracefan said...

Thought Seed did good job with the end of qualifying, they interviewed alot of the goers and also the really fast guys. I realize commercials are necessary so I'll take what I got. They prob could have TIVO'd everyone but then Trackside would have been later and the practice replays might not have happened esp for Nationwide. Also Kudos to Nascar this way of qualifying it works

Tripp said...

It's good to see a real qualifying again, and as usual Speed did a good job.

Two bones to pick though. First, who named it "Knockout" qualifying? It bears scant resemblance to its Formula 1 namesake. If this is a Speed/Fox decision, they might want to reconsider it. Although it may be technically accurate, it's kinda cheesy.

Second, they need a small graphics package to keep track of the GOGHers. The ticker at the top doesn't really help, leaving the viewers a bit in the dark with only the announcers to fill in the details. Listing the GOGH drivers in qualifying order and a demarcation line indicating who's in and out would be a good deal. I know that there's not a lot of real estate left on the screen, but these are smart guys. I expect they could figure it out.

Newracefan said...

Just realized TWIN should be fun everyone is in the race.

Anonymous said...

I think the announcers kept you up with who needed to beat who, who was on the bubble etc. They told you all this with each car, sometimes more than once during their run....Why more graphics, when all this is being told to you.

Daly Planet Editor said...

newracefan,

You beat me to it! Maybe Byrnes can finally get his full team together and see how it shakes out with Schrader in the house.

JD

Sophia said...

Wah! had to leave to get something from the drugstore and forgot to turn ON the vcr when I left. :(

Thankfully, they will repeat it later and I can catch the end of the repeat, hopefully. I was sorry to hear Sauter crashed with the Wood brothers car since Jon did not feel confident.

But KENNY and Mikey made the race!! woo hoo. sometimes I think my guys have BETTER luck if I do NOT WATCH qualifying, lol...get too nervous.

Sophia said...

Schrader better be on TWIN this week with the regulars or PERSONALLY, I think that show will have 'jumped the shark'.

Also imo agree, we don't need more graphics....there is enough on the screen. Usually the SPEED guys are on top of what is GOING ON with these guys but admit the early GOMER show was kind of a waste..i would rather they get rid of that show since the title and the content rarely match 100%.

Anonymous said...

well the other numbers you mentioned are huge, but 1% is still big.

February 29, 2008 8:25 PM
------------
Trust me, if that number was considered "big" by anybody or any stretch of the imagination, it would have been publicized in the traditional manner. It's simply not a big increase in Nielsen ratings, for any type of TV program.

If it was, NASCAR would have touted it in the announcement. NASCAR and other sports leagues don't hesitate to publicize "big" ratings increases. This wasn't one of them. (You may be thinking of a ratings point instead of ratings percentage. For instance, a 5.1 in ratings points instead of a 4.1, that translates mathematically into a decent-sized percentage increase.)

Las Vegas over the past few years is a race that usually shows a decent increase in ratings even when overall ratings are decreasing. If that holds true, watch the difference in the announcement wording next week as opposed to the Daytona 500 announcement.

Phathead said...

ESPN is on the ball with quali...

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/38/espnkc0.jpg

Daly Planet Editor said...

phat,

The Google blog format does not allow for pics, if you think it is worthwhile, just email me at editor@thedalyplanet.tv thanks!

JD

Karen said...

Read on nascar.com that Shrader is motorcycling to each track with Kyle Petty. So he's got a lot of ground to cover to make it back to Charlotte on time to be on TWIN.

Tripp said...

Anon 8:49 PM said: "Why more graphics, when all this is being told to you."

People assimilate information differently. Everyone prefers either aural, visual or written. Aural is my worst mode, and I'm not alone.

Let me refine my recommendation. Use the graphic after each GOGH run after the driver's results are posted that way it would be in a dead space between runs and other graphics.

Phathead said...

email sent JD

Sophia said...

Karen, thanks for the heads up about Schrader on his motorcyle.

THAT SUX for those of us that LOVE AND MISS HIM when he is not on Monday night show...I take it I am NOT going to like the new show..

it was ALL about the Chemistry of the old show..and well, that's been ruined if SCHRADER is going to be gone most of the season and taped junk gunking up the show. Thanks for the warning ...but I know WTunnel usually announces the Panel on his show as well.

but as a major KS fan, I appreciate the heads up on him.
:-)

Anonymous said...

phat, Good find. ESPN.com has changed the problem. They changed the headline form Kurt to Kyle. That is interesting that mistake would happen in the first place though.

Phathead said...

That was precisely my point. I said another a forum that that wouldn't have happened with a stick and ball sport.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned anything about "claim jumpers". I didn't catch how they came up with it. Did they pole the drivers again?

I think that Fox was jealous of NBC for the whole "Lucky Dog" thing. I remember they wouldn't even say it the first couple of years.

JD you should ask Moody his opinion of it the next time you're on his show.

Daly Planet Editor said...

I have the feeling the "claim jumpers" thing and the "gopher cam" are about to throw a wrench into what has been a solid performance by Fox to this point.

Hype for the sake of hype does not really work-out well with NASCAR fans. I think even Mr. Kuselias would acknowledge that.

JD

Karen said...

Sophia, I think it said ten races so it's not going to be all season. Just FYI.

Sophia said...

Thanks, Karen

JD

This whole Slingshot Cam (I am ready to scream after they FORMALLY name 'this thing' sunday??) and Claim jumper has been a shark jump for FOX...or if it's not the Shark Jump, Fonzie is approaching the ski ramp!

:-)

Goodness...last season I ripped ESPN for the stupid draft tracker and now FOX has to promote their own junk.

Well, interesting in some ways ESPN is OBVIOUSLY CHANGING TO IMPROVE THINGS IMMENSELY!! I have been impressed.

However, between the Fox WWE "PRE DECIDED we will ONLY SHOW THE WINNING CAR and 'emotions of crew, crew chief/emotional wife/girlfriend/mom at the FINISH line" and the added goph cam and claim jumper, these guys are so above this...I wonder how the guys working the station feel about promoting all this side show stuff.

Heaven forbid we just see the race.

And more importantly, the END of the race.

Wow..imagine if ESPN becomes the fave station. FOX SPORTS best not rest on their laurels.

Newracefan said...

I heard DW say something to the effect that what's with the claim jumpers. Mike Joy explained that it is an old west term like bushwackers and it's the best we got until someone thinks of something better. It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't get over used. JD did you ever find out if name the gopher was a rain dely idea or planned ahead. DW was laughing on Trackside about the drivers not being that creative what haven't they ever named anything a dog or something.