Monday, February 11, 2008

Surprise! "This Week In NASCAR" Will Debut Tonight On SPEED


Monday night takes on a whole new profile as SPEED has confirmed that the first episode of This Week In NASCAR will debut tonight at 9PM.

Still putting the final touches on this new program, SPEED had originally intended for the first "official" episode to air after the Daytona 500. Tonight should be an interesting show to put on the DVR or TiVo, as a new era begins for the network.

Steve Byrnes steps in as the TWIN host, and tonight Kenny Schrader and Michael Waltrip will be joined by Toyota driver David Reutimann. With all of the on-going stories about Daytona, including the success of MWR, it should be interesting.

Byrnes faces the challenge that Allen Bestwick handled so well, and that Dave Despain handled so poorly. Balancing three very distinct personalities all of whom have their own personal and professional agendas on display has always been a task.

The transformation of Schrader into a part-time Cup Series driver was painful to watch for many veteran fans. It was the exact same feeling when Johnny Benson transitioned to the Truck Series, and then ultimately off of the show. Now, Schrader is a story once again, and his mentoring of young drivers and his diverse racing activities other than Cup have come to the forefront.

Waltrip faces a choice of returning to the "Mikey of old" or continuing to push the boundaries of his personal credibility with ill-timed sponsor mentions and politically-driven tangents of conversation. This show played a key role in exposing the wonderful and quirky personality of Waltrip, and in 2008 it can once again serve to return him to a fan favorite. The choice is his.

While this espisode is in many ways a dress rehearsal, it may be just the "ice-breaker" that the new cast and production staff needs to get this TV series back on track. There is one non-points race to review, pole qualifying to discuss and the upcoming four days of racing to preview.

This may be exactly the right mix of topics for Steve Byrnes to explore as he begins to work toward the goal of injecting fun and laughter back into this show.

As Inside NEXTEL Cup gives way to This Week In NASCAR, it should be interesting to see if the magic is back. This first episode airs at 9PM Eastern Time on SPEED.

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12 comments:

  1. Don't know where else to insert this John, but just a reminder that TWIN follows a special addition of Speed Report. I assume it is from the track at Daytona just like last nights was, which I think went very well with Bob V., Krista and Larry Mac.

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  2. I suspect Mikey's demeanor will be substantially different tonight that it was most of last season.

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  3. Can not wait for this show. To bad Chad isn't on cause I'd love to hear a crew chief (esp one I can understand) go into more detail about what is happening with so many of the Toyota engines and why the tire blistering will NOT be a problem for the 500

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  4. Newracefan said...
    Can not wait for this show. To bad Chad isn't on cause I'd love to hear a crew chief (esp one I can understand) go into more detail about what is happening with so many of the Toyota engines and why the tire blistering will NOT be a problem for the 500

    Saturday night....cool, lots of grip-tires blister

    500-Afternoon warmer temps less grip-no blister!

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  5. I just heard MW will also be on NASCAR Now in a few minutes.

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  6. MW is LIVE from Daytona for NASCAR Now. He says he taped TWIN at Daytona. Was the entire show taped in Daytona?

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  7. Note to TWIN

    Please, turn down the volume on the music when you show on track video.

    Irritating.

    We just want to hear 'natural noise' and the boys.

    Please, please hear my plea

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  8. AMEN!

    Please, turn the VOLUME down on the music.

    STOP the INSANITY.

    this show has potential if we can indeed, hear the boys and the natural noise.

    Bummer when they went to break, no Schrader next week? Mikey and Biffle.

    i thought for sure i would be the first to whine about the background music. That distorted guitar sound and car engine noise?

    *sigh*

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  9. WOW! What a fun show! Monday nights on Speed are now back on my schedule.

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  10. Really enjoying the show and the flow :)! w00t! Awesome job Steve and the boyz!

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  11. Glad the show is back. Nice not to see the shameless plugs from MW. Kenny was good as usual. I am sure the show will improve as the season goes on.

    Lou
    Kingston, NY

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  12. LOVED Schraders story about Tony Stewart being his hero due to the hauler incident....LMAO.

    FUN show...schrader got some quick funny stories in.

    :) :) :)

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