Few people thought that one memory of the weekend at the California Speedway would be Darrell Waltrip asking if anyone had some gloves because he was freezing. Yes, that is DW and his Super Nova a while back in warmer times.
DW was alongside of host Steve Byrnes and the usual suspects Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond on the SPEED Stage in Fontana. Because of the bad weather, SPEED had decided to push Trackside up to 8:30PM and call it a day. It was a good idea.
Matt Kenseth stopped by in the middle of the rainy mess and bailed out the Trackside crew with some good conversation. One of the key elements of this TV series is that drivers get talking with the panel and forget about the TV cameras. Kenseth was great, and even stepped-in to help the experts with the rain-out procedures for setting the field for Sunday.
Next to come to the set was Bobby Labonte, and he was even better than Kenseth. Labonte addressed a wide variety of topics from the COT to his own personal choices in career path. Seeing him in this casual setting looking good on TV and speaking his mind really suggests a future guest appearance on This Week In NASCAR.
Labonte was the perfect person to address the Petty Racing relocation to the Mooresville, NC area. He spoke in very plain terms about how hard it is for teams like Petty to keep-up with the super-teams. Labonte continued to echo the comments of Kenseth about the continuing discoveries with the COT and the most interesting aspects of this new car.
As the rain began to fade, McReynolds asked Labonte about the potential problems with the Nationwide Series. His answer was interesting. What Labonte quietly said was that the Cup Series owners were adversely affecting this series. Without offending anyone, Labonte made his point about the fact that in the past, the Cup racers fielded their own cars. Now, the big owners bring-in their hired drivers to try and dominate the series. Point well made.
Byrnes keeps this show casual and fun. The panel has worked together for so long the jokes fly and the guests are all in on it. The best part of the California show was that after an all-day rain delay that did not allow any cars on the track, some good old NASCAR fans still braved the weather to stand at the SPEED Stage.
Kudos to SPEED for hanging in there and the entire TV crew for keeping the equipment operating in tough conditions. Hopefully, Saturday will find a nice day in the area of the country where they all say it never rains.
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13 comments:
Excellent Trackside tonite!! I missed the first couple of minutes because I didn't know they had moved up the time. It flowed quite well & BL was a great guest, as was Matt. They addressed pertinent issues regarding the track problem-I just love this show!! btw, waaay too many veris tonite...:(
JD- There's a lot of cold & damp going around. Did you happen to catch Erik K filling in for Greenie on M & M this morning - on location, outside, on a lake in SC for Bassmasters.
I was fascinated to watch how "into it" Erik was for the fishing competition - even went fishing & caught a fish Thursday. I could not help but think that he never seemed to put forth the same level of effort for NASCAR Now - which in the long run may have been for the best, at least for NASCAR fans.
Is DW going to be a fixture on trackside and is elliot gone?? I miss him.
granny b said...
Is DW going to be a fixture on trackside and is elliot gone?? I miss him.
February 22, 2008 10:12 PM
It sounds like you have just started watching Trackside. DW aways works on Trackside for the first half of the season when FOX carries the races. Elliot normally does the Trackside show for the second half of the season when DW and FOX don't cover the races is not there.
Good show tonight
Glenn
Richard,
Think someone is um...helping him to have this experience? First NASCAR Now and then Mr. Bassmaster. He also has a weekend show on ESPN Radio...not about fish.
JD
RATS@ I missed it..I came here to read and turned on the tv as they are finishing talking to Labonte I guess at 48 minutes past the hour.
One of my fave boys you RARELY see on TV.
I agree, he MUST FILL IN on TWIN some night. Don't give us more crap taped junk on that show SPEED. Labonte deserves a guest shot!
Nice to see the old Nashville Fairgrounds in the background of that DW picture.
JD - With the Truck race on Fox today, do you know is the Fox crew going to be in the booth or the Speed crew?
BillWebz
Trckside is so much fun to watch, those guys are just having a good time and we get to have one right along with them. I usually watch this show at least twice cause I always catch something new.
If I heard DW correctly, the truck series on Fox crew is a hybrid, with him joining Rick and Phil in the booth.
Wondering if Hammond will be on the prerace with Krista Voda in the Hollywood hotel or anything like that.
I have never laughed so hard watching a NASCAR related show in my life. My sides ached by the time the hour was up! Gosh, it was wonderful to see the guys having so much fun!
Hey Folks,
There are two new posts up, one for the SPEED shows today and one for the Craftsman Truck Series race. There will be a new story for the Nationwide Series a bit later.
The Truck TV crew is a hybrid, and the cast of characters is explained in the new post. Thanks!
JD
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