The Nationwide Series moves over to ABC on Saturday for their live race from the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Allen Bestwick will host the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show from the Infield Pit Studio. Rusty Wallace returns from some time off and joins Bestwick and Brad Daugherty to make up the infield panel. The pre-race show begins at 2PM Eastern Time on ABC Sports.
Jerry Punch will call the Nationwide Series action as the play-by-play announcer as race coverage begins at 2:30PM Eastern Time. Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will be alongside of Punch in the announce booth. Down on pit road will be Shannon Spake, Vince Welch, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro. Jamie Little has the weekend off.
The race broadcast is scheduled to end at 5:30PM with a college basketball March Madness program that leads East Coast ABC affiliates into the local evening news. The ABC primetime programming begins at 8PM. Rain may be a factor in this coverage.
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223 comments:
1 – 200 of 223 Newer› Newest»Guys, this is only the first race on ABC, and the troubles are starting already.
According to my programming guide, "Countdown" will NOT be seen here on WLS-TV Chicago in favor of live St. Patrick's Day Parade coverage. Coverage will supposedly begin at 1:30 PM CT with the actual race coverage. This is just ridiculous, I finally enjoy "Countdown" but can't watch it this week because of my stupid O&O; you'd think corporate would force them to air the parade coverage late at night in lieu of network programming. (i.e., "Countdown")
Spring Rubber said...
...you'd think corporate would force them to air the parade coverage late at night in lieu of network programming.
SR, I feel your pain and know it all too well living in the Los Angeles market where, like Chicago, pretty much every station is an O&O where one would think that network programing would always rule supreme.
Sadly for NASCAR fans in your area, you have run up against an event that even the most strict network executive wouldn't pass up. As much as you and others might not like it, the hard, cold fact is that the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago will attract far more viewers there than a "second-tier" sports event.
You can complain to WLS-TV, but I doubt that they will listen in this case. All I can suggest to you is, between now and the next time there will be such a conflict, make some friends in Milwaukee or South Bend who will let you come over and watch the race. ;-)
Thanks for the Chicago update. I have the DVR set because I am going to the parade and to see the river dyed green! Frankly, I'm not sure why anyone would want to watch the parade on TV. Isn't the point to go and then to head to your favorite Irish pub.....
At any rate, have there been any Bristol weather updates? Last I heard they were expecting today to be a complete rainout. They said tomorrow was looking good though. I have a feeling we will be seeing Nationwide on Monday... That said, I would LOVE to see both races on Sunday! (After a Saturday of celebrating St. Pat's, Sunday on the couch watching back-to-back races sounds like an excellent idea!)
Radar looking very bad large green blog heading straight for Bristol, thunder showers suppose to start at 1p and not stop til early am Sun. Set the DVR way overtime but I'm thinking your going to get rain coverage and will prob get your wish for 2 races on sun. Would Nascar put the NW race before the cup race and where would it be televised and not to mention what would happen to Raceday
Once it starts raining, and if it doesn't stop, the question is going to become when will NASCAR make the decision to call the race and when will they announce it? Because you have to figure if the race doesn't get going by 3:30p.m. they won't be able to get the race in by 6:00pm (when ABC goes off the air). Yet, if they'd call the race at 3:30p.m., what would ABC do to fill the remaining 2 1/2 hours?
Could be a situation of "It's 3:45 and we know the race won't happen, but we won't tell the viewers that until 5:45."
yea lets worry about something that has not even happend yet
I can't believe that the ABC Lincoln, Nebraska affilate will not air any coverage of the Nationwide race. Instead, they are going to air the BIG 12 game that doesn't even have Nebraska in the game. This is really disappointing to me especially since this is BRITOL!!!
BRISTOL! Sorry ... I guess I can't spell today!
Could be a situation of "It's 3:45 and we know the race won't happen, but we won't tell the viewers that until 5:45."
March 15, 2008 11:39 AM
Probably will be that situation. depends on how hard it's raining -and maybe they can tell in the control room how many affiliates are switching to other shows? That may affect the decision.
They're only supposed to go until 5:30, not 6, so they may try to fill the entire broadcast with rainfill -driver interviews, etc. They've done two hours of rainfill before for nationwide at Cali.
Or they may switch the race broadcast to Classic and get it off ABC.
FYI: NASCAR Now the last two nights with host Marty Reid was very good, especially last night's show. They really pulled out all the stops for a news and interview filled show. They had Massaro and marty s., with allen, rusty, tim Brewer previewing today's race.
Real shame they were on so late and also didn't come on at the scheduled time because of College Game Night running over, which plays havoc with recording devices.
Somehow I think only Marty Reid is going to fit in an Eliot Spitzer reference onto NASCAR Now.
ESPN Classic has live college basketball from 8-10 EDT. Depending on how things go, NASCAR may hold of until then just to get it on TV, or the race may just get tape delayed. This all assumes that ABC will dump the race in favor of prime time TV, probably a very safe assumption unless the race will be quickly wrapping up shortly there after.
the race may just get tape delayed.
The race WILL NOT be tape delayed. The only time that has happend was when A Busch and Cup race were run at the same time. Cup was in Pocono and Busch was somewhere eles and rain canceled it to Sunday. Since both races were on the same network (FOX/FX) they used a tape delay of the Busch race.
This will NOT happen tonight.
Appears that WJLA-TV in Washington is carrying Raycom Coverage of SEC tournament basketball this afternoon.
Unsure if they'll cut away for the race. This game is the one scheduled for last night until the tornado hit.
The race would get postponed to another day before it would air on a tape-delay basis.
The race WILL NOT be tape delayed. The only time that has happend was when A Busch and Cup race were run at the same time. Cup was in Pocono and Busch was somewhere eles and rain canceled it to Sunday. Since both races were on the same network (FOX/FX) they used a tape delay of the Busch race.
This will NOT happen tonight.
I wouldn't take that for granted. I'm assuming you're talking about the modern-era of NASCAR TV contracts (from 2001-now) because there were certainly TONS of tape-delays of NASCAR events from 2000 on back. You have to remember that in the modern-era of TV contracts a TV network had never dumped a race already in progress during a rain delay.... until ABC/ESPN came back to the sport last year. At Kansas in the Cup race when a little bit of rain came and they knew the race would finish in primetime, ABC immediately pulled the plug and moved the finish to ESPN2.
Today if rain is an issue we NASCAR fans are going to be screwed, there's no way around it. ABC will not pre-empt prime time programming for a Cup race, let alone a Nationwide race. ESPN and ESPN2 are not options for live coverage because of the ridiculous amount of college basketball games filling up those channels all day and night. And ESPN Classic is not an option from 8-10:15 or 10:30 or so because of ANOTHER basketball game.
NASCAR never takes TV into consideration when they start a race, so if the cars are on the track between the hours of 8:00 and 10:15 PM there will be NO live TV coverage of it. My guess is if the race starts this late we'll have a tape-delayed broadcast at 1 AM on ESPN2 when college basketball is finally finished for the night.
The bottom line guys is if there's any rain at all you better pray for a monsoon that washes the race out until tomorrow night or Monday morning. A delayed start time is the worst case scenario for us. Did I ever mention that I hate putting up with this panic over ESPN's scheduling every time rain shows up near a NASCAR track during an ESPN race?
Did I ever mention that I hate putting up with this panic over ESPN's scheduling every time rain shows up near a NASCAR track during an ESPN race?
Honestly, there is no need for panic. You guys worry waaaaaaay to much. The coverage has not even begun yet and you are worrying about what will happen if it rains? Just watch the coverage! Don't worry about something that has not happend yet.
If the race isn't going to run today, some of us would prefer to turn off the TV and go do something else, not listen to "we're almost ready to race!" for two or three hours.
That's the only reason I worry about it and I don't see what's wrong with it. Actually, I worry about people who don't consider the weather...
for an outdoor sporting event that doesn't run in the rain.
I don't wan't to get sold a bill of goods that a race or qualifying is going to go when it's clear it isn't. Lately I've been having to make my own judgement call on whether a race will run or not (no thanks to the TV folks) and so far I've been batting .1000. I shut off the coverage and go do something else. I come home, and no race has been run on tape.
Wouldn't it be nice, if, in situations such as the one today with the rain delay, that SPEED could air the race live once it got going? I mean, if ABC and ESPN just won't show the race because of prime time shows and basketball games, then why not let SPEED have it? If only the t.v. networks could play nice with each other....
One suggestion to the announcers about something talked about during the Nationwide practice session this morning.....prior to this season, the Nationwide Series was the BUSCH Series. Referring to past race winners (and past races in general) as Nationwide races is just wrong in my book. I feel that it is disrespectful of everyone from the Busch organization who was part of making their sponsorship succeed. Give credit where it is due, please.
They showed the radar right off the top. Looks good after the big blob gets through.
anon 2:01PM:
Even if SPEED COULD air the race, it's not an option today. They've got the 12 Hours of Sebring.
There's another blob after that one the only good thing is Bristol is a small concrete track so it drys fast.
No problems with KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego. They have Countdown on right now and they are expected to carry the entire ABC race coverage.
The radar "blob" yesterday took almost two full hours to move through Bristol once it hit. They better hope the one today (which looks much worse than yesterday) moves more quickly.
Checking radar online now, they're only halfway through this rain cell; another one over Franklin TN heading their way.
In other words: no race today. I watched the SPEED rainfill coverage yesterday b/c I was working at home, but not today. Have a good afternoon - I'm outta here.
In other words: no race today.
WAY TO BE OPTIMISTIC!
The radar "blob" yesterday took almost two full hours to move through Bristol once it hit. They better hope the one today (which looks much worse than yesterday) moves more quickly.
Checking radar online now, they're only halfway through this rain cell; another one over Franklin TN heading their way.
In other words: no race today. I watched the SPEED rainfill coverage yesterday b/c I was working at home, but not today. Have a good afternoon - I'm outta here.
Thank you very much for the weather update. I appreciate being able to hear true factual information about the forecast instead of the usual TV "this cell will move through and we'll go racing later this afternoon."
Rainout or no, the ABC affiliate from Seattle that I receive in southwestern British Columbia is showing Hannah Montana instead of the countdown show.
And slightly off-topic, I just saw a commercial for SPEED HD availability on StartChoice. If there are any other Canadians hanging out here who have StarChoice, I'm jealous for you. :-)
--KarenB
The Nationwide race cannot be on SPEED. It would set a bad precedent. The whole point of the new contract was to have one group of networks people can turn to for the nationwide race, The ESPN networks.
I am enjoying the broadcast Clint is fun to listen to but I am also a realist. We might start this race but not sure we will finish today.
Thank you Brad! I love the fact that he actually told the truth about there being more weather behind this cell and that there probably wouldn't be a race today. It's nice that Allen and Rusty are optimistic about there being a "window" but I'm glad Brad painted a more realistic picture of the situation for the audience watching at home.
I want the rain stop as much as anyone else but I don't want to be misled into false hope either.
It's great to hear the comments from Dale Jarrett about making his final career start tomorrow. Maybe I missed it, but I am right that Speed didn't even talk to him yesterday? Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember them talking to DJ if they did. You would have thought at a minimum that they would have had him on Trackside last night instead of Montoya, Truex, and Kahne for whom this weekend is far less important.
Speed should have BIG coverage on DJ with Raceday. If they don't I will be really disappointed in them.
Anonymous said...
The Nationwide race cannot be on SPEED. It would set a bad precedent. The whole point of the new contract was to have one group of networks people can turn to for the nationwide race, The ESPN networks.
March 15, 2008 2:31 PM
I totally disagree. If you're saying that then you're saying you would prefer no TV coverage vs. TV coverage on a non-ESPN network. To me that makes no sense. You shouldn't black out TV coverage of a race for the sole purpose of upholding the "integrity" of all the races being on "one network" every week. Besides the races / Countdown Shows are still on three different networks (sometimes four) as it is - ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and ESPN Classic. The only thing that is "constant" is the announcers (which wouldn't change with a same-day network shift to Speed by the way). We still have to search the TV guide every week to find what network the race is on anyway (ESPN2 last week, ABC this week, ESPN next week), so I don't buy the "keep the race on one family of networks" plea.
I just checked Weather.com, and they show an hour-by-hour chart which has rain or thunderstorms all day. JD, have you heard about the contingencies? Could they follow Cup tomorrow?
That is still being discussed. The idea is to try and get both races run tomorrow. The Monday logistics are a mess.
You know NASCAR, they will not surrender until the last possible moment.
JD
Daly Planet Editor said...
That is still being discussed. The idea is to try and get both races run tomorrow. The Monday logistics are a mess.
---
Dare I say it, Bristol has lights (just like California).
It's not going to be a good quarter for the stockholders of SMS :)
With all the talk of not being able to use Classic, why not use Disney or ABC Family?
Vince Welch just called the garage area the "paddock"
Guess he can't break from his day job and the Indy terminology.
stricklinfan82 said...
"ESPN2 last week, ABC this week, ESPN next week)"
what? There are NO nationwide races on ESPN. There has never been. Only 4 races out of the entire year are on ABC. And all races scheduled for ESPN2 always ended on that network. Where the network the coverage starts, does not matter. The only thing that matters is what network the coverage ends on. And that network has always been ESPN2 except for 4 on ABC.
It is not a mater of whether you disagree or not. These are the facts of the contract. All but 4 Nationwide races are to end on ESPN2. And they have. This is better for the series.
Anonymous said...
With all the talk of not being able to use Classic, why not use Disney or ABC Family?
March 15, 2008 2:54 PM
Those networks are not Sports networks. It would not be practical. If someone where to tune in looking for the race, would you tune to Disney or ABC Fam? No, that is the point.
Anonymous said...
stricklinfan82 said...
"ESPN2 last week, ABC this week, ESPN next week)"
what? There are NO nationwide races on ESPN. There has never been. Only 4 races out of the entire year are on ABC. And all races scheduled for ESPN2 always ended on that network. Where the network the coverage starts, does not matter. The only thing that matters is what network the coverage ends on. And that network has always been ESPN2 except for 4 on ABC.
It is not a mater of whether you disagree or not. These are the facts of the contract. All but 4 Nationwide races are to end on ESPN2. And they have. This is better for the series.
March 15, 2008 2:55 PM
Sorry bud, check your TV schedule again. Next week's Nashville race is on ESPN. If you're going to bash me and tell me I'm wrong it would help to at least have your facts straight.
hm... that's odd. My schedule appears to be wrong. Either way that is just one on ESPN. The majority of the rest of the races are on ESPN2.
Yeah, ESPN will have 3 Nationwide races this year. Nashville next Saturday, the Mexico City event and the Chicagoland race in July.
Nationwide on ESPN this year -
Nashville
Mexico City
Chicago
Anonymous said...
hm... that's odd. My schedule appears to be wrong. Either way that is just one on ESPN. The majority of the rest of the races are on ESPN2.
March 15, 2008 3:01 PM
If you think it's important to have all the races on one family of networks (even at the expense of leaving races without TV coverage) that's fine, you're absolutely entitled to your opinion.
If you disagree with another user that's your perrogative but if you're going to specifically call someone out by name and with quotes, especially me, then you should at least know what you're talking about before you tell them they're wrong. There are THREE races on ESPN this year, not "NO" races or "just one" race as you stated as facts.
Please get your facts straight before you discredit someone else's factual evidence that they use to back up their own opinions, thanks.
3 races on ESPN? The whole point of the nationwide races moving to the ESPN networks was to have most of the races on ESPN2 and a couple on ABC. I disagree with this.
With all the talk of not being able to use Classic, why not use Disney or ABC Family?
That's a fantastic idea that I hadn't considered. NBC used CNBC as a backup for rain delayed races and post-race coverage on races that ran long in 2006 so I think it would be a fantastic to use ABC Family Channel in an emergency situation like this.
I don't care if it's not a "sports network", I just want a channel number that I can punch into my remote and use to find the telecast that the broadcast network dumped. I'm sure a lot of fans would appreciate a move to ABC Family instead of ESPN Classic because I'd imagine many more households get the ABC Family Channel.
NASCAR just said they expect the track to be ready at 4:20 PM. It will definitely be interesting to see if ABC sticks around.
Thank you ABC for finding a Goodyear representative to talk to in the studio! Fantastic decision, I hope Fox is watching. This is how you should handle a major issue like this. You shouldn't just ignore it or brush it aside as a non-issue.
"NBC used CNBC as a backup for rain delayed races and post-race coverage on races that ran long in 2006"
I do not recall NBC moving Race coverage to CNBC, only Post-race. Can you name an example?
wow...rusty is putting some pressure on the Goodyear representative.
I do not recall NBC moving Race coverage to CNBC, only Post-race. Can you name an example?
They never had to move a race to CNBC, all I said was they had it there as a backup for a rain-delayed race. They did indeed move post-race coverage to CNBC but thankfully they never had to move actual race coverage to the network since rain never forced an overlap between Sunday Night Football and a Nextel Cup race.
Fascinating question from Brad about separate tires for Sprint and Nationwide. That may be the exact problem!
This has been a great segement on the tire issues. Much better than the comical stuff that usualy rules during the rain delays.
Nice job on the Good Year interview. I sure learned somethings.
Agreed! The tire discussion was excellent. Rusty seemed to get wrapped around the axle a bit but Allen brought the discussion back onto its wheels.
I don't think there's anyone who can touch Allen in the world of NASCAR TV when it comes to this kind of discussion. He has tremendous talent with this.
WSOC affiliate in Charlotte, broke away at 3:30 (midsentence) to cover the weather. They cover both NC and upstate SC. The weather in Charlotte isn't bad but is severe thunderstorm warning in other counties and upstate SC. They look to have no inclination to be returning to NASCAR anytime soon. I don't think they even mentioned it, like apologizing for cutting away.
If they cut away in Charlotte -NASCAR headquarters - well, that says something. Some affiliates simply aren't going to cover rain talk forever. I guess even more if they have something else that local viewers might watch.
ok, so goodyear president finally agrees that they need to keep in mind -- going forward! -- that nationwide and cup cars are two different cars with different levels of downforce? and this is the company in charge of providing tires?!?
how is it that we, as fans, understood that the cars in the two series are completely different and should have different tires and goodyear is just now stating that they need to be thinking about that going forward? once cot came in, the busch and cup cars were significantly different and so the demands placed on the tires were significantly different. i find it VERY difficult to accept that goodyear is just now starting to understand that!
and enough about how they want to err on the side of safety! we get that and respect it. but the tire at atlanta was a very bad error and not safe. they may "understand (our) job and take it seriously" but i am truly astounded that he sat there and said that they are recognizing that the two series need different tires. maybe they'd like it if they could just use one tires across all three series: truck, cup and nationwide!
sometimes i get the impression that neither nascar nor goodyear listens to the drivers and i'm beginning to think that goodyear just isn't on top of the technology involved in the two series.
(and by the way: watching practice this afternoon, i saw an awful lot of marbles up top. makes me just a little bit uneasy about how soft this bristol tire may be this weekend. the again, could just be the result of a few spins and wall smacks as well. let's hope so.)
Absolutely fantastic discussion between the Goodyear GM and the guys in the booth and the pit studio. That was absolutely tremendous television in my view. I've gotta give ABC an A+ again for another fantastic rain-fill show. Driver interviews and joking around are fine during rain delays but I've been wanting to see something like this for a long time and I'm thrilled the ESPN guys delivered big time.
I can't wait to see what Fox has in store on this issue tomorrow. Hopefully they won't ignore it and they'll do something very similar. This certainly deserves more attention then a 15 second "Gas and Go" question between DW and Jeff Hammond or another week of being completely ignored.
Are any of the usual Daly Planet weather guys still around? Does it look like the race will get in or is more weather closing in quickly?
We are in a rain free area right now according to the radar. There is one more storm cell to the east but after that, that is it. That one last storm cell just might miss the speedway.
Just finished watching the interview with Stu Grant (?) from Goodyear. I laughed out loud when he admitted N'wide & Cup cars run on the exact same tire... When Brad tagged him on the need for different tires he was a stammering his head off!
It was a well thought out interview session, Alan was the only one on the planet who could follow & clarify Rustys' comment/question. Cheers to Alan for that!
It was a very telling segment on how much input NASCAR, the drivers and crew cheifs don't have.
I forgot who asked if theres a choice between a racing tire or a safer tire who makes the call & Stu stammered thru "safer, more conservative tire wins" - I'm not one of those who turns in to see wrecks, however better racing would be good, side by side maybe.
I enjoyed Andy pointing out about less down force on new car, and its not ALL Goodyears fault. About 65% in my book.
All said an A+ for this segment.
Way to go guys!
Now that's the tire coverage we all wanted to hear, guess it took a rain delay for us to see it but way to go ESPN prob the best rain fill all year.
We must be getting close to going racing. I'm listening to PRN and they're doing their opening sponsor billboard right now.
hmmm, kahne just mentioned (as did truex before him) that there were alot of marbles up high. i have a badddddd feeling about this.
by the way, my earlier post/rant about the goodyear interview failed to offer props to the panel for great questions and a terrific job trying to get solid answers! nice work, guys.todcpmoe
Looking at a green flag around 4:30p.m. Eastern....takes around 2 1/2 hours to run 300 laps....should be done around 7p.m. Eastern
red said: hmmm, kahne just mentioned (as did truex before him) that there were alot of marbles up high. i have a badddddd feeling about this.
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Shouldn't be a problem since the rain washed them off and the jet dryers are blowing them to the infield.
Should be interesting to watch as the track gets "rubbered in". If they're running three wide, it should keep the clag up near the wall in the corners.
hey tripp. my concern isn't the track b/c, as you point out, it's a green track right now. my concern is . . . the tires. that amount of marbles makes me wonder of perhaps the tire isn't a bit too soft? soft tire = more grip = more friction - more heat = more marbles. i don't recall seeing that much dirt up high at bristol historically but i'm willing to be wrong.
Its still looking like more rain is on the way, probably around 2.5 hours away, though they should be able to get past halfway before it comes.
Mike said...
Looking at a green flag around 4:30p.m. Eastern....takes around 2 1/2 hours to run 300 laps....should be done around 7p.m. Eastern
Thanks to the qualifying rainout there's quite a healthy dose of start-and-park cars entered in this race so the race might be finished a lot quicker with a lot less cars in the race and a lot few opportunities to have crashes.
It would be fun to see ESPN keep a camera zoomed in on the entrance to the garage area each week to monitor the "Race to the Garage" that takes place in the opening laps of these Nationwide races. Start-and-park cars insult me as a race fan so it would be fun to see someone like ESPN make a mockery of it so maybe NASCAR would find a way to stop it.
NASCAR's most famous field filler Mike Potter is entered in the #0 car so my money's on him to win the "race to the garage", but he'll definitely have some great competition from the 90, 91, 89, 84, 52, and maybe the 05 as well. I'll predict the park order to go: 0, 84, 91, 90, 89, 52, and 05. Anyone else have a prediciton on who will win this "race within a race"? LOL.
Anonymous said...
We are in a rain free area right now according to the radar. There is one more storm cell to the east but after that, that is it. That one last storm cell just might miss the speedway.
March 15, 2008 3:52 PM
on weather.com radar page there's another storm cell behind that one. I agree with you that the one closest by might miss the speedway, but that next one will hit the Johnson City Bristol area.
I don't know how to judge a radar well enough to say how exactly how far away that storm cell is, but I think it will be there much sooner than 2.5 hours.
I'd say 90 minutes or less, but that's just a guess! It looks pretty close when you zoom in.
The top is over Bowling Green Kentucky, middle part is over Cookeville Tennessee, and goes down to Huntsville Alabama.
It's obvious what the plan is. NASCAR is simply looking to get to halfway and whatever they get in after that is a bonus. Takes about 75 minutes to get to halfway....with a green flag of 4:30p.m., halfway would put us at 5:45p.m. and ABC can nicely go off the air at 6p.m. just in time for their World News broadcast.
Maybe a 90 minute window(max) til more precipitation at Bristol.
After that system moves in, could rain for a few hours.
The broadcast quality is awful - is it the weather or is it ABC?
BillWebz
Great pictures on my TV. HD channel looks great. Even the SD channel looks good.
Looks like we have a lot of meterologists here today.
NASCAR's most famous field filler Mike Potter is entered in the #0 car so my money's on him to win the "race to the garage", but he'll definitely have some great competition from the 90, 91, 89, 84, 52, and maybe the 05 as well. I'll predict the park order to go: 0, 84, 91, 90, 89, 52, and 05. Anyone else have a prediciton on who will win this "race within a race"? LOL.
Hilarious stricklinfan, though I think Cope (52) has a great chance to win this race withing the race.
BillWebz
Actually appears to be ABC out of LA on Directv that is bad, ABC out of NYC seems ok - but long distance shots seem blurry - almost as if it is a 3D image.
NYC ABC intererupted the start of the race with a crane accident down in the city with deaths, understandable, but went back to the race fast.
BillWebz
Bad call to go to teh in car camera there.
Bad call to go to teh in car camera there.
How so?
bad reception on ABC from DirecTV -
swithced to local ABC / HD and looks fine
I definitely agree with you erik, I would have much rather seen that wreck from the camera on the outside that was covering the first part of the wreck. Don't they understand that the in-car cameras cause us to lose perspective?
The view from the in car camera is very limited. I'd rather see what happened overall live, rather than just hearing it, and see the in car on a replay.
WSOC in Charlotte never returned to NASCAR coverage after leaving at 3:30. We had severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches everywhere and after the tornado in Atlanta last night, I assume they are taking no chances. I hope everyone is OK in the outlying counties.
All the other stations went to weather too, though one waited until after the UNC game to finish to go to weather. :-) They just went back to the Duke game after about 40 minutes of weather coverage - those fans probably marched on the TV station to make them go back, ha.
No indication that ABC is going back to NASCAR.
If Kyle Busch really did just leave the track and that car is reparable then ABC needs to jump on this story. If you remember the Texas Cup race last year he did the exact same thing and got a lot of criticism for it, and justifiably so. Even if he's not running the driver's title that 32 team is running for the owner's title to the best of my knowledge so that wasn't the right thing to do IF the car can be fixed.
Anonymous said...
Looks like we have a lot of meterologists here today.
And? I'm grateful to them for taking the time to post as it's NNS related. If you don't like weather posts, no one is stopping you from scrolling.
AB was right behind Busch as he was walking into the tunnel
It wasn't AB I think it was Mike Massaro, maybe Kyle is trying to get away from the camera crew not the racecar
I think KOMO-tv in Seattle might've shown "Hannah Montana" instead of the pre-race show ... as that's how it was on the schedule ... But, I wasn't up, so I don't know if they did or not ...
Sprinkles could be at Bristol very shortly.
Need some luck yo keep them away.
NASCAR's most famous field filler Mike Potter is entered in the #0 car so my money's on him to win the "race to the garage", but he'll definitely have some great competition from the 90, 91, 89, 84, 52, and maybe the 05 as well. I'll predict the park order to go: 0, 84, 91, 90, 89, 52, and 05. Anyone else have a prediciton on who will win this "race within a race"? LOL.
Boy somehow ABC missed this major story of the race within a race. The first 5 positions have already been determined in the "race to the garage" and I'm 5 for 5! LOL
1.) 0 - Potter - 10 laps
2.) 84 - Harmon - 26 laps
3.) 91 - Gunselman - 27 laps
4.) 90 - Chapman - 28 laps
5.) 89 - Shepherd - 30 laps
Come on 52 and 05... park those cars in that order so I get hit the perfecto and go 7/7!
Brian Clauson is NOT impressive ... and I wish they would STOP saying that ...
There's always one lucky rookie who finishes quite high at Daytona in Feb ... That doesn't mean they're good ...
Clauson's been in multiple wrecks since Daytona ...
Broadcast quality here in So Cal still stinks. Very fuzzy on Cox Cable.
stricklinfan82 said...
Come on 52 and 05... park those cars in that order so I get hit the perfecto and go 7/7!
March 15, 2008 5:00 PM
Good Luck
No coverage at all In Atlanta. Why can't the local affiliate at least put ithe race in a small window on the screen? I emailed the station but don't think it will help.
@anon 4:56
Yes, it was Hannah Montana. We get KOMO here on Vancouver Island, and I changed channels at 11:00 expecting the coundown show. Between KOMO and KCPQ, they've deprived me of a lot of racing this year.
--KarenB
Great picture with COX in San diego.
The part of the line of storms that I hoped would miss them to the south looks like will pass over them now, looking like spotty off and on showers until the main part hits them.
Looks like the 52 has parked and the 05 decided not to enter the "start-and-park" race so I'll take credit for going 6 for 6, LOL.
I think an ESPN Garage cam would be a brilliant thing to bring some attention to this issue. It's a joke that was I actually able to predict all the start-and-park drivers... and the exact order they parked!
Come on NASCAR, do something about this situation.
stricklinfan,
Since they cannot adjust the purse, they start-and-park crowd gets what is known as "tow money."
One good thing, it is always cash.
JD
Wish there would've been a little follow-up on whether Steve Wallace answered the black flag. I assume the silence speaks for itself and he did.
oops..."the"
Heavy cell developing at I-81 and Hwy 11E, very close to the speedway.
Pretty good pay day for only running a handful of laps for those "start & park" cars.
Last years LOWEST PAID Nationwide car made close to $21,000.
Great gig if you can do it !! kidding
I agree STRICKIN..... network should keep us informed of who has fallen out and / or QUIT !!
ABC has missed a few restarts and several incidents due to commercials so far today. Does anyone remember the press release during the year saying that they would be tooling around with commercial times to come back for restarts and such on time? So far I haven't seen that in use.
They're in such a hurry to get to halfway that we're missing restarts.
Wow I really feel for you guys whose ABC stations dumped the race or didn't carry the pre-race show.
JD, it looks like it took just one ABC race broadcast in 2008 for the affiliates to carry-over their 2007 practices of making NASCAR an unimportant sport. Can't NASCAR do something about this? This just isn't right. I can only imagine how I would react if this happened where I live. The 2 minute pre-emptions we get at 7:00 every night for the Pennyslvania Lottery are bad enough to have to deal with.
sure wish someone would find out if busch's car is beyond repair (figuring we may only get 1/2 a race today.) regardless, the driver leaving is, in my opinion, unacceptable. he should be with the team to the very end of that car's attempts to return to the track.
maybe, just maybe, one of the broadcasters will follow up on this and point out that a true driver does NOT walk away from his car when the team is still looking it over. i don't believe (from what we were shown) that the team had given up on the car at the point at which we were shown busch leaving.
busch may be one hell of a wheelman, but he doesn't get it as far as being a team player in this sport. his action of leaving the track today has to be demoralizing for his nationwide team. he is likely understandable angry at being caught up in someone else's mess and didn't want to talk and that is his right. but the hauler is where he belongs right now, not the coach lot. and the broadcasters should NOT let him go this time like they did in texas. too bad the guys in the booth haven't tracked this down and commented upon it. god knows if stewart did that at this point in his career, they'd be on it. giving young mr busch a pass, guys?
Appreciate them showing us the radar after the last break... but , not to the computer operator...
DO NOT hit the refresh button for the radar while the director has the RADAR on the air.
But showing it is greatly appreciated. !!
Charlotte affiliate returned to NASCAR coverage. Gone from 3:30 to 5:15
Anonymous said...
No coverage at all In Atlanta. Why can't the local affiliate at least put ithe race in a small window on the screen? I emailed the station but don't think it will help.
March 15, 2008 5:05 PM
Atlanta is in a state of emergency..and your looking for a Nationwide Race!!?????
sorry... NOTE to the computer operator.
Daly Planet Editor said...
stricklinfan,
Since they cannot adjust the purse, they start-and-park crowd gets what is known as "tow money."
One good thing, it is always cash.
JD
March 15, 2008 5:12 PM
JD,
My point on the start-and-park guys is that they should have to show a NASCAR official that they have a legitimate failure that has caused them to withdraw from the race. If they can't do that and they are truly "parking" for no good reason then they shouldn't get to collect their purse money.
NASCAR teams need to show evidence to NASCAR when they want to make an engine change so they should have to go through a similar process when they go to NASCAR and officially declare that they are retiring from the race.
Ken-Michigan said...
sorry... NOTE to the computer operator.
March 15, 2008 5:18 PM
some of those systems refresh automatically. You just can't tell for sure.
It would be nice if these affiliates use their digital subchannels, 5.2, 5.3 etc. in these situations. Less than one year from now, everyone would have to pick them up when the analog stations are turned off.
Erik said...
It would be nice if these affiliates use their digital subchannels, 5.2, 5.3 etc. in these situations. Less than one year from now, everyone would have to pick them up when the analog stations are turned off.
March 15, 2008 5:21 PM
Not if you have cable or satellite. My cable co does not carry all of the sub-channels.
stricklinfan,
NASCAR paid them to show up, racing is optional.
The deadspin.com footage of the Georgia Dome almost caving in was amazing. I have been there many times for events, and I never thought it could be smushed by weather. Glad everyone is OK.
This sure has been a tough year for weather.
JD
Thanks ANON -
didnt know about the computer refreshing automatically.....makes sense though.
Erik,
there is a lot of activity behind-the-scenes to try and organize the sub-channels for that kind of use.
I am told it will be several years before enough local stations are broadcasting in HD to have an effect.
JD
It doesn't look like we'll have to worry about the rain messing up coverage of the race. It's likely going to be called since we'll probably make it to halfway, and it doesn't look like the rain's going to end tonight. It's good for the TV networks but a little disappointing for the fans.
Dale Jarett and Andy Petree are having a great event. This is duo that is going to help ESPN and ABC when the Cup portion of the network's NASCAR schedule begins.
What a positive change.
JD
rain is comming down at bristol
JD,
Hey, I do understand how that all works. My point is that racing shouldn't be optional if you want to collect purse money. Obviously it's legal right now since it happens every week, my point is that I'd like to see that change. Start-and-park drivers give NASCAR a black eye in my opinion and I'd like to see it stopped, that's the point I've been trying to make.
Perfect opportunity to use Split Screen with all this action on the track.
Went almost 3 laps and never saw the battle for the lead with possible rain moving in.
2 boxes of video provides double the action !
stricklinfan82 said...
JD,
Hey, I do understand how that all works. My point is that racing shouldn't be optional if you want to collect purse money. Obviously it's legal right now since it happens every week, my point is that I'd like to see that change. Start-and-park drivers give NASCAR a black eye in my opinion and I'd like to see it stopped, that's the point I've been trying to make.
March 15, 2008 5:30 PM
Today the fans and tracks expect to see a full field of 43 cars and it would be more of a "Black Eye" to have less than 43 cars.
Well it always seems like every time there's a yellow flag for rain to end a race it happens during a commercial break. Let's see if it happens again today or if we'll actually luck out this time.
And you thought last week's final Truck Series commercial was bad timing.
JD
Now that it's raining, we'll see if we get restarted. At 5:55 or so, I wouldn't doubt we either hear that the coverage is switching to another channel, or the race has been called.
No matter how this ends, we have to give the "new" ESPN production team some credit. They hung-in there, talked to everyone and then got things underway.
The Goodyear interview was tops.
JD
Rusty seems to be optimistic that we'll be racing sometime tonight, but I really don't see how that's going to be possible.
JD,
I can give ABC a pass on this one since they didn't know when exactly the rain would hit. I was just saying that it has always seemed to work out over the years that the rain waits until commercial breaks to start falling (like Pocono last year for example). The truck debacle was VERY easily avoidable and was nothing but incompetent producing.
JD -
We've seen more looks at the radar in the last 2 days, than we've seen in the last 15 years.
I feel it really gives the viewers a MUCH BETTER handle on when / if the precip will start or stop.
In some cases the viewers would have turned the channel... this time viewers saw a little break in the rain...hence....you keep viewers.
Mike said...
It's obvious what the plan is. NASCAR is simply looking to get to halfway and whatever they get in after that is a bonus. Takes about 75 minutes to get to halfway....with a green flag of 4:30p.m., halfway would put us at 5:45p.m. and ABC can nicely go off the air at 6p.m. just in time for their World News broadcast.
March 15, 2008 4:25 PM
Mike, I give you credit for that prediction you made 90 minutes ago. That's scary, LOL.
I'm not going to take credit just yet. They've yet to make the race official. LOL
Back side of this rain system will clear Bristol in 2 / 2.5 hours ( 8pm-ish)
Hour to dry. Possible 9:30pm restart?
is that wishful thinking or what ?
I got very positive feedback from the network guys about the comments that viewers were not being shown the weather radar.
What I pointed out to them was that fans were simply using the Internet or turning to the Weather Channel for exactly the same information.
Perhaps, your comments helped them to begin keeping viewers and fans up-to-date in a realistic way as weather situations happen.
JD
Here's a suggestion for those who want to see good radar. Our Natl. Weather Service has near-real time lapse radar at weather.gov. Enter Bristol where it asks for city, state, then click the map under "Radar and Satellite Images". On the left click "Base Loop" under "Reflectivity". Once that window shows up, click the button "Auto update off" to turn it on. The radar loop will automatically update every few minutes.
Countdown to decision time for ABC... 12 minutes.
Keep your fingers crossed fellow race fans.
Dale Jr. is wearing a Navy hat for his #88 Nationwide car, I find it a bit interesting how willing the military recruiters have been to share Hendrick/Earnhardt Jr./Martin/etc.
Awww, Kasey is biting his nails! Just like old times. He's the LeBron James of nail biting for NASCAR.
Almost 6 PM - what will ABC stations do?
kbaskins - Well, it's not exactly KOMO-tv & KCPQ that have deprived you of racing ... It's Mother Nature ... LOL
KOMO-tv pulled this same stunt last year ... where they aired some lame Disney show (that'll air a zillion times) instead ... Last year, it was the Busch race after Montreal and they were gonna show an interview with Marcos Ambrose ...
Yes JD, the constant shots of the radar have been a very welcomed sight for this viewer. Thanks ESPN.
My guess is at 6:00 ABC will leave. That would leave us a small ESPN Classic window until 8:00 or espn360.com for live coverage. Otherwise we're looking at an ESPN2 tape-delay of the finish at 1 AM. Let's hope I'm wrong though.
Thanks Tripp that's cool I was getting tired of refreshing to get update. JD I agree shouwing the radar is a hugh improvement, I use a laptop during a race but not everyone does and one less step of multitasking is always appreciated.
If your local ABC station leaves this rain delay coverage to do their local news, please tell us and include the call letters of the station and the hometown location.
JD
"Awww, Kasey is biting his nails! Just like old times. He's the LeBron James of nail biting for NASCAR."
Sooooo true! that's a good comparison. At least they both really want to win, they're not just showing up and getting their money.
It's harder to see Kasey biting his nails in the car than LeBron doing it on the bench. they got lucky with that shot LOL.
Speaking of small windows....
More rain still to come.
And even when more rain comes, they should still wait it out and finish this advertised distance TONIGHT.
I'd wager ABC sticks with it until 8pm, or an extended rain delay. Whether the local affiliates follow their lead is another story. ABC will only be out their national news. The local affiliates would miss out a bunch more.
It's going to be awhile now. It wouldn't surprise me if they send things to the World News and then come back at 6:30 with an update.
Program alert going to local news except on the west coast.
The ABC bottom line just flashed "Coming Up Next: ABC World News Tonight or your local news". I guess that means they're not waiting for another 130 laps eh?
@anon 5:49pm
KCPQ didn't show the first hour of the 24 Hours of Daytona like they were supposed to earlier this year. Both ABC and Fox have not shown pre-race shows because they're showing kids' programming. It makes me cranky. Well, crankier. :-)
--KarenB
Otherwise we're looking at an ESPN2 tape-delay of the finish at 1 AM. Let's hope I'm wrong though.
I believe ESPN 2 has NHRA at 1 AM. Nationwide repeat scheduled for 3 Eastern.
Unlike Cali with the weepers, no reason why they can't get the track dry and race under the lights. The whole system will pass within a couple of hours. Who knows what will happen with TV.
Can someone give me a brief synopsis of what happened so far today?
Like what time did the race actually start....what happened with kyle busch.....why it's on an alternate ESPN station instead of ABC (Big 12 tournament maybe?)
Of course, I didn't know which ESPN station to set my DVR for, so I missed everything...last I heard it was raining, so I figured everything was rained out today.
I can't find any race reports on nascar.com OR espn.com
Can someone fill me in, please?? :)
Thanks much!
We're still on here on the Left Coast.
--KarenB
KRKO-AM switched off the PRN broadcast to some freaky stick & ball game ...
They're horrible at sticking with the NASCAR broadcasts ...
Well defined line that will bring an end to this precipitation between 7:30 and 8:30pm Eastern.
Sure would be a real good treat for the fans to stick this one out and run it all.
Could still be a 9pm - 9:30pm restart, in my opinion.
I'll be at the local watering hole.
See ya all tomorrow !!
Anon 605 where are you. Everything has been on the channel it was suppose to be here with Comcast out side of Phila and I still have race coverage
anaon @ 6:05,
The race was delayed by rain, started at around 4:30ish (I think?). Kyle Busch crashed. Red flag for rain on lap 172. The race has been on ABC all day long. We're worried about it being dumped to cable or being left with no TV coverage at all right now based on last year's precedence at the Kansas Cup race. Hope that helps :)
Newracefan....I'm in Iowa and I was under the impression everything was supposed to be on our ABC affiliate....but it's on DirecTV 211 ESNa It's supposed to be ESPN news right now.
Shockingly, still on here..Detroit station WXYZ. I'm pleased.
ESPN Classic I'm done along with many others
Dumping to Classic.
Thanks Stricklinfan.....did Kyle cause the wreck or was he wrecked by someone else?
Did he get mad and leave the track or something? Was the car totaled?
ESPN Classic?!!?!?
NOT everybody has that stupid channel ...
This is insane ...
Well, NASCAR certainly has been interesting today for ESPN and ABC.
AB is just so smooth handling these situations.
I have Dish Network and on ESPN2 Alternate channel (ch. 146) they're simulcasting ABC's broadcast.
Yeah, ESPN Classic....I can see why they were hesitant to interrupt the Trickshot marathon they had planned for today.
Sam here mike. Lets hope they stay for the rain delay.
Coverage moving to ESPN Classic. They say they will show the finish when it happens.... I wonder about the basketball game at 8:00 though.
Thanks ABC for your continued commitment to NASCAR!!!!!! 2/2 now when it comes to dumping racing during rain delays!
Kyle was trying to pass Truex as Truex was spinning and got caught up and went into the wall. Destroyed the left front of the car. So instead of checking up, he decided to go for it and destroyed the car.
It was on local affaliate here till just now. Have seen a few posts from a some who also were booted to another channel but most did have on ABC. I thought they couldn't do that, I am sure there are some changes after it goes beyond the slotted time. Bummer for you in Iowa. Maybe if your lucky you have Classic and can watch now cause I sure can't
How many of you do not have ESPN Classic?
JD
Doesnt look like Dish Network stayed with the broadcast.
I have ESPN360 and gonna see if coverage is on there.
No Classic here.
Yeah, bummer for me in Iowa...lol. Days like this absolutely wreaks havoc with my DVR. I hate ESPN being involved....they have too much on their plate and too many channels to pick from, so how do you know where to go??
Anyone have a suggestion for manipulating a DVR for times like these....is there something I'm missing as far as what it can do or are we just SOL?
On Dish Network, they've pulled it off Channel 146, but it's on ESPN Classic. If they're going to switch the broadcast, at least switch it to a network that the majority of cable subscribers can get! Thankfully I get it on Dish Network.
No Classic here. Dang, hope they do a replay if the race continues on espn2 or something.
What did they dump out for? The lowest rated nightly news program? Bet thy get more viewers showing the rain delay and having fun with drivers.
Am seeing crane that fell in NY demolishing buildings and there are deaths and now the mess with the Atlanta tornado and I'm feeling sorry for myself for not having ESPNClassic. Kinds of puts it in perspective doesn't it.
We just got classic added as "regular" channel this past Feb 1, before that we didn't have it - it cost extra w/ a bunch of stuff we didn't want
WABC in NYC bailed at 6pm during the red flag in favor of coverage of a building collapse. They also bailed during the pre-race ceremonies and rejoined JUST BEFORE the green! BTW did the race get called?
I know this is way off topic but did anyone else notice during Shannon's interview of Mike Bliss that her watch was a Breitling? ESPN must pay good... or not.
Also OT... Is it just me or does Mike Bliss look like David Byrne?
If I miss the MEAC Basketball Championship game, I'm gonna be pissed.
Iowamama,
There's no easy way to DVR these ESPN races when you're not home. Sometimes they move to ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN Classic depending on the day's schedule. It's all guess work because ESPN is never consistent with their handling of rain delays.
This would be a good time to use ESPN360, like they did last year. But I checked and didn't see coverage on there.
For those without Classic, I don't think it's going to matter. The way the rain is coming down, I'll be surprised this race gets restarted. I look for the race will be called official in just a matter of minutes.
Seiko said...
No Classic here. Dang, hope they do a replay if the race continues on espn2 or something.
What did they dump out for? The lowest rated nightly news program? Bet thy get more viewers showing the rain delay and having fun with drivers.
--
Just a fact check: ABC's World News is actually the highest rated such program. Not nearly as many viewers on weekend though.
kbaskins - For the 24 Hrs of Daytona, they showed it on the Fox-owned station ... They call it "My Q10" (KMYQ) cause it's on channel 10 - It used to be the WB station ...
I don't remember any pre-race shows that have been pre-empted by KCPQ ... But, I might be mistaken ...
I don't like KOMO to begin with ... But, them pre-empting pre-race shows for "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life of Zach & Cody" is just lame ...
I just checked ESPN360 ... and they didn't have any coverage on it ... But, they were having a lot of problems last night with the Utah St / Boise St debacle ...
The race is now official. Bowyer wins
Race was called - Bowyer won
This is disappointing. They don't even start the August Bristol race until later in the evening. Why were they so quick to give up?
Erik said...
If I miss the MEAC Basketball Championship game, I'm gonna be pissed.
March 15, 2008 6:23 PM
Well Erik, it looks like you'll get to see your B-ball game. ;)
Surprised nascar gave up that easy. So much for trying all they can for the guy that bought a ticket.
Good "Brewer Tour" package. Tim is really coming into his own on ESPN. It's good to see him more at ease and delivering good information.
If Brewer was going visit a Wind Tunnel, how come he didn't test the car with the oil tank cover off? Or do you think they saved that segment for NN tomorrow AM?
Well ... KLKNTV 8 Lincoln, Nebraska didn't show the race period. Instead, they chose to air the BIG 12 basketball game where Nebraska never even played today (this game was the ESPN Plus broadcast). KETV channel 7 Omaha, Nebraska didn't show the ESPN Nascar Countdown ... they picked up about the time the opening ceremonies should have come up originally. That is 2 of 3 ABC Nebraska companies that did a bad job with race coverage. I am disappointed with both of them. Now since ESPN Classic was removed from the Lincoln, Nebraska cable programming line-up, we have no coverage. Hopefully I can find something online.
Erik,
No TV coverage after 8PM might have helped that decision along.
Didn't we see that Tim Brewer feature earlier in the year on either the Media Tour or NASCAR Now?
JD
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