Friday, March 7, 2008

In-Progress From Atlanta: Craftsman Truck Race on SPEED


Dodging the raindrops, SPEED will try to get the Craftsman Truck Series race underway from the Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday night.

Krista Voda will host the pre-race show called The Set-Up scheduled for 8:30PM and followed thirty minutes later by the race at 9PM.

Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will be handling the announcing duties in the booth. On pit road will be Adam Alexander and Ray Dunlap.

This page will host your comments about the race on SPEED. Please keep your comments related to the TV aspects of the race. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for stopping by.

61 comments:

  1. Can I tell you how much I hate having waving fans standing behind the on the air talent? Its distracting and unprofessional. I feel bad for Krista having those people behind her waving and jumping up and down.

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  2. Diane

    THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
    I thought I was the only one that hated that stuff.

    RUINS RaceDay and Trackside often times. SPEED folks should make sure there is a 'buffer zone' not to interfere with the camera line. Not rocket science.

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  3. you seem angry. NASCAR has always been about the fan. more than other sports. so i don't see a problem with it. Now there are exceptions, but in this case I don't see a big problem.

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  4. Fans are needed, BUT NOT BEHIND Krista. Terrible storm south of the track.
    Glenn

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  5. thanks for your two pennies and the weather update Glenn.

    This has been a long day to be tempting Mother Nature.

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  6. Yes, the people in the background are a pain. You would have thought Speed could have found a better spot for Krista.

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  7. Whats up with the stocking cap on her head ??

    come on, it's Atlanta, not the Winter Olympics.

    Evidently she isnt hearing her cues properly either.

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  8. yes the ubiquitous person yapping on the cell phone on tv and waving signs is annoying.

    Man, I hope the storm stays away long enough to get half this race in..late race how it is.

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  10. It already feels a lot better having the whole "Truck Gang" back together again. Nothing against the Fox Cup TV guys that worked the California race but I'm glad to have Michael back in the booth, Ray back in the pits, and Krista back as the host.... Truck racin' the way it should be.

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  11. I was reading on another site, sorry I did not hear the song.

    I also love this trio in the booth!! good balance.

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  12. Hey JD -

    Do they utilize the same production crew in the FOX / SPEED truck for all the events this weekend?

    Different Producer? Director?

    just wondered

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  13. The booth guys completely missed Kyle Busch diving on the apron and nearly wrecking Hornaday in the first turn on the first lap to take the lead. Hopefully they have a replay available.

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  14. ken,

    This is the regular SPEED production crew for the Trucks.

    JD

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  15. And on the morning Sunday show, whenever they change the camera angle, the folks in the background get their signs up in the air. It's distracting, I think. The broadcast is great I like the on-air crew and I enjoyed Krista on the pre-race.

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  16. Did Allen just say the loser of the new Speed show might have to take the "short bus" home? Real classy Rick!

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  17. google acting up again to get here...site was really slow a bit ago...I thought it was the weather since we have semi blizzard going on.

    Not a blogger message but a Google server error. others might notice this

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  18. Dont look now but this might be a race to the half way mark ( Lap 65 ).

    Couple of rain cells SW of Hampton moving NE.... aprrox. 30-40 miles away.

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  19. Did anyone catch the name of the girl singing the National Anthem?

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  20. I do enjoy the pre race shows being located with the fans. It shows the excitement and enthusiam going on, but an elevated platform like Raceday, Trackside, etc. is so much better. Signs aren't to bad, but you cannot tell what fans may do.
    Good coverage, the trucks are great.
    Glenn

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  21. Anonymous said...

    Did anyone catch the name of the girl singing the National Anthem?



    Last name I think was Boyd.

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  22. Thanks for the help I found this at Motorsport.com after you helped with the last name "performed by Hampton, Ga.'s Chelsie Boyd, a 15-year-old contemporary Christian music artist."

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  23. Split screens keeping up with the leaders AND showing racing back in the pack is good

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  24. I find it interesting that Rick Allen has not said anything about the weather. It was the story earlier, and perhaps is on the verge of being the story again.

    JD

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  25. Is anyone else experiencing the audio drop out during Cup session and jittery video from the truck race>??

    Northeast location watching cable

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  26. Anon 10:01,

    Yes, you can go back to the earlier story about practice and qualifying for the details.

    It was a network problem that they eventually found and fixed.

    JD

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  27. AMS FAN -

    I agree, that split screen they used was VERY GOOD.

    I think the background they used behind the 2 boxes made it appealing to the eye. It didnt have alot of movement and it was kind of a "burnt orange" color....made it easy to focus on the 2 boxes of video.

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  28. Announcers are sure trying hard to make this race sound exciting.


    By the way , rain cells that WERE moving toward Hampton seem to be drying up just a few miles southwest of the speedway.

    Keep fingers crossed for a full race.

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  29. It was nice of Speed to give a shout-out to those of us living on the shores of Lake Erie that are buried in snow right now :)

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  30. I've been watching the radar nearly all day, and it's done exactly that. There were several bands of showers southwest of the track, heading northeast, but by the time they got to the track they'd evaporate.

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  31. I love Truck racing, and Speed does a great job, however, they missed a restart, something they do almost every telecast.

    ...and the number and timing of commercials - arggh!

    Don

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  32. Give a call to the guys in the truck.

    Scoring ticker didnt update the pass when McCumbee passed Busch. The truck noticed that, went to a replay, "refreshed" the scoring ticker, and all was good.

    GOOD JOB SPEED !!

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  33. One more rain cell to worry about.

    This one might not dry up... although I realize the race is past half way.

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  34. I sure miss the Fox split-screen with the leader on the track in one box and the green flag pit stops in another. I think the Fox Cup approach to covering green flag stops should be mirrored by these other TV crews all throughout the sport.

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  35. It's raining in Atlanta with 20 laps to go.

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  36. I sure hope pit road was closed that time by or that was a VERY poor time to go to a commercial.

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  37. What????? Pit road was open that first time by??? What the hell was the producer thinking? Cutting to commecial as the trucks were coming off turn 4 towards the entrance to pit road the first lap it was open was VERY inexcusable. Thankfully we saw the trucks that pitted with one to go when the rain stopped but we should have seen the first set of pit stops. UNBELIEVABLE.

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  38. That was a little rough. They kind of got ahead of themselves. Missed the key pit stops.

    JD

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  39. How the producer sitting in the truck listening to all the debating in the booth about who will pit and won't pit can call for a commercial just as the trucks are reaching the entrance to pit road is beyond me. That might be the biggest debacle I can ever remember from someone in a production truck.

    Kyle Busch gambled and pitted the first lap pit road was open and then suddenly the rain stopped and forced everyone else to pit when the field was given the one-to-go signal and we missed it all! I can't believe my eyes.

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  40. Sure would have been nice to see the same weather radar we can see from our home computers on SPEED.

    JD

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  41. Nice to see them mention on this blog they talked about folks buried in snow! I got distracted with call from sister walking her dog..snow and wind hitting her face so hard, it HURT.

    I have been distracted but noticed the commercial for pit stops...not like Truck races to mess up very much.

    I hope they get this in with 7 laps to go....

    Those bright lights on the pace car could cause seizures! GOODNESS! if they bother young Kyle.

    Course, I want somebody else to win but that's beside my point. :)

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  42. stricklinfan82, I would not jump to conclusions. we don't know what was said in the truck or if something happened to cause this.

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  43. anon,

    The trucks were coming off turn 4 to the entrance of pit road when they cut to commercial. I even posted "I certainly hope pit road was closed or that was a VERY poor time to go to commercial" as it happened. Seconds after the commercial the SECOND PLACE truck and others pitted. These are facts, how am I jumping to conclusions? The producer made a huge blunder right there. When there's any chance at all that leaders will be pitting you should NEVER call for a commercial as the vehicles are heading to the opening of pit road. NEVER.

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  44. I really think that the sanctioning body does not want ANY mention or graphic information on the air about the "chance" of precipitation.

    Why ? I'm not sure, but if it seems that precip is a 70% chance...which it was tonight south of Atlanta....I feel that the weather IS part of the story of tonights event as well.

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  45. Stricklin -

    I agree with you, they should have waited for the field to get by pit road entrance.... I think they learned a lesson.

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  46. nice to see 13 or so trucks cross finish line at least!

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  47. I have always felt NASCAR loves to "hide the weather situation"...and not be forthcoming.

    It's like NASCAR does not care how the broadcasters PRESENT the race (no follow up, only one car across the finish line) but don't you EVER mention "weather potential".

    This year they were forced to face it that long weekend in CALIF but in general...I have always thought NASCAR likes to hide that info.

    :-)

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  48. That was a great sequence of the finish. Showed several trucks crossing the line, then, STILL went back in the pack with an in-truck camera for more action.

    Good Call !!

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  49. Forecast Calling for a chance of snow flurries in the morning during Nationwide qualifying. At least it will make interesting TV pictures, but I'm sure it won't be fun for the crews. Stay warm!

    And yes, this Atlanta date will be switched to a later date in 2009, for sure.

    Good race, but sad to see a much less than full field. 32 trucks.

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  50. Definitely an improvement to see the top 10 trucks cross the finish line. However, wish they could've used a bit better camera position, to see the numbers on the trucks.

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  51. Great camera work at the end. Solid job from all involved.

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  53. Tough to use that infield camera to try and show trucks racing to the line. The high camera shows the racing to the line with the best angle for TV viewers.

    Not quite sure why the ticker stays in on the final lap, it does not reveal anything during that lap.

    Kind of an off-balance night for SPEED in Truck land.

    JD

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  54. Good show. Maybe a split screen at the end so we can keep up with the leaders and the good battles in the back. Good camera shot of Hornaday and Kyle after the race.
    Keep up the good work Speed.

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  55. I'm glad they showed most of the trucks cross the line, even though I would have preferred a higher camera angle. I also would have preferred an angle other than Todd Bodine's roof cam for that last pack of trucks.

    Overall I thought the coverage was okay but there were definitely a lot of issues tonight. The booth was so focused on the McCumbee-Musgrave start that they all completely missed the daring pass on the apron Kyle Busch made on Ron Hornaday in the first turn that nearly took them both out. They never even showed a replay of it so it was almost as if it never happened. And of course there was the completely inexcusable decision by the producer on that last set of yellow flag pit stops. The guys in the booth had a long debate about who would pit and then as the trucks approached the entrance to pit road.... they went to a commercial!!!!!!!!! We missed the second place truck and others pit that first time by and only caught the tail-end of the pit stops that occurred when the field got the one-to-go signal and everyone realized the rain was gone and they needed tires. What a joke that was, that goes right up there with ESPN missing the last-lap lead change in the Talladega Cup race last fall as the biggest debacle ever by someone working in a NASCAR production truck.

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  56. Hey wait, the broadcast was supposed to go until 11:30. what happened?

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  57. Wierd. It seems all of the broadcast partners are approaching a state of equalibrium. As ESPN improves, SPEED and Fox regress. The landscape is becoming filled with mediocrity.

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  58. Forecast Calling for a chance of snow flurries in the morning during Nationwide qualifying. At least it will make interesting TV pictures, but I'm sure it won't be fun for the crews. Stay warm!

    And yes, this Atlanta date will be switched to a later date in 2009, for sure.


    Nationwide qualifying this morning is indeed delayed for heavy snow flurries and a wet track. Blow dryers out. Very interesting sight for Atlanta area. Crew came on at the schdeuled start time for the broadcast and gave us a good update with Mike, Larry, Hermie in the booth and Krista in the snow outside.

    After the update, they moved to Back in the Day reruns until qualifying begins.

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