The Nationwide Series makes the move over to ABC for the Saturday race from Talladega. Network coverage starts at 2:30PM Eastern Time.
Allen Bestwick will host the NASCAR Countdown show from the Infield Pit Center. He will have Dale Jarrett and Brad Daugherty alongside. This program will run for thirty minutes and then hand-off to the race team.
Dr. Jerry Punch will call the action with Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth. Down on pit road will be Dave Burns, Shannon Spake, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro. Tim Brewer will be at the track in the Tech Center.
It should be interesting to see how this race plays-out in terms of several stories. First, the Nationwide regulars vs. the Sprint Cup drivers participating in the event. Second, the tactics of the drivers as they decide whether to race for position or save their equipment for the end of the event.
Talladega has been repaved, and the resulting smooth surface of the track makes it easy to run almost anywhere. This track makes good pictures and great sound. The HD should really come into play on the big screens if the weather cooperates.
This post will serve to host your comments about the Nationwide Series race on ABC Sports. To add your opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
108 comments:
This is the first Nationwide pre race show I have watched this year.
Do they allways do the "draft style" Driver picks? That was dumb as all get out. Almost as bad as volt driver pickum on NN last year....
kyle,
Over on ESPN the NFL Draft was about to begin, and that is why the announcer "drafted" a fantasy team.
I was just as political as it was lame. I would have liked to have heard from Marcos Amrose instead.
JD
JD, Jerry just said SAP audio was available in Spanish. I can't hear the Spanish audio, just the English audio. Do you know anything about this? Can anyone else hear the Spanish SAP?
great draft coverage in the first few laps.
Confusing wreak that last caution. The director might have thought the camera man would follow the wreak but there were about three separate parts to the wreck that were very spread apart and that was just not possible.
The SAP button on your TV will enable the second language audio path if the cable connections are correct.
To get SAP over-the-air is easy, but sometimes the cable systems do not pass along the second channel.
If you have cable, look up the local number (not the toll free national number) and call customer service.
Hope that helps.
JD
A big hit for Franchitti and the booth guys didn't even notice it at all, nor does Jerry have ANY inflection in his voice to convey the seriousness of that driver-side impact. It gets so annoying to know that they are not looking at the track as much as they are in the monitors.
ESPN failed to cover the injuries on that last wreck. I think they should have check on Dario's injury in addition to covering pit stops in a picture in picture.
Anon 3:31PM,
Very bad job by Jerry Punch. Dario got creamed in the driver's door and once again Punch pretended it did not happen in his bad monotone.
I have to wonder if they are going to continue to use him when the schedule gets to the Cup portion. He is really having a tough season being the play-by-play guy and is often the "reporter" in the booth.
JD and Andy have been excellent, along with AB down in the infield. Punch is just struggling to get his commentary skills up-to-snuff and that is a shame. He is such a nice guy and deserves to be back on the NASCAR coverage.
Maybe ESPN will flip Punch and Bestwick for one Nationwide race just to see how things shake-out with that dynamic.
JD
JD, thanks for your help, but all the cables are connected correctly. I am watching the over the air HD channel in San Diego via KGTV-DT with an antenna. When I activate SAP on my TV I hear English audio. SAP also does not work on the analog over the air channel. Could it be that the ABC station KGTV is not broadcasting the correct SAP audio?
Wow I guess Clint going to the garage was more important than keeping track of Dario. Didn't it occur to anyone that being slammed into on the drivers side might not be good. They are all over it now but day late and dollar short.
Strange, the driver with a chance to tie the Nationwide consecutice win record goes right to the back and not a word about why so far.
Anon 3:37PM,
That is a definite possibility, especially with many stations struggling with the logistics of the new over-the-air HD engineering.
JD
AM I the ONLY one that saw debris all over the track and they switched cameras??
Then the T boning of Dario is quite serious and not a PEEP for several minuts from the boys in the booth?
sorry, this is where I miss the Fox guys...they would've felt OUR concern in our living rooms.
HATE that for Dario...hope he's ok
"JD and Andy have been excellent"
You work in the booth now JD? Im just joking, Im sure you meant DJ.
WORD VERI VERY DIFFICULT TO READ...took me SIX tries....*big sigh* very distorted crowded letters.
6 attempts this tiime...what is going on??
"AM I the ONLY one that saw debris all over the track and they switched cameras??"
SophiaZ123, that is where you dont understand. That camera with debris was not following the wreck, which is more important!! So they had to switch to a camera that was following the wreck. It was probably not that camera man's assignment to follow the wrecks. He was following something else so they had to cut away.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Maybe ESPN will flip Punch and Bestwick for one Nationwide race just to see how things shake-out with that dynamic.
So many fans have been saying that for the same reasons you just gave. Being a sports commentator on RLMtv and on my college radio station, it pains me to listen to Jerry Punch struggle with fundamental things like calling an accident.
I noticed that the 40 cars net did not go down immediately. I think ABC was being cautious in case the injury was more serious. I think this was a policy of the old ABC.
I also saw the debris long before the booth did.
I am watching in HD for the first time and this is pretty sweet.
" especially with many stations struggling with the logistics of the new over-the-air HD engineering."
Well I can understand that JD, but it still should work on the analog channel.
wow are these tire failures are interesting...I think the teams are messing with tire pressures to much...
Anon 3:40PM,
I yell a lot at the TV from home...does that count?
JD
I'm getting SAP here in Albuquerque, but I have to go to the over the air broadcast to get it instead of using DishNetwork.
MRN is reporting that Dario is being transported to a nearby hospital for further observation.
hm...i guess it must be KGTV...still no SAP on the HD or SD channel. I want to call them but I don't think they have anyone in the know there on the weekend.
wow...dario is going to the hospital.
No SAP here, either in SW Ohio...TW cable.
I think that slow motion replay of Dario's wreck was a little unwarranted, considering we had no idea if he was seriously injured or not. Pretty poor coverage of the whole situation.
Draft tracker makes an appearance.
uh oh... :)
ESPN digger cam
The rain doesnt look too bad for the area. it is very scattered, so there is a big chance it could miss thee track completely.
Yea, I was also disappointed in the entire handling of Dario's wreck. That replay in slow mo was not necessary.
Hope he was just stunned and nothing broken...poor guy...wanting to learn stock car racing so much and concerned about Dega.
to anon explaining about the camera earlier, thanks.
It just reminded me of Johnsons wreck last year when the cam was close on his tire and IT BLEW thus we did not see the crash live...so I guess if it's obvious to us at home, they might change things at home but I realize it is a superspeedway.
For the most part I have enjoyed the camera work immensely as long as they do not start locking on bumper cam/and tight shots.
This track looks GREAT on tv seeing the huge packs of cars.
:)
I meant change the camera choice at the track, not at 'home', lol.
Denny Hamlin is out of the race. Has TV said why?
No news on Denny, I thought I missed it but guess not
MRN reported Hamlin lost a motor. Hamlin goes from battling in the top 5 to blowing a motor and out of the race and no mention on TV about it.
Im not sure but I think there may be some problems with the scoring. Anyone have info? That could be why Hamlin is not mentioned.
You have to wonder if doing the Nationwide practices and qualifying instead of avoiding it like the plague would be exactly what this crew needs to bond.
While DJ and Andy are outstanding, the others are scattered and nothing is being tied together by Jerry Punch. Nothing is followed-up.
Maybe just walking in, doing the race itself and leaving is not such a good warm-up for the Cup races that are approaching rapidly.
JD
Jerry Punch just doesn't sound like he's excited. It's like he's just going through the motions.
Punch is almost as bad as Weber in the booth.
Of course, they are on opposite extremes of the spectrum. Punch is boring, Weber is too dramatic.
They could both learn a little something from each other.
That is the last time you will see Kevin LePage on a NASCAR track for a while....a long while.
JD
This is just terrible. terrible wreck. What a unfortunate wreck. A big mistake by a driver. And Punch doesn't make it sound like it. punch should be in the pit studio. not the booth.
Daly Planet Editor said...
That is the last time you will see Kevin LePage on a NASCAR track for a while....a long while.
JD
April 26, 2008 4:42 PM
that is exactly right JD. what a stupid stupid stupid mistake. all my drivers are out. WHY didn't the 61 wait to get up onto the track???
Punch should be at his most intense right now and he is nothing but almost asleep.
There is just no change in his level of volume or inflection.
What a mess. Are there any cars left
Two questions:
Will ESPN interview Lepage and will Lepage get his butt kicked in the garage area?
Jumping back a bit into the race - think they needed to be a lot more concerned on that driver door wreck with Dario - glad he is ok - but they did not blink.
I bet Lepage would want to get out of there as soon as he can. For his own safety.
You hate to see the "big one", but when it happens, you gotta sound charged up. With Punch, you'd have thought that was a single-car spin.
I believe Punch needs to be the lead pit reporter. That is when he has been at his best. Not sure who should be in pit studio. Bestwick is by far one of the best in the booth.
I wonder what wil be reiterated very strongly in tomorrows drivers meeting. Can you say how to merge back on the track. Poor Reut another 4 inches and he probably would have escaped. This sucks big time there could be a big shake up in the points after this mess
Great comments, you have to wonder what it takes to get Punch excited about anything.
He has the IRL Champ and the Indy 500 winner get clobbered right in the door. Then, he has a backmarker pull in front of the entire field and ruin the race.
Neither incident got any kind of reaction from Punch.
JD
Jerry Punch apologist here. He is/was an emergency room doctor and I doubt he is going to speculate IF he feels the injury might be serious.
Arn't reporters suppose to leave their emotions out of the report? Doc is a reporter but the guy in the booth can't be a reporter. Please AB help us.
OK, I officially vote that this is horrible TV under the red flag.
ESPN should be chasing this with intensity and focus. They are showing prerecorded features and talking in whispers to not offend anyone.
Whoever the pit reporter is that get to talk with Lepage, they better do a good job because the rest of the coverage of this entire incident has been off-base and unfocused.
JD
I have Sirius and on my replay and just listened to Dave Moody call that incident. Would've thought they were 2 separate races....Moody totally got lost in the moment and captured exactly what was taking place. Punch played it too safe with that incident. Get lost in the moment, Jerry!
richard,
When you are the "Mike Joy" of the biggest NASCAR TV package on network TV and you have already had one year of struggle under your belt, it is time to step-up or step-away.
Jerry is a great guy, just the wrong guy for this position in this race.
JD
I forgot about the ER Doc thing, they too should check their emotions at the door but again you need at least some level of emotion in the booth.
interesting interview with lapage. A difference of opinion I take it? And he is throwing the figurative punches at other drivers.
Lepage is being interviewed on MRN. He said he did nothing wrong and blended up to the track where he was supposed to
The one thing the crew did right today was to find out the blend rule and point out that lepage was not following the correct rule.
I never heard a Hamlin mention either..... thanks for the blown engine update on the board!
What after Dario's wreck if they were waiting to see if he was ok did they not talk about why the 91 did not reduce his speed at caution. He was at the back of the pack and had time to reduce his speed. That seems also to be another backmarker mistake today along with Lepage. The booth should have been all over that.
In the prev post, should have said "why after Dario's wreck" not what. sorry for typo!
I seems a lot of drivers have been making the same mistake lapage made. Its just that lapage got caught badly.
JD, I don't disagree. Just trying to give a possible explanation for JP's handling of the incidents. I said last fall I thought JP should have the job that Allen B has now. Unfortunately, I'm afraid Allen can do both jobs better than anyone, except Mike Joy or Eli Gold. ESPN needs to find a better slot for Jerry P as he has too much knowledge and credibility in the garage to not be involved.
JD, what about the truck race? isnt supposed to start soon?
Could someone explain WHY a commercial is required 8 laps after a RED flag session?
I am convinced Nascar coverage on ABC is almost not worth watching. It's better than having no coverage at all, but not by much.
Does The Worldwide Leader in Sports even have a video engineer on duty at the truck? The overmodulated video level whenever the sky is in the shot are unaccceptable for a network TV broadcast.
AMS fan, this is great coverage.
But, I believe soon advertisers pay for commercials to only air during green flags. It costs more, but you will get more viewers.
3 more cars out due to a caution.
The Truck race will start as scheduled on SPEED. There is a new post up for comments. Just refresh your browser.
Richard, we agree but I am just frustrated about Punch and his weird lack of effort and emotion.
I cannot believe they ran a commercial right there. What could possibly be the reason?
JD
punch sounded more excited over old taped highlights that has has the ENTIRE RACE.
Sorry, that guy needs to go.
"The overmodulated video level whenever the sky is in the shot are unaccceptable for a network TV broadcast."
I have not heard it called "overmodulated"...you normally only hear that regarding audio. It normally called, overexposed or "hot" video.
The in car camera are operated by another company and not ESPN, so ESPN cannot control those. Also with all other cameras, you have to keep in mind, THE SKY IS NOT IMPORTANT. the camera operators work to make sure the track and cars are properly exposed, You cant always have the sky AND the cars properly exposed so you do what is more important. The track. the cars. NOT THE SKY!!!
Doesn't appear there'll be much problem with the Nationwide race getting over with before the Truck race. Besides, the Trucks probably won't take the green until 6:15p.m. In fact, I doubt we'll see opening ceremonies for the Truck race until after this Nationwide race is completed.
A story to this race could be, how about a Morgan Shepherd top 10?
"I doubt we'll see opening ceremonies for the Truck race until after this Nationwide race is completed."
Why? Kansas is miles away and the fans there want to see a truck race at the scheduled time.
I thought Kyle was black flagged but he still appears to be on the track according to lap tracker. Was Doc misinformed? The race has absolutely gone down hill, I am actually sorry it didn't rain.
Sophia yes the word veri is ver difficult today I even have letters on top of each other.
thanks nracefan aboutthe word veri thing.
I have hit refresh now 8 times before trying to type. Word VERI is impossible and I cna't get the VOICE THING to work.
I think it has slowed down conversation today...I have NEVER struggled to "read" the distorted letters. Somebody needs to fix that, big time.
I even mentioned this a couple of races ago that I thought JP sounded tired already. The booth guys need a little change and it'll get them back on track. JP needs a new assignment - on pit road.
WOW! Jr made the move but dropped back to 5th!!
Congrats Tony but I was pulling for Jr
whats with the credits???
will ABC Rush off air??? WTF???
Thanks for all the comments, this certainly was an interesting TV program.
JD
The booth BETTER point out that most of the top 5, top 10, and top 15 are Nationwide only guys.
Look at all them torn up cars. Exciting race and Finish. good coverage by the ESPN on ABC crew.
Nice to see MORE THAN ONE CAR CROSS THE FINISH LINE!!
and no stupid, WWE shot to flagman to inside car rubbish.
Not that FOX cares but we ain't gonna see this finish on the TV tomorrow...so enjoy it today, folks
"Not that FOX cares but we ain't gonna see this finish on the TV tomorrow...so enjoy it today, folks"
Is it that kind of negativity that I dislike about the board. cant we be a bit more positive?
Many Nationwide only series drivers finishing on the lead lap but they don't get mentioned very often. How about Kertus Davis & Morgan Shepherd??? Great race for both racers! Yes the word verification letters are very hard to read today.
Anon
OH PLEASE! Leave me alone. FOX has done the same thing everyweek so get off my back.
Positivity has nothing to do with it.
Fox PRODUCER friend you must be.
:)
Besides it was a VERY POSITIVE COMMENT TO ABC.
Thank you ABC PRODUCER for the nice ending and wrap up.
So much for my points shuffle prediction. I was worried for a minute there with those credits I thought they were going to abandon the race right after the checkers but thankfully it was a false alarm. The coverage at the end was great but boy that middle was tough. Off to the trucks did they wait for us? That would be a no., is that Mikey's voice I hear?
NRacefan
Yep, mikey in the truck race! :)
I need to get something to eat.
Hope we get an update on Dario.
SophiaZ123,
I do not want to offend you, I just want the comments to be positive to all sides. And it was positive to ABC, but not FOX. And just a correction, I believe it is the Director not the producer who makes that decision that we talk about so much.
Anon
Thanks for the correction on Director or Producer..I continue to get those confused! :)
I was being FUNNY but obviously my sarcastic keen wit gets lost online and can be hateful sounding.
In my real human face to face life I am very funny...and often speak tongue and cheek.
but let's face it, it's TRUE about FOX's HORRIBLE finishes on cam and JD has addressed it in a plethora of articles until he is blue in the face.
I am thrilled ABC honored those of us who invested HOURS of race viewing (in between running outside to move the sprinkler for seeded grass)
AAcck...I forgot to refresh my Word Veri thing......
I'm now sure that the "in-race reporter" is a jinx. It was Adrian Fernandez at Mexico City - and he was eventually involved in a wreck. This week it was David Reutimann, who was also involved in a wreck, and if I recall correctly, more of the in-race reporters have had misfortune than not going back to last season.
MRN, which will be broadcasting the Truck race, indicated that the Truck race would not start until N-wide finished.
speedangel, I believe we have had in-race reporters win races before, If I remember correctly.
Nice canned crowd noises they had on there.
Anonymous said...
Nice canned crowd noises they had on there.
April 26, 2008 6:39 PM
please...you do not know what happened.
First and foremost I have to give two major thank you's before I start critiquing:
1.) The ABC network for finally hanging in there for the race fans and holding off on the news for a few minutes so they could interview several drivers. This still doesn't excuse their horrible handlings of last year's and this year's Bristol Nationwide races and last year's Kansas Cup race, but I hope this is a sign that things are starting to change for this network and NASCAR will actually be treated like it matters from now on.
2.) The director or producer or whoever makes the decision on the handling of the last lap camera work. What a fantastic decision to keep a wide shot through the tri-oval and hold that camera at the finish line to show the entire pack cross it. What did that take, 2-3 seconds at the most? I hope someone from Fox was watching and are planning on doing the same thing tomorrow. Again, 2-3 seconds is all it would take to make the race fans of all the drivers happy.
And now the constructive criticism:
JD, I have to agree with some of the thoughts you expressed throughout the in-race comments. I have been hard on ESPN week after week in two areas - not covering practice or qualifying sessions and Allen Bestwick not being the booth. Dr. Punch is a great person and has been one of my favorite on-air personalities dating back to 1985 or so when he started working for ESPN. But to be completely objective to the situation I just don't think he is fitting well into the play-by-play position. He just isn't able to keep up the enthusiasm throughout the day and a lot of his live calls of lead changes and crashes (like the 40-91 T-bone today) leave a lot to be desired. We see crashes and lead changes on our TV screen and the octave levels never change in the booth in bit.
I would love to see how a Bestwick-Jarrett-Petree combination would work out if they would give AB the nod over Marty Reid the next time Dr. Punch takes a week off.
Another issue to me is the over-use of the in-car cameras, especially on a restictor plate track like this. When cars are running 3 and 4 wide all day long it is painful to be seeing bumper-cam or roof-cam (and tomorrow it will get a ton worse with roadkill cam). And of course when "The Big One" happened we missed it because ESPN was showing us a live shot from the 99's bumper cam. The more cars on the screen the better... because as we clearly saw today you never know when that one mistake is going to happen that's going to wide-out the entire field. In-car cameras are great for replays. They are TERRIBLE for live racing though.
Finally, how does Denny Hamlin fall out of the race and everyone at ESPN completely miss it? I thought I just missed it but based on the other in-race comments I read I was right when I initially thought ESPN blew it. This wasn't exactly a Johnny Chapman start-and-park ya know, LOL.
Finally people are starting to agree that Punch needs to go as the play-by-play guy. Whenever Bestwick has been in the booth, he's received nothing but praise about his ability to, as you say JD, "direct traffic." He's gotten that knack because of his prior work in radio.
Note that the NASCAR-based play-by-play folks that are continuously praised here (Mike Joy, Eli Gold, Allen Bestwick, etc.) all come from a radio background so knowing when to but in with emotion and description of events is crucial. That, if any quality (a background in radio play-by-play of racing) should be a prerequisite for taking a TV play-by-play job.
Somebody posted on truck race thread and I just checked Jayski for update on Dario. I was worried when he hobbled to the ambulance..
Franchitti injured in Nationwide race, Stremme to run #40: #40-Dario Franchitti has fractured his left ankle in the Nationwide Series race at Talladega on Saturday and will not be able to race in Sunday's Sprint Cup race.
David Stremme, former driver of the #40 Dodge for Ganassi Racing, has been asked to sub for Franchitti and got permission from Roger Penske [he is their test driver] and Rusty Wallace [who Stremme drives for in the Nationwide Series] to start and run the race Sunday
Wouldn't it be interesting if Stremme got the 40 back into the top 35 (not at the 44 or 55 expense please) so Chip and Felix would have to really think about kicking him out of the car in the first place.
Jerry Punch was outstanding on pit road. As a former ER doc, he was great interviewing drivers coming out of infield care, or explaining any possible injuries a driver may have suffered. It's a shame that putting him in the booth has overshadowed what an outstanding job he has done for may years on pit road.
@JD--LOL! I think we all yell a lot at the TV!
@anon 6:07--I had that SAME fear when I saw the credits. At least we got a few interviews and VL for a bit. I had flashbacks to the October 2K3 Charlotte race where NBC "hurried" off the air so the east/central news stations could get their broadcasts in so the teeny boppers wouldn't miss Justin on SNL. We watched Smoke's burnout and had an interview with Coach went to commercial without word of a "good bye". I was sitting there waiting and after commercials whatever show Whoppi had came on. They felt that since we had the interview with Coach it was "good enough". That was the race that was Dale's tribute and Mr. Childress drove the 3 car and of course the fans wouldn't have minded if he "blended" in with the rest of the cars and raced a few laps :).
It was great to have a mention of Mr. Morgan there and see him run well!
@anon 6:34--yes indeed many "in-race" reporters have won and done well :)
"The overmodulated video level whenever the sky is in the shot are unaccceptable for a network TV broadcast."
I have not heard it called "overmodulated"...you normally only hear that regarding audio. It normally called, overexposed or "hot" video.
The in car camera are operated by another company and not ESPN, so ESPN cannot control those. Also with all other cameras, you have to keep in mind, THE SKY IS NOT IMPORTANT. the camera operators work to make sure the track and cars are properly exposed, You cant always have the sky AND the cars properly exposed so you do what is more important. The track. the cars. NOT THE SKY!!!
When the sky is so hot it is causing tearing of the video signal and causing audio interference, that's unacceptable.
There is no reason the video level of the sky has to be at 125% on the handheld camera interview shots (not the in-car cameras--I never said that, you just assumed ity) It is sloppy engineering. Or just lack of care.
By the way, the engineers adjust exposures on live mutlicamera shoots (though Camera Control Units), not the "camera operators."
SallyB-Most of us do recognize the great job Doc did in the past. He just is not up to the play-by-play mode & it's a shame it's tarnishing his image. Much like drivers staying the in car too long..
"When the sky is so hot it is causing tearing of the video signal and causing audio interference, that's unacceptable. "
It must be just you. I did not notice anything at ALL.
I have to be honest ... I was really upset when Nascar Countdown came on and Lincoln Nebraska's KLKN ABC station appeared that it wasn't going to be race. This really had me going since they did not air the first ABC race period. I got more settled down once the joined the race broadcast right as the command was given. I am still disappointed that we did not get to view Nascar Countdown, but at least I got to see the race.
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