The ESPN2 crew returns to the NASCAR beat Saturday night and things should be very interesting right from the start.
This week, Dale Jarrett is once again on vacation and it will be Rusty Wallace stepping up to the announce booth. Rusty's son Steven celebrated the fact his father would be back on the telecast by totalling the RW Racing primary car in qualifying.
Nothing this season and last has made Rusty crazier than his son tearing-up equipment. Recently, Steven has been making an impressive turn-a-round and Friday night both Wallace's were on Trackside talking about the weekend.
It will be Dr. Jerry Punch handling the play-by-play duties for the race with both the senior Wallace and Andy Petree alongside. This should be a dynamic race with the action very different from the COT single-file racing that viewers may see on Sunday.
Wallace will start his day at 7PM down in the Infield Pit Center with Allen Bestwick and Brad Daugherty. The NASCAR Countdown show has lots of topics to discuss, and hopefully some of those will involve the Nationwide Series. In the past, ESPN has ignored the obvious and chose to focus on the news stories in-progress like Wheeler vs. Smith and the Haas car seizures.
This weekend, both Jamie Little and Vince Welch are in Indy for the big racing weekend on ABC. This leaves the ESPN team down a player on pit road. Rather than bring-in a Lyndsay Czarniak or Adam Alexander, ESPN is going to go with three reporters. It will be Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Dave Burns handling the pit road duties on Saturday night.
There are two other notes of interest in this broadcast. Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN Tech Center. While many readers have written that Brewer seems to sometimes be in another location, my information is that the Tech Center is at the track this weekend. Finally, the in-race reporter will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the event.
Earnhardt is in the middle of a big promotion for his Nationwide Series sponsors, as the money is tight and the "junior" NASCAR series is really struggling. It makes one wonder what this series will look like during the stand-alone races later this summer?
This post will serve to host your comments about the Nationwide Series coverage on ESPN2. Please try to keep your comments TV-related. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for stopping by.
143 comments:
JD when will DJ be back in the booth?
For those who grew up with Evel Knievel, his son Robby just broke a record for jumping over Coke Zero Trucks in Ohio...:) Just watched online....but I digress.
I hope we see a good race..and I wonder why no inner safer barriers...good flyover earlier.
I have not gotten the schedule for the ESPN announcers for Dover.
What ESPN is doing is resting DJ for the long run of the Cup Series. He will be on every weekend for practice, qualifying and both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series (except the stand-alone races).
JD
Look out! The Junior Nation now has their own Navy, Earnhardt division :)
I'll be switching between this and the Stanley Cup game tonight.
Punch seems to be having a tough night. This is a very fast race, I hope he can handle it.
don't like the ways the cars are acting edgy.
Hope Punch can take the race.
zero car out...I hated writing down I had a feeling but didn't everybody?
I know I am going to regret this, but Sophia....why was Robby K. jumping over Coke Zero trucks?
JD
ESPN needs to do a better job hiding the thousands of empty seats. It is disrespectful to NASCAR.
JD
LMAO at your comment, he was breaking a world record and surpassed his father. My other answer is because he is crazy...but he is one of the last of human dare devils. I just don't likw how his race was promoted on some talk radio as "Folks like to go to NASCAR 'for the crashes' and they want to see what will happen to Robby." :( I only watched because I read his practices went well.
~~~
This Saturday, May 24th 2008, will be a day NOT to be missed at Kings Island! Come to Kings Island and see history in the making as Kaptain Robbie Knievel attempts to break his father's record by jumping 24 Coke Zero semi trucks in the parking lot at Kings Island!
~~~~
I hate to say this but I really love watching the older style cars race better than the COT. I know the new one is SAFER, folks...but...Course I love the truck races and my non NASCAR friends guffaw at the comment. sigh
Hiding the empty seats? It is what it is...times are tough. I am just glad the weather cleared up for today's race.
I hope it's good weather for Indy and Charlotte on Sunday.
I forgot to mention I read that David Ragan was in town close to me this week and I NEVER HEARD IT PROMOTED! Darn...guess he is not a big enough name but it's a shame.
JD,
I think you nailed it on Jerry Punch a few weeks ago. He's still got that reporter attitude where he's keyed in on what has happened and not describing what is happening. A play-by-play guy has to be in the moment and expecting what's going to happen.
Z123
I AGREE!
sophia,
Here is some good trivia. I used to live in the same neighborhood in Clearwater, FL as the E man.
That guy lived a very hard lifestyle, but he was hilarious.
JD
The stands are going to be even more empty as the summer goes and gas prices rise.
Some cars with tire strategy. Which cars and what stratgey. I know JJ and Reut did something but?
AB should be in the booth.
He adds alot to the play by play
IMO
Is it me or is the booth having a rough night.
JD you know how you could make a billion dollars?
Invent a selective mute. Just to mute out one of the voices in the booth. I would gladly buy one right now.
Rusty reminds me of a bad weekend host on a college radio station. A overnight weekend host at that.
The 'AB needs to be in the booth idea is old' but I so agree.
And is it JUST ME or does Rusty seem a little LOUD TONIGHT!?
NRF
No the booth seems rough tonight...I am thinking of putting in a tape and making a quick run to the store...at least I get MRN in the car....oops PRN tonight.
Darn. :(
Kyle
Add to your Billion dollar idea a POP UP BLOCKER to keep 'adds from playing" during shows...and we have a winner.
I tried watching TV Land late last night and they have 1/4 sized screen of moving video promoting the next 3 shows.
Has TV BEEN TAKEN OVER BY TNT??? sigh
Rusty does not get too many shots in the booth. I think he is working very hard to make the most of it.
After hearing Mike Joy for the last several days, it is a tough transition to Jerry.
I wonder if ESPN will every try to flip Jerry and Allen for once N'wide race before the Cup season starts?
JD
JD one can only hope. I wonder what happened to BV he was 3rd before that pit stop, ended up 30th or so?? and is now 12th, someone should have said something don't you think.
Thank's Dave at least you noticed
In my very limited knowledge of recording it sounds like Dr. Punch has a lot more compression than his partners in the booth.
Bevo compression?
we're in a yellow flag -- and we're seeing a commercial. now two commercials. and it involved hornish. sigh
Great job by Sam saving it
Nice triple split on the pit stops, let's see if the guest is Humpy Wheeler.
special guest, Humpy??
Hope they do a SPLIT SCREEN.
newracefan-
It gives a deeper sound to the voice, more resonance and cuts the top end. At least that's the way it used to be, I'm sure JD has way more knowledge about it.
MIKE M IS ONE OF THE BEST
PIT REPORTERS AROUND
Can't believe Hornish crashed....
Good for Humpy for calling attention to the race and DR.
Is it me or did they cut that david r interview short?
no they cut the Ragan interview short for Applebee's commercial here.
ESPN often mis times commercials and on my cable, Punch and others are cut off mid sentence. :- (
Marty Reid would do a good job with DJ & Andy. The boys in the booth have forgotten about the race.
HELLO!! wreck on the track...anybody PAYING ATTENTION?????????????????????????????????????????????
sophiaz: it is a conundrum. i mean, humpy wheeler is leaving charlotte . . . uh. . . LOWE'S after 30+ years and i, for one, can't get enough of his take on our sport. BUT, as you point out: there is a race happening. i don't think there's a good way to handle the conversation with humpy and still cover the action on the track.
on a positive note: this is about the 6th time i've heard humpy say he's NOT retiring and that he going to write a book and do a tv show! so all is not lost.
Sure would have liked to have the Wheeler thing done before the green flag. It was kind of awkward with the race in-progress.
I wonder if Humpy would have liked to sit-in with the announce crew and call the action for a while?
JD
yea, red I know...but I meant the girl interviewing HORNISH should've stopped...I agree with you JD...I bet Humpy might have like to just sit in the booth with the guys and watch the race.
I was not criticizing HIS interview,,the girl yapping to Hornish.
:)
Shannon may not have been somewhere she could have seen the wreck, the booth should have spoken up and stopped her
nrf,
That certainly would have helped!
sophiaz: my mistake --- sorry. i had already ranted in my mind about that interview and had to come to the conclusion that it was b/c hornish HAD been leading the race at one point and had a good car and so, ok, we'll listen to what he has to say. my brain was already thinking about how cool it was to listen to humpy. hence my comment.
i agree, jd: how cool would it have been to have humpy call a few laps, huh?
NASCAR needs to ban the promotion of non-NASCAR televised events or shows during the broadcasts. ESPN has no business taking up broadcast time promoting other junk during the races.
red, no problem.
MY mistake for one brief rant and no details!
Many ways to take my comment earlier...you have nothing to apologize for but appreciate it. :-)
But the more I think about it, the more surprised I am Humpy did not just hang in the booth...but I bet he did not want to detract from the race.. since he was paying attention to Ragan, I think it might have been fun to just have him hang with the boys...but no doubt emotional weekend for the man.
I am thrilled HW is getting a tv show.. I enjoyed his pilot even tho I don't like Ku B at all! :)
anon 9.11
I take it you never watch the races on TNT ??? !!! ;-0
At least ESPN is promoting another racing event and now some random TV show.
sophia,
Please...let him experience the singular focus and professionalism of that group in person!
another awesome by rusty
I cannot listen to Jerry Punch's drivel.
It is unbearable! Blah Blah Blah Blah
I've turned ESPN off.
Bullitt with Steve McQueen is on MOJO
Ok...JD. :-)
I missed Rusty's awesome...been emailing a couple of friends and looking up a new pizza crust recipe....tons of time with the commercials.
Leave Jr alone...Sigh...i am no fan of in car cams.....oh, well.
Is that Kelly Elledge sitting beside Lance McGrew? Wonder why?
Wish Humpy had stuck around in the booth longer.
Last NW race I was thinking perhaps we had been too harsh on ESPN but tonight has proved we were not. I hope DJ is back next week. I know there is a good race out there somewhere, cars are passing each other I can tell by Foxtrax, but this is a mess. Does anyone else think the length of the commercial breaks is long even during green flag
tracy,
I caught that one. I hoped they would explain...but no.
It has to be hard for the ESPN guys to not do practice or qualifying and then just show up "cold" to do the race.
Punch is reporting again, what a change from Rick Allen on the Truck Series this afternoon.
JD
newracefan-
I agree, telecast really suffers without DJ there.
nrfan said
"Does anyone else think the length of the commercial breaks is long even during green flag"
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:-) Why I am multitasking...was too tired to go to the store but we are down to 54 laps and after commercial might be 44.
Meow ouch!
JD,
I was thinking the same thing about the contrast with the truck race. It's on a short track with a lot more action going on and I had way more information about what was going on.
tracy and jd: yeppers, that's kelley earnhardt elledge on top of the #83 box. she does get to a few races and is generally at lowes b/c it's so close to home. with all the chaos surrounding her husband and the #42 car, i'm thinking it's a great place for her to be tonight. 'sides: it's the first time jrm has 3 cars in the n'wide race and that's her business!
It would be interesting to know the number of people Speed had working the truck race and the number ESPN has tonight.
I think Brad, AB and Andy would be good in booth.
KB is such a ...never mind.
bummer KK crashed....
red-
I didn't know that Jimmy Elledge was Kelley's husband. Someone needs to make a flow chart of all the connections in NASCAR :)
Bevo "Kelly Ernhardt Elledge" and it still took me a year to realize the connection
Wow, i am lost as well. wasn't JE JPMontoya's cc that got fired??
JPM was not happy about that....
We need one of those diagram charts for sure, bevo, lol.
bevo said...
"red-
I didn't know that Jimmy Elledge was Kelley's husband. Someone needs to make a flow chart of all the connections in NASCAR :)"
agreed! i think (but don't hold me to it) that kelley and jimmy met when he was crewing for her dad. that's why folks are speculating that elledge -- recently released by the #42 team b/c of a conflict with steve hmiel (who used to spot for dale jr in cup and worked at dei before he went to ganassi) -- will end up at jrm as crew chief for the #88, which is being crew chiefed by tony eury sr, dale and kelley's uncle and tony jr's dad. (whew!)
jrm is truly a family team with a whole bunch of earnhardts and gees working there. guess adding a brother-in-law is a possibility!
K Bires apologized...good kid.\\
Now I need to get my hedge trimmers.
Did you see the 9 car down there??? WOW, that's a classic.
Why yes I did see him down there and figured I'd just turn into him a wreck myself!!
Unbelievable
There is gonna be a pop quiz on all the family info Red just posted.
:-)
Rats..hate to see Steve W wreck...and this helps .....UGH....
Rusty just said the same thing happened with Kelly Bires??? WHAT RACE ARE YOU WATCHING RUSTY??
anon 9.53
Your comment made me laugh out loud.
Stupid questions we might have missed. Somebody should make a blooper reel of some of these reporters. :-)
sophiaz: ok, so, if ypu've got the earnhardt/elledge connection down now, should i move into the gee/eury part of the earnhardt family? 'cause that involves two gee sisters, one marries earnhardt, one marries eury . . .
Warning NP at 1030 on Speed set those DVR/VCR's this race might not be checkers by then.
Thanks Red I knew there was a Gee connection but I wasn't sure of the tree branches.
MM ask dumb question if you ask me.
That's why it's called a gamble...duh
I never said I god the Elledge connection Red! lol
But I feel like I need a black board,, diagram, pointer
,
,
compass, Rand McNally Road map... ;-)
Shouldn't they leave the drivers alone rt before restart..
Did Punch get cut off on anybody else mid sentence or is it TW PROMOTING some stupid fight?
If I hear RW say once more "he's got to drive his brains out," I'm going send him a list of other metaphors, similies, etc. I swear.
sophiaz: did you ever have to diagram sentences in your youth? i think it's a lot like that!
i really dislike "in-car reporter" trick! leave the damn drivers and crew chiefs ALONE during the race! if i wanna hear a driver, i'll get hotpass or a scanner.
Gee
I didn't know about the Gee family.
:-)
I hate when RW says - he's driving his brains out! Please!
JD,
The telecast seems disjointed... did ESPN move some people from NW to bump up the Indy coverage for tomorrow?
JD Do you know if The Coke 600 is
sold out?
Jeez, now Rusty doesn't even know whose got what tire wise. Somebody just needs to shut his mic off, cause this is down right painful to listen to.
GWC hopefully it won't be a crash fest at the end when cars run out of gas but I would love to see BK or Jr win this race instead of the usual suspects
I hate late cautions...sigh
oh, I hated diagramming sentences....wish somebody would run out of gas....
Ouch Brad and Denny!?
Hamlin trying to out-Busch old Kyle :)
NRF
From your mouth to God's ears re winner.
hmmmm. hamlin runs into keslowski "accidentally", while scrubbing his tires? looks like dale wasn't buying that at all.
yes, rusty, it 'could' have happened that hamlin was scrubbing his tires and didn't know keslowski was there. but i don't think it did happen that way.
!(#*&^!&*#^!*&#^!*&#(^!(*&#^!
Lather
rinse
repeat
Three hours I won't get back.
THAT STINKS
Holligans throwing stuff on the track. What a mess. :(
Well 10 minutes to those with SPEED and NP.
FIGHT!!!
OMG!!!
haha I love Rusty. "Someones gonna punch somebody"
I don't wanna see Kyle.
Boo hiss.
SHOW THE FIGHT!!
Taking a commercial break now?? ESPN you just don't get it.
How considerate... someone just tossed Kyle a beer ;)
The in-car shot where all you see is the track lights is beyond annoying ...
WHY didn't Disney show any of the other cars crossing the finish line??
Disney's love affair with Kyle & Gibbs is disgusting ...
Z123
I DON'T WANT TO SEE EITHER
) :
If it wasn't for the action after the race with the 88 and 20 crews this race would have been a total waste. I am really getting tired of Kyle winning everything.
I love that Rusty wants to see a fight.
It really is sad how much the crowds at NASCAR races have changed the past 10 years.
I was expecting them to leave just as the fight was going on...very embarrassing for the Navy brass that are there this weekend :(. I understand the frustrations but still :(
When your "talent" (using the term loosely with Rusty) is saying, "Look at the fight," it might pay to take a shot of the fight on the air.
3 or 4 laps and a commercial! All night long. Curious what Jr. will say about Hamlin hitting BK. I would have really like to have seen BK have his first win guess DH made sure it didn't happen tonight. Lots of boos!
Will they tell us before GOING OFF THE AIR WHAT HAPPENED? I wanna watch NP...guess I will tape here and finish in other room
I like the fighting. Brings back the good old days. As for the debris throwing on the track. Those are the "new" fans, trust me. No Hardcore fans would ever do that.
A racing incident? Under caution? Somebody take her mic away and put her out in the parking lot to interview drunken tailgaters
Why go to a driver interview while he's on the phone?
...and Denny just talked himself into a fine on live TV.
Good going, Denny.
Look how many fans are still sticking around in the stands.
Shannon Brad was actually leading the race at one point
There is very poor direction tonight...Rusty saying LOOK AT THE FIGHT and we don't have a clue.
What happened to LETTING DRIVERS SHOW SOME EMOTION..then they ban it from tv.
:(
I was so depressed with the winner, I wanted a dose of old school racing.
Thanks all and to JD for the sitte.
Hamlin's going to be lucky if he doesn't get a suspension on top of the fine after saying that
oh, denny. not good, son. you just admitted that you did it on purpose and that should get nascar a bit upset. seems coach gibbs may have to rein in two of his three drivers -- and (for once) tony isn't one of the two!
don't know why we didn't get to see the emotion in the pits. i mean, c'mon! that's vintage nascar. sure would like an explanation as to why we couldn't see it.
Yep. Denny better feel good about shooting off his mouth, because it is going to cost him.
Sophia. What broadcast were you watching. They showed the fight as it happend? Things calmed down and they went to commercial.
ESPN started playing music and was about to go to commercial but then they stuck around for the fight.
I hope tomorrows race has this
this much emotions.
The Cup needs something like this.
FWIW, we saw KyleB and DennyH race at Southside Speedway in Chesterfield before the
Richmond race, and Denny did the exact thing to a local racer that he did to Brad K in this race. He got sent to the back of the line at Southside. History repeats itself, as the sages say.
I agree REd..with the stands SO EMPTY and real fans gettign disenchanted with the HOLLYWOOD CORPORATE version of the sport...geez.
And didn't Denny say on radio he was goingn to GET Bk?
Why wasn't he black flagged then???
NASCAR dropped the ball tonight...no wonder the crews were so upset. :(
I agree REd..with the stands SO EMPTY and real fans gettign disenchanted with the HOLLYWOOD CORPORATE version of the sport...geez.
The stands are NEVER full for Nationwide (Busch) races. Ever. This is nothing new.
You cannot penalize a driver for something he said he is going to do on the radio.
I cant believe NASCAR is being blamed for this. NOT EVERYTHING IS THEIR FAULT!
Arggh. Does no one remember NASCAR saying way back in February they are going to let the drivers sort things out and not step in for every little thing and issue penalies?
Folks,
Don't forget we will be doing a live forum tomorrow for the Indy 500 beginning at 11AM Eastern Time.
Please stop by as we watch Brent Musburger and company do the pre-race and then call the race.
Thanks,
JD
You cannot penalize a driver for something he said he is going to do on the radio.
But if he says it then does it, it's time to step in.
Does no one remember NASCAR saying way back in February they are going to let the drivers sort things out and not step in for every little thing and issue penalies?
But they have always been very strict about intentional actions during caution periods and that hasn't changed.
I wonder if ESPNEWS will follow this up live?
yea I know the stands aren't full for the middle series but being Charlotte, I thought it might draw more on such a big weekend...
Well, Denny SAID WHAT he was going to do and then did it. Big difference than just saying it and not acting.
At least by my perspective.
:)
yea I know the stands aren't full for the middle series but being Charlotte, I thought it might draw more on such a big weekend...
Never has. Even in Charlotte.
Anon1036, Nascar would have been fine if Denny and Brad got out of the car and banged into each other the problem is Denny used his car, granted he didn't cause a wreck but Nascar frowns on cars being used as weapons.
I actually thought the stands were very full. The whole front stretch was full of fans. Which is better than most tracks.
I have channel surfed a couple times oN E News...nothing...watching NP now.
WOnder if Bootie was penalized before they made this show...he has odd demeanor tonight.
:) Poor bootie.
Wow, I hope I remember so early to log on here...THANKS AGAIN for having a forum for the Indy 500.
Some of us TRULY appreciate it.
Whats NP?
Nascar Performance=NP. One of the best shows on Speed. Even a non gearhead like me loves this show
Anon
I'm sorry .. NP is NASCAR PERFORMANCE with Larry Mac, Chad knaus and Bootie Barker on SPEED channel now.
Oh lol. I always get confused with abbrevations.
That's ok Anon...I kind of hate the ACRONYM or Initialized world we live in...but is easy on the hands
:-)
KWIM?
Know what I mean? LOL
Ok, i'll stop
SophiaZ123 said...
!(#*&^!&*#^!*&#^!*&#(^!(*&#^!
Lather
rinse
repeat
Three hours I won't get back.
Soph, how can you say that? The race was more exciting than any I've seen in a while. At least, KB wasn't ahead by half the track distance. We can only hope tomorrow is half as good.
Karen
I was only being faceti, er,---kidding (can't remember how to spell that other word)
Yea it was a good race but the end was just too much for this fan. Like a bad version of "Ground Hog Day" movie.
I will be most curious to see if a certain driver gets penalties as well.
I hope Sunday is a good day but the COT has problems on the mid sized tracks so we shall see, huh?
:-)
The broadcast was frustrating to say the least.
However, the ending was interesting (except for Kyle Busch winning again).
I bet ESPN was taking a bit of a week off from NASCAR because of the Indianapolis 500.
A great broadcast today. I think most of today's complaints are unfounded.
1. Nationwide Races DO NOT normally fill up the stands. That is nothing new. Stop making it sound like the sport is dying when all we have here is what is normal. In addition to that, we DID have a good crowd in attendance tonight.
2. NASCAR did nothing wrong in today's race. Why does everyone like to blame NASCAR for every little thing?
3. We saw the fight. Nothing more too it. That was not "bad" directing.
4. The consistent bashing of Kyle is not needed. He did not do anything that should warrant a negative reaction in today's race.
NASCAR did nothing wrong in today's race. Why does everyone like to blame NASCAR for every little thing?
When a driver threatens another driver over the radio, then actually hits him, NASCAR ought to step in right then and there, just as they did when Waltrip when he ran over Casey Mears a couple of weeks ago.
But they didn't.
They let Denny take second place instead of parking him, like they did Waltrip.
That is a screw-up.
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