UPDATE #1: RaceDay on SPEED has experienced a satellite transmission failure and is off-the-air as of 11AM. Host John Roberts used a telephone line to tell fans that SPEED would be playing standby programming until the problem was fixed. Keep it here for updates as the situation plays-out.
Update #2: RaceDay still off-air as of 11:30AM Eastern Time.
Update #3: RaceDay back on-the-air at 11:42AM and will air the remainder of the two hour program fully.
Before the first engines are fired, three of NASCAR's TV partners will originate a total of four and a half hours of pre-race programming. Here is the rundown.
It will be NASCAR Now on ESPN2 starting the day at 10AM Eastern Time with a one hour preview show. This program will be hosted by either Ryan Burr or Nicole Manske and features live reports from reporters at the track. This season, NASCAR Now has proven to be an effective and balanced program that does a good job of previewing the upcoming Cup race.
Long before NASCAR Now was a gleam in ESPN's eye, there was RaceDay on SPEED. Normally referred to as "the franchise," RaceDay is currently scheduled a bit earlier to avoid a conflict with the TNT pre-race programming. This Sunday, the two hour show begins at 10:30AM.
This week, Kenny Wallace returns to the program after a week away while racing in the Nationwide Series. Wallace re-joins Jimmy Spencer and John Roberts to form a very popular trio with NASCAR fans. SPEED's increase in ratings for RaceDay this season tells the tale.
On Sunday morning, the program will welcome David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth as guests. Normally, the drivers wear a headset to communicate with the panelists and are interviewed from the infield. Spencer and Wallace have developed a good on-air relationship with the folks in the garage, and these interviews are often surprisingly candid and refreshing.
In terms of features, RaceDay will look at the battle for 12th spot in the Sprint Cup point standings. Also included will be Jeff Burton's history at Loudon, Jeff Gordon's tough 2008 season and Rutledge Wood will host a look back at the NASCAR Modified career of Jimmy Spencer. That should be interesting.
Each week reporter Wendy Venturini handles the news reports from the garage area and also offers a pre-produced feature called The Real Deal. This week, Venturini sat down with Richard Petty and the new CEO of Petty Enterprises David Zucker.
There is no doubt that surrendering control of his family-owned business to a group of investment bankers from Boston was tough for Petty. Sitting alongside a former TV and video game executive who is now running your former company may be even tougher. The contrast between the North Carolina style of Petty and the hard-driving business style of the New Yorker Zucker is huge. This should be a Real Deal to watch.
TNT's first pre-race show called NASCAR on TNT Live! is up next at 12:30PM and is hosted by TNT's own in-house announcer Marc Fein. Along with Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds, Fein hosts this one hour program from the big TNT rotating infield stage thingy.
This week the show will feature an interview with Jeff Burton and questions from NASCAR.com users. The NASCAR Future Stars segment will focus on Justin Allgaier who drives the #16 Chevy in the ARCA/ReMax Series. Lindsay Czarniak will tag along with Brian Vickers pit crew as they make their way over to nearby Dartmouth College to play ice hockey.
The big feature will have Wally Dallenbach sitting down for a conversation with the pride of Taylorsville, NC. That would be the one-and-only Harry Gant, recently named one of NASCAR's Top 50 Drivers. It should be interesting to hear Gant's opinions on issues like the COT and the youth movement in the sport.
The final pre-race show is the Allstate Countdown to Green hosted by Bill Weber from the TNT cocktail table in the announce booth. Dallenbach and Weber talk for thirty minutes as they zero-in on the race itself. Weber combines some hard news with one feature to which he usually contributes. This 1:30PM program leads directly into TNT's race coverage.
This post will serve to host your comments about all the NASCAR TV partner's pre-race shows. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for stopping by.
47 comments:
LOL at the cocktail table for the Bill and Wally.
They need to give them some martini glasses or something. Even if it just has tea in it, lol.
Tough to catch RD so many hours early...just hate turning the tv on so far ahead of the race. I might want to catch the Harry Gant deal...I refuse to wear myself out watching as many hours of the race, in pre-race.
I do appreciate the heads up of what's going on the shows, though JD. Allows us to pick and choose.
:)
I only watch NASCAR Now.
Will we ever see a broadcast when Kenny Wallace DOESN'T SAY.... "my brother Rusty" ??
Anyone, and I mean anyone watching RACEDAY knows your brother is Rusty !!
note to Kenny : STOP SAYING IT !!
Outside the Lines this morning on ESPN had a segment on NASCAR team financial difficulties. Very good story from Mike Massaro with comments from Doug Yates, Humpy Wheeler, Steve Phelps, an executive from NASCAR, and a marketing consultant who deals with sponsorship.
Sadly, Eddie Gossage was the live guest after the segment. Maybe Eddie hadn't woken up yet because he proceeded to dismiss everything Yates and everyone else said in the filmed segment, saying he didn't seen any problems with teams finding sponsors, that NASCAR has the best sports marketers in the world, etc. He was the NASCAR cheerleader, even more than the guy who works for NASCAR.
Bob Ley politely but firmly deflated all of Gossage's cheerleading comments by pointing back to the comments made by others in the video, noting that it was a team owner (yates) who was pointing out team financial realities. For example, with teams going to trimaries - three sponsors or more trading weeks on one team's car, it's making the smaller teams lose out on sponsors who might consider them full time but decide to do a few weeks on a popular car instead. I personally hadn't thought about that.
Anyway, Gossage looked bad -he's usually good on TV - and it was an uncomfortable end to a very good story.
That was the only pre-race I'll be watching today. The rest is four and a half hours of sensory overload - too much. We won't have the TV on again until a few minutes before the race. But I also do appreciate the descriptions here of what will be on, JD; I'm sure they are helpful to many readers.
When Nascar Now shows the truck highlights they credit it to "Nascar Media Group", even though it aired on SPEED. Is this a legal issue or does ESPN just not want to mention a rival network?
Also, does Nascar Media Group have the same involvement with ESPN races as with SPEED races?
-Thanks
Major tech difficulties right in the middle of the Jimmy Spencer tribute piece. Hugh commercial break then black screen this is not good.
Something has happend with NASCAR Raceday. They were showing a feature. then it stopped. Now they are in commercial for 5 minutes. I think it might have been a power outage or something at the speedway.
Satelitte Transmission Issue. This is HUGE! They are showing Back in the Day now.
Raceday is no longer on the air due to Technical Difficulties. John Roberts said they will show "Back in the Day" until they can fix the Satelittle Transmission issues.
Race Day OFF THE AIR due to satellite transmission issue (thanks JR for letting us know the deal) and now it's Back in the Day. Hopefully TNT isn't using the same satellite for the race this could be huge
Wheels came off the race day bus!
Reminiscent of the problem a few weeks ago with TNT having to go to the backup audio feed thing during a live race.
Hope we don't miss out on the real deal, I was looking forward to seeing this weeks interview.
alex,
The NMG is like PGA Tour Productions or NBA Entertainment. They are the company owned by NASCAR that owns all the footage of the events once the races are over.
In order to get NASCAR footage (except for amateur Internet sites like YouTube) you have to contact NMG and pay for it.
As part of the existing NASCAR TV contracts, networks like ESPN and Fox have agreements that allow them to use certain footage in promos and shows.
Most fans are surprised to know that all the NASCAR shows on SPEED are produced by NMG.
I updated the front page. My guess is failure at the uplink in New Hampshire of either power or transmission equipment.
Normal glitches do not last this long. It should be interesting to see if SPEED airs the remainder of RaceDay in full length and runs over into the TNT shows.
That is going to be a big decision once things get sorted out.
Isn't TV fun?
JD
When RaceDay comes back, they most likely will air it until the scheduled 12:30 ET. They will most likely only show the important stuff when they come back and skip all the fluff
Anon 11:28AM,
All SPEED has on after RaceDay is repeat programs, and RaceDay does not re-air.
That means if they decide to shorten the program, what they dump out will not be seen later.
Each week's content becomes "dated" once the next race airs, so it certainly is an interesting decision.
If you remember last year, RaceDay ran up against the TNT pre-race shows head-to-head.
JD
Well this is HUGE. SPEED has had more technical 'issues' this year than in all the years I have watched this station (which is not much, mainly on weekends) and this kind of deal keeps happening.
Why does this keep happening. I turned on RD at 11.06 when things went wrong. I wanted to see the Spencer piece and lucked out with my timing. Normally it's been shorter glitches on SPEED shows where the picture freezes up but JR has had to apologize a lot this year for technical issues.
But this is HUGE and the only pre race segment I wanted to see besides the one on Harry Gant was the Spencer deal from his Modified racing days.
Yea they are back. I HOPE They stay on the air. SHEESH
THEY ARE BACK 11:42 saying won't miss a thing. I wonder what they will skip?
Well at least thy went with Back in the Day. Not Pinks, or Low Life!
JD, yes they ran against TNT's pre race show. But they didn't have Speed content on nascar.com...... I think that was the trade off for not going up against TNT's pre show.
And as I type this they are back, and John Robert says we wont miss a thing. So Lets see if the show runs an extra 40 mins today or not.
kyle,
That is a much bigger story than I am letting on. That is why it should be interesting to see if they run over the timeslot like Roberts just said they would.
JD
Race Day will overlap TNT staying on til 1pm
John Robert jut aid they will run all the way till 1:00 o we wont miss a thing for real. Good on Speed!
Wow that post made me look like more of an illiterate hick then I normally do. Stupid S key!
Did anyone notice how Bobby Labonte "creatively" held his Coke Zero bottle right next to the SPEED microhphone .... for the ENTIRE interview.
Looked a little odd, but gotta admit that it got Coke Zero about 3 minutes of air time.
Let's see if this spreads thru the garage to other drivers to start "holding / presenting" their respective drinks closer to their face during an interview.
ken,
That is part of an integrated marketing plan by not only Coke but also other sponsors in the sport.
The driver gets points and the sponsor gets on-air time logged because of it. After the race, you will almost always see the drivers scrambling for the beverage that sponsors their team.
You can find more info about drivers and their drink sponsors by Googling around the net.
JD
Nice decision by SPEED to overlap TNT. Make sure to adjust the DVR or VCR if you are recording RaceDay.
Anyone else having sound gaps? There is no problem with the video but I keep having sound issues. Not sure if it's my cable or Speed
That POOR monkey being given beer for entertainment purposes and thumbs down to the guys on SPEED for giving the idiot owner TV time.
Ok, I am turning off this show. I loathe and detest exotic animals as pets. Let alone abusing them with booze.
what a redneck image.
Even Tony stewart finally donated Mojo a year ago to a zoon. He FINALLY realized monkeys are NOT suitable for pets and need more room.
Very disappointed in RACE DAY.
I will turn on TNT.
I wish somebody had an ADDRESs I would complain but I doubt if anybody at SPEED cares.
But I will no longer enjoy race day.
I am most disappointed in KENNY WALLACE finding it "FUNNY".
wow. I thought lots of guys in NASCAR believed in animal rescue. I think that monkey needs to be rescued from it's IDIOTIC redneck owner.
They guys on TNT look professional but mentioned the weather..so I guess there is a threat of rain.
We never actually saw the monkey drinking beer he grabed the can from someone who was not the guy who had the leash. I agree giving him beer is poor and Kenny mentioning it is worse. Air time for the monkey Ok because there was no actual drinking. Pets at the track is somewhat strange anyway what are they going to do with it for 5 hours
I see Wendy is still in the motorcoach lot and not on the grid so she really isn't cutting into TNT's gig which is a shame because that is where she does some of her best interviews
New race fan
STILL bad move. I take it you have never been involved or listened to somebody that did EXOTIC ANIMAL RESCUE for a living.
A monkey on a leash at a loud race for SEVERAL hours constitutes abuse. You do not have to be a radical PETA person to recognize it.
I have been involved with veterinarians over the years and can assure you, given "camera time" to this poor mammal was a bad choice for a NASCAR show as it emphasizes the stupid redneck image most have tried to over come. And sorry if I do not find it funny at all.
I consider it PART of the broadcast discussion since I find it distasteful. I turned on TNT and am enjoying the chemistry of the guys.
Folks used to be amused by bear wrestling and drinking beers (the bear) so trust me, it is NOT far fetched to imagine the monkey drinking beer but there are a plethora of reasons this was a BAD MOVE by SPEED to put this on camera.
Off soapbox.
Sorry JD but if they make it part of the show, I am going to comment. I am very sorry I tuned into Race Day now.
JD -
I've seen for years the drivers after the race or qualifying to take a drink of their beverage timed perfectly at the start or end of the interview & I'm aware of the "chug points"....
But - todays Labonte interview had him actually holding the bottle near his chest for all of the interview.
Great move from a marketing standpoint.
But what's keeping him from holding a box of Cheerio's, etc. ?
It may reek of too much commercialism..... but if it's MY product they are representing, I want them holding it.
But from a TV standpoint, we could start seeing more B-Roll video after the interview starts in an attempt to get away from those "free" commercials for a given product.... especially sponsors that conflict with the network.
I read on one of the posts a slam of Kenny mentioning his brother Rusty. Kenny just asked of it was bad to keep bringing his brother (he was told no by the way). Perhaps he reads this blog
Ken Michigan, the RaceDay guys are cooperating on these kind of promotions (and the Labonte one was excessive with him holding the drink the ENTIRE TIME). A few weeks ago they did an interview with Montoya and John Roberts reminded JPM at the end about the new Wrigley's gum - apparently it's jumbo sized or whatever. JPM was like, oh yeah thanks for reminding me and held a box of gum up on camera. JPM had mentioned Juicy Fruit during the interview because it was on his car/firesuit that week but I guess that wasn't enough, there must have been some agreement that he show the product on RaceDay. It was weird and I hope this doesn't become a trend. Which means it will!
Thats a ridiculous complaint. You dont like him to say "my brother"?? I cant imagine why. that is such a menial part of the show. why not complain about other more important things.
nrf,
Just so you know...he reads it every day. Shhh...
JD
Well I guess there will be no overlap of Raceday and NASCAR on TNT Live. Two Guys Garage is on SPEED.
Anon 12:58PM,
Great post. I think if Labonte could have found a way to eat Cheerios during the interview...he would.
Before the engines fire, its all about the marketing and always has been.
JD
dot,
There was a thirty minute overlap due to the SPEED satellite uplink failure.
TNT does ninety minutes of pre-show. Great decision by SPEED.
JD
To: Ken from Michigan 1036am ---
as far as I'm concerned they could tell Kenny Wallace to shut up all together.
Was anyone watching TNT. I switched over after Race Day, and was about to go water the lawn but Grant was on TV outstanding interview!
Then Kyle pulled out the guitar.... What on gods green earth was that about? Guess I'll go water the lawn till the green flag.
Oops Gant!
Shoot! The one week I oversleep! Oh well! I'll enjoy what I do have :)
@anon 12:58--I agree. I have no issue with Herman saying "my brother Rusty" or "my brother Mike" or whathaveya. Yes 99% of the audience knows *who* he's talking about if he just said Rusty or Mike but he's been doing it forever and it doesn't bother me at all.
rat's I missed the Gant interview I was looking forward too...but have to get things done before a long race.
I rarely watch any of the pre-race shows. However, JD's preview of TNT's show mentioning Harry Gant got my attention, and I made it a point to watch it.
I was somewhat disappointed. While I enjoyed the conversation in general, I was looking forward to hearing Harry's views on the things now going on in the sport, (as JD thought might take place). Oh well, I still enjoyed seeing, and hearing one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers.
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