The SPEED team is spread pretty thin this weekend. The Truck Series gang is over at Gateway for a Saturday afternoon race while the Sprint Cup team is on-hand in Richmond for all the TV shows from the SPEED Stage.
Meanwhile, the ARCA Series is racing as a companion to the IRL weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. SPEED will be covering that race for a tape-delayed airing on Sunday at 4PM.
The versatile Ralph Sheheen is going to call the ARCA action with series regular Jim Tretow and sports car veteran Brian Till handling the pit road action. Joining Shaheen in the broadcast booth for the first time will be driver Erin Crocker.
This is an interesting step for Crocker, whose driving career has been off-balance since her stormy tenure at Evernham Motorsports.
This versatile driver started in quarter midgets at 7 years old. While getting a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Management Engineering at RPI University, Crocker drove in both the 360 Sprints and the 410 Dirt Sprint Series, ultimately winding-up behind the wheel of a World of Outlaws car.
In 2005, she was one of the drivers who joined the Evernham Motorsports driver development program. She drove in selected ARCA, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series races, finishing 25th in the 2006 Truck Series standings.
Also in 2006, former Evernham Motorsports driver Jeremy Mayfield called Ray Evernham out when Mayfield blamed a personal relationship between the then-married Evernham and the unmarried Crocker for affecting Mayfield's NASCAR team. Crocker's career never recovered and she has been seen less-and-less in the professional stock car ranks.
Evernham admitted to USA Today (click here) in July of 2007 that his relationship with Crocker affected her career. Evernham is 51 and Crocker is 27.
The coming weekend will give Crocker an opportunity to get her face back in the public eye and lend some commentary to a series with which she is very familiar. Sheheen is a true TV professional and just the right person to work with a new announcer.
Crocker has most recently been in the news (click here) for racing with Evernham in a new car designed as an entry-level affordable sprint car.
Evernham continues as a part-owner of Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and this season began a part-time career as a TV commentator exclusively for ESPN's NASCAR coverage.
Crocker is not scheduled to work any additional events for SPEED at this time, we will update her status as a broadcaster if additional information becomes available.
(photo courtesy of Terry Renna/AP - ARCA Pole in 2007 at Daytona Beach, FL)
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72 comments:
!?!?!?
I'm. . . .
Speechless.
Erin Crocker has NO buisness in a Stock anything and she has NO buisness in the broadcast booth.
To wit, even I wouldn't take my wheel off when crashed in the middle of the track with the leaders coming to the caution. PERIOD.
I hope SPEED understands that she has NO credabitlity as a driver or anything else. This is a mistake on all levels.
Well, this is a former ARCA driver who is no longer driving professionally and is available this weekend.
Phil Parsons is doing the Trucks, Michael Waltrip is racing in Richmond and both Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond are not involved with ARCA.
I know that Hermie is handling RaceDay in Richmond but I am not sure what the status is of former ARCA color commentator Dan Pardus.
Certainly an interesting selection.
JD
Oh, and....
Erin Crocker is the Yoko Ono of NASCAR.
During her tenure in trucks and Busch there were always at least two other female drivers who had more chops in the series and it was always apparent that Crockers' ride had less to do with her ability and mostly had to do with her relationship with Ray. A very embarressing episode all around and I can't believe SPEED thinks anyone will overlook either of these negatives.
To go against the tide: I'm OK with it, she's paid for her mistakes her NASCAR career tanked I'm willing to give her a chance.
at least ARCA isn't televised by ESPN2 and thus putting Crocker and Evernham under the same corporate umbrella.
NRF
I am willing to agree to give her a chance to see if she can handle broadcasting, but I will never agree that she should have been a driver in Trucks and Busch and it was her lack of ABILITY that tanked her career. Her relationship with Ray tanked his whole buisness.
Why not find one of the three other female truck racers that showed up every week and didn't crash in the first six laps to call the ARCA race?
Well I'll make my judgement after the race, but I still think there are others out there that can step up to the plate for the ARCA broadcast. What about Marty Reid and that group he works with they will be there anyway? Randy LaJoie might enjoy the telecasts he seems like he can handle anything. JD - is it raining yet?
Very surprising.
I will see how she does in the booth.
vicky,
ARCA is produced for SPEED by a great TV production company called Chet Burks Productions. They have done the motorcycle stuff for SPEED for years.
I think Chet and his gang will make sure things work-out for Crocker in her debut.
Hanna is now staying well off the Eastern Coast of Florida and will not even bring us rain...right now.
JD
So, did boyfriend Ray get her this job? Rather sad that they have to hire a homewrecker to cover their races. Just because she's driven a race car doesn't give her the cred. Like granny used to say, "I give to the Humane Society, but that doesn't make me a cat".
I think I will wait to see how she does on the broadcast to pass judgment. All the other stuff is noise right now.
welp, I don't have an opine on this..:( Guess she could be okay-we will see. But can I just say wow..where did that come out of left field?? Oh, I know (waving hand), I'm sleeping w/some guy that used to be a BIIIG Nascar player & now works for the 4 letter network?? So just maybe I mite have a tiny bit of knowledge about ARCA?? Oh yeh, I won a race or 2 in the minor leagues. That makes me an expert...we shall see, dear. ~hand slaps over mouth~
I hope she hasn't learned her announcing skills by watching Dr. Jerry Punch. One of him in this business is too many.
I'm also surprised by this.
I agree that her credibility as a driver is lost. I love Ralphie so he'll be fun :). I'll listen but I doubt she'll win me over
Good comments guys. I have nothing to add. I hope TDP is around this weekend. Will save comments for then.
I am very interested in seeing how Erin will do in the booth.
Is Erin the first female analyst to broadcast a NASCAR race? I know Lyn St. James worked on some sportscar races back in the 80s/90s, but I can't remember a female doing a NASCAR or stock car race
Ironically, Erin Crocker has never won an ARCA race, though she came very close and had 12 top-5s in 25 races. She often was said to have the best equipment in the race or the car everyone thought would win according to the TV crew - but could never quite pull it off.
Erin Crocker has been trying to get into NASCAR television ever since Betty Crocker/General Mills dropped her and she no longer could find a steady sponsor in any series (after 2006). She mentioned she would like to do TV in an interview around the time she and Ray made their relationship public last year. I'll bet ESPN heard from her, too.
She's dropped in on the SPEED booth as a guest, for parts of ARCA races she wasn't racing in a couple of times before. But this was before all the "scandal" broke and when SPEED was promoting her in a major way as a Truck series star when she was a rookie.
She worked as a radio pit reporter for a couple of Cup races in 2007, but nothing permanent came out of it. She has a higher-pitched "girly" voice which sometimes does not come across well audio-only (unless she's recently gotten some training).
I'd rather see and hear from an ARCA veteran like Christi Passmore in this role for SPEED.
Personally I have no interest in seeing Erin on TV. She still comes across as bitter - rather than appearing to try to make amends with NASCAR viewers or sponsors - especially after what she said about NASCAR and diversity after Danica Patrick won her first race:
******************************
Crocker tried to join NASCAR's diversity program last year, but said she "had trouble getting a return phone call from them."
"I've never gotten much help from NASCAR other than a few appearances I've done for them," she said. "It's kind of a shame. I know the IRL has done a lot to help Danica and Sarah Fisher. They help promote their drivers. NASCAR needs to work on their diversity program."
Unfortunately for Crocker, the diversity program is designed for series below the trucks. NASCAR likely did not respond because Crocker would have had to begin in the Camping World Series, and it was made clear she did not want to take a step back to move forward.
- espn.com, April 25, 2008
********************
In my opinion, Erin actually received more "help", publicity and exposure from NASCAR - and SPEED - than any other female driver in history. It's a slap in the face to them if she feels otherwise, and was actually asking NASCAR to fund her in a diversity program after she lost her Ray Evernham team ride. For a couple of years, 2005-2006, she was omnipresent on TV and in other media. She would have easily had the networks come calling for her to be a future analyst - if she had stayed the course in NASCAR and did a decent job driving for a few years.
It's her fault she lost that opportunity.
I remember her doing some pit reporting on tv a couple of years ago but I don't remember which series. They're short of people because of HotPass and the IRL race. Seems like they could get a PRN guy in there though.
I find it interesting though that there's no outrage about Evernham being on tv.
bevo,
You should cruise back through my earlier posts about Evernham.
Plenty of hard feelings, especially from the female fans.
JD
I say,give her a chance. She's certainly as qualified as numerous Nascar 'talking heads' that populate the Networks.She's certainly better than Brent and Suzy! She, and all announcers should be judged on their performance. If someone is better,so be it.
Speed is giving credibility and an announcer position to Erin "Sleeps with the boss" Crocker?
The obvious question is, who did she sleep with to get that job?
Her affair with Ray Evernham set women in stock car racing back to the '60s. She's got no business on TV and no business within miles of women who are trying to make it in racing via talent on the track instead of in the bedroom.
Surely some promising young person from the broadcasting field could have done the job.
If you've ever heard Erin Crocker covering a race on the radio, you'd never put her on TV doing the same thing.
She not qualified for the job.
JD
Talk about a "tempest in a teapot"!! At the end of the day, no one will see her because no one watches ARCA. End of story
Bray Kroter
Erin Crocker is as talented in the booth as most of the other analysts , which is not at all . The vast majority of the analysts on SPEED, ESPN , FOX , TNT , and the rest are on tv because they were around at the right time or had connections . They are certainly not there because they are great orators , or even particularly insightfull . They were available . Erin has a lot of racing experience on her resume even well before Evernham came along , and might just be able to use the English language . What a refreshing change that would be .
Erin has a lot of racing experience on her resume
So do most of the drivers running in Camping World East, but that doesn't mean they belong on national TV.
i wont never watch any broad cast with her on it hope everone turns off your network as long as she on it
I hope you learn English sometime soon!
I get the impression that the majority of responders to this column have almost no idea of who Erin Crocker is . She is most definatly a race car driver with years of experience and success in many different types of cars . The fact is , if she turned one race lap it would be more than all of the experts above combined . What possible difference could a relationship with Evernham , or anyone else , make to her announcing ability . NONE .If given the choice between a former competitor in ARCA or a no-nothing talking head that we are usually subjected to , i'll choose Erin and see how she does .
Having actual racing experience obviously plays a role in being a good announcer . But there are some racing analysts , good ones , that i could name that really don't have race experience yet do a great job .
Any driver in any series might be a very good announcer . We won't know until we hear them .
Anonymous 9:45 are you kidding? We are NASCAR fans. We know who Erin Crocker is and we know she got to NASCAR via her sprint car background. JD detailed a good part of her history in his column, but if you've watched a Craftsman Truck or Busch race you know her background, courtesy of folks calling the race. She has racing experience -wow! That doesn't mean we have to automatically like her or respect her stock car expertise. ARCA and NASCAR are not WOO, which Erin found out.
Quote from Anonymous 6:55 -- "Her affair with Ray Evernham set women in stock car racing back to the '60s."
People say let bygones be bygones so that Erin can get back in the public eye, but the above quote is my biggest problem with Erin. She's made it harder for other young women racers to be taken seriously by corporate sponsors and team owners. It's as simple as that, and she and Ray should acknowledge the impact they had on other women's sponsorships -- but they never have and never will. Jenna Fryer interviewed Chrissy Wallace a while back and Chrissy hinted at this issue in the interview, this is her quote.
--Companies might shy away from sponsoring a woman because there's no proven record of success among female racers in NASCAR. Others might simply be gun shy after Erin Crocker became involved with Ray Evernham, her car owner.
Crocker acknowledged the relationship stalled the sponsorship she needed to continue her career at the top level, and Wallace said she believes other women are feeling the affects.
"People question if that's going to be the same thing that happens with me, but we're two totally different people," said Wallace, who considers herself friendly with Crocker. "It's kind of unfair that all female drivers are often based on her experiences.
"There's a lot of female drivers out there who are talented and work hard."
The fact is , if she turned one race lap it would be more than all of the experts above combined
True, which is why the posters here are not qualified to be in the booth, either.
But we're not being put there, and Erin is, despite her lack of qualifications and poor performance on radio race coverage.
I may not have raced a car, but I can tell when someone knows more (or, in this case, less) about broadcast a race than I do.
Hmm. Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone. . .
Not condoning adultery here. Far from it. Just trying to keep my own moral path on the straight and narrow. . .
Let's judge Erin on her skills as an announcer and take it from there.
Hoping the Richmond race won't be a sorry soggy mess...
Oops, I meant "broadcasting." Sorry.
Let's judge Erin on her skills as an announcer and take it from there.
Again, folks, she's been given the chance. Her "skills" were on display as part of radio coverage of races earlier this season.
I'm not sure she's even still a part of that coverage, and if not, I can tell you, it is because she was just plain bad at it.
I have to agree with Tracy here. I have heard her in the booth...made me cringe just because of the 'situation' but I don't recall her being a poor speaker.
You know, it's funny to me people calling her out for getting her job because of who she knows--while the exact same could be said of the drivers whose parents were involved in racing....which is probably most of the field. Personally, I believe the cream rises to the top if you get a decent chance; and it's what you make of it when you get there, not that you used your connection to to get your foot in the door. There are plenty of ones who had such connections but *didn't* make it, like Erin, at least not yet, but they had a shot (Jason Jarrett, Justin Labonte.)
Hermie Sadler didn't 'make it' that successfully in stock cars either, but he makes an good broadcaster (IMHO.) Sometimes you find an unexpected niche. I'm not willing to condemn her til I hear her.
Erin Crocker will be fine in the booth . Judging her by her competition , she doesn't have much to worry about . If she is able to talk intellegently about racing , which she can , and refrain from all of the usual mindless banter that passes for race broadcasting she'll do well .
Is this not a double standard? It's OK for Ray to be in a booth, but not her? Aren't both of them equally at fault?
erin crocker remains a conundrum for me. as a race fan, i was completely supportive of her work in WoO and ARCA and was glad she made it to trucks. it looked as if she was doing all the right things and my youngest daughter became one of her strongest fans. it appeared she had strong family support, solid corporate sponsors and even a driver or two (especially kahne) in her corner, mentoring her, helping her move upward in the ranks.
then, "it" hit the fan and it was all for naught. my daughter was, in her words, "disgusted" by what happened and refused to support crocker going forward. as a parent, i was saddened: this young woman had started something terrific for herself and then jeopardized it all by entering into an affair, not just with a married man but with her boss. it was just so stereotypical as to be depressing.
so now, i am well and truly torn: it was major bad move on her part (on BOTH their parts!) and it has pretty much trashed her racing career. but i can't say that i want her to continue to fail in her life. after all, he hasn't seen the same level of career-kill that she has over their poor behavior. he still has a tv presence on a weekly basis. like him or not, no one has moved to pull him off air. seems as if crocker is the sole party being punished by the sport: evernham didn't even lose a single sponsor for his cup cars over it.
does she have "a good tv" voice? i honestly can't remember. can she be a good broadcaster? i just don't know. as i say, i am torn in how i feel about her as a person and as a driver and, like it or not, as a symbol in the sport. i'm still furious over her actions b/c i believe strongly that what she chose to do has seriously -- and negatively -- impacted the chances of other young women to move into the higher levels of racing in nascar.
but i'm a parent of 2 daughters. i know mistakes, even horrible ones, can happen. and i know wouldn't want one of my daughters to continue to be punished thru out their young lives for a really stupid mistake (especially since the male involved does not seem to be having any trouble continuing in his part of the sport.)
how about a compromise: we all give her a shot and see/hear how she does before deciding she's not right for the booth? b/c if we go solely on personal life issues, there are more than a few drivers and former drivers who i think should be tossed as well.
anonymous said...
"Is this not a double standard? It's OK for Ray to be in a booth, but not her? Aren't both of them equally at fault?"
the answers would be, in order: yes, no, and yes.
but we seem to hold women to a different standard then we do men and we punish them nore severely. "the scarlet letter" addressed exactly that point and very little seems to have changed.
Anonymous said...
JD
Talk about a "tempest in a teapot"!! At the end of the day, no one will see her because no one watches ARCA. End of story
Bray Kroter
September 4, 2008 8:10 AM
LOL - Exactly. As long as Erin stays with ARCA only, no one will care. If she starts encroaching on Krista or Wendy RaceDay/SetUp territory, then it's a whole new ballgame.
Per double standard: As JD said, a LOT of people complained on TDP whenever Ray started appearing on ESPN2 and some emailed ESPN to let them know they were unhappy with him being hired.
A lot of people turn the TV off when he's on ESPN/ESPN2. I myself don't watch NASCAR Now or Countdown when he's on. As long as he's out of the race booth (and IIRC he's only been in the booth once or twice for NW races), Ray's avoidable.
From what I see on TDP, he's not on ESPN shows that much; perhaps every few weeks.
So the view of Ray is equally as harsh as the view of Erin for people like me. I feel perfectly fine with "casting stones" at public personalities who seek the spotlight.
I was planning on watching the ARCA race because of Scott Speed, but now that I know Crocker will be on, I won't watch it. I also don't watch anything Ray Evernham is on, so no double standard for me.
She is a walking cliche of the under-performing female who tries to advance herself by having sex wit the married boss. Seen it at a previous workplace. Evernham put his other employees in a no win situation.
Crocker couldn't keep a job racing and I don't know what kind of strings Ray pulled to get her this gig, but he's got to keep her happy somehow. But I don't have to be a part of it.
I had never heard of this racing league SpeedSTR so I looked it up and was surprised to see that Ray has Erin racing in it as well as his nephew. I remember one of the puff pieces on Ray earlier in the year about how he was concentrating on his family and was going with his son and nephew to some racing series instead of going to the Nascar races. The article never mentioned that the family time also included bringing along the young female employee that he had the adulterous affair with. I guess that would have spoiled the good family man image he is trying to create.
And that is the problem with Crocker and Evernham, we know their history and the damage they have done to legitimate female stock car racers. Real racers who try to advance through hard work and fair play.
I'm stunned that either of them are on TV.
I don't think Erin's personal life has any bearing on whether she should be in the booth for an ARCA race or how good she's going to be. I agree with the person who wondered why it's okay for Ray Evernham to be on ESPN and elsewhere in the media but not Erin? I would guess that if you poke around in the personal lives of all of the broadcasters (and everyone in the garage area for that matter) you would find plenty of messy things that fans might not approve of. It might be impossible to put together any broadcast team that has a completely unblemished personal life.
I was troubled by Ray/Erin because of the possible effects on Evernham Motorsports and her career but a lot of time has passed since she was racing in Nascar. I'm sometimes bothered by or don't agree with some things but to me the majority of what happens in the broadcasters/drivers/owners personal lives is their business and doesn't matter much to me. I'm more concerned with how they do their job whether it's broadcasting, racing, or something else.
I was troubled by Ray/Erin because of the possible effects on Evernham Motorsports and her career but a lot of time has passed since she was racing in Nascar.
Erin ran the first two races of the year - THIS year - in the Craftsman Truck Series in a Morgan/Dollar truck, and wanted to run the whole season but couldn't get a sponsor. It hasn't been that long.
She doesn't have any stock car options anymore except broadcasting, apparently.
seems as if crocker is the sole party being punished by the sport: evernham didn't even lose a single sponsor for his cup cars over it.
Well, he lost the funding for her truck and had to shut it down. That hurt his company and its employees. He lost majority control of his company and had to kick Erin off the payroll before this season started after he sold the majority. I don't think a sponsor would or should punish Kasey Kahne or Jeremy Mayfield or Scott Riggs by pulling a Cup-specific sponsor from them because of Evernham. Those drivers didn't do anything to hurt the sponsor's image - that was Ray. They just pulled Erin Crocker's sponsors, which did hurt Ray's bottom line. General Mills is an uncontroversial NASCAR sponsor with a good image and it was probably unwise for Ray to embarrass them.
anon 12:25 -- in re: your response to my comment about evernham not losing a cup sponsor over his affair with crocker: point taken and i stand corrected.
however, i still stand by my larger point: he has lost far less than she has over their joint actions. to be certain, there are a fair number of voices out there who are opposed to having evernham anywhere on tv and we've heard from some of them here on TDP. but i maintain that an even larger group either don't care at all or have decided to not let it be an issue for them. i find that interesting for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that i'm given to undersatd that the majority of fans in nascar are women.
by that as it may, your point is well made and i concede to you on this one.
As far as TV broadcasting goes, what these two did really has no bearing; if we're going to start excluding people from the job because we don't like something they did in their personal loves, the list of available talent is going to become very short.
However, Erin is not very good at broadcasting; she demonstrated this earlier in the year. So the question is, why is she being tapped for the job in the first place?
I was extremely disappointed when I heard about the affair, for her and Ray E's family. It is always unfortunate, but more so when it is a younger woman with an older man. I am not defending her, but I am speaking from experience and one that 30 years later I totally regret and feel embarrassed by (even though few knew and it certainly wasn't blasted on the airwaves). Unfortunaely, we all aren't perfect (well, some of the posters here maybe :-)). I am sure someday she will regret her choice and she certainly is paying the price for her lost racing career.
With that said, how do we know if any of the other on announcers/analysts, etc ever had affairs or broke up a family, yet we listen to them. Just because her situation became public we start throwing rocks.
I love watching ARCA races to see the up and coming stars. I won't let one person commentating prevent me from supporting a lower tier racing series. Why punish the other teams in ARCA for the sins of one.
some of the stone throwing reminds me of a few years back when Stewart flippantly made a remark about NASCAR drivers not beating their wives--as if he would know. Lots of stuff would shock and disappoint a lot of people if they knew the truth--for that matter, a lot of truths have come out that people ignore. A job is a job--she'll either be poor at it and go, or good at it and stay. Tell us all of your favorite 'without sin' people, stone throwers, and I bet we can inform you of a few truths....take a look at the circumstances of any number of divorces in the racing business...there is probably uglier stuff than this.
just saying...I think they set female drivers way back, and a part of me hates that...but I take that 'judge not lest ye be' thing pretty seriously. It doesn't say 'unless you're famous'.
There is a clear and distinct difference between the personal lives of announcers Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker -personal lives which have become very public of their own doing - and the personal lives of other NASCAR annnouncers, which have not. (Remember when they used to sit together front and center on Kahne's pit box when Evernham was still married? I believe they presented it under the guise that she needed to be on the pit box to "learn", though she was the only EMS development driver who got that treatment.)
Whatever other announcers may or may not have done in their personal lives - did the personal relationship they were having:
*Cause a driver in the NASCAR series they comment on to lose their ride
*Cause a driver in the NASCAR series they comment on to lose their sponsor
*Cause the career of the most prominent (heck, the only) female driver in NASCAR to go up in flames
I'm guessing no. For example, Rusty Wallace not getting along with Ryan Newman or Jeff Gordon in real life, or sniping at them on TV, hurts no one but perhaps Rusty himself. Alltel, Dupont and Pepsi don't care what Rusty thinks.
But announcers Ray and Erin lost jobs and sponsors for Erin and no doubt for other female drivers; made a scapegoat out of Jeremy Mayfield (who merely commented that Ray no longer seemed focused on his Cup teams and got fired for it -he didn't utter the name "Erin Crocker" until Ray refused to pay the rest of his contract and they went to court); and likely countless others who worked for Erin's Truck and ARCA teams, which no longer exist.
It matters not one bit to me to listen to a NASCAR announcer who may not have a perfect home life - *if* the announcer's home life has no impact on a driver's ride and sponsors.
Maybe someone should check into how she got this gig, same way she got a ride with everham?
There are several other people male or female better qualified than Erin Crocker.
Over the years, she had very good equipment and really wasn't all that competitive in any series.
I'm all for woman in motorsports but she doesn't have what it takes.
"Maybe someone should check into how she got this gig"
She has been making good use of Ray's money and connections since she formed a sexual relationship with him. EMS paid for her to race in ARCA last year since she couldn't get a sponsor. Of course, George Gillett cut that gravy train off as a condition of buying 80% of EMS. Ray did buy her a seat in a Baja1000 vehicle last year and I'm sure he was behind the 2 truck rides this year.
So if you want to know how Erin gets her rides or jobs, just check with "Uncle Ray" (as she always referred to him in interviews before it was common knowledge that they were having sex.)
I guess I will make my judgment after the telecast. I dont condone in any way what she and her boss did, but at the same time, I think that casting stones is not proper too. Let's just see how she does and then judge her from there
It almost makes me wonder if Jeremy Mayfield, even though he was right, burned his bridges also by the way that he spoke about Ray and Erin too. I guess what I am saying is not to throw stones if you live in glass houses.
I think she is a FOX. I hope she does well in the ARCA race, and since I don't watch JP I'll enjoy seeing the ARCA race at 4 pm Sunday.
anon 1:54--your logic makes no sense. All the stuff you documented relates to driving/teams, not *announcing*. You're either good or you're not. Nothing to do with your personal lives--it doesn't matter whether or not you became famous as an announcer or a driver first. Also, whether it's public or not makes no difference as to its importance (at least, it shouldn't). If you found out that annoucer A had put his wife in the hospital 2 years ago (I'm making this up) would that be totally irrelevent because it wasn't made public? Sheesh...
Speed Channel knows what it's doing. By plucking Erin Crocker back out of obscurity, they've got people talking about an ARCA race. Many people who would probably ignore the ARCA race after a Richmond Cup race the night before might watch or record it now.
That's why I now regard Erin Crocker as a true "tabloid" figure of sorts for NASCAR, not a real racer. When she disappears, all is fine. But when you say her name, the fur flies and most talk isn't about her racing skills. Good or bad (IMO mostly bad), she brings forth strong emotions and discussions and that is probably what Speed Channel is looking for. She's like the NASCAR version of Lindsay Lohan.
Ray is also now a tabloid figure IMO, but I think he retains a great deal of residual goodwill from being Jeff Gordon's genius crew chief and so is spared from some of the attacks that Erin gets. Even now on ESPN he's positioned as more of a tech guy than a Rick Hendrick owner type.
Funny how this JD person comes down on people making personal comments on any of the Cup drivers (all male), but here with Erin, he just lets all bash without removal. This really makes me think twice about his motives?
Anon. 10:06:
This copy editor won't comment on the your grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I thought you were making a clever play on words when you wrote:
i wont never watch any broad cast with her on it hope everone turns off your network as long as she on it
Considering the disdain she's treated with here, I thought that was a very clever coinage.
Left Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
The only reasonable way to approach this is to listen to the live broadcast Saturday, on the ARCA site and ignore Erin "Dances with team owner" Crocker.
I'll be watching football on Sunday afternoon/evening, when the delayed TV broadcast will take place.
I can always catch some of the race highlights on Speed Report.
he has lost far less than she has over their joint actions.
Well, of course. He is a businessman with money.
She's just an employee.
IF I were Erin's aunt and IF she were to ask me for advice, it would be; get out the Bachelor's Degree in Industrial and Management Engineering from RPI Uniiversity and dust it off. Get out the resume, update it and start sending it out. RPI Univ. has employment possibilities listed and updated. Get a legitimate job and a legitimate life, maybe in Canada or England. She is still young enough to try to leave all of this "mistake" behind her to an extent, and make a legitimate life for herself.
Of course, none of that will help the former Mrs. Evernham.
Anon 6:01PM,
I have reviewed every comment as it was posted and deleted the ones that violated the rules we have used here for the past 21 months.
I have no feeling on this subject other than to present the facts about her TV debut and let the fans talk about what they think.
As you may know, many of the comments that you may call bashing are from female NASCAR fans. Everyone has an opinion.
This might be a new turn in Ms. Crocker's life, especially if this opportunity turns out to be for the best.
We have debated on this site the connections of Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and now Brad Daugherty.
All of those men are team owners, but also work for ESPN and give supposedly unvarnished opinions about the very series in which they have significant financial interests.
Once Mr. Crocker's first ARCA assignement is done, we will again allow the fans how have made this post so very personal to come back and comment again after watching the telecast.
Thanks again for your comment, please remember that if you ever have a question or comment, please contact me directly at editor@thedalyplanet.tv anytime.
JD
"Ray did buy her a seat in a Baja1000 vehicle last year"
I may be the only one who watched it because I never heard anyone else mention it! but SPEED aired a filmed documentary about the team Erin raced for in Baja and followed them on the race route. I believe it was made into a DVD. I just recorded it on my own. "Chasing Baja." Maybe about three months ago it was on? So she has a little bit of a SPEED connection.
Ray accompanied her on the trip so he is seen in the film several times. What was slightly amusing was Ray seemed uncomfortable with the cameras and a couple of times would stare kinda mean at the cameraperson like why are you filming me? I was thinking, Ray, you're sitting next to Erin, they're going to film you. Duh! Get out of the shot if you want your privacy! Erin made a good impression in the film, the male drivers on her team appeared to like her and her driving.
If anyone wants to "see" what she sounds like, YouTube has an interview she gave for the film's premiere on the red carpet in Los Angeles on YouTube. She sounds well-spoken to me - she always has in interviews - but I haven't heard her in a racing broadcast context, so I don't know if she is a good broadcaster. That is the only YouTube footage of her talking that I see, other than a commercial. Mr. Daly I hope it's OK to post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDghNPWn8ik
I was and still am disappointed in Erin and Ray and am no longer fans of either one, and kinda cringe when Ray is on TV. But I don't think she needs to go away to another country! She does need to stop blaming everybody but herself for her situation in the rare instances she speaks to the media. It looks petty. Erin had a free pass to the 10 car (she's supposed to be the driver of the 10 in 2008 - not Patrick, not Reed, not Scott). She messed up the fully funded three year plan to be NASCAR's Danica. Not many people get the chance she did. So I guess TV is Plan B, she better not mess up!
No problem Ally and thanks for your comment.
JD
I have been trying to figure out why Erin bothers me so much and now I have,thanks to Ally's, comment :
"She does need to stop blaming everybody but herself for her situation"
The ESPN article where she whined about how she was a poor little girl and Nascar never helped her.
Constantly making the comment that other racers needed to respect her, even though she disrespected herself, her co-workers and the bosses' wife by her own actions.
She was given the best chance of any female to make it in Nascar. Great sponsor, good team, plenty of Nascar PR. She blew it due to a combination of poor performance on the track (dead last of all the full time Truck racers) and poor personal choices (affair with the married boss.)
Go away Erin.
glenc1, there's a huge difference getting into racing when you're from a racing family, and sleeping your way into a ride.
well, she can be no worse than a waltrip.
Just becuase someone is bad onthe radio doesn't mean that they will be horrible on TV. Let's give Erin a chance on TV and if she sucks then we have reason to be mad if they use her again. No offense but Wendy V. wasn't all that great on the Trucks but SPEED was smart and gave her time to develop. Maybe we should give Erin that time.
P.S. I dislike Erin alot. I hate what she has done for women in this sport and that she blames NASCAR for lack of support.
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