The second half of the doubleheader is about to begin. Allen Bestwick leads things off with NASCAR Countdown at 6:30PM. Beswick will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty from the Infield Pit Center for this thirty minute show.
Race coverage begins at 7PM with Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. On pit road will be Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Mike Massaro and Dave Burns. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Center.
The Nationwide Series race has several storylines going-on that will carry-over to the Sunday night coverage. Series regular Brad Keselowski is giving the Sprint Cup cross-over bunch a hard time and this is Keselowski's kind of track.
At the rear of the field are a bunch of cars not expected to remain in the race for long. It should be interesting to see how many park and how many return to the track after the first scheduled pit stop.
The ESPN team has already called one race today and has to put the focus on this different series and to try and convey the excitement of a night race in Richmond to the fans.
This post will serve to host your comments about the Nationwide Series race on ESPN2. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. Thanks for taking the time to drop by.
173 comments:
It seems to me after months of watching this blog that there are a usual group of folks who comment constantly. This is OK by me and gives me insight. BUT, I have to say that it's like watching the political conventions. You know what you want to hear and anything you hear or see that is different from what you think should be correct, you rake the broadcast team over the coals. Like I said, that's ok. I now now that this is not a site for objective opinion, but more of a site for the hindsight 20/20 crowd. These events are live. I understand that Jerry Punch is lackluster and that they do not cover all the story lines. I spent my afternoon watching Falcons football and racing at the same time. I feel that everytime I switched to the race, I was able to obtain needed info. In my book, they did their jobs doing that.
What info were you looking for? Who was in first?
Its nice to meet the elusive casual viewer.
And they even left their email address on there!
I wont be watching the wide race tonight, 2 races in one day is too much for me, especially when a lot of the drivers in the wide race already ran in the cup race.
But I do have to say that the cup race was handled better today then I have seen since espn took over. Discounting the last 10 laps being focused on the 48 and 20 fighting for the win (which was totally justified), they seemed to show a little more of the race than they usually do. And it seemed for a change they stepped on commercials to get back to the race, instead of stepping on the race to get to the commercials. Jerry Punch actually sounded like he was enjoying the race, maybe it was the 2 days off that helped?
I hope they continue the good work for every one who watches the wide race tonight.
Bill H
kiteman11 - I always wondered who the "casual" fan was - now we know.
I'm glad you're ok with everything everywhere. I'm glad for you.
OK I'm gonna kind of watch the race, while switching back to NFL
( Cowboys are winning in 3rd) & getting weekend stuff done.
Should be interesting to see how Brad K. does - hoping he has a win.
Anyone else gonna be multi tasking?
kiteman11,
Thanks for the comment. I've been following Nascar for 15 years or so, and back then we didn't have the leaderboard scrolling across the top of the screen, and we didn't have as many cameras to catch incidents. However, the coverage was great and we were spoiled by the late 80's and 1990's where the total package of race presentation was usually very well done and there was little to complain about.
ESPN has all kinds of gimmicks, graphics, pit studios, and other things that should make the coverage of these races far superior than what we had 10-20 years ago. It hasn't happened though. The potential is there, but it hasn't been reached by ESPN. That's why we're always complaining.
Well I'm impressed. In the first segment I saw 3 Nationwide drivers. I hope they will keep it up.
Just saw a commercial for the cup race "Tomorrow at 1pm". Looks like they're finally getting around to fixing the tv schedule ;-)
Cup guys are still eating, changing, napping (I wonder if these guys can nap after a race, I can't even nap after doing something less than exciting)
And it looks like a lot of folks are either waiting outside the gates to have their tickets scanned or no one feels like showing up for this race.
The race coverage for Cup today was better than usual and I think I know why. The chasers were mixed up in the field. We got to see what was going on in the back, for once. I hope the NW race has good coverage too.
To expand on Alex's comment about the good ol' days w/o the graphics. The booth announcers had to actually tell you where everyone was.
Countdown showing Cup hilites. Sigh.
@Kiteman, what do you mean 20/20 hindsight? I predicted the caution when Reut was leading, lol.
Not many people in the stands. What a mess running both races the same day. Why not run this race tomorrow. The Nationwide drivers are off next weekend.
I recorded an NFL game today and will be watching it later. Have to get a piece of tape out to cover the bottom ticker.
"Elusive casual viewer?" Wow. JD, I've been following this site since I heard it on Sirius 20 somthing months ago. I'm just not as critical as most of your posters. You might want to value the insight of some of us out here.
@ Alex, I saw that the Cup race is starting @ 10am left coast time, too. YEA.
@ Vicky D, They're still waiting to park their cars. I wish we could see the parking lots and the roads out of the track.
Anyone know why the NW guys thought they would be racing during the day? I'm guessing they thought the Sat night race would happend and they would be Sunday the 1p race but I'm not sure and confused as to why they would think that.
Dot where's that blimp when you need it. We need to see the streets outside the track to see what's going on with the parking situation and folks from the cup race leaving the track. Lots of gridlock probably.
charlie - what game did you record? And hopefully the ticker will go away when the race starts. (Riiiiiiiiiiiight.)
There's a TBA after the race. Does that mean we get some post race coverage?
fyi--they *told* people to get to the race by 4 so they could be in their seats by 7 (to avoid out-race traffic.) I get what terri said on the other blog about where was she going to park--what they didn't say is if they were running the shuttles later than usual from the 2 other sites (it costs like $5.) I'm guessing they did, but I guess I would have had to call the track or the other sites to find out cause it's not on the website.
The Dispatch is reporting that traffic was tremendously back up getting IN to the Cup race. But one complained who left at 10am from Norfolk thinking it would be fine. Frankly, I was always IN the track no later than 10 even when the race was at 7:30.
You could see there was no line at the turnstiles where they take your ticket stub (no scanners, Vicki!) ISC is apparently in the dark ages compared to SMI. I'd really like to know how it all worked, but I guess we'll have to wait til some people get back and tell us.
kiteman,
I appreciate your views. If you were watching the Falcons game and the camera stayed on the quarterback once he threw the touchdown pass, you would be upset.
That is exactly the kind of fundamental error that viewers have seen with ESPN that we did not see with TNT or Fox.
Single, tight camera coverage of the leader even as the real story of the race played-out several cars back.
Between that and the silence during the exciting moments in the race, it is tough for a NASCAR fan to watch.
JD
Hey, ESPN. How about a starting grid? Please?
Did you guys see or hear what happened on the ABC IRL race?
Wow...I got killed with email over this one. Marty Reid and the ESPN gang called the wrong winner and did not straighten it out until they correct replay was rolled.
Reid just said......uh oh.
Helio C. was told he won in the garage. That poor guy cannot buy a break.
JD
dot, there is a 30 minute version of NASCAR Now after the race is over.
o_O
How did they call the wrong winner? Was it a photo finish or something?
And why was Helio in the garage when he was told? Did IRL call the wrong winner, too?
The crowd is small, but it can't be blamed completely on the shuffling in and out of the crowds. Hard to expect a big crowd for the support race, since we've already had the main event.
Yes I saw the end of the race and that was a mess! Poor Helio :(. Yes the right guy was finally crowned but how embarrassing in this day and age!
Helio just barely won. It was a fantastic finish ... it would have been a good telecast if they would have called the correct winner. Then they showed the replay and said nothing. It took another reply and a call by IRL officials to set the fans straight about who actually won.
JD,
As Sophia posted on the other site, I also heard the PA announcer say Helio won. Then they went ahead with Dixon interview where he was so excited to win the race and the championship. After the interview while still on camera, someone told him he didn't win. How dumb was that.
JD,
Good metaphor, but as a Falcons fan let me tell you the Touchdowns are few and far between. They may have a season similar to your Dolphins. Good luck to both of them.
JD we have IRL race recorded so it'll be interesting to watch that. I had the live timing and scoring and noticed Darren Manning in the top 10 so thought we could watch the race later. What a big mistake that was.
Scoring showed Dixon but photo showed Helio. 1/1000th of a second.
I saw the end of the IRL race too. Strange how the electronic scoring and the video didn't match up. Did they have to take the $1 million check back from Dixon since he didn't win the race and the championship after the same race?
I get what this blog is all about. I love the inside attention (camera shots, graphics, etc.). Thanks JD for giving fans a forum. BTW, the IRL race ending was really weird. Helio said he wanted to climb the fence but I never saw it.
Side-by-side with Dixon and Helio to the line. Reid called the winner from the scoring monitor in the booth which means nothing for a photo finish.
As one poster said, ESPN did nothing after Reid said "uh oh." They actually interviewed Dixon in Victory Lane and only asked questions about the Championship.
Needless to say, Dixon was confused. Only then did they corner Helio in the garage and tell him he won. It was cheap and poorly done. Helio fans are um...upset.
JD
Correction 0.0033
bevo, just say it was doggone close.
Just read on the indycar site that the margin of victory was .0033 seconds, or about 8 inches of nose. I don't follow the series too closely, but that must be one their closest finishes ever.
JD said ...
They actually interviewed Dixon in Victory Lane and only asked questions about the Championship.
But Dixon mentioned the win time and time again. Is the million bucks for winning the championship only? Do you know?
While we are gossiping, TWIN has Steve Byrnes and Mikey but no Biffle or Chad because of schedule issues.
MW is going to drag Michael McDowell along for the show.
JD
Somebody has been reading the comments! When Punch mentions the start and park set...wow.
2nd closest. I've had the pleasure of seeing a few of those finishes here at TMS. Great racing, too bad more folks don't check it out.
Do they always tape TWIN on sunday nights? I thought it was live, or taped sometime Monday. Also, just noticed Clint Bowyer got into it with the 91, would have thought that car had parked already.
On the NW race, I just heard Punch mention at least 4 of the "start and park" rides.
TWIN will be interesting, not as much fun but interesting. McDowell seems like a nice kid, although he'll be out of a cup ride if Mikey can't find some more sponsers
McDowell should be good, he had a great race today.
Think they'll show his crash again? :)
geez....I forgot to turn back over to the IRL race. Sounds like ABC really messed this up. Yikes.
I didn't see the IRL race but wow. You're telling me it was a photo finish and the IRL immediately sent someone to victory lane before ever checking the replay or photo finish camera? Yikes!
Okay, someone really needs to get in Dr. Punch's ear and suggest that he stop using the word "concrete" when someone hits the SAFER Barrier. If you want to use a generic term just say "wall". Using "concrete" as an all-encompassing term for every NASCAR wall should not be done. I'm sure it's just habit from years of every wall being made of concrete but things have changed now.
Alex,
Monday afternoons. The changes in the weekend schedule change things at the shop and with other issues.
and I should have added, it sounds like the IRL was partly responsible, right?
Why don't we have the position ticker? Not enough time to switch over the scoring boxes?
I had the race on delay (now caught up). How much of the track walls are concrete? JP kept saying that agaim.
Trying to find out about the ticker now.
The IRL guys could have done it up right by bringing both of them down pit road and holding them both until the replay was aired.
Instead, it was messy.
I sure hope Jerry Punch points out which car number Brad Keselowski drives.
It would be so informative if Punch would say something like "There's the 88-car, Brad Keselowski!" Maybe he could even say it every time the 88 is on the screen. And maybe he could really help fans out by saying that information, and nothing else.
Given the Sprint Cup race today, "There's the 88-car, Brad Keselowski" is about all the storyline I am expecting from Punch and company today.
Now that the IRL season is over, it would be nice to see Marty Ried back on the NA$CAR broadcast. Maybe to give JP a little relief?
JD,
Thanks for the clarification, I had no idea. Should be fun to hear from MMD, since he had his best career finish.
Interesting cross-promotion on the commercial with the Geico caveman and ESPN fantasy football.
Wow, there is no one in the stands.
I know if I had a NW ticket and a Cup ticket and I had to leave my seat, I'd just leave the track.
The ending to the IRL was strange in itself, but what I also found interesting was how they just left the broadcast so quickly with no closing comments about the season.
I think ESPN missed a golden opportunity to put AB in the booth tonight and let JP try the infield studio.
IRL changed the scoring system after the AJ Foyt/ Arie Luyendyk donnybrook in victory lane in 1997
Dot,
I'm pretty sure that the SAFER barrier is on the turns, and inside wall along the backstretch. The front and backstretch are still concrete. Don't quote me though, I'm not positive on it.
Finally got the ticker back...
Sorry, meant the TIMING system
I'm watching the Speed Report. They interviewed all the top drivers not in the Chase-way to go, Speed.
JD- I thought I heard someone say the 48 car is testing in Nashville Monday. I presume doing some sort of remote with Chad for TWIN is not that easy & would be expensive - but SPEED has done that in past years when Mikey was off testing. Wonder why they don't have Kenny Schrader on TWIN?
richard,
I am being told no one is around. Chad would be fine as a guest by a liveshot, but not as a panelist. This is a taped show with some stops and starts.
Monday is the day NASCAR Now does the big 90 minute special at 5PM with Bestwick, Jarrett, Petree, Brewer, Wallace and Evernham.
Those boys are going to be TIRED.
JD
Glad that JP is mentioning Reut leading the most laps and finishing in the top 10 in the cup race. Too bad one tv reporter couldn't interview after the race though.
JD - Switch JP and AB? You're asking ESPN to display some level of competence that they have not yet proven today.
pammh - What did Mark Martin say? (*sliently curses my lack of Speed Channel*)
Good point Richard in NC since Ken S was in the race today.
Comm'l = caution.
After I spent five years working in Indonesia. I promised that I would never complain about about a NASCAR telecast again. However, ESPN is trying my patience.
They used the Fox and NBC feeds but boy could they mess it up. Someday I will sit down and compose an E-mail to JD outlining how bad a broadcast could be.
My only regret is that I didn't tape one of the shows.
Frank in Sebring, Florida
Multiple spotters again! At least tey're not all jumbled up this time.
It's hard not to notice the crowd on that shot where the cars come out of turn 2. It seems as if it might be better to make all of the spectators fill up the frontstretch grandstand and keep the rest empty..... very sparse.
JD- FYI that young sprout Barney Hall ( & Joe Moore) are calling the race on MRN.
bf-I'm sorry, had to let the dog out while the interviews were on, so I didn't hear his. I'm sure he said all the pc-MM rahs-rahs, like usual. Reiut said he was glad to be up racing w/the Big Boys, tho!!
Dumb question but does anyone know if that tall tower going into 1 actually has people in it, or is it just a multi-colored roof to make it look like people are up there? It looked like there were "people" up there even when no else was in the stands before the Cup race started.
Pam thank goodness for the DVR I'll get to hear Reut :)
Well I could have lived without TB and the brake bias during green flag but DJ busting on him was great, he is definately on his game today
I wonder who in Bristol sets up these commercials... Now they're telling us to try Raceview during the Richmond cup race.
Dot, I have to respectfully disagree--on a regular day at Richmond, we walk...well, I don't know if you've heard of the '10K steps a day' thing--but I wore my pedometer once and took over 18,000 steps. It's normal for people to go back and forth several times a day to their cars (especially if you want to avoid paying $5 for a hot dog!). I'd have gone out, gotten some dinner & returned stuffed. The problem is that people have to be at work the next morning, so it's my guess that's why most of them left.
Re: IRL
INEXCUSABLE how they handled the finish in the opines of this house.
It was the LAST race of the season to crown the Indy race champ. As I also mentioned according to digital tv clocks, they went off the air 4 minutes EARLY. They no sooner told a surprised Helio that he had won, he wanted to climb the fence and closing credits started being shown.
It was CLEAR to viewers at home Helio won across the finish line. EMBARRASING coverage though kinda fitting for ABC/ESPN...it's their last broadcast for IRL and their apathy was showing.
I am super bummed not to get Versus next year but will settle for 5 races and SPEED REPORT and Robin Miller for reports.
P.S. Why is PINKS on iinstead of VL at 8pm?
Can you imagine that happening in the final NASCAR race of the season? Such a blunder.
I remember reading that in NASCAR trucks some years back, Jimmy Spencer had to push his truck out of VL due to delayed call by NASCAR.
It's just another example of poor production.
JD, the only reason I did not send an email is I was starting dinner once they started talking to Dixon and had the tv on in the kitchen..away from computer. The way the bungling was just shrugged off was unreal.
and for what it's worth, I missed the uh oh from Marty.
Hope the NW guys get some mention. I have had it with eSPn and abc. watching SPEED shows.
thanks for the heads up on TWIN..that show won't be the same without Chad of Biff. too bad Schrader could not FILL IN. HELLO SPEED.
Soph VL now on at 10P, I got messed up too had to play DVR roulette recording too many things at one time and then turns out one wasn't what I wanted anyway. Won't have a problem at 10
I guess from the lack of bodies in the stands tonight, people who got herded out took their $$$ & left.
Since the tickets were paid for I gather no one cares. Except the folks who paid.
matt, I think you mean the new Commonwealth tower. Yes, those are people, there's no roof. They might not have had to make them 'evacuate' because they may have to have a package to be up there (I think you have to use a special entrance, but I can't swear to it.)
JD
Just saw the note on VL on your front page. THANKS for keeping us informed.
Mucho appreciated.
I honestly beieve people have work tomorrow issues more than moving from their seat issues, only the locals and those without conflicts stayed, not to mention this race was suppose to be Fri many may not have had a place to stay til Sun and had to go home
Hey, I try. Both ESPN and SPEED had problems getting the word out about the schedule changes.
All the Nationwide ticket holders got a recorded phone call telling them not to come to the track until at least 4PM.
That would put them trying to head in when all the Cup fans are heading out. Ridiculous.
It was a no-win for the Nationwide ticket holders.
Anon @ 8:07,
Thanks for the response.. that makes more sense than my roof theory haha.
Reut went to the garage, I wonder if ESPN will talk to him or if he'll pack it in and find the helicopter, oops maybe not bet he has to wait for Josh Wise
Side-by-side racing right in front of Landon Cassill. Instead of panning forward to watch that battle, the producer/director chose to keep zoomed on Cassill running single file and air a pre-taped video of generic comments from him. That is probably the biggest flaw of ESPN's race coverage. Instead of searching around for a battle, they're following a script.
Dr. Jerry Punch (coming back from a commercial):
"Pace car's pulling off. Perfect timing."
Wow! Congratulating the broadcast team for something that they should do EACH and EVERY time.
If I was a nationwide ticket holder I would have been there early in the morning supporting the sponsors of Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, and Robby Gordon, but that's besides the point. If those folks had come to the track when the cup race was still going, traffic wouldn't be too bad. oh well...
Hey JD check out the Sunday Night Extra on NFL.com
Main broadcast of the game with four other cams
bevo,
The broadband companion piece to a live sports broadcast is becoming more and more popular. Be nice to see it for the Fox portion of the schedule.
That whole crowd thing for the NW race was nuts. Trying to head in to all the traffic to get a seat for the race. Shame.
Well, after Stricklanfans comments on the bad race angles, I am going to the store and be back for Wind Tunnel.
I am raced out between the end of the F1, some of NASCAR and most of IRL...racing overdose...don't want the hangover tomorrow.
:)
Random Thought:
I noticed earlier at the end of the cup race they showed the schedule for the rest of the year, and of the 10 races, only Charlotte is a night race (7pm). Nascar wants the chase races to be a reflection of the whole schedule, but I know that more than one tenth of the races are at night. I've got Charlotte tickets so it should be fun, but I would have expected at least 3 of the 10 to be at night. I'm kind of surprised they don't try to put Homestead under the lights since it's the last one, they could showcase it in primetime.
I could see RaceBuddy morphing into this. You have the broadcast, sideline, end zone, cable cam and one on a star player.
just getting here from dinner with the family and i'm hearing bestwick doing a pretty comprehensive review of the race so far and recognizing some drivers in the TOP 20.
this is really an extended conversation with the infield guys and now bestwick tosses it to spake. where are the booth guys? has this been the pattern so far tonight?
huh. bestwick, wallace and dougherty take the segment to commercial. wassup?!?
Wow they talked about guys further back than 10th, maybe this is a trend
Red AP and DJ have been pretty vocal, JP has been worse
thanks, nrf. i must have just caught an odd moment in the broadcast.
(hey! there's dj! throwing it to the pits . . . )
Alex: Homestead is a twilight race (3 PM start).
Seating at Richmond:
For normal NW races, tickets are not sold for the seat from about the middle of turns 1 and 2 to the middle of turns 3 and 4. The backstretch is usually closed to spectators.
The tower is the Commenwealth Tower. It was added a few years ago. There is no seperate entrance for these seats, although they did just add escalators this year.
JP's voice is sounding hoarse again. Not as bad as the last two weeks though calling one race already today probably doesn't help any.
Alex said ...
I'm kind of surprised they don't try to put Homestead under the lights since it's the last one, they could showcase it in primetime.
I could be wrong about this, but the Homestead race starts at 4:00 so by then, no daylight savings time and it should run into the night.
in re: anon 8:28 and normal n'wide seating: i believe that most tracks (if not all) follow a similiar seating plan for n'wide and trucks as well. concentrates the fans in one place and means lower costs in security and clean-up for the track as well.
plus, it looks better on tv!
Greg Zipadelli is on the pit box & is listed as crew chief for J.Lo already. Hmmmm. Does Sophia know this????? Wow no wonder things have been weird on the Cup side.
I'm taping then when I can I'm FFing to get caught up. So I just saw it.
Red, your seating comment makes sense. I would still be ticked to leave my Cup seat to go out the gate and come back in though.
jo-
Remember their NW teams have a shortage of crew chiefs right now ;)
Zippy is on the pit box because Dave Rodgers (sp?) is back at the shop in Nascar time out along with the car chief, not sure who would be left to CC the car
@ Jo,
Just figured out J Lo means Joey Logano. I was thinking Jennifer Lopez. Blonde moment. Good grief.
Okay guys, have laugh on me.
OH Crumbs I forgot Bevo!
Thanks for reminding me, blond & senior here
I would still like to see ESPN focus on looking for racing on the track instead of airing pre-taped comments and following the 'featured' driver running around by himself.... especially two laps after a restart when there surely is a lot of on-track racing going on.
Dot, blond here too it took me a minute to figure out the JLo thing too, guess JL is Leffler
Not a good sign when your play by play guy says "whatever happened in the 33 pit with four tires".
Oh I'm not the only blond!
JL is usually used for Jason
I could use JoLo if we all agree.
I forgot all about Jennifer Lopez LOL
jo-
No problem, a couple of weeks ago they said they would all be doing a lot of double shifting for the rest of the season
I like JoLo, it's sure beats sliced bread
wow! a second thru thru the field, focusing on the non-leaders! why, oh why, can't this happen in the cup broadcast?
We could call Joey "SB" for sliced bread.
I do appreciate them updating us on the guys in the back half of the top-20.
@ nrf, I posted after I read yours. That'll work.
That "Sliced Bread" name seems like it be the cause of Atomic Wedgies! I sure wouldn't like it.
Not to jinx it or anything I am surprised at how well this is going I was really afraid it was going to be a train wreck
JD's a little 'blonde' tonight too--j/k, JD, ya know we luv ya...this is the Richmond Raceway info:
Guests attending the Emerson Radio 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Sunday, September 7, scheduled for 7:00 p.m., are encouraged to arrive at Richmond International Raceway no later than 4:00 p.m., due to the egress of traffic following the 1:00 p.m. start of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
red, what they do there is they have the other areas blocked off by ushers to try and make people sit on the frontstretch--just like you say, to make it look full! They would open sections as the others looked full. Then you'd always see a few folks go up to some remote spot all by themselves, lol.
I agree Red I couldn't believe what I was hearing. why can't we have this in the Cup. Is it the 1 good race coverage - 1 bad race coverage?
Cup got the bad today?
Hmm, when you have 3 rookies going 3-wide at Richmond, a wreck is inevitable...
Not a good sign when your brakes are aflame :)
I just thought of something. I guess Eury Sr has some more milking to do since BK is a lap down.
It would have been nice to see a camera shot of the race off pit road instead of the extra-long shot of the 16 team climbing back over the pit wall after their stop. Pit stop coverage has really been poor all day long. Whatever happened to the triple-split?
Dot,
This blog is the only place where I hear the word "milking" on a regular basis. Funny.
glen I must be way blond, what's wrong with JD part?
I may have missed it - did anyone say what was wrong with the 88?
Supposedly it was chattering & wanted to turn on its own? Any update?
I just FF'd again to get caught up.
And they focused on the Nationwide series drivers too. But did anybody hear what happened to Clauson? He's out but at least he's in car for the rest of the year.
Liked Petree throwing it to Burns in the pits. Think they're getting a bit punchy?
Not trying to be punny...
:)
glenc1: that sort of seating strategy seems to work well. aside from the advantages for the track, i think it's great for the fans b/c otherwise, they'd be spread out all over the track! keeping them all together does create an energy -- at least at the truck races, where they use this seating plan all the time. and i still haven't figured out how those lone fans get to those seats and don't get chased away??!
jo: and THAT is my biggest frustration: the very same crew, a few hours later, and they're doing a far better job. i'm also noticing that they're doing a GREAT job of not only showing the contact that leads to the caution but also the beating and banging that preceded it! it's just so freakin' tough when we KNOW it can be done far better than what we saw this afternoon.
@ Alex, just doing my job, lol.
I know when we attend the Truck and Busch (we have never attended a Nationwide race there yet) series races at Texas Motor Speedway, they have the backstretch seats closed. But they get more fans for Nationwide races at TMS than California did for a cup race. Go figure!
Red,
It makes sense to bunch up the crowd. I would enjoy being the only person in a section so I could spread out and relax, but it looks terrible on TV.
Dang it, forgot I set Tivo to record that new vampire show on HBO. Off to ESPN360 so I'll be a few laps behind everyone
so, is that inside wall at richmond safer barrier? didn't look like it when the #38 backed into it right there.
and does anyone know if there's a source that gives that information on a track-by-track basis? i seem to recall a question about safer barrier locations at a track a while ago and i never could find a site that has that info.
I know the attendance figures that are released are for paid attendance, but I'd be curious to see how many people actually were at the race. It doesn't seem like more than 20-30 thousand.
On the IRL, they knew dixon hadn't won the race by the time he pulled in (could here pa announcer), but ABC had to get the $1,000,000 check presentation in before cutting to the news...that promoter paid big money for the series championship...so they rushed to get that done...the abc guy should have told dixon, but he whimped out
Bevo it's on again but my DVR is busy recording VL
@ Vicky D,
The bullring at LVMS gets more fans than CA.
Red,
I don't know of a site with specific information, but if you go to jayski they have a section with race track information and news. From there you might be able to find the wall info for various tracks.
red, totally agree...why can they do a better job now? Is there a different producer?
alex...JD had it backwards, they were told to get there *before* 4, not after. But I know it's all very confusing. And 'terri' pointed out on the other blog, where were they going to park? That's a legit concern. There are a lot of 'satellite' lots with shuttles, so I'm guessing that's the answer. They did keep a lane going in after the Cup race just in case.
it's a bit odd -- but very, very nice! -- to be able to see clear air beneath the front ot the n'wide cars! i'm so used to seeing that freakin' splitter on the cup car!
hey alex! i have a vague memory of trying that before but i may have intended to do so and never got there. will try again after the race. thanks.
red said...
it's a bit odd -- but very, very nice! -- to be able to see clear air beneath the front ot the n'wide cars! i'm so used to seeing that freakin' splitter on the cup car!
September 7, 2008 9:13 PM
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I know what ya mean. Enjoy it while we can, the NW Cot is coming...supposedly in 2010
Refreshing to see racing back in the pack so close to the end.
Hey, I got the 4PM right!
OMG!! They showed a few cars passing the finish line..unreal.
nice finish. good to see all cross the finish line.
enjoyed the race.
Jo,
From what I've seen/heard, the Nationwide COT is like the current Nationwide car, but with a front end similar the cut COT. At least they have a traditional rear spoiler instead of a wing.
And then show the entire field finishing! This was the best ESPN broadcast in a very long time!
Thanks Alex!!
I was worried NW was gonna get a scale model of a fake car!
Sorry, typo... front end like the CUP cot. Need to cut back on supporting Clint Bowyer's sponsor.
I enjoyed the broadcast and show the finishers crossing the line.
Thank you for showing the cars crossing the line!
See how much better it is when you don't run prerecorded bits during green flag racing?
Yes, you did, JD, lol!
red, it's not 'proof', but at RIR.com you can look at your ticket site and see your view. On that 'video' it looks like there are SAFER barriers on the outside, but NOT the inside of the front or backstretch. They need to fix that.
well, here's a thought: maybe one of the major differences between the two races is that the n'wide guys get to actually RACE the car. the difference between the n'wide and cup cars is astounding when you see them race back to back as we have today. makes me very, very scared for 2010.
still and all, i still don't understand why the very same broadcast crew did a decent job on one race and did a terrible job on the other. there seemed to be a whole lot of racing in cup midpack today but we didn't get to see/hear about it. not so this evening.
maybe, as sophia had suggested, i am raced out. at least punch didn't call carl's somersault a backflip tonight so that's something.
i guess.
I found the racing today and tonight refreshing since they didn't revolve around KyB. Stayed back far enough to not be an issue.
Nice job ESPN, appreciated the effort to talk about more than the usual suspects.
Never did hear from Josh Wise when he crashed out or Reut when he was in the garage for 11+ laps and missed a few lucky dogs but in general much much better than I expected
There will be some columns up shortly about the weekend.
Don't forget NASCAR Now at 5PM and TWIN at 8PM on Monday.
There is a live NASCAR Now coming up on ESPN2...stay tuned.
JD
Well I'll be. Shannon asked a question that made sense and didn't go for the second silly question.
Jamie did well also.
There's something to be said for having to get off the air quick. No time for the stupid question.
Figures, I get 'raced out' before the NW and miss some 'decent' coverage for ESPN.
Well, IIRC, they shaped up the middle series races last season but the CUP still stunk.
Who was asking if soph knew about Zippy on the pit box tonight? Nope, didn't know that.
J LO ain't gonna work as it's Jennifer Lopez nik.
I say we call Logano "Toast"!! :-)
Because if he doesn't live up to his title of SB, that's what he will be, lol.
I wonder if a different producer/director ran the show tonight.
Anon
Interesting explanation about the IRL rushing the check to tv. STILL HORRIBLE decision..but I will take your word on it.
Hey Kiteman! I'm a new visitor! And doesn't everyone pretty much use the crystal clear clarity of hind sight to make their observations?
OMG! Did anybody catch Wind Tunnel. (IRL does that ANNOYING split screen crap like NASCAR does with wife in one side, driver in the other!)
At the close of his show, Dave said he is going to do his show with the IRL SPLIT window from now on so his wife can cheer him on during the show!!
LMAO. That is the most OVERUSED SPLIT screen and I hate it.
some folks call it the KIM BURTON screen as I guess they did it a lot with her over the years.
I did not know where to post this so sorry if this is not appropriate JD.
Sometimes I think we need a comment section for the Sunday night shows, but you work hard enough for us. :-)
JD: Maybe you just put a open forum post out here on Sunday afternoons with the conversation directed by what ever comes to mind of the visitor!
What a boring race that was to watch. The Nationwide race was covered no better by Jerry Punch than the Cup race. I just turned it off when Wind Tunnel came on because Dave Despain could ahve called that race better than what Jerry Punch did.
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