This is a very big week for the entire NASCAR on ESPN TV team. Only Texas, Phoenix and Homestead remain when this Sunday's telecast is over. The weather is perfect, the track is fast and the stories are plentiful.
As usual, it falls to Allen Bestwick to set the table for the fans. Along with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, Bestwick is going to work his way through a wide variety of stories from The Chase to the continual speculation about team mergers.
It should be interesting to see if ESPN talks to Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Camping World and the new seven-year sponsor of the Truck Series. As usual, the challenge for this telecast is to try and strike a balance between The Chasers and the racers.
Bestwick will hand-off to Dr. Jerry Punch at 2PM to get the fans ready for a 2:14PM green flag. Punch will be joined by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree to call the race from the broadcast booth. Down on pit road will be Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro. Tim Brewer will be in the Infield Tech Center.
Punch faces a track that was brutal to tires in the previous race and caused all kinds of trouble for the drivers and teams. Goodyear and their performance will be a major issue once the green flag falls. Mike Massaro has the experience to handle the Goodyear issues and any interviews that may need to be done.
The Truck Series race on Saturday featured high and low groves and the type of run to the finish that this track has become famous for having. With the newly improved Goodyear tires and the COT offering another new combination, this may wind-up being a big story.
Punch will have to call the high-speed action after the restarts until the field gets strung-out and then work hard to keep the fans understanding where the drivers are and how they got there. Hopefully, full field recaps will be standard this week so the problems of the earlier Chase telecasts will fade away.
Tim Brewer may have his hands full this Sunday as this track has proven to break, bend or mutilate many car parts over the years. Brewer has been kind of isolated this season as he is only seen when something needs to be explained. He is really the odd-man out stuck in his own little world of auto supplies.
Fans should look for the triple split on the pit stops and the effective use of the double video boxes throughout the race. The ESPN Director has been very good at keeping the video of the race on the screen under green flag conditions even while doing replays and interviews.
The final lap at this track is always big and how the finish line is handled can add or subtract from the overall telecast. Watching the cars come off the last turn and run down to the line is key and has often resulted in big stories throughout the top ten and beyond.
Keep an eye on the cars that drop out of the race. ESPN has struggled to interview the non-Chasers and this has detracted from the telecasts. Accidents on this track are high-speed and the fans deserve to see and hear from the drivers involved.
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Thanks Bevo for the info !
I think that some of the issues we have been seeing all year as to drivers not being metnioned are just a product of this horrible chase to the championship. I just wonder how differently the broadcasts would sound if we did not have that awful and boring chase.
Yesterday's broadcast on ESPN was excellent so I'm looking forward to this produciton truck responding in a positive way today. Here are the key items I'm looking for to see if any progress has been made:
- Will the production truck let the unscripted on-track action dictate the broadcast's content or will they try to manufacture their own event by following a "script"? Will we see the best side-by-side racing available or zoomed in shots of Chasers running by themselves accompanied by pre-taped comments or full-screen highlights of past races under green?
- Will the production truck allow any non-Chasers to be interviewed after they fall out of the race?
- Will the pit reporters be used effectively and efficiently like they were yesterday, or will we get an overkill of irrelevant and poorly timed reports?
- Will the production truck save sponsored content for caution flags to preserve green flag racing later in the broadcast?
- Will we see the entire field cross the finish line at the end of the race?
It should be interesting to see. Ratings continue to drop for these Cup races on ESPN. NASCAR fans are running to Hotpass, MRN, and Foxtrax left and right because of ESPN's "ignore the track approach" and casual fans are clearly not turning away from football to watch cars being covered up by giant head shots of drivers giving pre-taped comments. The Championship is quickly turning into a runaway. I'm hoping we'll see ESPN go to a "back to basics" approach and just relax and televise an unscripted 500-mile auto race. This reactionary approach has worked great for the Fox Cup, TNT Cup, Speed Truck, ARCA, and ESPN "B-Team" production trucks so I think it's really time for the ESPN Cup truck to follow their lead.
Time to make the donuts....
JD
Oh Lord I just realized that ESPN/ABC is back to a 1 hour prerace, I like the 30 minute version so much better. Time to fire up the DVR and go do another load of laundry
A bonus baby on the set! Ray Evernham in the house this week. Not listed on the ESPN PR sheet.
Hmmmm....
JD
Someone needs to turn down Brad's mike or perhaps he needs to switch to decaf, and now Rusty screaming at me. I'm out of here
You're welcome jojaye.
JD, do you know Rusty's contract status with them for next year? Do they usually do long-term contracts or is year-by-year more the norm?
could be a seriously tough day for nascar here outside of philly: we have the phillies in the world series tonight (tailgating had already started at about, oh, 7 this morning!); eagles play at 1; flyers play as well AND the who are at the concert arena that's part of the sports complex.
so, if espn can't put on the same high-quality shpw they gave us yesterday from memphis, i may consider skipping out to watch football. heresy, i know.
red-
No hockey tonight, I think they're still trying to get the smoke out of the arena :)
OK I've had enough coffee to deal with pre-race now.
I'm hoping that ESPN gives us the kind of coverage we got yesterday. See Stricklin's post above cuz he said it way better than I could.
JD your column was dead on the money with what should be, heres hoping it comes to be.
Jo
OK I've seen the Jeff Gordon pre taped segment many times this weekend. Please do not show it during the race.
Rusty has a multi-year deal in place as does Punch and DJ.
That a hint?
bevo said...
"red-
No hockey tonight, I think they're still trying to get the smoke out of the arena :)"
thanks, bevo! i think i knew that. see what happens when one stays up until, oh, 2AM to watch the phillies pull it out and then has to get up for church? there is simply not enough caffeine in the world to handle that. (of course, the game 3 party adult beverages may -- i say may! -- have contributed a bit as well.)
I am listening to the officials channel. sounds like a fire in the 43 pit
Hahaha I laughed at Elliott jumping into the background of the Biffle interview, and then here comes Jamie doing the same.
I hate how the sport has become so sponsor driven, but that was pretty funny.
I think I heard it was chug points for charity this weekend...
It's always chug points for charity. The winning driver's favorite charity gets a big check from Coke at the end of the year. I heard the Biff's in the lead.
Bevo, thanks for the Hotpass list. You are the man
Anyone else having audio problems with the broadcast? I'm watching WPVI in Philly and their audio keeps cutting out every few seconds.
Oh didn't know it was for charity.. alright chug away then.
I'm comcast outside Philly and no sound issues here
I think there is a special push this weekend...coke-town and all.
Thanks for the info on the chug points. It seems like there is extra incentive this weekend, especially since Coke headquarters are in Atlanta.
Hi everyone - havent been with you for couple weeks... good to be with ya.
I dont see the point in doing those interviews IN the pickups.
its always noisy / windy and its something that could be taped.
doesnt make much sense.
DJ is not shy about his opinion that the COT needs to be changed for next season. Amazing that Rusty, Brad and Ray have said nothing about that topic.
JD
Hmm, maybe it's an issue with Dish Network then. All the commercials are fine, but the broadcast keeps dropping the audio. No issues on any other channels though.
i'm on comcast and wpvi outside philly as well and no sound issues here.
wow, there's a lot of empty seats, even Jr. pointed it out. With some of the best races on the circuit, it'd really be a shame to see this place go the way of Rockingham. Granted the southeast is hardest hit by the economy right now, but wow they're lucky is they're at 3/4 full, and on a beautiful day too (can't blame rain this time)
interesting comment there from dale: "I wish the fans would come out and buy some tickets." sure does look empty right now but, then again, fans may still be coming in.
still, for nascar, that has to be an unsettling comment from a chase driver.
Tires - Tires - Tires....
ya think we could get a comment from Goodyear ??
all the speculation and why dont we hear from a Goodyear Rep ??
Producer has lacked substance much of this season.
Lazy producing.
"I think that we just spoke to the entire field here"
WTF!- You missed about 25 drivers.
Good correction from AB. Well, maybe most of the 1st half of the field. Although it should have been most of the top 13.
The comment "we spoke to most of the drivers" pretty much tells me (& I hope to be wrong) the script is written, and will be heard today. I hope I'm wrong after yesterday.
Some sections look as sparse as a truck race. Yikes ! Thats why JR commented. Other sections packed solid, but still thats a lot of empty seats - hopefully they are just late getting in.
When we used to go it was always mostly full by race start.
I'm having the same audio issues on my station out of Traverse City. Had the same problem last week and read on another blog that others had it too. Sure wish I knew what the problem is - 2 weeks in a row and very annoying. Commercials are fine, but the race coverage keeps cutting in and out.
Thanks JD, think I can add 2 and 2 :)
Are you on Dish Network as well?
That was so much better than last week's anthem. I'll take it as a good sign.
BTW, I'm usually posting as brotherflounder, but I'm having issues with OpenID today.
I'm hoping an odd wad (non chaser) wins today to mess up the script.
Hm. How about talking about Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle, who have much better chances to win the Chase than Edwards?
Oh, wait. They're not superstars.
dot - So am I. Specifically, Mark Martin.
Bias? What bias? :D
Do they not even bother trying to interview Smoke anymore? It's like ESPN doesn't even want to try lol. Unless they interviewed him during the one time I got up to let our dogs out.
Parsons says each team has 13 sets of tires.
@andrew Hi brother!
@dot wouldn't it be great not only for an odd wad to win - but lead a bunch of laps too. Rueti would be a nice ending.
anon 2:13 -- agreed in re: espn "avoiding" stewart. i also don't remember seeing an interview with harvick. or kenseth. or hamlin. ya' know, if they're gonna focus on the chasers, at least focus on ALL the chasers.
and espn? young mr busch is no longer in the top 10. you're reaching outside your script to squeeze him in. unless . . . ?
No Goodyear rep and no Tony Stewart. Did they mention the Camping World deal?
JD
Kyle is in because he won the last race in Atlanta not because he is in the Chase. The script is in full swing, this is not good.
I also like the idea of Reut winning but I am actually hoping for the 24 so we can stop hearing about that streak until next year.
No Camping World mention - since trucks are on Speed & its not in the script.
jd: just a brief mention as they reviewed some of the economic bullet points from this past week. nothing in detail.
Red ty for that I had the tv fairly loud but went to get coffee,
Is Sam H a weapon or what? How does he still have a ride?
Edwards hitting Johnson under caution, Biff upset about the flag at the start
dot..i am curious--and plan on looking up the stats--as to how many races he has been in that he wasn't involved in anything. I'll research and let you know here later.
i know we're less than 5 laps in but there's already been some shuffling and racing back in the pack and we're seeing . . . the #48 and #99 running alone out front. not a great sign.
I actually get the station on cable, but they get it through Dish Network if that makes any sense. Anyone else having issues besides the two of us?
Did they mention any of the cars who came down pit road?
And it looks like Bill Elliott has given us an early chance to see how ESPN is planning to approach this race. Will this non-Chaser be interviewed if he indeed goes behind the wall?
I sure hope DJ and Andy aren't disciplined for their positive comments about Jimmie Johnson's outlook today, saying he had a good long-run car despite being down on the speed charts in practice. ESPN seems hell-bent already on the storyline "Jimmie Johnson's car is junk, Chasers tend to have bad races here, so we might have a major turnaround in the point standings today" and DJ and Andy were having none of it. Good for them.
For those of you who are here for the first time, this is a blog about the TV coverage of NASCAR.
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Thanks,
JD
Thanks anon 2:24, shouldn't be too hard. I'm guessing 32 races.
HP Johnson channel having problems, picture blacking out and audio jumping
That does it. ESPN won't even show us the REST of the top ten battling it out. Other CHASERS.
This is beyond ridiculous.
Hm. Ask and ye shall receive, eh?
JD,
Do you not want any HotPass talk?
Somebody has the laptop going!
I got off the phone with Dish Network a few minutes ago, and it's an issue on their end. They're going to look into it.
Nothing has been mentioned about Bill Elliot's Mellon team being there for his send off today. I'm not surprised, tho.
Bevo,
No problem with Hot Pass. I am talking to them about how to get better Internet coverage for next season. They really need to expand beyond the DirecTV world.
Thanks for asking.
JD
hm believe it or not the 77 has only crashed out of 4 races this season. NASCAR.com doesn't go in depth as to accidents involved in. Seems alot more to me, but there were times when he was able to get back out and finish the race. Eight races are all he has finished on the lead lap though.
Gah. All the usual problems.
1. Bumper cams instead of showing side-by-side racing
2. Pit reporters instead of calling the race.
3. No showing any racing outside of the top 10.
I've got PRN on and I've muted the race. Enough is enough.
All Chaser coverage all the time.
wait! we just heard that in-car audio and now the booth doesn't follow up on it? who was it? what was he talking about? what's the issue?
again, i am sleep deprived so if i missed the set-up to that piece of audio, i apologize.
and if i have to hear dj say "i've been watching those guys back there and they're pretty racy" and we haven't a hint -- visual or verbal -- that there's anything happening, i'm gonna plotz!
and now the side by side cam that is totally useless for showing us racing and it comes as dj is telling us (once again) about how hard the guys are racing.
The script today seems to be jimmie,jimmie,jimmie with mentions of Carl thrown in occasionally.
Jerry does get fired up when he "throws" to commercial break. If he did that as Carl passed JImmie it might have been a nice touch.
Anyone ready for a race recap already?
JD
This is frustrating. I am "watching" foxtrax. Its like watching the race through the matrix. I can see that there are lots of cars actually racing mid-pack and yet nothing from ESPN...
Pemberton doing a great job covering the other drivers too.
ESPN doesnt want to miss the pass for the lead...
Staying with a battle that needs more laps to develop.
So far its a par show. PRN doing good, already went through the field
And already we're missing a lot of racing because of a "script". I can't believe that a behind-the-scenes production truck member could possible reason "Why show the 99 and 16 racing for second place when I can instead show zoomed in shots of Chasers running by themselves, throw it to an overkill of generic pit reports that aren't related to anything that's happened today, and .... the ultra important story of red shoes vs. black shoes?". Now video bumpers under green, not just the usual one-driver version, but a multi-driver version.
Yep, that was certainly wishful thinking on my part hoping anything would change in this production truck. Looks like another LONG day in store on the TV side.
Jess,
If you were watching Foxtrax and listening to the radio you would probably be enjoying a completely different race.
even the text question of the race is about JJ...
JD, I can only multi-task so much;) Two scanners, Foxtrax, ESPN and this blog....
a new record for me: i already have mrn on the radio and espn on mute (again, with that great closed captioning!) only took about 20 laps
those in the philly area: mrn = 1440 AM WNPV.
Editor, is there anyone at the network we can email/write to about their coverage and would it do any good to complain?
88 fast by ALOT
Uhhh...Elliott didn't hit Riggs
Carl lost the lead because he didn't get into his stall with the nose pointed out. Credit Johnson for doing a good job pinning Carl in.
Okay, now I think it's safe to say we have our first case of a car going behind the wall. I sure hope we see him interviewed by ESPN.
A great thing about HotPass - during a commercial under caution turning on Jr's team audio :)
I feel sorry for the people that are ESPN-only today. On MRN they are discussing pit stops, while ESPN has stats of the Tennessee Titans.
Speed led a lap. Will they tell us?
huh. i thought this was a nascar program but when i looked up, i was seeing football stats on the screen. another thing that makes you go "hmmmmm."
If the best ESPN can do for in-race analysis is Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty then they have major problems.
Listening to them discuss Johnson and Edwards pit was hard to listen to.
Hi Lis,
Just post your views right here. The ESPN boys read this every day. Then they email me and yell! :)
Wow, JP told us Speed led a lap.
What's with the fascination of Edwards leading the most laps in this race by ESPN.
PRN doesn't seem to mention it nor do the analysts on Yahoo.
They are wasting so much time on the five-point bonus instead of showing all of the racing behind the top two drivers.
PRN with a Scott Riggs interview right now. Will ESPN do this too?
I'm getting the weird sound thing too in western NY--I have Dish but I'm watching on cable (T-W). I knew it must be a feed issue cause it was even doing it during the commercials. It's really irritating...like when we had 'records' that were warped...(I know you young uns probably don't know what records were, lol...)
You know, on pre-race (I think it was Raceday...) they had a replay of an Atlanta finish with Allen calling it--it was SO much more exciting than what we have now. There's football I need to watch (the late game)...
I do think DJ and Andy are doing a good job, but they need direction to cover more than Jimmie & Carl...
mrn interviewing scott riggs, who is out of his car. says the #19 did NOT get into him, that the #19 had a good run on him, he tried to get out of the way and spun himself. david: you called it.
The HP crawl is highlighting only the drivers who still have a chance for the championship instead of all the chase drivers.
for those of you complaining about football stuff, during an ESPN college game I saw them talking about the Chase--it works both ways...as long as it's kept to a minimum I don't care. Frankly, it's less annoying to me than Fox or TNT pushing its shows...
DJ has said now 3 times that there is racing all over the track. Maybe the production truck will listen to him and show us some.
"mrn interviewing scott riggs, who is out of his car. says the #19 did NOT get into him, that the #19 had a good run on him, he tried to get out of the way and spun himself. david: you called it."
thanks red, it wasnt hard to see if you watched the tape. it looked odd to see scott go dead right but that makes sense....that is a spot where he is lifting and the car is coasting, pulling it too quick in either direction leads to bad things.
PRN is doing the coverage this weekend though, not MRN. Thanks for the follow up, I was outside looking under a truck for an oil leak lol
Did you catch that bumper music?
ESPN People: Your coverage sucks. Wish I could be more PC but there you go. If I was a 48 or 99 fan i'd love today's race coverage, but i'm a 20/12/18/17 fan. I see 17 is in 3rd but you haven't bothered to acknowledge that fact. I can't wait till Feb. and hear DW say boogity boogity boogity. As for the rest of this season, I have TV on mute now,mrn on radio and Smoke on scanner.
jd said (in part):
"The ESPN boys read this every day. Then they email me and yell! :)"
i believe that's called "shooting the messenger," jd!
well there was 4 minutes I won't get back, watching the screen I see just the 99, guess the other cars went home.
well there was 4 minutes I won't get back, watching the screen I see just the 99, guess the other cars went home.
Red I see the comedy tour has started LOL. I guess I'll watch the racing on Foxtrax, I can actually see cars passing each other even if it is just gray lines.
thanks, david: my local station carries both mrn and prn for sprint cup races so i keep forgetting which track has which network!
Can we get more bumper cam coverage please?
I'm very disappointed that ESPN has apparently chosen not to interview Scott Riggs. I guess the storyline "Elliott Sadler is an idiot and wrecked Scott Riggs on the straightaway" fits the script much better than the truth. Thanks to my fellow TDP readers for filling in the gaping holes ESPN is leaving in their coverage.
Non-Chasers Interviewed After Falling Out: 0-1
Keep the rundown going. We need to know the rest of the field please.
Red, they are nice guys, just locked into a system they do not control.
JD
Did notice bumper music on Burton's channel a couple of times was REM, appropriate for the area.
Why no word on Bowyer? He's running 23rd. Not golden enough?
dot,
Memories of Fox! Just need a Digger cam moment.
It looks like mikey is making the most of his 1000th start. hopefully that fact will get him noticed by espn...
OK, this is getting kind of really bad. Lots of cars on the track guys!
Hate to keep saying it but HotPass is so much better, they keep you informed on alot more then their dedicated driver and not just the chosen scripted ones.
jd, i don't doubt they are great folks who touch base with you and i can empathize that they're stuck in that hot mess that is espn's nascar coverage. i'm also sure you weren't being literal (i hope!) but for me, it's symptomatic of what's so wrong with nascar and most of the media partners, including espn: if you don't like what you're being told by the fans, get angry at them for being so bold as to have an opinion that disagrees.
Could all of the bumper cam shots be advertiser driven?
Knaus is calm and collected...so Jerry Punch says he must be "heavily medicated".
WHAT???
JP would know about being heavily medicated.
Stop talking Punch.
@jessica - probably not hes not in the Chase, he is on Speed network & he is not one of the golden ones. Nope no mentions not in todays script
did doc just offer a medical opinion: "chad must be heavily medicated. he doesn't get too excited . . ."
Props where due...thanks for mikey shout-out
Pemberton doing a great job with other action on the track since Johnson is cruising.
OK JD we have asked for a few things that have come true. How many laptops are reading this blog? Could they fix the rest of the coverage?? I'm starting to believe in miracles....
Brad Daugherty adds absolutely nothing of interest.
Let the season end.... ESPN has proven to be the worst of the networks covering NASCAR.
I can't believe they are STILL pushing the "Jimmie Johnson's going to have a terrible finish today" angle. Sure he MIGHT, just like the other 42 cars on the track might crash or blow up at any moment. This constant obsession of the doom and gloom that is awaiting the 48 car at the end of today is absolutely absurd, in my opinion.
Here's a thought. This is unscripted. If he blows up or crashes, then document the points hit he's going to take when it happens. When he's leading early or running in 6th place 100 laps in, SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY. Wish all you want for Jimmie to have a bad day ESPN, but I'm sorry unless you have God-like powers or unless one of your camera operators or pit reporters is going to throw something on the track for him to run over or tackle the gas man and tire changers so he can't leave pit road you won't have any influence over him having bad luck.
Golden golden boy JJ spanked for speeding. Let's see if the others can capitalize on this.
Jo,
ESPN is story-driven and not race oriented. That is a problem across the board for ESPN and is a result of the Sr. management.
Internet blogs complain about NFL and other sports having the exact same problems as we know NASCAR coverage is having.
That is why I ran the story about John Skipper from ESPN saying the network was going back to old school type coverage of major events.
In the bigger picture, ESPN is doing much better than last season when they invented the "casual fan" and tried to serve that non-existent group all-season long.
Now that JJ has gotten himself a lap down, it should be interesting to see how the NASCAR on ESPN team responds.
I am sure there was a very interesting discussion taking place during that last commercial break.
JD
and prn comes out of commercial and immediately starts a FULL FIELD run down -- all 43 cars!
has espn set the field yet today?
Well full field run down on PRN Can we get one from espn on abc?
BTW Full is the operative word.
jd said (in part):
"I am sure there was a very interesting discussion taking place during that last commercial break."
looks to me as if they're searching for a story to create as opposed to just letting the race itself dictate the coverage.
Punch, for all the talk about how he has been around the sport and was great on pit road, seems like he has no idea on how to analyze races from the booth. His poor play-by-play is well documented, but it's like he doesn't realize that because Johnson fell to 29th with 225 laps the points don't change until the end of the race.
He needs to stop wishing for this failure of the 48 and trying to create drama.
Quite simply, Johnson has moved up 2 spots already and unless he wrecks or has a problem, he can get himself back in position throughout the rest of the race. We all know this.
But Punch seems confused in talking about the race as it happens.
Bestwick should take over mid-race. Punch can't handle any change in the script and it shows.
Keep updating the point standings every five laps. Create as much drama as possible. Pllllease.
wow! did espn say how many rounds did they take out/put in on that #9 car just then? thought that poor guy's arm was gonna seize up.
Got ABC on and am noticeing DEI Mikey & Raines all being mentioned,Whats up with that? It's good but whats up with that?
It seems like the director is following the action better today, and I really like the side by side boxes with battles in both.
I didn't think Shannon was really any better yesterday, but she does seem better today, except for the over perkyness, better to let Jamie interviw Dale Jr.
debris caution
Yay, a NASCAR "debris" caution!
3bud: when the #48 fell back, they couldn't figure out what to cover and so tried actually covering the race. i suspect they've decided that wasn't the right course and we'll now watch the #99 run around the track endlessly . . .
@ Red, ditto.
Oh I remember last years casual fan insanity. I keep telling myself this year is better - still if the truck would allow the race to be the story & follow it, stories will be abundant.
I'm a 48 fan and even I can't stand this coverage. Blah, blah, Jimmie Johnson the 48, blah, blah, Jimmie Johnson the 48, more blah, blah. Then he goes a lap down and I swear DJP almost wet himself with glee, so now DSPN can give us the current points (what all do those mean, anyway?) and OMG Jimmie's only 93 points ahead. Is anyone else on the track?
Sorry folks JJ is now in the lucky dog spot he will STILL be the story and even this 48 fan thinks that is a mistake.
Another "debris" caution soon. JJ next in line for LD. Have to stay with the script.
terri: it's the same complaint i have with how dale is over-covered. in my mind, it causes folks to get ticked off at the driver, as if it's HIS fault that the media can't leave him alone.
if they would all just cover the race, a ton of that would go away.
Lucky for Espn and having the 48 up front trying to get his lap back. That will make their script work.
wow even jj fans don't like it!
and yes dot another caution
and Chad in a box puhleez
Wow they had a Chad clip all lined up just in case something happened. Wonderful.
This almost makes it worse for the coverage. Now they are focusing on showing and talking about a car that is a lap down. I know he is the points leader and I am a fan of his, but this is not the time to be covering a car in 20th place and a lap down.
(hey jd? an aside here. early in last night's world series game in philly, they actually used what we here lovingly call "gopher cam": a field-level shot from the pitchers mound to the catcher. made the folks i was watching with sit up and ask -- and i quote! -- "WTF was THAT?" i sighed and said "we call it 'gopher cam." but it was nice to be able to explain it.)
What's funny about this coverage is that Burton is in 17th and Biffle is in 18th..a few spots ahead of Johnson.
So the 1-2-3 guys in the points are around the same position, while Punch keeps hyping the story of Edwards making up a ton of points 200 laps from the finish of the race.
Oh, yes, let's cover the perpetual loser, Michael Waltrip...saying how well he's doing. Oh, that's right, it's his 1000th Nascar start. And Bill Elliott is coming to 3 races of finishing his illustrious career,and he gets nary a mention. There is not justice at DSPN.
There are only 19 cars on the lead lap. You'd think they would go thru the field.
This coverage is truly a disgrace. I thought after Jimmie Johnson built this huge points lead that ESPN would finally lighten up on the Chase hype and relax and just cover an auto race. What happened instead? ESPN is going berzerk talking as if they installed a detonator in the 48's engine this morning and are just waiting for the right moment to push the button. They are all over the "something bad's going to happen to Jimmie today" storyline. DJ and Andy tried to explain that his car is actually good on long runs, but ESPN had none of it. Punch hyped his slow fast-lap speeds on practice and the truck ran stats on Chasers finishing bad in prior Atlanta races. They ran a poll question asking fans what track Jimmie would finish the worst at. They overwhelmingly picked Homestead (which makes sense because they presume that he'll all-but have the title wrapped up by then and will run conservative in that race), Punch immediately disagreed and said he had a "feeling" today's race at Atlanta would be that day. Jimmie pulled over and let Kurt Busch pass him. The truck immediately put the crew chief on camera to catch the shocked, angry, and panicked reaction... and Chad Knaus did nothing, because it was just one pass for position. No big deal.
Scott Riggs (non-Chaser) fell out after a wreck that the booth announcers mis-construed. They threw Elliott Sadler under the bus for wrecking him, which didn't happen. Did ESPN care to follow up? No, because he's not one of the Chasers.
I have officially had enough of ESPN's garbage. I'm off to Hotpass for the rest of the day and will no longer be watching anything produced by this ESPN Cup producion truck until I hear from JD or you guys that something has changed. This scripted ignore-the-track style of coverage is not acceptable at all and ESPN needs a massive overhaul in their approach to covering the Cup Series.
I hope you guys that are stuck with ESPN as your only alternative to race coverage continue to watch and give ESPN hell for their ridiculous approach to covering the Cup Series. I'll be checking in with JD and you guys to see if anything ever changes and if it's ever safe to come back.
Have a great day.
not part of the script Dot..
Right now on DirecTV in the Central time zone the Bucs-Cowboys game is #1 and the race is #2
@ red good point that's why I got HotPass.I guess I was just hoping someone was listening at ESPN.
Caution
wreck
under caution: the #9 spun, no one esle collected.
Kasey Kahne spins and brings out the caution....and ESPN is still in commercial.
CAUTION. And now back to the script.
espn commercials...caution again.
@Dot - that would make to many people too happy espn is not into people pleasing. 19 cars on lead lap is too many for a thru the field.
Kahne is the "debris". At least we got to see it.
It's too bad that this coverage is terrible.
DJ and Andy are trying, but the rest of this team is terrible.
GREAT save by kahne there! and when that sort of thing happened in memphis yesterday, the caution did NOT fly. i'm just sayin' . . .
Adam Alexander with the line of the day on the Burton channel as they showed the 9 - "that is what you call needing a chassis adjustment" :)
Whatever happened to Bob Jenkins? Damn I miss him...
jd, any chance of hotpass being available on comcast next season? at this point they could name their price...
Shouldn't someone tell Punch it's not a somersault but a backflip? It's one thing to get it wrong live, but quite funny and sad to watch when it's a promo for something and ESPN continues to let him get it wrong.
Something must have happened to Reut he's spending a long time on pit road, so is Mikey and he was in the top 10 before pitting. 48 Did a slow stop too but that was on purpose since he's the lucky dog and will start end of the longest line anyway
@ Red 3:46, good point. Why is Cup different? Oh wait, Golden Boy was a lap down.
@ anon 3:47, Jenkins called the IRL race last night. Nice to hear his voice.
Every week the race coverage is a debacle. Hard to watch, impossible to listen to, and sad that this is the supposed worldwide leader.
Bob Jenkins is in Australia, he called the Indy Car race on ESPN Classic last night.
JD it seems DJ&AP always try hard and do a good job I like them both alot in the booth but you can only do so much with what you are given to work with.Problems with Jr.'s tear off.
Bob Jenkins was doing the IRL support races for ESPN from his home in the Indy area.
No clue what he will be doing next season with the IRL going to Versus except for five races.
There is no doubt in my mind that the smart folks at DirectTV are going to really push Hot Pass once the season is over.
I will be updating news on Hot Pass soon I hope.
JD
Ah Jr's tear off blew off.
Bevo,
That must have been fun, despite the fact it was the IRL.
I've never heard a network talk about the five point bonus as much as ESPN is today. Talking about Edwards needing that five points to help makeup a 198 point deficit is not what their coverage should be about right now.
I notice that in a cup race nascar is so much faster to throw the caution than in the NW or truck series races. No need to call it for Kahne's spin.
BTW I think DirecTV will fight to keep HotPass an exclusive just like Sunday Ticket
why?why do we need to give jj credit for getting his lap back??? really Andy?
2 cars - each in its own box - exciting racin
Anon 3:49PM,
I am not so sure anyone can tell Punch anything right about now.
We have posted that topic several times and he just continues to call it wrong.
JD
Lap 160 would be a REALLY good time to do a full field rundown because I am very confused about who is where and why right now.
It was a non-points race last night but Jenkins is so smooth it was a pleasure to watch
what's making me unhappy about the junk that espn puts out there as a cup broadcast has several elements:
1. they do a much better job when covering n'wide.
2. the poor job they do leads folks to believe that there's no good racing at some of these tracks. in listening to mrn/prn these past two races and muting espn, i've come to believe that, while not the hard racing we've loved in the past, it isn't as horrible as we're being led to believe from watching espn.
3. it's just so disrespectful of our sport and i cannot believe it would happen or be tolerated in any stick and ball coverage that eson handles.
4. the over-emphasis on selected drivers is reflected back on those drivers, even as they have absolutely no control over it.
5. they miss the 6,392 other stories that happen each week b/c they focus so much on what someone, somewhere has determined is "THE STORY" (please read that with appropraite gravitas!)
all this means fewer eyeballs on the tv and those who are watching are unhappy. bad enough nascar is trying desperately to shoot itself in the foot; espn doesn't have to be the on who helps them pull the weapon out of the holster and stands by with the second bullet in case the first one misses!
Got a thru the field on PRN - how about it espn? 1 thru the field, completely?
Montoya up to 9th
Thanks for the tip on Jenkins on IRL - I had it on last night but the volume was turned down as I was listening to the World of Outlaws Sprints on Dirtvision. IRL repeats tonight at 11EDT on ESPN2 to I'll tune in just to listen to Bob again - he's the BEST in my book.
Let's see how far back they go with this.
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