Here we go with the final race in what has been a fun series for the fans and TV viewers all year long.
Krista Voda kicks-off The Set-Up pre-race show with Darrell Waltrip as her co-host. There is lots of truck news and a great race to preview.
Once the action starts, Voda will move to pit road as SPEED has added a third pit road reporter for this event. Waltrip will move up to the booth and join his brother Michael for the race.
Rick Allen and Phil Parsons are the face of the Craftsman Truck Series on TV and their work has resulted in a tremendous year for the series and SPEED. Expect the entire on-air crew to be pumped-up for this Friday night finale.
The TV production has been a blast to watch. SPEED kicks it "old school" and lets the fans just watch the race with minimal interruptions. No infield panel, no long features and no fancy "bumpers" leading to commercial allow TV viewers to focus on the race and not the TV network covering it.
This post will serve to host your comments about the final night of the Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page.
Thanks for joining us for this last truck race of 2008!
125 comments:
HDTV & wireless at my hotel, but NO SPEEDTV!
My advice would be to find a sportsbar with a dish.
Last week was a blast ,what started out as a bad first lap with Hornaday wrecking was anything but with the SPEED crew at the helm. Then the Benson problems then 3 points. I've been looking forward to this race all week , although not the fact that this is the final truck race of the year,and for Craftsman. Thank you Craftsman for the support you have given the trucks and the great racing you have let the fans enjoy so much since 1995.
DW is not working so well for me in the pre-race show.
Well pre-race was interesting. I was hoping for better DW. Maybe during the race?
Those Craftsman outtakes were really funny.
DW is excitable. I don't expect him to calm down too much, JD.
OT. Just saw the shuttle launch from my driveway. Wow!!!
Ray Dunlap is hilarious.
I don't know much about DW and his racing days. As a "personality" for television I think he does an excellent job. I also don't know a lot about the sport, so with DW's excitement I tend to listen even if he seems a little crazy.
When an announcer can make their "on air" personality fun, informative, and exciting I enjoy the show. Even if the show may not be the best sometimes, the crew can make it worse or in the case of Speed, make it exciting and fun.
Thanks again Speed!
Thank you Craftsman!
The hole anthem done word for word is a rarity.O'er the land of the free!
Not exactly what they had in mind for that part....oops.
38 Speicial mixed with start your engines
All that hype and then a lame start your engines. But they are started. I am a nervous wreck I can't even imagine how JB and Hornaday feel. Can we just get this race started already
Love truck racing, love SPEED! Let's go racing boys! I'm pulling for Benson tonight. And yes, Ray Dunlap is hilarious. Never fails to make my eyes water.
What's with the backround music, turn it down already it's really distracting
Dunlap has a perfect mustache.
4 guys in the booth?!
Hornaday,NUMBER 4!!!
good job DW looking out the window
Complain about DW all you want he was the one looking out the window and noticed the trouble off 4. That said 4 is too many in the booth and I'm worried it will throw off the regular 3 but thanks for adding Krista in the pits.
Let's see if my browser behaves this time...
@karen--yes I was rolling! Those outtakes were hilarious! I've always loved that segment :).
How kewl Karen! I remember looking forward to watching in the AM before school when I was little.
Too bad Speed cut from that shot of Shrub movin through the field
@nrf--yes even though they always have DW in there at Homestead it is a lot of voices. So of course much more opportunity to step all over one another :(
Good passing early on. Wow what a difference as opposed to Cup racing!
We got to see it!Live!
This is some pretty good stuff!!!
and the broadcast is pretty good too.:)
nrf glad to see Krista in the pits too ,a few times this year maybe all or even more work for her next year
newracefan
That music before the race while boys are talking is always HORRIBLE.
should be fun race. Couldn't get into the pre race stuff going on...wow..dw said trouble on four....a guy in the booth that pays attention... Or was that Rick who said that...
anyway, maybe DW isn't as good with Krista as he is the guys..that's ok...kind of fun to see such enthusiasm in the booth so far...I didn't even mind the boogity...
I bet there are no crickets in the booth tonight. :)
Karen,
sounds cool about the shuttle...I didn't know it was going up tonight.
We got lucky on the Florida East Coast. Not a cloud in the sky. My whole neighborhood was out watching the big roman candle.
Anyone thing the booth is kind of having a tough time finding a balance tonight?
I hope the racing on the track stays close.
I had ESPN flaskbacks with that segment. Bumper cams, one and two vehicle shots, and mostly leader talk
amsfan,
Guess the drivers aren't the only ones nervous. Hopefully, they will all settle down a bit.
A little late on this but I swear I was hearing back ground music during the National Anthem, but my surround sound is not really good during the race but it is during commercial, weird as I write this it seems to be back.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Guess the drivers aren't the only ones nervous. Hopefully, they will all settle down a bit.
Sounds like the pit reporters may have a few butterflys too
SPEED is getting everything they wanted out of these early laps.
The Shuttle was pretty cool. I got a couple of decent pictures of it from my house.
So far the race is pretty good, this caution livened it up. The four in the booth are doing well so far.
Frank in Sebring
Thanks for the field rundown!
If you guys get a chance, stop by rowdy.com and give the podcast a listen.
Someone you know might be on it.
DW calling it a night? I thought he did a great job. No toe stepping from him.
Thank you Craftsman - been a fun ride.
Really enjoying Speed's coverage.
Found it JD good to put the voice to the blog, I'll Listen after the race
Nice to let the regular SPEED crew call the end of the last race.
WOW
2 against 2
Keeping wide enough shots of all the action.
Truck racin' is so much fun!
Hornady and Benson ,wow23 to go
well, i'm able to join at about 30 to go and no dw? what was all that pre-race hype about, then?
anyway! great racing, terrific work by the booth as well as the truck, wonderful shots, important information -- just a wonderful way to close out a great season of truck series broadcasting!
many, many thanks to EVERYONE at speed for a tremendous season.
and even more thanks to the truck guys! you guys RULE the tracks! after tonight, if i miss the cup race on sunday, i just won't care! thanks for a great, great job!!
sure wish some web site would give a flip about truck racing and give us alive leaderboard (nudge, nudge, wink, wink,nascar.com!)
They wanted drama, they got it.
Wow - way more drama than in Cup series. And pit stop may determine it. WOW
daly planet editor said...
They wanted drama, they got it.
agreed, jd. and remind me again as to why cup can't just run their championship system this way? there is so much truth in "K.I.S.S.", isn't there?
Thank You to every last one over at Speed for a great year of truck racing & the pre race show!! Wanted to get that in before I forgot.
OK my heart rates up how many laps left with this restart? I can't handle much more. This is great.
This is going to be....big....
I might have to call it a season after this.
There's no way tommorrow or Sunday can be this exciting.
If you guys get a chance, stop by rowdy.com and give the podcast a listen.
Someone you know might be on it.
I wonder who that could be *giggle* I'll check it out :). I don't have Sirius so haven't been able to catch you there...now for a picture of ya :).
Goodness...what an exciting finish this is going to be!
Oh good lord
ams, i totally agree with you: i am thinking it would be sooo disappointing to watch on sunday after this!
It's early on the clock, might have been nice to stay in case someone hit pit road.
WOW!
Now would be a good time for aardvark (for those Nascar Performance insiders)
I put up the Rowdy.com link as a new post so you can post comments on the podcast.
comcast is showing the race scheduled until 10:30 so there should be a great post-race show, doncha think?
You got that right red.
I wish everyone luck going to sleep tonite.
YES!
alright then! i, for one, am NOT going to make too much time for the cup finale on sunday. it just cannot beat tonight.
congrats to benson AND hornaday both!!
Congratulations to Onion for the win and Johnny B. joining Da Biff as the only 2 drivers to win championships in 2 different series :)
Fantastic race. Hoorah for Johnny Benson. Thanks Speed for the great coverage.
I wonder if all of this is going to hit JB. Gone from the BRD, probably gone from the trucks and possibly going to retire.
This is going to be one fascinating interview.
What a great race!!!!
Congrats to Benson on the Championship!
And Congrats to Bodine fans on the win!
Now thats drama! I'll probably listen to Sunday rather than watch it.
AMS yes sleep is going to be a problem, this was fantastic. Congrats JB what a class act.
Another champ without a ride for next year. Good race. Congrats JB and team.
JB's sister is a longtime TDP reader and posts a lot of comments here.
She runs his fanclub and is a really nice person. That whole family is just good people.
What a race.
What a broadcast.
GREAT SEASON SPEED and CRAFTSMAN!
Kevin Harvick vs. Scott Speed...who ya got?
daly planet editor said...
Kevin Harvick vs. Scott Speed...who ya got?
my money's ALWAYS on harvick!
Congratulations to JB and all his team and fans, what a race, what a season.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Kevin Harvick vs. Scott Speed...who ya got?
November 14, 2008 10:03 PM
--
I'll take experience & treachery over youth & skill any day of the week! Wheres Hillbilly? ( Harvicks driver)
For the people who haven't heard, JB is rumored to be going to Red Horse Racing next year.
I hope it's true.
JB has said he has never defended a championship.
JB burned out against the pace car...too funny.
what bout scott speeds restart?? how bad wa sthat..was it intentional?
What a day Reut on the pole, JB wins the championship after a fantastic race. Speed did an excellent job, DW in the booth didn't throw it off too much and they were smart enough to have him step out for the end of the race. So is there any chance ESPN can come close to this type of race broadcast for NW and Cup? One can always hope.
Hope she asks Todd about getting his head polished by Ray with the Craftsman buffer...that was hilarious!!
@nrf- we can only hope!
Sweet of Mad Max to give the Onion some love :)
yep, but Jr fans hold a grudge FOREVER! Even tho I am a Michigander & rooted for JB before he leapt to the foreign cars, I Never forgave him for saying that the 2001 Daytona race in July was rigged for Jr!!! And he never rescinded that statement, unlike Jimmy Spencer.
Good job by Speed tho!
Harvick.
Can hardly wait to hear from JB.
the truck series NEEDS benson to land a solid ride next year. the man has done everything this sport could have asked of him and then some.
yes, i wanted hornaday to take it (mostly b/c of what espn pulled on him mid-season!) but i am THRILLED that benson took it tonight and that he showed fans exactly the kind of balls to the walls racer he has always been and will continue to be next year.
you are a good man, mr. benson, and i am proud to have you representing our sport to the world. thank you.
I hope Shannon Spake and Jamie Little were watching that interview. Outstanding.
JD you blog to God's ears that was a fantastic interview by Ray. Maybe if we are lucky AB will run down from the studio and do the champion interview
A lot of class on Hornadays part in the interview & then to go congrat Benson & Bensons team.
Great interviews with Bodine, Hornaday & Benson. Thats how interviews should be!
espu - hope you all took notes
Such a great race. Thanks SPEED.
I was rooting for Johnny and Ron!! Glad it happened the way it did.. SWEET to see Hornaday come congratulate and hug Johnny....as ams or somebody said, WHY even watch the rest of the weekend?
THIS is what racing is all about. Guys of all ages (or close to mine!!) still racing for the love of the sport....sorry SPEED is not available to ALL.
I thought DW did fine in the booth....left early for the regular group to end...Mikey warned us on TWIN his voice would go up an octave!!
:)
Hi JBs sister :)
My money is always on Happy :)
AMAZING JOB BY JB!!!!!!
excellent call late and how about that call by the booth, and the play by play of Allen?!
Thats what its all about folks!
I think JB will come back, he was on SIRIUS talking about how he's never been able to defend a championship, I just things in the inner workings at BDR caused a difference of views. I havent seen Skinner or any other BDR driver over yet so it makes me wonder a bit.
Hornaday and Harvick were class acts, you can tell the respect JB and Ron have for each other and that is what made this a hella fun battle to watch this season
Daly Planet Editor said...
I hope Shannon Spake and Jamie Little were watching that interview. Outstanding.
Hopefully.
I just think they don't have the credibility that others do.
The sad thing is they will not get it with the ESPN philosophy.
Will the trophy change for next year? I know it didn't for Nextel to Sprint but did before that.... Just wondering
Nice presentation of the trophy. Wonder how long it will take us to quit calling it the Craftsmen series?
Thank you Sears Craftsmen for all the great racing! What a way to go out!
I see Direct TV didn't listen to us about the Vacation commercial but for some reason it's not annoying me as much, I guess that's what happens when your given a great race to watch, both on the track in in the booth/pits
Red
I was also pulling for Ron after the &^%$ ESPN pulled on him as well...but it's all good. CLASSY loser.
The young drivers could learn from watching these guys....
But JB is so full of emotion..ya just want to give him and Ron a hug for a great year. I didn't catch where Skinner finish..anybody else?
Hi Johnny's sister!! :)
Why isn't the Emperor there to crown the champion?
Nice try Ray to get a an answer out of JB for next year.
Great Job SPEED!!!!
Dot he never is, I prefer Helton anyway
@david- Skinner came over right after Hornaday. Who knows who came over during commercials.
Nice way to close out the season on SPEED. What more can you ask for where racing on TV is concerned?
Thanks all for stopping by, don't forget the Rowdy.com podcast when you get a chance.
Congrats JB and the SPEED gang!
Dot said...
Why isn't the Emperor there to crown the champion?
November 14, 2008 10:27 PM
That would mean he was paying attention? Or that he cared?
Nope not a chance!
@ nrf, I do too.
However, it would be nice to see him pretend to care. Too bad his beloved Cup series isn't like the trucks. What a burn on him.
Robyn,
Did Ray REALLY think JB was gonna give us any news tonight! What fun this race was...you really feel the brother hood of the sport...least I did compared to the CUP races...or maybe it's just SPEED.
I am going to miss every commentator on SPEED over the winter. Thanks for all the guys behind the scenes that bring these races to us in our homes!
Merci Beaucoup!!
Gracias!
dot said...
Why isn't the Emperor there to crown the champion?
perhaps he just doesn't care about the truck series. after all, he's made clear that what little focus he has is reserved for the cup series.
Just a heads-up, Brian France has agreed to appear on RaceDay live on Sunday.
You might want to fire up the DVR or TiVo for that one.
sigh...back to trackside and all jj and cup talk...sigh...to bad they could not have filmed this show LIVE to have Johnny on....not sure about the beard on Sadler.
I missed SKINNER coming over to Hornaday...hated seeing him blow a tire.
What a great race and Speed did not let us down too. From what I saw both Mikey and DW did not interfere with the calling of what turned out to be a great finish. I would hope that ESPN could learn some things by the old school way that the Speed ccrew does things.
JD
On RD, I will bet BF has poor posture and will look disheveled and act like all is well and that he'd rather be elsewhere.
But thanks for the heads up...I had no clue...might have to break down and watch or tape ALL TWO hours of Raceday...doubt the race will be riveting. ;-)
Majorshouse: from your mouth to Mickey Mouse's ears! :)
daly planet editor said...
"Just a heads-up, Brian France has agreed to appear on RaceDay live on Sunday.
You might want to fire up the DVR or TiVo for that one."
thanks for the info, jd, but, uhhh, NO! i seriously doubt he'll be asked anything in the way of a tough question and i, for one, can't tolerate his heavy-lidded, slovenly appearance. this latest decision to eliminate ALL testing -- instead of looking at a compromise position of having testing happen as a part of race weekend -- is, for me, just the most recent example of a poorly thought-thru change in the sport.
simply put: the man is useless.
Computer could not handle it and took a nap. Ron a class act , Johnny a class act,Truck Series, SPEED,thanks. After all the BS before Loudon by ESPN I sure was hoping Old Hornaday could pull it off but "Missed it by that much".
I liked the intro segment where they used the newspaper and showed the videos. Good Job.
Speed did an excellent job showing this truck race. It was an exciting race.
Congratulations to Johnny Benson and the Team.
Have been a big JB fan from his ASA days, Busch Championship, recovering from getting totally hosed by Jack Roush, and now his 2nd NASCAR championship.
How many old school fans also remember how great JB was with Kenny, Mike, and Allen in the early days of Speed. My wife (who could care less about racing - yet would always watch on Monday nights) was right with me trying to cheer JB to victory.
Props to Kevin and Ron - class acts!
By the way JB & Biff have both won a truck & busch title...Bobby Labonte is also on the list, he has a Cup & Busch titles on his resume.
I'm sure Johnny will be wherever he wants to be next year--such a class act, I was excited to see him win this with Bill & Gail. I was a fan back in the old Roush days, and I know Johnny does things on his own terms. Good for him. The broadcast was very good, DW seemed to control himself for the most part. So much better than Cup racing!
JD--your comment at the beginning made me remember--years ago I was camping in PA near Nazareth for the (then) Busch race...FX had All-Star race....went to 2 or 3 bars, no one had the race on, ...nothing but basketball; finally gave up...had radio...that was the year of the endless rain delay...
The outtakes were hysterical, particularly Ray with the saw blade upside down...
A few years back, I had the opportunity to see a night shuttle launch from just north of Daytona...a particularly awesome sight...glad it found its way into the broadcast...
That was a great race! Good coverage, too.
I don't understand why DW left the booth. Whether you like him or not, it's just strange to have him call two-thirds of a race and then leave.
I'm wondering what Johnny will do next season. My understanding is that he was essentially retiring, said he'd run some late models, but now he might be convinced to go back to partitme truck racing?
JB quote from Sirius Speedway:
"The truck series is such a great series but you can go run 10 Cup races and make more money than to run the whole season".
I think Mr.$$$$$$$$ may have something to do with his next move.
I think Johnny partly wants a decent shot at cup again. MB2 left him hanging out to dry in my eyes. He drove his butt off and was sooooo close sooooo many times and finally got that win only to be out of the car a year later.
I imagine with the economic deal being what it is, that Larry Mac may have been right during practice and that you may see the younger guys spend more time in Trucks and NW cars. It will open the doors for guys like Skinner and JB to hop in cars at their desire.
JB is a great champ though, you couldn't have gone wrong either way.
@dot--he only shows up when he's forced to...that's why he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else at those newsconfrences.
@anon 11:00--the money differences are so sad. In Cup the person with a nekkid car any given weekend finishing dead last gets more in prize money than the winner of the N'wide race the day before! And then the "big" races like Daytona I dead last no name driver doesn't leave with less than $200K I believe it is. Of course with the top 35 rule it's harder for them to make it now...but that's another rant.
Johnny: Great run!
Hornaday and Harvick: great show of class!
SPEED: Great coverage!
Except: Did they get a post-race interview with the kid Brian Scott who finished second? Did not see it. That was pretty newsworthy. He deserved some face time.
Great job Speed, and to all the staff that has brought us the best racing of the year. Thanks to Craftsman for its sponsorship, and beleiving in the series. Rick, Phil, Krista, Ray, Adam, great job. Congratulations to J.B. for winning the championship.
Hello to Johnny's sister, I know she is proud of him.
Thanks for reminding me Ryan...I mistyped upthread! I forgot Bobby won a Busch championship. Johnny B. joins Da Biff as being the only ones to win both Busch & Pick 'em Up Championships.
Poor Ryan...looks like they made him stay up until 10 just to tape the portion to talk about who won the Pick 'em Ups championship. Unless he was doing something else for them? Is he on any other shows?
hey jd? if i may be permitted one, small diversion here? thanks.
dear speed gang, you have done a wonderful job with the truck series this year and i thank you. i have one request for next year: could you partner with your online folks and give us a live leaderboard during the truck races? some of us REALLY focus on laptimes, positions and laps down thru out the race and we have no source for this info for the trucks. i know it's on the ticker but i'd surely like the info anytime i have a need to review it, not just when it crawls by.
during cup and n'wide races, i use fox trax heavily and i would be indebted to you if the tv and online groups at speed could work together to provide the same service for truck fans.
thanks and enjoy your "down time": we'll all be here when truck racing starts up again on speed!
Hello,
Once again the usual crew for the truck series did a great job. They just keep getting better! Of course the Texas/Halloween pre-race was the best! : )
I am tickled that Johnny won. I like Ron, but he did win last year and we all have to share. Ron and Kevin were great in their loss.
The short amount of time DW was in the booth was more than I ever wanted to hear from him again. I do hope that Fox replaces him with Kyle Petty.
Marybeth
Super broadcast and I was so happy fan favortie Johnny won the championship and poor Todd was left out of a lot of it. And how about Brian Scott what a kid. Looking forward to the Camping World truck series next year.
I'm pretty near to Grand Rapids, I go down to Berlin Raceway on occasion, and I'm really, really happy that JB got a championship!
I am thrilled for Johnny Benson and his team for taking the series.
Two complaints about SPEED's coverage:
1. Why did you choose to show the 51 truck with 39 to go while the leaders were battling for position? After the caution/restart? Many fans do not car at all for Kyle Busch and he wasn't even a full time guy in the Truck series this season. Hello??
2. The immediate post race interview with Ron Hornaday was ungracious, rude and thoughtless. I really love how the reporters make a driver feel worse by reminding him of how he didn't win, how he didn't have what it takes, etc. Why don't you just rip the stitches out, reopen the wound and pour salt in it? It'd probably be less painful for the driver.
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