Luckily, the media still have two Sprint Cup stars to interview when it comes to the Nationwide Series. The TV networks still like to mention young Brad Keselowski, but when it comes to "big time TV" the stars are Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer.
The fundamentally wrong things with this racing series continue to be fundamentally wrong. The TV ratings again reflect the fact that the Nationwide Series has absolutely no identity of its own. Without the Sprint Cup cross-overs, the perception is that there is no excitement.
Well, this goes against everything that is fundamentally good with the series when it races far away from the Sprint Cup locations and gets to showcase itself. The stand-alone Nationwide Series races finally get back to the fun competition and qualifying that the series desperately needs.
ESPN handles the races, but SPEED often handles the practice and qualifying sessions like this weekend at Homestead. Incredibly, ESPN immediately drops the mention of the televised sessions from the ESPN2 NASCAR Now program if they are not ESPN-produced.
This week, even though it was the final racing weekend of the season, none of the Nationwide Series Friday and Saturday practice and qualifying sessions were promoted on NASCAR Now. Meanwhile, SPEED promotes all of the ESPN2 and ABC coverage of the sport regardless of the series or network.
Without a viable TV partner who will put NASCAR ahead of the network's own special interests, the Nationwide Series will continue to flounder. ESPN originates no Nationwide Series weekly or monthly TV shows. The largest percentage of pre-race interviews are with Sprint Cup Series cross-over drivers. Once college football begins, the Nationwide Series becomes an afterthought. It has been made clear once again this season that the Nationwide Series on ESPN2 is just not working.
Once again it will be Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree who will call the action from Homestead. Down on pit road will be Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Center.
It will be Allen Bestwick that leads-off the Nationwide telecast at 4PM Eastern Time with NASCAR Countdown. Bestwick will be joined by his regular team of Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. This week Ray Evernham will also join the infield panel.
Many of the races have been quite enjoyable on ESPN2, as the pressure and formality of the ESPN Sprint Cup broadcasts seems to be set aside. The announcers are clearly without the "Sunday pressure" of the big races and the mood is much lighter.
Great pictures come from Homestead, especially with no grandstands anywhere but the frontstretch. The HD in-car cameras are gorgeous and the banking of the track should make for some great side-by-side pictures. While the audio is not spectacular from this venue, the races off pit road should be fun to both watch and hear.
This is the track that has the jet ski's in the infield, farm land all around and absolutely no shade for the fans to be found. One interesting feature of the original track that remains is the "Le Mans" style pit road balconies that reflect the original design of the facility for sports car and motorcycle racing. TV viewers should also be able to see the interior road course layout.
This post will serve to host your comments on the final Nationwide Series race on ESPN2 for 2008. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
402 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 402 Newer› Newest»JD I was wondering what tracks you enjoy watching in person the most? Are their some you perfer to watch on TV?
Why can't they just see that Busch wants to win the race and couldn't care about Edwards-Bowyer and their chances?
Yes, I'm sure Busch wants to get back at Edwards at some time, but do they really think Busch is checking ESPN's updated standings all race?
nrf- thanks.
JD - yes that would help but they need some people in a decision-making position who actually like racing and get it.
AWESOME blimp shot. Good job ESPN!!!!!
Nice catch of the wreck guys!
wow is what happens when you have someone actually watching the cameras to see the actual racing on the track.
Haha steven wallace. lets get some rusty comments.
can someone tell me why nascar cant give us pitcommand for the nationwide races?
it would make things so much easier where I can actually have the live timing and whos running the fastest laps on the track like I can on sunday.
It would also make the cup driver fest less painful to watch, everyone knows that Brad Keselowski is the true Nationwide Champ
Poor Rusty......
Is it a blimp or a helicopter that gets the view from the sky?
kenny,
In person is always the best. Richmond is my fav. With HD there are really no bad tracks these days.
"We might have got some erroneous information on the radio there." Actually the 66 did get into the 11 Doc, WOW
Easy way to be a Director - keep a camera on Wallace the whole race... you'll catch a bunch of wrecks :)
That was the blimp. Do you have the sound turned up? Andy explained that one.
More accidental coverage. Someone's not following the script.
I hope they reset the field like they ought to, but I am a HUGE CE fan (Missouri boy here!), so I wanna see the "biased" coverage....its for the championship for goodness sakes. Bring it on! Who cares what Clausson and Ambrose are doing? I dont have HD yet, but it does sound awesome in 5.1!!!
That was an interesting Need for Speed ad. Did not go over well with my audience.
I'm going to Watkins Glen this year. I'm not a big fan of road courses, but I can't wait. I would love to go to RIR! Maybe I can save some money ang go sometime.
Missed the add JD, was it local or was I distracted
-The need for speed game will likely be terrible too, EA is the ESPN of videogames
Should be easy to do a run down, only 20 cars on the lead lap
Kenny,
The Glen is great. I hope you go and camp out for the weekend. That is the way to fly. You get to walk all around and the drivers are easy to see after the crowd goes home on Fri and Sat.
Doesn't ESPN own EA?
Rewound to see the Need for Speed comm'l. Guns & thugs, great.
As far as the commercial thing goes give me Christy Brinkley over these Iron Gym ads any day
Bevo,
I miss them telling us how the guys on the lead lap got to where they are. The pit reporters have been great at that when they have had a chance.
How many cameras are at the track?
By all means instead of resetting the field let's talk to Carl. Come on guys help us fans out here will you
Thanks for the interview with Scott Lagasse ESPN.
It depends on the size, but there are usually more than 50 easily.
That includes the various angles of the in-car cameras, the manned cameras around the track and the robo-cams that are moved by remote control to avoid injury.
I will try again to put out a big column about the track TV set-up in the off-season.
JD
Anyone else just a little bit lost other than Carl and Clint and a couple of other Cup guys?
nrf they've got to follow that script,apparently the rest of the field is not part of that
Excellent interview let's us know you think you got taken out but didn't actually throw him under bus (where he belongs by the way)
How do those big cameras fit on the bumpers? does it affect there drag?
B Ham JR now 8th the last time I looked I thought he was lapped. Either foxtrax is off or ESPN really needs to set the field I am so confused
Anon,
They are just little pinholes and the cams are smaller than a lipstick holder.
I have some pics of the ontrack and in-car cams, I will put them up this week.
You can also Google around in the pics section and find a lot of them.
JD, I'd be totally lost if I didn't look at Fox Trax.
If quality and the long-term were to be a concern, it sure seems to me that ESPN needs to have a reporter assigned to focus on the N-wide series to get to know the non-Cup drivers, cre chiefs, owners, etc. You never know what you might find unless you take the time to look.
Sure am sorry Morgan missed the field.
Have I missed any Tech Center reports today! Hopefully I did
richard,
If they create a Nationwide only crew for next year it might be great. Marty Reid is out of the IRL and Randy LaJoie is available.
where is TB? Is he off this week?
superdoc,
Fast laps and few cautions. No Tim since the pre-race.
That last close up shot was so loud my cat jumped up and spilled my pop corn... Wow..
This would be a perfect time to think back to the Friday Truck race and then think about where we are today in this telecast.
Yea I saw him in the pre-race. That was stupid. Duh. Make sure you put 5 lug nuts on.
Hopefully one of the changes they make for next year is replacing someone in the cast of a thousand with someone who can keep track of race strategies and pass it on to the audience.
@vicky d--I love David Green too! It was nice to see him get some TV time during quals..only because it was on SPEED..ESPU wouldn't have spoken to him :(
JD--I wish they'd get over the "only 5 guys are racing today and that's only who were going to talk about until we're forced to recognize one of the other cars out there" mentality :(. 43 guys start the races every one of them have fans...even if it's a "no name" and those fans are their mom and dad! If we don't learn who they are then we can't become fans of them! Then if they become known, they can get the funding and be a "name".
I think that next season will bring some change. Especially after the big Phoenix disaster.
Wow, nothing until 75 laps to go. This is pretty darn late.
Up to speed...starting with first place. Wow
Let's see how far Up To Speed gets
it would be great if lagano ends up losing the owner's championship after sitting on the pole...maybe he's not as good as sliced bread..
Nice update on Bobby Jr.
I was able to watch the truck race without any online help, and, despite the fact that only 2 guys were racing for the championship, I saw lots of other on-track action.
It can be done. Just ask the SPEED guys how they do it.
See? The pit reporters are good at this, I can't believe this is the first (and probably last) one for the race.
@ JD, from your lips.....
I wish they had done the whole top twenty.
Yep. SPEED was awesome last night. ESPN sucks tonight. If you're the worldwide leader and you get dominated by a network like Speed, it's time for change.
NFL Network's game coverade is better than ESPN's Monday Night Football game coverage too.
They think they run things, but it will shift away from them soon as they have gotten lazy.
Sounds like Andy and DJ are trying to get the young guys some TV time but that has not been working that well.
JD-
Why not put Evernham in a Tech Center-like place for strategy analysis? He could keep track of pit stops, lap speeds etc... then do quick updates of the field instead of having the pit reporters try to fill the time. It would free them up to get more actual car info.
Maybe ESPN brass could watch some truck race tapes and realize NASCAR racing is not like the other sports they cover and put a production crew together that knows racing is a sport all it's own.
bevo,
Remember what TNT did with Larry Mac this summer? That really worked out well.
is this race less exciting because of the coverage or the race itself?
Maybe ESPN brass could watch some truck race tapes and realize NASCAR racing is not like the other sports they cover and put a production crew together that knows racing is a sport all it's own.
November 15, 2008 6:37 PM
The ESPN producer has been doing racing since the 80's. And this crew is the same one that has been doing racing since 2001
They have had dead silence at times and NO play by play. They don't call what is happening on the track at all, just talk and talk and the pit reporters talk instead of calling a race.
Listen to Punch. He NEVER actually calls a race. What is this?
@ anon 6:38, a little of both.
That is kind of what we talk about all the time. One is so deeply related to the other.
It has been a tough year with the COT and the limited Nationwide fields.
I was on KFAN today and talked about that. I think it might be on the KFAN website podcast.
They sure do like NASCAR in Minnesota. Good fans.
What does Edwards have a chance to do? You aren't the Edwards network you idiot Punch!
I'm a little behind. Dead air, where's AP and DJ then AB bales him out. This is a mess.
You're right JD, is that why ESPN wouldn't do it since TNT had that?
Rusty for strategy...there are 54 laps and he compares this to last night's truck race with 12 laps to go??? What an idiot.
I beg to differ with the NFL network being better than ESPNs. But were talking nascar here. Go Edwards, man this is close....
sounds,
Two concepts that are not related.
The crew is great. The Director and Producer came from Fox. The EP, the VP of Motorsports and the CP have no national NASCAR experience.
The question is always the same, who is calling the shots?
I just got in, so I'm reading here to catch up on the race. But to answer a question from earlier, the truck series banquet is on Monday, so that's why JB probably isn't on NN or TWIN.
sounds,
Two concepts that are not related.
The crew is great. The Director and Producer came from Fox. The EP, the VP of Motorsports and the CP have no national NASCAR experience.
The question is always the same, who is calling the shots?
Where did they come from? another sport? Didn't the producer do nascar? how much input do the ep and vp have?
I think we all kind of agree the lack of info on other teams is lacking.
Let's see how they bring it home.
Speeda or JD is the banquet on TV? I asssume it's not live but anytime?
the CP used to work on trucks didn't she????
sounds,
That is not a discussion for this thread. Email me and I will send you some link info.
JD
I bet you would be a great Producer JD! You should try to get into the mix
sounds,
The CP was the former Truck producer. (LGP in Indy)
nrf,
Check Jayski for the banquet info. He has a page. I also had a story last week.
Yeah, Tony Kornheiser is good is what you are saying? Please. NFL Network has stepped up.
Unlike ESPN for Nascar's coverage this year.
kenny,
As DW says, it is something you learn from 'sperience.
There are lots of great production folks who have been working daily in NASCAR for years.
I am long gone from that scene, but thanks.
JD
I think Torico is awesome on MNF. NFL net stinks. Their broadcasts remind me of a Fox sports net regional show. Hows Jr doing in this race...
soundsgood2me then with all due respect someone is just not doing their job all that well. Whoever has some say with what goes on during a race broadcast needs to reevaluate what is being done IMO.
Is Terry Lingner still involved with auto racing? Those were the good old days IMO
With this race coverage being the diaster it is, I have NO hope for the Cup race Sunday. I will be listening to PRN/MRN.
If they wanted to make a drinking game, Doc saying KB's name would be a good one. btw, did you know he was trying to make Nascar history?
Lingner Group produces Indy Car don't they?
They are still very much involved in sports TV production.
Punch has to bring this home now.
Double Zero and 47 car...
Know the names by now it's the last race of the year Punch
ESPN is so bad
FoxTrax down again, I'm lost.
Hope they get it fixed by tomorrow
Does he HAVE to call him Cousin Carl? The way they cover the race, it makes it sound like he's actually related to him. Bad.
And I think it's something that there's 3 Wallaces on the lead lap but ESPN won't tell us that.
Nice replay.
Maybe NASCAR can move to Verses like Indy Car. ESPN's indy car races stunk bad too.
Randy Pemberton is on Tradin' Paint tonight and then NASCAR Performance with Larry, Chad and Bootie.
At commercial I can tell you that Busch is 0.2 back with 25 to go and Bowyer is 4th with only Leffler threatening to pass him based on FoxTrax being up to date for me.
Andy Petree has been doing a great job of working hard to keep things in perspective and viewers updated.
I hope Tim Brewer talks about tape on the grill...I'd like to get his take on how that changes things.
ESPN will try to hype this until the end. Even though Wimmer if the one in 9th and over 3 seconds behind.
Will they do this tomorrow if Johnson is in 12th and Edwards leads...talking about how cars are gaining on him if 2 or 3 are getting closer to him?
@Bevo - mine was jacked for a few mins. its back now. NASCARs is working too
JD - AP has done an excellent job today. I think DJ has been a little off, and JP has been a lot off!
Should be a good show with Pemberton on, he will speak his mind :)
Mike Joy or Rick allen would have us all pumped-up for the final 20 laps right now.
HAHAHA Punch had to talk about Kelly Bires this late in the race.
AP & DJ should get to split DJPs paycheck for tonight. They have really been working this race.
jojaye-
Thanks, mine's back now too. A lot of hiccups with it today, usually it's perfect the whole race.
Someone must like Indianapolis
Zzzzzzzzzz. These are the final laps of the season and we have a snorefest from the booth. AP is really trying but this is a mess
They should have been yelling into their mikes over that....scaring the heck out of us, no emotion but a little laugh from JP.
are they kidding? denny hamlin knows what's going on so he's not trying to get past bowyer?
pllllease. can we get SOME analysis instead of deadness from the booth.
did Dr. Punch just steal Dick Enberg's "Oh My" - if he did it wasn't very good.
the booth had no clue on analyzing this caution. what a waste of time and words.
The silence from the booth is deafening.
no excitement. ho hum. lets talk to carl edwards.
WOW Doc might as well be watching the first race of the season for his emotions tonight. Sounds like he couldn't have a care in the world
Why are they talking to Edwards???
@JD--look forward to the changes next year!
@speedangel-thanks! I was thinking it was Friday for some reason.
@nrf--yes IIRC it's in the window of about 2 weeks after the Cup they finally air it...it's closer to Christmas when SPEED usually shows it. Theirs is usually like a talk show format vs. a stuffy dinner (everyone is seated at tables) or theater (folks are all in an audience like an awards or broadway show and the Champion is at a table on the stage) setting. The sad part with either scenario for Cup the poor Pit Crew and others from the team get the nosebleed standing room only section somewhere above the crowd :(
Caution...might make it an interesting finish....
Haven't read the posts, but let me say this: ESPN has been VERY disappointing tonight. They have made an honest effort, but in contrast to what SPEED did last night, this is a major let down.
The "drama" of this final pit call is a joke. If anyone watched the race last night they would know the right call is to stay out. Hornaday said it last night "track position is everything"
Down to 5 come on Clint!!!!!!!!!
Geez, silence.....
Jerry never even raised his voice. Thank god for DJ and Andy.
5 min post race show?
Somewhat anticlimatic, doesn't bode well fro tomorrow where the points spread is 141.
Congrats to Carl & his team on winning the race
Congrats to Clint & his team for winning the championship.
Congadulations Clint RCR and the whole crew another RCR championship!! YEEHAA!!!!!
Man, talk about going out with a whimper
Perfect backflip (please note JP) by Carl. Congrats to CE & CB. And thanks to ESPN for the great broadcast! Yeah right!
Five minutes left in the timeslot... You think the post-race might be a bit rushed?
well I didn't pay much attention to most of the race but was HOPING a NW guy would win the race...oh, well.
nice to see ESPN stuck with no back of the pack racing views (insert sarcasm)
I had no idea the wallace guys were on the lead lap until I read it here.
THANKS for the blog Mr. JD !
Post race on classic? The window is up is 3 minutes, I wnder what will happen
Sorry for all the hassles tonight folks. We have grown so large that we get all kinds now including kids and trolls. It is just a funtion of the net.
Like the other sites, we will just be moving to a forum style for next season.
Thanks for being patient with all the kids tonight. At least they know where we are.
Big RaceDay tommorrow with multiple stages and crews. Brian France will be a live guest.
JD
Do you really get the feeling ESPN wanted Carl to win?
They have really been pushing him hard and it really seems to have a backhanded slap to both Clint and Jimmie tomorrow. They are all but crowning Jimmie tomorrow, but it sounds like it comes with some resentment.
Congrats to Clint...they did what they had to do!
Catch yall tomorrow, won't be home so no HotPass for me. I'll have Sirius on while I watch it.
BTW saw a thing on DirecTV website for HotPass tomorrow for either $19.95 or $29.95
SPEED is one with Krista and NASCAR Live. Nice move by ESPN to hand in there with college football waiting.
Nice of espn to stay with post race. I'm watching on Speed, w/Krista & Larry
JD, you may not want to answer this now but, how is a forum different from what we do now? I have said in the past that I'm kind of a computer dummy.
Nice of Brad to tell a sweet lie.
Either Jamie Little is really tall or Jason Leffler is very short.
JD I hope you don't delete this because I'm not very politically correct, but thanks for the patience to run this blog and put up with a few IDIOTS so the rest of us have a place to go.Forum, I'm so there.
Wow running well into College Football Scoreboard. Thanks ESPN.
Dot,
You just sign-up once for free and it lets users post their own topics and also go into chat without the outside non-registered users.
I used to have about a thousand page views a day, now I have ten thousand and over 250 thousand a month.
It's nice to grow, but it opens the door to kids who like to play and annoy. Its just a kid thing.
Sorry for all the hassles tonight.
JD
Congratulations to Clint for his championship & Cousin Carl for the win :)
I *so* hope there are a million cautions tomorrow...I so want this to be threatened to go past the 8 pm eastern window...
Thanks for all your hard work tonight - JD
Some nights are harder than others, tonight you did yeoman's work, moderating, answering questions, deleting trolls & fixing it so they can't post as easy or without a trace!!
Thanks for giving us a place.
Forums = priceless
vicky, Jason has never seen the words "five feet tall!"
@ 3Bud, ditto.
Daly Planet Editor said...
vicky, Jason has never seen the words "five feet tall!"
November 15, 2008 7:44 PM
-----
ROFLMAO
Too funny!
Forums can be worse for trolls, let me tell you. If you need mods, let us know. I'm sure some of us would be happy to help.
Glad the 4 letter network stayed w/the championship presentation.
JD, ok, so what/who stops the trolls from registering and posting? See, I told you I'm a dummy.
@ Jo, that's why he wears a fohawk so he appears taller.
dot--a forum like JD said is a site that allows you to chat about topics in one spot. So depending on how JD sets it up, he may have a section for each series (i.e. Cup, Nationwide, Camping World, ARCA, Regional, etc.), a section for news, an OT section where we might get to know each other better. It also allows for PMs so we can contact each other for off board gatherings or talk privately.
JD will of course be the administrator and he'll probably have a few moderators to help when he doesn't have time to quell fights (which I don't think will be a huge problem with this group), move/close topics, keep people on topic, etc.
There'll be "post reply" "start thread" "quote" etc. type buttons/links and it's easy to figure out. And we'll be there to help you! <3
dot
most forums make you register with a valid email address before you can start posting/chatting.
also if you have a good message board (hostingboard forum and others that are free) you can see the ISP addy but banning by that does not always work as sometimes you ban similar numbers...but you just need a lot of mods if it's a big place....so there IS more control over a forum... I can trace people to what cable or phone service they are using and where their cable is registered to on my little message board, lol.
@ Gymmie & Sophia, thank you for the info. Good to know that my e friends are happy to help. This site is one of the few I make comments on.
JD, are you going to start the forum before the race season, or wait until then?
@dot--depending on the software he chooses, he might be able to set newbies on moderation (their posts have to be approved before being posted) or might be able to set it where they have to confirm their email and the "hit and run" types won't do that. There may be some other options as well. But otherwise, there's the ban and some software allows it to ban on triggers automatically. The forum I moderate, the software is set up to notify the board owners if a new registration matches an existing ISP address. Otherwise, he can also (again depending on the software) require new registrations are verified by a moderator and many software have a section under the admin panel to run the ISP to see if it matches someone else. And if it's someone who has been banned then they can deny registration.
Don't worry! We were all n00bs at one time!
@dot I'm learning as I go too. I know forums are more secure,email address, password etc. Forum seems like the way to go.
JD- One thing that does make messy NASCAR broadcasts somewhat bearable is TDP - although it is borderline addictive. TDP is one of the very few adult (in the best sense) blogs I have seen for NASCAR. Thank you very much for all your insight and diligence.
Thanks again, it's just fun to talk about NASCAR TV. There will always be those who cannot join a conversation and contribute.
What do we always say? It takes all kinds to make a world.
I thought it was "Isn't TV fun?"
Do you see Delete keys in your sleep?
Many, many thanks.
oh JD, I am so sorry it's been so rough today. You even had to turn off the anon posts. Much thanks for having this place for us.
pammmmmh,
I did a zillion radio interviews this week and even did the Rowdy podcast on Friday.
Whenever my website name gets out there, we get folks who come over but are either not old enough or not smart enough about our subject matter.
That gets them upset and they start to spam and act up. It's not big deal and in retrospect is a product of our popularity.
I wanted this to be a personal experience in starting an Internet project and it certainly has been that in both the good and bad ways.
JD
@ 3Bud 8:16, Good to know that I'm not alone.
@ Richard in NC, You are right. TDP is borderline addictive. I'm going to miss discussing the races with my e friends.
@JD, Thanks for all you do.
dot,
I have big plans for the next couple of weeks. Do not put your typing fingers away just yet.
JD
Speaking of typing fingers I've gone from one finger typing to two finger typing since posting here. Practise, Practise. My 6 year old grandson types better then me but I,m getting there.
Opps thats [I'm] getting there.
maybe we can get some recipes from the guys for holiday snacks or meals. :)
Look forward to what's in store J.D.
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