Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sprint Cup Series Final Race On ABC From Homestead-Miami Speedway


The NASCAR on ESPN crew is at the end of a seventeen race Sprint Cup Series TV assignment. They began in July with the Brickyard in Indy and now find themselves in South Florida to crown a champion.

While there has been a relatively short string of races on the Cup side, this same ESPN crew has been working the Nationwide Series events since February. The coverage of the Nationwide race on Saturday showed a very tired Dr. Jerry Punch who could not muster even a moment of excitement during the event.

As the final three laps rolled by, it was Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree who once again jumped-in to add a description of what was actually happening on the track. It was Petree who said "two to go" as the cars flashed across the start-finish line. After the excitement of the Craftsman Trucks on Friday, this was tough to take.

That is the Sunday challenge for the NASCAR on ESPN team. Keep the energy and excitement high for this final time as two races unfold in front of the TV viewers. While drivers battle to lead and win the race, Jimmie Johnson will be battling to keep himself in the right position to win his third consecutive championship.

In the Saturday race, the long green flag runs resulted in limited exposure for Allen Bestwick and the Infield Pit Studio crew. Bestwick will start the day with NASCAR Countdown at 3PM with a 45 minute show. If long green flag runs are again the order of the day, his crew may be heard more than seen all race long.

ESPN has again expanded the infield staff by adding Ray Evernham to the mix. That puts him alongside of Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Bestwick has to manage three opinions and personalities in every segment now instead of two.

The pit road reporters were frustrated on Saturday. Only once were they allowed to do a reset of the field and it was much shorter than needed. Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro have lots of information and just needed some time to relay it to the audience.

ESPN has changed the racing philosophy and now interviews drivers who are out of the race even though they are not Chasers. The pit road crew has become more in-tune with speaking directly to the crew chiefs rather than relying on scanner chatter and what they observe to offer facts to the viewers.

Tim Brewer was another participant who could have just taken a nap once the Nationwide Series race started on Saturday. Fast laps and lots of action on this multi-groove track left little time for the Tech Center. Long green flag runs and few engine problems on Sunday may afford Brewer another long rest.

Just as ESPN's SportsCenter has grown from two hosts showing highlights to a seemingly endless crew of talking heads offering opinions, this network philosophy is being reflected in ESPN's NASCAR coverage. This race will have twelve announcers all trying to contribute to a fast-paced live sporting event with no scheduled time-outs or halftime. That equation is perhaps not the best.

Keys to watch will be when and how the Producer integrates the various announcers and the role that the infield plays in the overall program. Which pit reporters have Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards will also be important. Look for just how often ESPN offers "up to speed" segments where the field is reviewed.

On Saturday, ESPN often went to the in-race reporter or inserted a feature instead of resetting the field after a caution flag and pit stops. This left the TV viewers relying on the silently scrolling ticker at the top of the screen for any information on the vast majority of the field. It was fundamentally poor TV producing.

Pay attention to how often Punch resets the field after a caution or a commercial break. This is the final race and there are a wide variety of reasons teams are going to be racing. Driver championship, Top 35, Rookie Points, Manufacturer title and many other issues will all be playing out on the same track at the same time.

Homestead is once again making great pictures and sound. With no grandstands anywhere but the frontstretch, this track has great camera placement and offers fantastic aerial views. Tough to catch for the Director sometimes is the long pit access road. Pit road, however, is great for viewers and the race off is going to be exciting.

The final lap coverage is always tough as so many things are happening at the same time. Race winner vs. Chase winner might be a tough call. After the final lap, NASCAR has a script that the TV network follows in terms of race winner first and Chase winner second. Keep an eye out for how that shakes-out live.

This is the final in-progress race post 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 again for taking the time this season to stop by The Daly Planet.

544 comments:

  1. The green flag should be at 2:00, not 3:45.

    Anybody agree? I'm nervous for another repeat of last week

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  2. Adam,

    Luckily, sunny skies and long green flag runs might solve that problem. Nice of ABC to leave AFV off the schedule this week.

    JD

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  3. Hey JD, how many voices will be hearing today?

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  4. TWELVE annoucers? Geez... If they cut that crew in half I don't think anybody would notice. This reminds me of the Super Bowl, where the networks brag about having 75 different cameras around the field.

    It's getting to the point where there are so many people talking that the show just seems like a sequence of disjointed segments.

    I'm just speaking for myself here, but my Nascar experience isn't necessarily better when a dozen people are brought in to talk about the race. 3 to 5 well informed commentators would be fine. Just my .02

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  5. I forgot Homestead always has two Victory Lanes - one for the winner, and one for the champion - until JD mentioned it.

    Let's hope there are no red flags or anything that will take this beyond four hours and 15 minutes. If so, it would be interesting to see if the race winner (if not Jimmie Johnson) gets less time because ABC entertainment programming starts at 8 and they want to cover the championship ceremony.

    I've seen plenty of nice Jimmie Johnson promos on ABC this week (while watching recordings of their morning talk shows and one primetime show). The ads focus on back-to-back-to-back and how hard that is to accomplish in any sport, so kudos to them for trying to promote it as something to be watched for "history" - if Jimmie (good luck to him) can pull it off. Therefore, I fully expect the ABC focus to be on Jimmie, whether most viewers want it to be or not.

    Interesting dilemma, because unlike most sports (the exception would be a judged sport like figure skating or gymnastics) you don't have to win the final event to win the championship. So it will drain the drama a little bit (especially for a casual viewer, to whom those ads are clearly aimed) if Jimmie ends up 17th or whatever like he did last year.

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  6. I'll ask over here...Does Hammond want JB to drive for him next year?

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  7. Having that many announcers is ridiculous. The F1 crew has 3 guys call the race (one techie, one ex driver and one play by play sports guy) and one guy in the pits. They give great coverage.

    I hope they have tons of green flag laps, the fewer interruptions by the infield guys the better, I find they add nothing to the race.

    My hope for the race is that Vickers and Johnson take each other out of the race. Poor Biff will probably win the race, like he always does, and get completely ignored, like he always does.

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  8. Wonder if the local news in LA will stay with fire coverage and not show the Nascar pre race, or even the race itself.

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  9. 88 the rumor is that JB is going to Red Horse Racing (owned by Jeff Hammond) don't know it is full time.

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  10. @ nrf.. thanks for clearing that up for me.

    I hate to admit it, but I think Spenc is right about Jr and Mark Martin, as much as that pains me to say.

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  11. 12 voices? Has espn never heard that old saying "too many cooks spoil the broth"? WOW maybe they are hoping we fans won't notice the lack of real PbP.

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  12. Ok, have ment to say something for the last three weeks. I really like the rapper who recaps for us, but I have know idea who he is. So who is he and why don't we see him more?

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  13. Nan S said...

    Wonder if the local news in LA will stay with fire coverage and not show the Nascar pre race, or even the race itself.

    November 16, 2008 2:15 PM
    ---
    Last night the race show on e2 drag racing kept showing the fires in the back of the track and the planes flying over head w/water to fight them.
    John Force's race shop was in danger as well as his home.
    Prayers for all those in harms way out there

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  14. It is really obvious that ESP/ABC has not figured out that less is more when it comes to race coverage. Speed gives us more with less and makes the racing fun to watch. Such a pity that we have to put with such junk from the four letter network.

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  15. Band mentions? did Race day hear form legal?

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  16. I will find out the name of the resident SPEED poet for ya, just drop me an email with that question.

    JD

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  17. lets see - 400 miles and average should be - well I really don't know so 120 mph should be on the very low side. That would make it a 3 1/3 hour telecast. Green flag at 4:15 makes end at around 7:35 PM - lets hope 120 mph is very low which is likely. Make it 140 mph and its a 3 hr telecast and ends at 7:15 PM- Much better.

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  18. "I've seen plenty of nice Jimmie Johnson promos on ABC this week (while watching recordings of their morning talk shows and one primetime show)."

    I saw this ad every day during Oprah this week. Weird! But Oprah is on ABC in the afternoons where I live, so maybe not so weird. I agree, ABC is trying to get people to watch this race, they should try this hard every week.

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  19. RaceDay put down a big challenge. Bestwick and company should be on their game for this one.

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  20. Yes they did. I doubt espn could do as good.

    MRN has the radio broadcast today.

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  21. HotPass lineup

    EDWARDS
    Adam Alexander
    Wendy Venturini
    Producer - Keith D’Alessandro

    EARNHARDT JR

    Rick Allen
    Phil Parsons
    Producer - Ted Laukaitis

    J GORDON
    Randy Pemberton
    Hermie Sadler
    Producer - John Walsh

    JOHNSON
    Larry McReynolds
    Matt Yocum
    Producer - John Morris

    Tony Rizzuti will be a roaming reporter for all channe

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  22. Hmmm....I think Dave will need some thera-flu by lap 75.

    Good interview though.

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  23. Thanks bevo,

    Rumor is there is some Hot Pass news coming for next season soon.

    I'll keep you updated.

    JD

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  25. JJ should have lost the sunglasses for the pre-race interview. It would have taken one second to take them off.

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  26. I really hope ESPN talks about other things han JJ. And why was my post deleted. No arial shots by the blimp today, just an FYI.

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  27. Hey, nice touch with Cale. The press release said he was not in Homestead because of a conflict in events. Yet, here he is at his house. Hmm...

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  28. wow, Cale looks great for his age. Good job for chasing this angle ESPN. Wasn't brewer his chief?

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  29. Anon,

    If you post things like that, please take a moment to tell us how you know that. OK?

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  30. Great interview with Cale, and I'm glad AB was allowed to do it.

    PS these verifications have been very funny, this time its sunzood..sounds personal!

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  31. Looks like a nice day in Homestead. I thought I read some where it was going to be wind. I couldn't tell on TV if it is wind or not. Nice job ESPN for getting Yarborough on the show. Hopefully they keep up the good work

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  32. Cale tried hard to be an owner. Remember the Fingerhut car?

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  33. ri88,

    We will relax that once things settle down a bit. Sorry for the hassle.

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  34. thanks once again Bevo for the announcer lineup. Enjoy the race

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  35. Remember the RCA car and Thorn Apple Valley car in the late 90's?

    I really wish Cale would have been at the track today, it would have been pretty neat.

    ESPN aside from Cale's interview has not impressed me with this pre-race

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  36. The Cale piece a rerun, I saw it on NN this morning. Icouldn't figure out then why AB did the interview now I know. Look for TB in another box

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  37. I'm hoping they expand the HotPass channels next year - any chance?

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  38. I wish I paid the money for the Hot Pass. Maybe next year

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  39. Maybe the wind is the reason for no blimp.

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  40. So far this has been a repeat of NN this morning.

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  41. well NRF...i guess that is another shot in the foot of ESPN then.

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  42. Brewer really seemed like he and cale enjoyed working together. But why does allen look so stuffy today?

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  43. WTF does listening to all these guys from other sports talk about their championships. Ken spent less than 15 seconds making this comparison rediculouse!!!!!!!!!!

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  44. Is the entire prerace a rerun? I usually miss NN on Sun morning today I watched it and now I get everything again. :(

    JD dot worry about the verify after yesterday it's fine with me

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  45. I missed NN this morning because of church. I glad they reshowed cale. That was a good interview. I like to see older drivers.

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  46. I think you can buy HotPass for the day, $19.95 or $29.95 if I remember correctly

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  47. And that's exactly why I didn't watch NN this morn. I figured most of it would be repeats. And I have no interest in hearing what a bunch of other sports people have to say about dynasties.

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  48. 88, I guess ESPN doesn't know how to campare JJ to NASCAR Dynasties because they don't understand them

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  49. @ nrf, your luck sounds like mine. I am glad I didn't watch NN. I'm seeing it now.

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  50. It's cool hanging out with jimmie's crew, makes me feel like I'm watching a truck race. Maybe the speed director is sitting in to help the ESPN guys today.

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  51. ditto newracefan!

    I hope that "I am Indy" person not here today

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  53. Nice racap of the NW series finish AB. Thanks

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  54. I thought ESPN did a nice job with the post race last night. I only wish the race was better.

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  55. Lets make the comparison right here right now. Hendrick Motorsports, with a win today will have won 8 championships since 1995!!! They won 4 straight with Gordon and Terry Labonte from '95-'98.

    Gordon finished either 1st or 2nd in the points those 4 years.

    The only real comparisons are Cale's run, Earnhardt with Childress and Gordon with Ray.

    And quite honestly in my eyes what Jimmie is on the cusp of accomplishing is the most impressive of any of these. This is a team that has won all the major crown jewel races: Daytona 500, Coke 600, Southern 500, Talladega, The Winston, they've dominate Charlotte. Its flat impressive.

    Not a huge fan of the guy but already in his brief career this guy is one of the 50 greatest drivers already.

    Credit Rick for keeping that group together, credit them for overcoming the criticism they faced their first 5 years with being considered choke artists. The obstacles they have overcome and the ability to be on the leading edge of most all competitive edges in the last 5 years in amazing to say the least.

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  56. JD please read your email

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  57. oh, jamie, that was just a really stupid question you asked carl. just stupid.

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  58. ESPN is really pumping up the race. And good shot of the cup on the pits.

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  59. Wow, there were a lot of choices to ask Carl about his day. That was kind of a rough little question there. That got my attention.

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  60. Did the race get cancelled or something? I thought this was a pre-RACE show. It sure is a shame that the names David Reutimann and Scott Speed haven't been mentioned 36 minutes into the pre-RACE show. 100% championship and 0% race discussion is not acceptable, in my opinion.

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  61. Red, Carl handled it well, I might have pushed her off the truck. Everytime I think she get's we have things like that.

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  62. What is Tony stewart up to? He's the man.

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  64. What's up today guys, just got back from furniture shopping and tevo'd the pre race. Any need to rewind it?

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  65. I don't blame Tony for not taking off his sunglasses. He sounds sad.

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  66. Thanks ESPN... some one over there must be reading this.

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  67. I wish the drivers would not where sunglasses. Im wondering if smoke was getting wet eyes?

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  68. I'll sponsor him, if he can race on a mailman's salary.

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  69. Nice interview with Tony, he's having a hard time holding it together, after the race will be really interesting to see if ESPN or Tony will let us.

    Finally a Reut sighting, what did he do to ESPN anyway, wins a Busch race= nothing, wins first pole= nothing.

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  70. newracefan said...
    Red, Carl handled it well, I might have pushed her off the truck.

    and the comedy tour has begun! good one, nrf!

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  71. Guys,

    I am only going to say this once before the race. This is a NASCAR blog about TV.

    We are watching and talking about the TV presentation of the race.

    If you would like to talk about the teams, drivers or the race please consider Yahoo! or AOL Fanhouse or another chat site.

    Comments not related to the TV coverage of the race will be deleted. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page.

    Thanks for helping us with our website through your TV-related comments.

    JD

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  72. tcjoel maybe you should think about Nationwide. Bobby hamiliton needs some money

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  73. I hope we can hear JJ's radio today, ESPN at least gets that right.

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  74. Your entire pre-race and you spent 0 time talking about the surprise front row?!

    what in the heck?!!?!?!??!

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  76. Ok, someone has been posting as me, now they can't do that anymore so I wish they would please stop.
    Thanks.

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  77. is espn in 720 or 1080? It looks great on my 1080i. Also is this true 5.1?

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  78. there is supposed to be a flashcard tribute to tony from the stands on the pace laps.

    Fans have cards under their seats. Let's see if ABC shows it.

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  79. David, I'm hoping they will do that on the warm up laps, hoping but not hopeful

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  80. well at least the anthem wasnt a joke as its been most of the year.

    good call homestead

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  81. Awesome anthem! Well doner

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  82. Ok, maybe just one or two more. ;)

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  83. Negative JD. It is painted in the stands i believe. It was shown by SPEED with the empty seats.

    were there supposed to be flash cards as well?

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  84. Well JD had a headline a year or so ago that read something like "ABC's Busch Series Pre-Race Show Ignores the Busch Series Race". Today the headline "ABC's Ford 400 pre-race show ignores the Ford 400" would certainly fit.

    I don't blame them for leading off the pre-race show with championship talk, but spending roughly 43 minutes talking championship, 1 minute 45 seconds talking about Tony Stewart's JGR career, and 15 seconds throwing in a very brief audio mention of the pole-sitter for the race is very poor time management, in my opinion.

    If this is an indication of what's in store during the race it's going to be a very long few hours on ABC and a very long hour or so on ESPN Classic or wherever the race gets dumped to if it runs into primetime.

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  85. that is what the press release said david. I get all kinds of PR stuff.

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  86. Lots of other guys didn't get mentions in pre-race. Newman's last race with Penske and Alltel who he has been with since he began in nascar, for example...

    At least they asked and Tony gave a good interview!

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  87. stricklinfan,

    That is going to be the key issue from the drop of the green. It certainly was yesterday.

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  89. yeah, i see that on jayski as well JD. I guess the pics i saw were the preview.

    They had so many stories to make an excellent pre-race and blew it today.

    i hate to say it, but races like this need to be on cable so they can run a long pre-race and talk about all the stories then allow for an extended post-race without worries of being bumped by primetime.

    Detroit had a shot to win game #1...threw a pick. lovely. this is turning out to be an awesome day. =\

    That was a poor command to start engines.

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  90. Did I hear we're having "multiple" In-Race Reporters today? We'll be lucky to see a damn lap of the RACE... you know ESPN, the 400-mile race of unscripted competition between 43 Sprint Cup race cars you are at the track to televise today.

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  91. I wished they would have tried AB in the booth today.

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  92. Reuti would have been an awesome choice for in-race reporter

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  93. Junior is in race reporter? I wonder if he'll mention that he dreads having to go to new york....

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  95. Another great Surround Sound firing em up.

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  96. JR is the in race reporter? NICE job ESPN, not carl. I just love his accent.

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  97. I sure did think it would be Carl or Jimmie.

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  98. they all do jessica.

    Carl Edwards said it last week on SIRIUS, if you dont win the championship you'd rather not go. No one cares about being in the top 10. Ask Kyle Busch how he feels about having to go to the Nationwide Banquet. He is livid.

    Still no talk of the front row...

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  99. just to be consistent: even tho' today is my driver's turn, i detest the in-race reporter "thing"!

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  101. Daly Planet Editor said...
    I sure did think it would be Carl or Jimmie.

    November 16, 2008 3:57 PM


    Did Dr. Punch not say a few minutes ago that they would have multiple in-race reporters, including Jimmie and Carl? This is a disaster waiting to happen.

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  102. With long green flag runs, it's almost impossible to get the in-race reporter back during the race.

    When they talked to Carl yesterday instead of resetting the field, that was kind of rough.

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  103. AB wasn't awful. He has been doing it for years between MRN and TBS when they had NASCAR coverage. He is a different sound, but with the booth he had with NBC/TNT it didnt click. Wally was out of his element and BP just wasnt the same without Ned and Bob Jenkins.

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  104. Good points.
    I had not thought of all the stories that have been missed.
    Raceday missed some too.

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  106. david,

    We are going to keep it about TV today OK my friend?

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  107. Why have two girl pit reporters? I'm over it. ESPN need Vince Welch in Cup.

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  108. red said...
    just to be consistent: even tho' today is my driver's turn, i detest the in-race reporter "thing"!

    November 16, 2008 3:57 PM


    Red, I couldn't agree more. The In-Race Reporter is a joke, and today's multiple In-Race Reporter format is going to make it ten times worse. I had to laugh while ESPN was covering up Happy Hour with the "behind the scenes" video and the truck was marvelling over the "amazing" technology of talking to a driver during the race.... as if CBS didn't do the same thing 25 years ago in 1983!

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  109. scuba,

    Keep Vince and Marty in mind during the off-season. Could be some changes.

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  110. Again. This is a non-issue. Until NASCAR determines if DEI will be allowed to sell the points for the 01 and 15, this battle doesnt matter.

    Wow. Reutimann got no ove in pre-race. hopefully this ones exciting folks.

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  111. I thought we would see JJ's in-car in traffic these early laps.

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  112. Is it just my TV or are the engine noises really drowning out the announcers?

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  114. NICE sound on the first lap ESPN. I love my new surround sound now thanks to Nascar.

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  115. The points thing is TV relevant. The network should do their homework in informing fans of the 21 team and 10 teams that while jumping into 35th may not happen today, every point counts because they may be in at Daytona as one of the top 35 teams left standing.

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  116. please don't let the entire coverage be a recitation of all the permutations of how carl could win. the 'points as they run' banner up all race is good enough.

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  117. Nice pictures, blue skies, great sound so far.

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  118. alex, I hope they do. I love the sound from the track. Who needs announcers.....

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  119. The championship is important to the story line today. But there are a lot of other stories to be told. Come on ESPN

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  120. And ESPN is resorting once again to an overkill of useless pit reports less than 10 laps in. I guess the infamous ESPN "different producer" was indeed sick or something last week. Phoenix was mostly solid coverage, today has already been a complete mess.

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  121. I think we should all be thankful that JJ qualified poorly. At least we mite get to see some racing back in the pack that way. This one car shot running around by itself is just AWFUL!

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  122. I only see two cars in this race. Aren't there more than that?

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  123. Be interesting to see if they come back early from National commercials for wrecks today.

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  124. Pass by Carl for the lead. And we're t comml.

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  125. Can't we have the comedy tour during commercials JD?

    Wonder if Jacks couchin' up a hair ball

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  126. stricklinfan82 ,

    same producer

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  127. Steve, normally there are. However when ESPN has a script to follow the other cars become invisible.

    ESPN is too concerned with POINTS and not enough with the RACE. Shoulda been telling when they made the chase bid. This is all they are concerned with.

    Shocked there wasn't a Jimmie-cam those opening laps as JD said.

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  128. JJ is not the story it's Carl trying to overcome and since he's in the lead we'll never leave the top 5 unless there is a crash. Here's a thought 44 4th, 55dead last and falling back.

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  129. OK, back to some racing and the field please.....

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  130. if this were 20 to go, I wouldnt blame ESPN for sticking around Carl. However, there are over 200 laps to go and there is good racing in the pack. That should and needs to be your focus. Not carl swapping spots with Kenseth because "if the race ended now" doesn't matter because it wont.

    Radio covering battles, ESPN covering single file.

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  131. Steve, normally there are. However when ESPN has a script to follow the other cars become invisible.

    ESPN is too concerned with POINTS and not enough with the RACE. Shoulda been telling when they made the chase bid. This is all they are concerned with.

    Shocked there wasn't a Jimmie-cam those opening laps as JD said.

    right on brother, and they should do away with points on their football coverage too, I just want to see the game, I can figure out the points my self. Preach it brother.

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  133. Come on! You know there's some racing back in the field!

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  134. 22 laps into the race and they FINALLY talk about Reutimann?!

    Someone really needs to be fired in that production truck

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  135. The radio is completely different from the TV broadcast. Amazing.

    At least give us some perspective.

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  136. Can you get the script online anywhere?

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  138. im sure its leaked somewhere huggy.

    kinda like the script i got for the nfl season =p

    Johnson is passing a bunch of people, honestly if they were going to cover a contender, Jimmie should have been the choice.

    Speed is solid because its Vickers' stuff.

    Should be an indictment on the 84 team if anything should Speed get a top 10 today.

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  139. ESPN's last chance of the year, is there any racing on the track? What's going on in the rest of the field? Pretty bad when I can find out more by going to HotPass designated team channel.

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  140. I heard vince mcmahon is in negotiation for EP next year. Watch out for pay per view and smackdown in the future.......Hornswagler too!

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  141. Harvick on the move...

    Lets mention it ESPN

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  142. # Huggy, the script is available along with the NASCAR rule book.

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  144. So why is the 45 2 laps down, anybody?

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  145. Yeah let's analyze how many RPM's Kevin Harvick is turning running all by himself. Have we seen a pass for position that wasn't a lead change or didn't involve the 99 or 48 yet?

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  147. I think Harvick thinks the script needs a rewrite

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  148. dot said...
    # Huggy, the script is available along with the NASCAR rule book.

    yep. it's a "buy one, get one 1/2 price" deal, i think!

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  149. Dot. I've seen a rulebook before...it DOES exist.

    Its thin though.

    Gordon struggling, Jr struggling, omen for JJ?

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  151. Some one said this is the same producer as at Phonix is that true? How can this be? Is there someone else that 'helps' him or something that is the problem then?

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  152. Hamlin has gained 14 spots, have we seen any of those passes

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  154. Lots of cooks stirring the ESPN soup this weekend in Homestead.

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  155. Man, this guy...in this 29 car...Kevin Har-something...boy, he's the fastest car on the track.

    anyone heard of him before?

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  157. I wonder who is going to be the last man standing?

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  158. And the video bumpers that were absent last week have returned. I hope we're witnessing the end of an era in that ESPN production truck today.

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  159. so, are we gonna get shots all race long of the trophy in various places around the track?
    and i'm already over the side by side in-cars of the #48 and the #99 . . .

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    November 16, 2008 4:24 PM
    Blogger ri88girl said...

    Some one said this is the same producer as at Phonix is that true? How can this be? Is there someone else that 'helps' him or something that is the problem then?



    Nope, different producer for pre race, but the same producer each week, and he produced nascar in the 80's.

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  161. I can't believe I'm saying this. I think ESPN is doing an OK job today. A few things could be better.

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  162. I'm so lost, less than forty in and I need a rundown please

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  164. @nrf--yes a lot of the pre-taped segments they show on the pre-race aired earlier on NN. That's why I don't watch their pre-race, either watch other stuff or do quick errands like I did today by running to the store for something I forgot to get yesterday. I record it and watch the live stuff and FF the pre-taped stuff.

    @huggybear--LOL! Maybe that can be an off-season project. We can write the script for next season and see how well we did :)

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  166. if you gals are writing a script, i wanna help!

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  167. Hope we get a really big field reset after pit stops cycle through.

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  168. ok, that's a nice shot on taping up the crack in the wall. attention to detail makes all the difference.

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  169. Man Bill Elliot and Robby Gordon in the same sentence.

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  170. How much do you want to bet someone for ESPN is wanting a debris caution right now?

    This race is looking exactly like yesterday so far

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  171. DJ mentions Robby Gordon pitting and the battle to be in the top 35 in owner's points.... the production truck responds by completely blowing him off and showing the 48 team taping a crack in the pit wall. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

    DJ, I appreciate you trying to break the script and direct the truck to the unscripted happenings of interest at the moment. I'm sorry your co-workers in that truck aren't cooperating.

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  172. 3bud said...

    Man Bill Elliot and Robby Gordon in the same sentence.

    Especially without the words "caution is out for..."

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  173. Just no clue in the booth. Blaming the rear brake for Kenseth when it was already covered on MRN as being because of the sun.

    C'mon. The TV people should not be this far behind on pit road penalties and other important race details.

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  174. Debris caution wasn't in the script we got from NASCAR.

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  175. I think also someone on Matt's box missed calling him in as well. It was a panic type stop.

    ESPN gets a little credit for that audio because thats what it sounded like. So a combo between sun and miscommunication.

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  176. We need a field reset I had no clue before the stops now I'm blind.

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  177. daly planet editor said...
    Carry on my wayward son?

    yeahhhh. that caught my ear as well, jd. curioser and curioser, to quote alice as she fell down the rabbit hole.

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  178. Keith D’Alessandro, Paging Dr. D’Alessandro your needed to preform and exorcism in the ESPN truck

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  179. anony how do you know TV was right and radio wrong. Espn is stinking it up today.


    PS my word verification was racecar spelled backards.

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  180. I think they got their bumper songs from the new guitar hero playlist....

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  181. Speed and Johnson battling for 3-4 laps now on MRN. Why wouldn't they show that at all?

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  183. JD the truck has a love affair with Kansas as bumper music.

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  184. I love guitar hero!!!!

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  185. especially considering Speed is a rookie..

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