NOTE: The Nationwide Series coverage started on ESPN Classic Network due to the over-run of live college basketball but has now returned to ESPN2.
Here is the scoop from ESPN on tonight's Nationwide Series race:
The Nationwide Series continues this weekend with a 300-mile event at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Live coverage presented by GoDaddy.com airs Saturday, Feb. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD with NASCAR Countdown.
Dr. Jerry Punch will be the lap-by-lap announcer, joined by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time Cup Series champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch will report from the pits, while two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.
Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, a winning team owner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.The crowd was sparse for the afternoon Camping World Truck Series race, so it should be interesting to see the attendance for the Nationwide event.
This post will host your TV-related comments about the Nationwide Series race from California on ESPN2. This is a family-oriented website, foul language or hateful speech will cause your comment to be deleted.
Thanks again and happy posting.
105 comments:
I am not able to see today's Nationwide race, but I did catch about 10 minutes of last week's Daytona race.
Why did Punch seem so much more animated during this race than all of last season's Cup races combined? Granted, I did not hear the whole race but I did not hear any of his bingo-style car-number-calling and a few times, I was actually surprised to hear him call the action(!).
I will check back on this thread and look forward to comments from others about Punch's performance.
YAY! Just wanted to say merci beaucoup for reopening the comments during race section!
Can't wait to type at fellow TDP'rs.
Thanks again.
Soph
~~waving to everybody~~
And we're live on ESPN Classic!
The live telecast has started on ESPN Classic due to the over-run of live college basketball on ESPN2.
Basketball now trumps NASCAR.
Will be able to watch and post before dinner, but does anyone now when the Digger cartoon is on tomorrow?
I can set the DVR until he is over then watch live, maybe.
We're live on ESPN2
Let the ESPN Shuffle begin!!!
I just love playing race channel roulette. Now we're back on BSPN2.
Glad you're open for business JD. I'll be back.
Nice to see pre-race in HD.
Any comments on the Dave Burns interview with Steven Wallace and Jason Leffler?
Thought it was a great idea, and handled really well.
Lets see FOX do the same with Vickers and JR.
Did you notice a problem with said interview JD? how was it to you?
Green flag wasn't until 801pm, no worries.
my stupid digital tv box is rebooting..missed the interview..still waiting for pic in my room but listening from Lr.
Welcome to a "D" cam free race.
:-)
Can't believe I missed the channel roulette game.
Just asking...
ah ok. I thought the interview was interesting. I wasn't an awkward interview.
Back to the Leffler/Wallace interview.
It's great that people can see that they can actually talk about the incident intelligently.
These guys have to live together 36 or so weeks a year, so they have to sort it all out, but it's nice to know that they both realize that after the moment, they're back to reality.
Nice to hear Leffler say that anytime there's a wreck they always worry that someone may have been hurt, and hopes that not the case.
Jayski news and notes....like it when ESPN makes positive changes.
The only time I've turned my tv to ESPN was for last weeks race and now this week. Thanks to my daughter's Christmas present to me I don't have to listen to ESPN anymore. Those people will not make me mad this year. Even if they don't even show a race I'll still be ok, I'll just have to listen on radio.
Thanks again for posting JD. Even if no one pays attention it's great to have an outlet for our frustrations.
I like the interview idea, went over much better than when they tried to do it with Boris and Marcos. They boys looked likethey have moved on but... we all know drivers never forget so stay tuned.
AMS,
I like a lot of the things ESPN changed over the off-season.
This race is interesting to me because it is the first real in-season race test for Jerry Punch.
This is not Daytona, does not have the hype and is not going to have a big crowd.
How Punch leads the team will help to show fans is change has come to that position.
When you look around at almost all the other announcers, ESPN has a very promising season on tap.
JD
I'm interested to see how full - or empty - the stands are tonight. So far, it looks pretty spotty.
espn.com with the keywords "ask the driver"
If anyone gets a question used tonight, make sure to let us know.
I certainly enjoy how ESPN has just decided to have fun with the owner/announcer thing.
It got rid of a lot of tension and suspicion when it comes to comments and coverage.
I see that NASCAR Statistics shows one of the sponsors on Morgan Shepherd's car as Eldora Speedway, which would seem to say that Tony S is helping Morgan.
Digger on Fox
Miley Cirus on ESPN
What has my sport come to?
Well, in the race + pre-race ive seen...ESPN is making progress I think.
Their qualifying coverage using half the screen with graphics still needs to go but it should be an interesting race tonight.
Echoing the sentiments about the appreciation for reopening. Knew ya couldnt just leave us all. Gonna retire a couple more times to catch up with Mark Martin JD? lol. Kidding but good to be back.
Will there be a truck series discussion posted later on JD?
@nrf--yes I agree about this interview vs. the one with Boris & Marcos. Very different indeed.
@richard in n.c.--yes Smoke, Happy, DJ and a few others have been helping Mr. Morgan over the last year or so. It's very nice of them to help him. Mr. Morgan is a good man!
David,
Unfortunately, that series just does not turn a lot of comments. We tried to do in-progress and post-race posts, but there was not a lot of interest.
It does not help to have a really bad race like this one at Cali either. Dominated again by a Cup guy who is just "playing."
I really hope the series gets through this season intact.
JD
The fans must already be at the t-shirt trailers, the crowd is sparse
Ah. I understand.
I just was bothered by them using FOX guys to cover the race when I felt the SPEED guys who work their butts off week in and week out for that series deserved a little spotlight.
Also Phil Parsons seemed to have really gotten overlooked in the discussion after the race about the new pit rules. Hammond and DW dominated that discussion
A Little late on this. I liked the Wallace/ Leffler interview idea, expect Leffler, did in fact 4 or 5 years ago admit to intentionally wrecking Michael Waltrip and Jr. at Daytona in a Busch race. Just an observation. Love the sound of firing em up in Surround Sound.
Whoa... I don't check the site for a week and now there's half a dozen new articles. Thanks for coming back JD, and here's hoping for a smooth NNS race!
David,
It was a shame to have Phil Parsons on location and not have him in the booth.
DW and Larry Mac tried, but they were not up to date on the details of the CWTS and it showed.
Myers and Hammond were just lost. It was a little tough to take for fans who are used to Krista Voda and her straightforward approach to a pre-race show.
JD
I agree Kyle Busch in Truck race ain't helping that series at all.
SHAME.
JD, I know the Truck series is not in the best of shape, but doesn't the fact that more trucks came to California then open spots in the race say anything? I mean, they actually had to send some trucks home.
I agree. The stories of the guys who won 2 of the last 3 championships not having sponsors, Todd maybe being out of a ride as soon as Atlanta, Wyler racing fighting for survival, etc.
Hopefully they make the adjustments for Martinsville.
Decent start to the NW race, not liking the camera shooting across the track for over a half a lap though.
Wonder what kind of telecast we'll get if Carl and Kyle have a runaway?
I agree about the Pick 'em Ups JD :(. I missed having Rick & Phil in the booth. They didn't use Phil to his best potential today. I hope when they do the Martinsville one on Fox that they'll have Phil & Rick in the booth.
The production team from the Trucks reads this blog, so we always try to support their efforts.
That is still the most consistent TV package over the last two seasons.
JD
Are they short on cameras? What is up with the Google Earth LONG shot across the track?
Mercy
I was on speed.com earlier during the truck race. They have a live chat for the truck races and cup also. This week it was Ray Dunlap, Jeff Gluck and Tom Jensen. Ray pointed out that they aren't in Cali this weekend due to budget but Phil Parsons was there with his team. They will have live chats all season if you want to check it out.
Re: the truck race. Anyone else notice that whenever Digger popped up, no one in the booth said anything?
Why couldn't the regulars do the truck race coverage?
Just noticed the ticker, quite a few S&Ps already. The stands do look empty. And yet, they get 2 races.
Kylie show part 2 :(
There are already 7 start, and parks out.
I've noticed that the top scroll on ESPN2 shows the running order, but not the time intervals behind the leader.
Is it just me or does anyone else think they're doing this (or not doing it) to try and avoid mentioning the start and parks? Without the time intervals we have no idea how many cars are on the lead lap or still on the track.
Thanks for the comments JD.
This FOX, TNT, ESPN stuff has finally gotten to me. It's kinda like Chocolate cake or Carrot cake. Some people like Chocolate cake and others like Carrot cake. I prefer Chocolate cake, but for two years I've been choking down Carrot cake with the hope it would get better. So far it's still Carrot cake, just with some new and different ingredients.
Please don't think I would ever think or expect any network to cater to my every wish, that's crazy. A lot of people love Carrot cake.
That's what makes this world go round and round.
How did Mikey end up backwards in the pit box?
Thanks for the replay guys.
Pretty par for California. Light crowd, runaway racing. Waltrip's stop is the only highlight so far.
I really missed the regular crew for the truck race. As much as I love Mike Joy, I really like the way Rick and Phil call a race.
Then again, I'm not sure anyone could have made that race exciting. What a snoozefest. I hate Fontana. Has there ever been an exciting race at this track?
I have to admit this refreshed Doc Punch is actually doing a very good job today. It's too bad he hasn't been able sustain this over a full season. Hopefully the experiment with him only doing one race a weekend will help him keep up his energy for the full 39 weeks.
--KarenB
Even I would excuse JP if he fell asleep, what a snore fest, thanks Mikey for giving me a reason to watch, it took ESPN awhile to show the replay I was starting to think they didn't have it. Up to speed helping. Anyone notice they seem to be talking about more cars than last year during the race.
Missed the pre-race show but so far the telecast is ok. Even JP made a funny. Poor MW's pit crew just now.
That woke me up, Michael and California just are not happy together, glad to see he got out OK
@ Alex, Weed was 10 secs ahead. So, you are correct.
Do you think McDowell should rethink his career choice? Glad he's OK. He did add some excitement, though.
@ Boyd, they showed it. Collision with another car. I'm sure they'll rerun it. If not, watch NN or TWIN.
@Dot,
If he didn't rethink it after Texas last spring, I don't think that fireball bothered him too much.
I'm glad Michael's OK! Flippin' in TX and on fire in Cali
NRF Michael & Texas aren't a good mix either. Not a lot of fans in the stands either or maybe they are just a late crowd there in LA - you know getting stuck in traffic perhaps.
@ Alex, Touche.
OMG! The enhanced Go daddy commercail again?
Then again we have all the E.D. adds which would not be so bad if they did NOT go on and on and on and on and on and on for 2 minutes about 4 hr side effects.
But back to the race, a snoozefest for sure but ESPN is doin' the best they can.
This track does not deserve two dates and is INSANE for the costs (Daytona then West coast then back east again) NOT in the best interest of the sport for costs.
Hope NASCAR would allow planning for location and dates to be a little more chronological someday.
Hurry, look. They're showing the intervals.
Weed stinking up the show again.
Daly Planet Editor said...
"The production team from the Trucks reads this blog, so we always try to support their efforts.
That is still the most consistent TV package over the last two seasons."
and so i will once again say: BEST racing broadcast team on tv, bar none! i have become a truck fan because of this team and i was so very disappointed that i didn't get to watch the race with them today. parsons was sadly underutilized and, while the fox guys tried, they didn't meet the very high standard set by the truck gang each week.
i miss "my" truck broadcast team. please bring them back next week. please?
As we noted last yr, JP was UP for the Busch races, but not for the Cup races. It's just sad....:( And it WILL get worse as the season goes by, imo.
Nice touch for Erik's mom.
I think those Go Daddy commecials go too far but maybe I'm just too old. As it looks now, there won't be too many cars on the lead lap at the end of the race.
WOW! Michael is smiling...amazing. Glad he called his wife, two weeks away from delivery, if she saw this on TV, could've provoked EARLY delivery! :-)
Nice follow up by ESPN. Race is a snooze with shrub but the voice inflections in the booth are nice but I am surfing the net somethin' fierce. Stands look mighty empty from my tv.
Memo to Dr. Punch.....please do NOT complement my driver tomorrow!!! LOL
Well, we need some excitement on or off the track. Anything...
at least they're acknowledging the crowd or lack thereof :(
Here's the prob I've seen w/both races today...Shrub has run away w/them!!!! This is NOT gonna help ratings, jmo. The stars of the series are getting NO love.
Nothing to report here since KB is way far ahead I think JP & AP are trying to get some excitement into the broadcast but I don't see anything. AB commenting on the disappointment for the lack of folks at the track and Rusty blaming it on the economy. Get him out of the booth! Yawn!
That was a pretty funny line from Rusty. Kyle is making soo much money today he should help pay for the economic stimulus bill.
Did I dream it or was there a decent race race at California last? Yawn, if they got to go west how about Las Vegas 2nd race and bury the Cali. race some where in the middle, they want the ratings but can't see this is not the track that will bring fans even when they give tickets away. Not the best second date race choice. And Kyle Busch is stinking up the show.
This race is so boring I wonder if the guys in the booth might be playing checkers! Wouldn't blame them but the voices have been pleasant to listen to tonight.
But the shrub...ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz
They commented on TV the low attendance! As Gomer would say "Shazaam".
anybody got any numbers on the folks in the seats. CA has had horrible time lately..still nice to see it noticed by tv guys.:)
That blimp shot going to commercial was brutal. I counted 6 people in the bleachers.
Karma to the Biff.
@ PammH, right on sister.
Approximately 10,000 folks attending the truck race this afternoon - I'm thinking it might be a little more this for this evening's race. But not a whole lot more.
Kyle doesnt make any money running the truck though...
The guys in the booth are doing a pretty good job with this snorer of a race. Haven't been consistant with the lucky dog or guys that fell out of the race that are not start and parks but at least they are talking about more than just Kyle.
That split screen at the finish was AWESOME. its a great way to satisfy both the need to see the winner, and the need to see the rest of the cars finish.
I like the split-screen format to show the end of the race. It allows the network to show the driver's girlfriend/wife/crew/owner/crew chief, while we can all still see the cars on the track.
Also, good job ESPN covering the 2nd-5th place cars on that last run.
Well, I'm off to dinner with mom. I hope I can still eat after Weed's win.
It was nice to hang out with my e friends. JD, as usual, you were a great host.
See you tomorrow.
Welp, one of the most UNPOPULAR drivers in NASCAR History, breaks a record.
sigh.
I want to be happy for him but it is what it is.
Wow. Not too happy about those camera choices in the last 5 laps.
Did anyone see Harvick and Logano cross the line in the split-screen box?
How about Morgan Shepherd, 19th., and only 1 lap down.
Daly Planet Editor said...
" Wow. Not too happy about those camera choices in the last 5 laps."
Where did you get that idea, JD? I don't see it.
espnews will be going to the busch news conference in a few minutes i understand
ESPN left the battle for second with five laps left and began to zoom in on Kyle Busch running all alone and unchallenged.
Finally, the network tried too late to set-up a split-screen at the finish. Unfortunately, no one saw the Harvick vs. Logano battle on the last lap.
That is what I am talking about.
JD
Nice touch for the Nationwide race winner press conference live on ESPNEWS.
It would be nice to show video of the last two laps as B-roll over these comments.
JD
With 9 laps to go or so they were focused on kyle busch then switched to logano and harvick and I was surprised to see that. They kept following this close race and then with a lap to go they switched to busch and you never saw the race for 2nd again. The split screen came up and in this switch you never got to see logano or havick pass the finish line. I was hoping to see the finish for 2nd. After watching these two race with just laps to go it would have been nice to see them finish.
I felt JP was more relaxed and wasn't so much into commenting with a script in his hands.
I was pretty frustrated with the ending. The booth was hyping the side-by-side battle for second as they came to the white flag and even saying that it was going to come down to the checkered. However, we never got to see that last lap battle. When they panned to the split-screen, it was too little too late. You'd like to think that the production crew was listening to the announcers . . . you'd LIKE to think.
Well, I enjoyed the truck race on FOX today and then suffered through the Nationwide race on ESPN Classic and ESPN2. I was so thrilled when ESPN2 went from the interview with Kyle to the exciting fishing tournament! I mean, those fishermen are outstanding! It takes such stamina to sit in a boat all day, such strength to cast that 10 lb test line, and then try to maintain composure while pulling in the "big" catch. Absolutely breath-taking! I mean, who wants to hear what any of the top 5 drivers have to say when you can watch this pre-taped worm drowning?!
I could go on & on about ESPN's coverage of the race, but then I'd be breaking JD's rules for commenting... I'll just say that it's a repeat of last season's garbage from beginning to end.
But thank you, JD, for giving me the opportunity to voice my opinion - you're greatly appreciated!
Anon 11:42
LMAO at your comments about the fishing show. Mercy I must admit after watching truck race earlier, I was bored out of me head with SNORAMA, oops, Fontana.
But as I goofed off on twitter and updating a blog it seemed SUDDENLY a BASS FISHING tournament was on. They could not interview anymore drivers for this?
"Did I shave my legs for this" as some country song went.
I would say it was an abrupt ending to a race and would've liked to see SOME OTHER GUYS interviewed.
Anyway, I am just getting ready to log off and anon your post had me in stitches.
Thanks JD for the posting, I know it was a lot of work since you were moderating thus I kept my comments few tonight.
Sophia: NASCAR coverage was only scheduled to run until 10, the race ran 20 minutes long, so yeah, onto bass fishing... NHRA qualifying coverage later also started ~20 minutes late as a result.
I pretty much fell asleep during the last 5 laps.
NASCAR really needs to make some changes about having cup drivers in the nationwide races. It's not fair for cup drivers to be contending for the nationwide championship. Not only that, but at one point, espn said that the crew for Kyle Busch consisted of different people from Gibbs' cup crews. How is that fair? It's like sending a World Series winning coach and pitcher to the minor leagues. It's completely bad sportsmanship to send a team there and have all the resources and one up everyone. Either that, or they should have two champions: top points, and top points nationwide-only.
Was there a reason this race wasn't on espn360? are any of the races going to be on 360? iirc, all the nationwide races were on 360 last year.
Keep wondering why Stevie wasn't penalized for throwing the water bottle at Jason out on the track??
Ron-Il.
RE interview with leffler and wallace. I am POSATIVE it was scripted. I don't mean to imply that they arn't ok with eachother, but it was not natural.
And only 15,000 folks at the Nationwide race. How can they possibly still keep running Nascar races there?
I was extremely disappointed in ESPN's handling of the last lap. There was a great battle going on for 2nd in the final laps and once the white flag came out ESPN completely bailed on it to show Kyle Busch running by himself. It would seem to me that basic logic would have prompted the production truck to at a minimum split-screen the leader and the race for 2nd on that last lap.
To compound matters ESPN bailed on the traditional last lap camera work for the "follow the leader across the line and towards turn 1 then split screen that with a delayed wide finish line camera shot" experiment. This decision caused the viewers to miss the first few cars behind Kyle crossing the line - including Logano and Harvick.
I guess the ESPN split-screen method would be okay if they would use the traditional wide finish line camera to begin with and then add the "leader box" from there (instead of the opposite like ESPN did Saturday), but I personally still don't see the need to see the leader drive through turns 1 and 2 and down the backstretch. All they ever do there is put a hand out the window, so there's really nothing to see there. The backflip/bow/fence climb/burnout/whatever doesn't happen until all the cars finish and the winner gets back to the frontstretch so it's not like the viewers are going to miss any kind of celebration, in my opinion.
Speaking of last lap camera work, I was not a fan of Fox again using the flagstand cam for the finish line in the Truck race. I would much prefer the wide shot that makes it much easier to identify the cars/trucks. Using that shot lets you see each vehicle for only a split second and makes them nothing but blurs, in my opinion.
As for the pre-race show starting on ESPN Classic, I look at each of those overrun situations with the perspective of "Was this just bad luck, or poor scheduling by the program director?". Scheduling college football games in 3-hour blocks right before races is very poor scheduling, because that's generally not nearly enough time for most games in that sport. In instances like that where broadcasts are joined late, I have no problem blaming the network. In an instance like Saturday, 2 hours is a perfectly reasonable time slot for a college basketball game, in my opinion, so it wasn't a big deal to me that Saturday's game happened to run slightly long.
Stricklanfan
Once again your astute posts reminds me of what I missed as I goofed off during the NW race but yes the camera work at the end was not good..The split screens used in truck and NW makes cars TINY on our tv, from 19 inch to 24 inch HD tv to 36 inch tv.
GOOGLE EARTH shots were overused during NW race..at the end I missed the lack of logano and harvick because I was so bored and apathetic.
I do not think Kyle should be allowed to PLAY in truck series since most in that appear to be driving for a LIVELIHOOD.
I mean should we let stars in baseball go back to AAA leagues and hit the most homeruns??? Ludicrous.
Also I will not get started on the way too many cup guys in NW.same thing.
NASCAR could do so many things to help the sport.
TV coverage with better cameras would be a START but the rules for playing in all series has got to be fixed.
With 15,000 in seats in CALIF, somebody tell me again the insanity of racing here a WEEK after DAYTONA?
oh, yea, the CELEBS are close by.
Man, in this economy you would think NASCAR would get back to the ROOTS and "What the fans want" (If I hear the latter one more time I will scream)
But I see now it's about merchandising insipid camera work and cartoons.
What's next Digger Dental Floss?
May an UNDERDOG come out of nowhere to win today's race. :-)
Hey guys and gals complaining about the attendance: Its a NATIONWIDE race! DUH!! I defy you to find a Nationwide race in your area that doesnt have a sparsely attended crowd. Sheesh, for pete's sake.
And Kyle is just that damn good. It has nothing to do with the race track. He's dominated at race tracks all across the country.
I read elsewhwere that the CWTS and NW races were a two for one. Still couldn't get more people there.
How difficult is it to set up a camera angle for the end of the race? At least show the lead lap cars cross the finish line. Then go to the other camera shots.
@Kevin in SoCal--shows that even the "names" can't bring in the attendance if only 15K folks bought tickets
Where did you get 15k from? The stands looked half full to me. That's about 40,000 people.
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