Sunday, March 29, 2009

Live Blogging The Martinsville Sprint Cup Race on Fox


After a rainy and messy weekend, the sky has cleared and the Sprint Cup race from Martinsville will be run as scheduled.

Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond will start the day in the Hollywood Hotel at 1:30PM. Darrell Waltrip will join them for the pre-race show and then scoot up to the announce booth to join Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds for the 2:15PM race.

This day is being featured as the 25th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports. Rick Hendrick has already appeared on the other NASCAR TV programs, so look for him on the Fox pre-race show. It should be interesting to see who asks the questions.

Down on pit road it will be Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren reporting. These four will be on the spot today because of the potential issues on the narrow and dangerous Martinsville pit road.

The track is green and no rubber down may contribute to single file racing and lots of arguments over space early on. It is easy to get a lap down and the fight in the back of the pack with the leader approaching is going to be a story for most of the event.

Martinsville has a great track level camera angle, where we will no doubt be seeing Digger appear. Using this effect under caution is great, but inserting the Digger animation during green flag racing can cause viewers to miss almost an entire lap. A lot can happen very quickly at Martinsville.

Fox switched to a triple-split on the caution flag pit stops. This use of three video boxes instead of four allows the TV viewer to see the pit road live while also watching the stops of the top three contenders. What a great move.

In the middle of this event, the grind becomes apparent and the TV crew has to search for stories to keep the viewers interested. The challenge for Fox this season has been to tell the stories of the cars outside of the top twenty. Just because a team finds themselves racing from the back of the pack should not mean they become invisible.

Everyone races the last lap like a heat race and the brand new Fox approach of showing a camera wideshot with live graphics as the field races to the finish line has been a welcome improvement this season. Hopefully, that will continue.

This post will host your comments about the coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from Martinsville on Fox. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below.

TDP is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

313 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 313 of 313
The Track Girl said...

Oh for pete's sake. Thanks Dot.

Jessica said...

I hope they show the fan that did that getting escorted out on national TV...

Dot said...

Thank you David. I wondered why he was 19th.

Vicky D said...

This would have been a good time to mention IF anymore drivers have gone out of the race. They haven't been showing the rest of the field since halfway.

Dot said...

Ya think Marcos spun him?

The Loose Wheel said...

Guess we know why Spence didnt pick Robby today...

bevo said...

NASCAR about to go head-to-head with Tar Heels basketball.

Bet more than a few of the televisions in the pits and press box change channels :)

Dot said...

Jamie Mac is the golden boy of Rousch today.

The Loose Wheel said...

my fantasy team needs jmac to run well so thats good lol

red said...

for those listening to some other race broadcast: is there actually racing happening further back anywhere?!?

The Loose Wheel said...

nothing really of note...the battle up front is about the best one going

Daly Planet Editor said...

I think there are some folks out of gas who are not on the track.

The Loose Wheel said...

MRN just came back from break...talking about the battles from 8th back and how they are broken up due to lapped traffic.

But no major battles being discussed

red said...

thanks, david! just wondering . . .

The Loose Wheel said...

Vickers, Reutimann, and Newman are having a battle in 8th, 9th, 10th.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Reut is having a season.

Kenn Fong said...

Sophia,

Dale Junior reports, "This thing ain't got no front brake."

WCK

The Loose Wheel said...

Ford telling Denny to save him a half gallon if he can stay in front of Jeff.

Newman clears Vickers, some rubbing takes place, door slammed before Reuti can get there but Reuti gives him a bump off the corner and gets inside

red said...

ok, i am clearly NOTgetting it: why have a pre-race show if you're planning to introduce non-racing "stuff" during green flag racing? i have nothing against reut's dad's victory but is the racing so bad that the booth has to talk about that right now? there's nothing else happening on the track?

seriously. is pre-race for hard news, fluff pieces, some combination? b/c we're getting a whole lotta nothing during green flag racing today after a solitary moment of restraint early on.

oops -- gotta go call 911: accident out front. be back soon.

Dot said...

@ David, what booth are you in?

The Loose Wheel said...

MRN

The Loose Wheel said...

Well SIRIUS scanning Hamlin's channel, sometimes going to Tony which is where I got my fuel info, but the battle was all MRN

Dot said...

@ David, you had me fooled.

red said...

"handling gone away from the 24 car right now . . ." wonder if that will result in calls (again) for splitting letarte and gordon?

red said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Loose Wheel said...

Oh look, fox just reported Hamlin's fuel situation...

Dot said...

Yea, caution. Who owes Jermy dinner?

The Loose Wheel said...

#11 needs to corner better, 4 tires and half round down on trackbar

The Loose Wheel said...

Kurt does Dot.

The Loose Wheel said...

2 tires for Ambrose...big gamble there

Daly Planet Editor said...

OK, has anyone seen the Digger animation where he dives back in the hole? How about the one where he has the entire family and then all scram?

I really only recall the logo in this broadcast.

JD

Newracefan said...

Poor Reut 10th to 16th after the stop, that's not the first time his pit stop has cost him multiple spots

The Loose Wheel said...

nah JD i havent seen it.

but thats a good thing. better not see it now but im sure we just jinxed it..

red said...

jd, really, i am so not kidding! if you keep pointing out that the rodent hasn't appeared, some "genius" at fox is going to wake up, say "hot damn! we forgot all about those annoying graphics! let's roll them all out in the last 100 laps!" and then i'll simply have to hunt you down!!

Dot said...

@ David, I agree. Thanks for the info. You confirmed what I was hoping not.

Dot said...

@ JD, I'm right behind red. I've gotten yelled at in the past for mentioning bad things during the race. :)

The Loose Wheel said...

JD YOU TOTALLY JINXED THIS!!!!

Dot said...

David, is Marcos pitting? FOX will never tell us.

Sophia said...

MRN station has CROSS TALK?? somebody giving Tiger Woods scores? HELLO? Why is this happening on RADIO?

I can hardly hear the MRN guys..is nobody listening? Sheesh..they went to commercial and the cross talk stopped.

Anyway, Thanks Kenny for the Jr brake issue comment! Love the inside scoop. Was putting foil in my hair (touching up roots) and LISTENING to MRN away from Tv.

I gotta tell you these MRN voices are fabulous to listen too. Make it all SOUND FUN like real racing is going on....

Unlike PRN guys that think "they are comedians".

I see Jr is 7th. :)

OMG...

JD there is that digger animation...unless I missed it earlier while out of the room listening to Radio.

red said...

jd: i'll be thrilled to add rodent comments to the post-race blog, honest, b/c i have noticed it as well.

ah, man, see now, there we go: a screaming digger shot on the #8 spin.

PammH said...

uhoh, JD red is coming for ya!!

Newracefan said...

JD you had to go and do it didn't you at least it was a commercial bumper but still.....

Anonymous said...

ok that was a well timed animated digger graphic, you have to admit, lol

red said...

anon: it was a terrific CAMERA shot for certain. the animation? not so much.

The Loose Wheel said...

No word on Ambrose but from what I see on live leaderboard they stayed out.

It could work out since this left side tire is the same from last year and all they did was change rights...If they get a top 15 the call was a wash either way.

Daly Planet Editor said...

I wonder why the huge change from the animation to the stationary logo for most of the race?

Let's hope they can get the wideshot of turns 3 and 4 and let the field run to the finish line.

This final lap should be wild.

Sophia said...

JD

There is that &^$#$#^&#^ animation "you were missing and ASKING about"

:-)

red said...

while i don't need the "radio remix" right now, that was a sweet synchronized 18/82 spin they just showed again.

Anonymous said...

a baseball commercial? i want to watch the race.. ugh. did anyone pit?

Dot said...

Look for a wild restart. Wrecks JJ so DH can pass.

Dot said...

I was typing when Hammond was speaking.

red said...

ya' know, i love my phillies but with 48 laps left, this would have been the ideal time to run thru the field for us -- for the first time today. but we get a baseball promo instead.
i despair.

The Loose Wheel said...

DENNNYYYYY!!!!!! WIN ONE FOR THE COMPANY!!!!

Newracefan said...

JJ is PO'd that is never good

Anonymous said...

A few laps ago, Mike Joy said Bobby Labonte was a lap down. Wrong-o! I've got Pit Command up and Bobby's been on the lead the entire race. Apparently Mike and them watch some other website live points board and the Fox ticker is a joke.

bevo said...

Seems to be problems communicating between the booth and Director/Producer

Dot said...

Poor Reut.

Sophia said...

WOW..took FOREVER for FOX to get reuts accident?

WTH is up with that?

The J said...

reutimann :(

Newracefan said...

Arggggggg Poor David that sucks

red said...

not a fan of the 11 but that was one smart, ballsy re-start by him. but i agree with nrf: an unhappy JJ is not a good thing for the 11.
and now another yellow. hamlin better be as good this time as he was before 'cause otherwise, he's gonna have the 48 all over him in a very BIG way.

Anonymous said...

did anyone notice that for a bit only 10 cars showed up on the ticker?

Sophia said...

busy WASTING TIME with DIGGER CAMERA while we miss big wreck with lots of drivers.

SIGH

The Loose Wheel said...

yeah noticed the ticker.

think denny and kyle planned that

red said...

ok, looking at that restart again: the 18 REALLY laid back for the 11 to get in ahead of the 48. i wouldn't look for the 48 to let that happen again.

Sophia said...

@5.29 ANON

YES I noticed ONLY 10 in the ticker? what was UP with that move?

Anybody keeping score on Fox's jump the shark moments? :(

Dot said...

Glad they pointed out it wasn't all Denny on the restart. Fool JJ once...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Same thing that happened in the truck race from last year. The Director used the Digger cam and missed the key spin of the race that changed the leader.

Glenn said...

I need some help.
I read that some others have some extra black bar at the top and bottom of the tv. Watching on Dish Network I have about 4 inches of black on the top and about 2 on the bottom. I don't have HD on Dish Network.
I just swapped over to "over the air antenna", which is HD and there is no extra black top or bottom. I have a 42 in widescreen plasma and not had the difference before.
Any ideas?

Dot said...

JJ needs to step it up to keep the Hendrick tradition going.

The Loose Wheel said...

kyle mistimed it, jimmie was on it...

Sophia said...

How many races until TNT?

And will

MIKE WELLS be directing again this year?

Please somebody, say yes !!

Sophia said...

@Glenn

Glad to know it's not just me.

Some FOX AFFILIATES need to learn about conversion of 4:3 to 16:9 ratio. Cincinnati affiliate still sucks and I am able to get Dayton which is NORMAL 4:3

my HD TW channel has been intermittent and digitizing.

Should be consistent but some stations are off and NOT paying attention. nobody to call on weekends. :(

Anonymous said...

Doesn't a Fox baseball game leading in to a Sat. night Nascar race have the potential for all sorts of problems . . .

The Loose Wheel said...

FYI someone missed something happen to the 83 because he fell 4 laps down all of a sudden

bevo said...

@Glenn-

Check your tv's settings. On aspect ratio see if it's set to have the program set it or if you have set it to over ride those settings

red said...

david: i caught that as well. and it looked like the production team was nudging the booth to talk about it b/c they showed the 83 right before the last re-start.

Sophia said...

Marcos Ambrose is 12th but has no brakes.

MRN guys say you use 'other cars as brakes'

:)

Dot said...

YEA JJ!!!!!!!!!

Newracefan said...

That's what happens when you get him PO'd now as long as there isn't another caution

The Loose Wheel said...

great....that was weak. hope denny gets back to him and puts him in the fence

PammH said...

Wow JJ just muscled up!

Sophia said...

who drives # 83?

The Loose Wheel said...

Vickers

red said...

sophia: 83 = brian vickers in the red bull toyota.

Sophia said...

tx

Daly Planet Editor said...

I wish Chad was going to be on TWIN this Monday.

Sophia said...

JD

Dittos on the Chad on TWIN commment. They need to rethink him MISSING so many shows imho.

Dot said...

@ David, Sorry. Don't mean for your driver not to win.

Newracefan said...

JD you and me both, he is just so much fun after a win but there are still 4 laps left and I don't want to jinx it

Sophia said...

man I was hoping for Gordon to win if it was between he and JJ. He has had a long dry spell

The J said...

great. i thought for once a driver i like was going to win, i guess its just not meant to be.

Anonymous said...

what's up with the ticker. Fox can only afford to show the top ten?!!

The Loose Wheel said...

Oh my driver is a few laps down, just dont want to see Johnson win is all.

Especially like that because if it was Kyle Busch doing that we'd never hear the end of it, but its Jimmie and people make it okay.

red said...

interesting ticker graphic right there. and a nice shot of the closing laps.

Newracefan said...

Chad warned JJ that 11 might not be happy, JJ it's his own fault for chopping me off, like I said not good to PO JJ

Vicky D said...

Anon at 5:43 - if Jr was below the 10th spot we would see up to his position.

Sophia said...

Nice shot of the finish line but that TICKER thing STANK! ????


Also what's up with Fox ticker only showing top 10 cars so much?

*NEWSFLASH TO FOX*

the chase has not started yet. :(

Daly Planet Editor said...

Thanks for stopping by folks. Bob Dillner reports on The SPEED Report at 7PM. Spencer, Wallace and Roberts on Victory Lane at 8 and Kenny Schrader is Dave Despain's co-host on Wind Tunnel at 9.

No late night version of NASCAR Now until ESPN/ABC starts to cover the Cup races in July.

There will be a column about this race up shortly for your comments.

As always, thanks for dropping by.

JD

Dot said...

The heat's off the JR & JR show this week with an 8th place finish.

Newracefan said...

Wonder if we'll get a top 35 update in postrace

Anonymous said...

uggg great victory for Hendrick, though it's the wrong Hendrick driver in Victory Lane:P When oh when will Jeff close the deal:(

The J said...

johnson 4th in points. my hope that he somehow misses the chase is already gone

The Loose Wheel said...

Someone to to NASCAR.com and check the live points. Who in the heck is Earl Baker and why is he in the #7 car?! lol might that explain their day...

The J said...

lol so i guess earl baker now is a driver

Daly Planet Editor said...

Ready to hear from Denny.

Newracefan said...

I wonder what Denny said before he got out of the car but nice job of controlling it for TV

Dot said...

@ nrf, ditto.

The Loose Wheel said...

He didnt say anything on the radio...Jimmie just better hope he isnt racing Denny for the win come Richmond...

The J said...

i think they way overdid the whole hendrick thing today

Daly Planet Editor said...

Remember, Truck Series at noon on Monday - SPEED.

Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip.

Thanks again everyone!!

Newracefan said...

JD do you know about Mikey and TWIN yet?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Ask and you shall receive. There is a new post up about Mikey and his Monday TV schedule.

JD

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 313 of 313   Newer› Newest»