The network did not televise practice. It did not show qualifying. The production team has not been on the air for two weeks. Now, ESPN gets a big Memorial Day present dumped in its lap with perhaps the best auto race of the weekend.
The struggles of the COT in the Sprint Cup Series have been well documented. On mile and a half tracks like the Lowe's Motor Speedway, passing is at a premium. On Sunday, the F-1 bunch races in Monaco where passing is almost impossible except on pit road. Later, the IRL tries to recapture the glory of the Indy 500 with a mediocre field and a series struggling with sponsorship woes.
The race with the most potential for competition and actual passing on the track is tonight's Nationwide Series race from LMS. Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Brad Daugherty start the coverage with the pre-race show at 7PM.
Jarrett is on the pre-race because Rusty Wallace is on vacation. Also not on the broadcast are Jamie Little and Vince Welch. Both are away getting ready to work the Indy 500 for ABC on Sunday. NASCAR Now host Mike Massaro will jump back into his firesuit and work with Shannon Spake and Dave Burns on pit road.
It will be up to Dr. Jerry Punch to keep the excitement level high on this primetime Saturday night live TV telecast. This is the third season for Punch in the broadcast booth and he continues to have a tough time defining his role. Luckily, his booth mates Jarrett and Andy Petree have become proficient at filling-in the gaps.
ESPN continues to use the best triple-splits on the pit stops with outstanding graphics. The pictures should be great under the lights and the crowd looks to be strong. All the elements are in place and the biggest unknown factor is the weather.
Rain is in the area and ESPN2 viewers may be seeing a lot of Bestwick, Jarrett and Daugherty if the rain begins to fall. This telecast is scheduled to end at 10:30PM, but the next program is a re-air of the original "3" movie produced by the now defunct ESPN Original Entertainment.
This post will serve to host your comments about the live coverage of the Nationwide Series race from LMS on ESPN2. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thank you for taking time out of your Memorial Day weekend to stop by The Daly Planet.
400 comments:
1 – 200 of 400 Newer› Newest»Hopefully, the broadcast crew will allow the racing excitment itself to do most of the talking, rather than just running their mouths nonstop in mindless drivel. I don't need them to tell me there is good racing going on.
If this is the best race of the weekend, we're screwed.
The Cup race should have a good last 50 laps or so. The All-Star race indicated that at the end they can get racey and the tire will hold up.
This race tonight is going to come down to 4 or 5 guys, probably only 2 or 3 unless one or more have a problem.
Hopefully ESPN utilizes a KISS method and tells the stories as they unfold rather then sticking up front.
David, maybe you should take a moment and check the line-up over at jayski.
Carl and Kyle should have a run away. Maybe the 16 or 33 factors in late with the 29, 32 and 38 as dark horses.
Maybe they will talk about a Nemecheck who has a sponsor, or Stanton Barrett who is running after DNQing for Indy...
We shall see...
Looks like we're maybe 2 hours from a green flag
Intros at 7:45PM and National Anthem at 8PM.
It would be nice to know what the updated start time is in light of the rain... no espn updates, are we still looking at a 7:45 green?
I think the 7:45pm EDT got washed away ... There was a lot of water on some areas of the track ...
We wait...
NASCAR has rescheduled the intros and anthem for the times I listed.
Guess that means Green/Yellow start
David, you having a bad day there dude?
We are just watching the rain. Did you guys see the Daytona pics?
I'm not exactly sure if I'll be able to stay up... my allergies are really bad, and I have nothing to take for them.
I'll probably do the online PRN thing (btw, they threw back to the affiliates and will be back at 8), rather than ESPN. I cannot sleep to those guys, I've tried.
Nah. Just skeptical that they will have a dry track in 45 minutes. ESPN hasn't mentioned a start time yet which isnt a good sign
No more rain talk. It's all I've been hearing locally for the past week!
Send some rain this way! It was nice seeing it the last day or so!
@ hotaru, I think Jeremy has some Claritin D.
@ JD, crazy pix of Daytona. Lake Lloyd is under Lake Daytona.
wow, little Indy promo...
See why I like blogging with you guys?
Waiting is boring...
Dot, it is still a mess up there.
Oh, JD did i mention SIRIUS is sending me a free radio and 3 months free service since I informed them I wanted to cancel my service since the other radio died?
They are really limping along. No clue how they are going to get out of it. The Stern dollars and the XM merger killed them.
I love SIRIUS. The NASCAR channel is stellar and gotta say the last month and ahalf with regular radio with all the commercials reminds me how much I miss it. Its a shame they aren't doing any better because the product is deft. worth the money in my eyes
How old is Miss Spake?
Spake born in 1976 by Wiki. No birth month.
If 90 and 91 S&P, I'm going to be furious b/c Morgan Shepherd, Marc Davis and Kertus Davis DNQ. Such a shame.
Oh, and Casey Atwood.
Sure wish they had an overhead shot of Daytona track. Rain and thunder here in Orlando again. Nonstop rain since Sunday.
Prepare to be furious Karen. The cars were stark white. No sponsorship = no money = start & park
Shannon uses her maiden name on the air like Wendy Venturini.
She was married last season and lives in NC.
@ Karen, start getting mad now. You know how this will play out.
We will be keeping track of the valet parking set tonight.
Robyn & Dot, I'm preparing myself but it totally ticks me off.
@ JD, good thing, since BSPN won't.
Somebody needs to call the graphics department!
JD, saw the pics from Daytona. They'll sure need a super jet dry for that place. I'm wondering if they'll have to change the SAFER barriers. That place is ripe for some bad mold.
PRN is speculating green in about 1/2 hour.
This national anthem brought to you by the Society for the Tone Deaf
Singing obviously isn't Miss USA's primary talent.
Just because someone wears a banner over their chest doesn't mean they can sing
I'm flipping back and forth between my Penguins and the race. This should be fun.
Is she the one who beat Miss California?
dar,
Lake Lloyd was built to be the drainage source for the track, even in a hurricane.
This rain was so fast and intense it got overwhelmed. The clean-up is going to be expensive.
Does anyone else think that guy for Golden Corral looks like Mikey Waltrip?
Once again I volunteer to be the National Anthem singer selector.
JD, my good friends live in Jacksonville and their dock on the intercoastal is totally under water. I feel so bad for those folks.
JD from what I saw, most of the damage at DIS would be in the infield. The tunnels being flooded as well as the lower backstretch shouldnt cause that many issues if any I would imagine.
From what I expected some people made it out to be alot worse then what it was but the only pics ive seen are from Mike Mulhern
Considering the federal investigation and how many people they'v cheated, NASCAR shouldn't allow US Fidelis as a car sponsor.
http://racingfashionistas.blogspot.com/2009/05/thank-god-race-isnt-at-daytona.html
David, I don't know if these are the same as Mulhern, but here a some photos of Daytona
David, the infield flooded as the lake topped out. Lots of electric and electronic stuff buried in that area.
More rain today. Should be interesting.
@ Anon 8:12, I would be more worried as the car owner. You know the saying, when you lie with dogs.....
darbar, they're the same.
we have a link to that site on the main page as well.
I went to the Mulhern page earlier and my access was denied. I did see them elsewhere though.
I don't expect that sponsorship to last the season. Ex-con runs the company.
Bob Pcckrass says the race officials channel indicate the track won't be ready for racing until 9pm.
What sponsor JD?
Wow, yet another tasteful commercial to talk about.
Older commercial JD. Probably has alot to do with them being on the #88 and the 500 being on tomorrow.
US Fidelis is being investigated by 40 Attorneys General and now has a Fed investigation started.
Total scam run by an ex-con with no value to the people who sign-up for their extended warranty.
We still have lots of puddles on track. Pit road full of water
Trish
david, the fact that you know that gets my attention.
We still have lots of puddles on track. Pit road full of water
Trish
Oh really?
Sucks to be Rusty Wallace Inc then. Wonder if the checks are clearing?
Some other extended warranty company started running commercials the other day too but can't think of their name...
At least RWI still has that 5 hour energy money to bank on for awhile...
JD, are they the ones who were/are robocalling people?
Since we're on rain delay, I hope you don't mind the question.
JD, im a 21 year old male...what do you expect?! LOL.
Not the most tasteful choice though for a NASCAR race which I'll give you.
We'll have to give David the nickname Bootie.
As in Barker, not Beyonce. Just wanted to clarify that.
Good thing no one bets me on things such as how long this delay would be...
OMG a report on NASCAR's mandatory meeting on Tuesday!
And a serious discussion too. Im impressed
The guy that founded Go Daddy must be a real piece of work. And of course we're supposed to take Danica seriously as a race car driver. Not me. I can't take any woman seriously who needs to present herself in the manner in which Danica does.
dar, I did a little bit of business with them and he is just like you would think he is...
I liked the discussion. Im with Brad.
Harvick addressed this last year when they put their own policy in place of the red tape that surrounds privacy issues and such. Hopefully after Tuesday we'll have some clear answers or at least in the next few weeks.
Thanks Karen lol.
Closed-door meeting does not mean info won't leak out.
NASCAR wants to get the Mayfield issue and the drug policy questions behind them because there is a very long stretch coming up.
Brian France and Mike Helton will both be at the Tuesday closed meeting. Sprint Cup drivers only.
That Danica Go Daddy commercial is no different that Carl Edwards on magazine covers shirtless. Sex sells, and they both have attractive bodies.
don't forget, the licensed crew members and the NASCAR officials are also tested.
I already got some email from crew guys who want to know why they cannot go to the meeting.
The NASCAR Insiders will have the good scoop later on Tuesday.
Another good use for Coke.
JD do you think this might be a situation where they will poll the drivers to get a feel of what they think NASCAR should do? Or perhaps the iron fist may be coming down?
anon 8:33PM, I don't recall the magazine saying come to our website and see "more of" Carl.
So Brad's misinformed as to Nationwide drivers/crew chiefs at meeting?
I think Sprint Cup Drivers refers to anyone with an active Sprint Cup Licence/clearance
Does anyone think that a driver has ever raced "impaired"?
Shane Hmeil.
David,
The lawyers are circling. This is pro sports and millions of dollars are on the line with these guys.
Mayfield, despite his media mess, has been consistent in his denial of recreational drugs of any type.
It was France who said it was not performance-enhancing. He has some explaining to do.
Like DJ said, I think they will open things up a bit and provide a list.
You cannot force an freelance business contractor to disclose any type of prescription medication they take just to compete.
Hopefully, NASCAR will provide some guidelines and establish a general medication-type list that would cause a violation.
It's a growth curve in this first year of the policy for sure.
Jeremy Mayfield should show up at the meeting with his lawyer.
darbar said...
Does anyone think that a driver has ever raced "impaired"?
Aaron Fike
You can still Google Aaron Fike + Ryan McGee to get that chilling interview. Being hooked on heroin and driving fulltime in the Truck Series is what got all of this going.
Shane Hmiel and Tyler Walker were just party boys. Hmiel is sober and driving sprint cars. He is also an announcer on 3 Wide Life.
Shane got booted that first time after Richmond when I believe he took Keller out on lap 1 or 2.
Aaron Fike is the first one who has fessed up to it but I have no doubt he wasn't the only one to ever do it.
time to fire em up and dry pit road
JD the pics from Daytona reminded me of Houston last month I don't wish that on anyone. I'm glad Tom Selleck Jesse Stone movie was on before all this so we missed a lot of the track drying. So far all the interviews are same old comments although Kenny Wallace sounded very subdued.
Wow! 1/3 of the field is Cup drivers. Add in the S&P cars, how many are true NW drivers?
Thats a big SPEED sign...
Kenny in person is not like his act on RaceDay. Reminds me of how different Chris Myers and DW are when they are not doing the races.
I thought all the Cup car owners were to be at the meeting Tuesday also.
I did not read France's quote to exclude the violation's having been a performance restricting combination of legal substances.
When Kenny was interviewed on Thursday, whoever interviewed him and made the comment that he is more subdues than when he is on tv. His response was is that when he goes through the tunnel, he is all business. When he is hosting a SPEED show, he has fun.
Well JD,
What would YOU do for a Klondike Bar?
If they run more commls now during the rain delay, do we get fewer later?
Gee, I guess SDDD can't be bothered helping his teammate.
Dot, I felt the same way.
2 for 2 tonight
think j.d. owes dave an apology..green/yellow start..
Robyn, it looks like a lot of the full time only Nationwide drivers are starting towards the back.
I hate green/yellow starts. NASCAR should have dried the track properly before they cars were on track.
Robyn, it has more to do with drying pit road then it does drying the track. Its faster to dry the outside groove by having cars out there instead of the jet dryers, also pit road takes up to 30 minutes to dry because its a flat surface and they have to make several passes. No reason they should run 15-20 pace laps like they would have...
1st S&P? The 07
I was thinking more of the drivers from the "Back in the Day" group. Does anyone think guys like Cale, Junior Johnson or any of those guys raced while under the influence?
Is there going to be a comp yellow? I was out for awhile.
has to be a record for start/park
dar: wouldnt surprise me in the least. Maybe not one of those guys, and maybe not something as serious as being high on heroin but times were different back in the beginnings of NASCAR. Im not gonna speculate asto who and what, but it wouldnt shock me if I heard stories that confirmed anything of that nature
Good to see Randoph land a job after getting the boot from Haas
abit off topic-delete if you must, JD, but does anyone besides me feel that the Indy500 connected w/GoDaddy.com want to make you just take about a million showers...and NOT with DP?
And now it starts. 18 already blowing past everyone.
Good one, PammH.
Hey, I was just reporting the NASCAR radio traffic. Don't think they were very happy with the track crew.
PammmmmmmmmmmmmH,
It just is a little bit creeeeepy.
You've got that right Pam. That company just seems so scummy, IMHO
David the old drivers talk about smoking in their race cars back in the days. Awful. Anyway, how many times are they going to show KB pass slow cars coming up through the field. Hope it doesn't turn into a KB lovefest. JP even got excited.
Dot:
That was an excellent example of the difference between the good cars and slow cars in this series. He got by the first 20 easy, now the next 20 will be more challenging as they are much much faster cars
Vicky,
When I worked at ESPN back in the 1980's, we could see in the production truck the drivers who were smoking under caution.
Dick Trickle was famous for it.
Vicky:
I remember. Pearson was one of the guys known for it as was Dick Trickle.
I love the old stories of the sport lol
@David - I understand that pit road and part of the track was the problem. But they should have dried pit road before allowing the cars to be pushed out.
@ VickyD, How long you been here? lol
I just told Dan he'd be in the top 10 by lap 20.
Pretty sad when Scott Speed is quicker than Jr. I just think Jr's heart isn't in racing anymore. Either that or he's just in it for the "fun".
Gosh, I'm getting so sick and tired of all these guys and their man crush on Shrubbie.
But, I did read an article slamming the Shrub for racing in the lower series races like Nascar East. I guess Shrub just raced there and many are complaining that he's taking money away from guys who are struggling to make a career.
I think I counted 4 cars off already. Must have used up their equipment during the green/yellow laps.
Robyn:
True, but after a certain amount of time I think TV factors into these decisions too. Its 9 pm out in Charlotte, long day tomorrow for fans, teams and the tv networks alike. Plus a window where you have to fit the race into, at some point you gotta start it just in case weather moves back in again.
Bummer poor Annett. Either thats a massive over-correction...nevermind an oil line is off of it.
Started sprinkling again....:(
Loving the triple split. Any updates on the start and parks for those of you with live scoring?
Who's got live scoring? I can't find it.
As I recall, David Pearson had a cigarette lighter in his car, at least the 21.
07, 90, 91, 0 and 96 off the track
I don't mind them showing Shrub make his way towards the top 5...but now that he's there...hopefully they can concentrate on some other drivers.
Donny Lia didn't even take the green flag and it looks like 4 cars are out so far.
07, 90, 0, 91, 96 have S&P
Annett has no luck at all. He picked up the bad vibes from BDR.
Cook, Green, Chapman & Lia. I found live scoring. YAY
@ Mike, from your typewritten words....
Guess Setzer is still out there being a trooper
Oops. The 96 is still out.
JP - do you think the car going up in flames will not make him come back and finish the race?? Duh?
Thats the Phil Parsons effort there right?
PRN reported 3 cars, naming drivers, in the garage by, I believe, about the 13th lap.
Only live leaderboard I can find is at NASCAR.com.
i think we'll all have to admit that kyle has a special talent, it can't just be the cars he is getting, given his success across all types of racing.
unfortunately, his personality sucks given he can't handle losing graciously...if he could get that under control he could be something.
@ bozo, so true.
I've not been paying attention... but I did overhear them talk 'bout SDDD. Stuck to the script even though not under full green. :(
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/busch/foxTrax
90 & 91 are MSRP (Phil Parson's) cars
JD - Chapman & Cook in Parsons cars are out.
Kind of a different pit road vibe without Jamie. Nothing against her, just the on-air dynamic.
Good interview with Annett. Really liked it.
I did not sit through the delay btw... ended up watching part of an older race (the 1993 Winston) on YouTube. Sure don't commentate like they used to.
Did anyone hear more about complaints about certain drivers (re:Shrubbie) having done things to their transmissions to give them a bigger jump on the restarts?
@ darbar, no, I didn't hear anything.
Shannon is so much better by herself. I don't miss Jamie at all.
Darbar, i heard about some things back at the all-star race, but nothing since then. I think it was Jeff Gordon who thought they were doing something "different."
No... SDDD.
Immediate shut off!
96 off track or not up to speed
Setzer's off now.
dar englighten me...
never heard a peep.
JD....im looking at 3 for 3 right now LOL.
Let's just make SDDD the winner now. It will save the rest of our night.
Dot- Think that way every race now.
It's not fair to have him ruining the series every weekend.
Hope he gets bad luck and never recovers!
Robyn, thank you. I can find no promotion at all of N-wide FOX Trax leaderboard on FOX Sports site.
Who is Shawn Johnson? She was at the track to wave the green flag I am told.
Don't recall seeing her or hearing her be interviewed.
David, it happened after the All Star Race and Jeff Gordon said he thought that maybe there was something about certain cars (he didn't name names but everyone knew who he was talking about) had too much power on the restarts and he thought some teams may have put something on the transmissions to give them a little extra boost on restarts. All season Shrubbie has had a little something extra on his restarts. I know Shrubbie is good, but he can't be that good.
But David, the racing is good! Kyle can lap the field as long as there is some racing.
Isn't Shawn Johnson the olympic gold medal winning gymnast?
@ JD, Shawn Johnson is an Olympic gymnist. She just won Dancing With the Stars.
Seems like they got the commercials out of the way during the rain delay...this is only the second or third break in 50 laps right?
Got it. Her PR guy is upset with no TV time. He must have sent me 20 pics of her. Geeeez...
I forgot the gold medal part.
Shawn Johnson is a US Olympic Gymnast.
@Richard- Fox Trax for NW is not advertised on the Fox site. It's last year's address that still seems to work. SHHHHHH!!!!!
@ JD, I don't know why they couldn't have slipped her in during the long delay. Carl should've done the interview.
I should stay strong for my driver, but not if SDDD can get away with boring and upsetting us every week.
Turned back on... and off again when I heard 'leader KyB'... Not a good sign.
I should go back and finish the '93 Winston.
Still a run away =p
Lots of cars looking VERY tight though.
Guessing the 60 and 18 must have alot of RR spring in their cars to be able to turn.
Dar: interesting. I dont see a distinct advantage really. I just think Kyle times his restarts well because for years Hornaday looked just as good on restarts as Kyle does now.
You can still play with gear ratio's on 1st and 2nd i believe and im guessing thats what Kyle and them are doing.
Sounds maybe like the old Jeff Gordon though...
I will have a story next week on TNT and the new RaceBuddy. It is going to blow NASCAR right out of the water. Can't wait!
Peyton Sellers is 29th. Just showing an Odd Wad some love.
Bestwick just made a boo-boo.
"Biffle just got around his teammate Kyle Busch, for 2nd."
Guess he meant Carl Edwards.
OK, I know Shrubbie is a good driver, but how in hades can his cars always be so much faster than all the others in every series? Heck, why even watch if this dude is going to win everything. I know he's trying to prove to Hendrick that he shouldn't have been fired, but something just doesn't feel right about every one of his cars kicking behind every single week.
What TV network is Dancing With The Stars on?
darbar, you're absolutley right.
JD, can't wait. Looking forward to hearing the details!
JD, Dancing is on ABC
DWTS is on ABC.
Apparently Ms. Johnson did a back flip off a car earlier today.
@ JD, ABC. Aren't they related to BSPN?
JD, that would show would be on ABC, a part of the ESPN family of networks as they like to remind us of that detail frequently.
ABC JD.
My guess: Kyle has some stupid crazy rear springs in the car and he is just killing them through the corners
Please... something happen (not serious) to SDDD to put him out of contention.
This script is getting old.
Looks like Dennis Setzer is out now.
It's on ABC? Wow! No wonder he is upset.
She took hotlaps with Kyle in a school car and then tried apparently tried some dance moves with him for the cameras.
She also did the Carl backflip for the photogs.
Like to be the race producer on Monday in the meeting? Um...no.
saw something early this year on something in the front end that they were hiding it even after a wreck if i remember right
JD were you being funny with that question or did you really not know that?
thanks for the link Robyn
Has anyone been able to confirm who is twittering on Michael McDowell's account during races?
This is a bad night for me... blame SDDD.
I'm 'bout to call it a night. David (the way things are right now at least) has no shot in eight) :(
@ JD, was this being filmed? How'd we miss it? WTH happened?
Gotta say im impressed with the #88 car. That Dover machine is running quite nice considering. Wonder if maybe they might have learned something by mistake through all this?
From the press release I've received in regards to Shawn Johnson (it talks about tomorrow's race, but not tonight's):
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 21, 2009 – As a world champion gymnast, celebrity dancer and honor roll student, Shawn Johnson is used to living life in the fast lane, but things will get much faster this weekend when she is introduced to the world of NASCAR.
Johnson has been named an Honorary Race Official for one of NASCAR®’s crown jewels, the Coca-Cola 600. Johnson will be on hand to help celebrate the historic 50th running of NASCAR’s longest race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 24 (5 p.m. EST on FOX).
YEAH, my Penguins are now up 3-0 in the Series against Carolina. They won 6-2.
Thank you Mike. That explains it.
@Robyn--thanks for the N'wide leaderboard linky! I'm helping another site w/leaderboard info and couldn't find it to save my life. Trackpass use to have one but they don't have it any more
@JD--DWTS comes on ABC--Monday Nights at 8 and then the Results on Tuesday.
I'm sleepy...
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