ESPN2 covers the Nationwide Series race from Darlington, SC tonight live. There was rain today, so expect a full update when Allen Bestwick goes live at 7PM with the NASCAR Countdown show.
Bestwick will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Dale Jarrett is on vacation, so Wallace will then join Dr. Jerry Punch and Andy Petree in the announce booth to call the race. Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro will cover the action from pit road.
The Nationwide Series once again is a story of the "haves and the have nots." The Sprint Cup Series teams and drivers who cross-over into this series have been dominating for several seasons now, right down to winning the points championship.
This field is a mix of all kinds of teams from the top Cup Series pros to the start-and-park brigade. It should make for an interesting race, especially the first fuel run where everyone is on the track.
ESPN always makes good pictures and sound, so the Darlington stripe should be on display as the cars run inches from the wall lap after lap. Hopefully, Punch and company update the field and keep talking about the action on the track, not the script that ESPN hopes is created. That script often involves two drivers named Carl and Kyle.
This post will serve to host your TV-related comments on the Nationwide Series race from Darlington on ESPN2. Just click the comments button below to add your opinion. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thank you for taking time out of your Friday to stop by The Daly Planet.
238 comments:
1 – 200 of 238 Newer› Newest»For all you Nascar Smarties: How did Patrick Carpentier get the 23 qualifying spot seeing there was no qualifying? This is is first race in Nationwide this season, unless I'm wrong. Who's been driving the 07 car all season long?
Darbar,
David Green had been in the #07....and they were lined up by owner points and the #07 was 23rd.
Thanks for the info.
Anybody follow the David Hill chat?
Yeah, it was a bunch of BS, imho. He didn't really answer the tough questions, and the ones that were tougher, he didn't answer in the way every Nascar fan wanted to hear. In response to a question about dumping Digger his response was a terse "Tough".
Expect the 84, 0, 90, 91 to park, possibly the 49.
@anon
the chat is available either in a link JD provided or Fox Sports Nascar link.
It was terse!
I just posted my response in the David Hill headlined blog. I found him to be very cocky and not as knowledgeable about NASCAR as he claimed (Watkins Glen needs to be on the schedule? It has for awhile now, my friend).
Also, he showed no signs of improving the broadcasts at all. And with the ratings taking a dip, you'd think some changes would at least be mentioned, but no.
@ Sophia,
I think terse is an understatement.
Darbar, your question on the Cup quals being tape-delayed, Mike Joy just said it was TiVo'd so we would see all cars.
Hey all, I was surprised someone asked him about TDP. The Fox PR guys have been good to us since we started.
JD
Yeah, it was a bunch of BS, imho. He didn't really answer the tough questions, and the ones that were tougher, he didn't answer in the way every Nascar fan wanted to hear. In response to a question about dumping Digger his response was a terse "Tough".
..which is precisely what several of us said would happen.
Remember, kids, when your customers complain about your service, the best answer is always, "Tough."
I read the David Hill piece after the fact, didn't make me happy at all and even less hopeful for improvements. Well back to the DVR of qualifying apparently my fav's are either hitting the wall in practice or crashing in qualifying. Perfect ending to a perfect week (sarcasm alert)
Oh this is Newracefan by the way didn't realize the son was using the laptop until after I typed
I'm pretty sure speed does that every week, it's just not normally noticed, cause theren's not usually an overlapping LIVE broadcast on a different network to compare to
Classless move by SPEED with qualifying. Way to try to steal the audience away from Nationwide pre-race with your lame taped qualifying.
SPEED always does this--they delay the quals so fans don't miss the guys who go out during the commercial breaks.
You may call it lame, but a lot of us asked for them to do this.
I LOVE the way SPEED shows quals!!!
Frankly, I hate leaving those guys to the other channel.
@Jack from Pa
Was trying to be kind with "terse". I missed the Watkins Glen comment, WOW HOW CLUELESS. :(
When SPEED realized qualifying was running long, thats when they should have hit the fast forward button on the Tivo to wrap things up. How may replays of Jimmie's wreck are really needed? Just jump forward, and selectively skip drivers.
Just heard a crew member say "I'll let you know when you're half a lap down." S&P, anyone???? Wow.
@ Sophia,
I kinda figured you were being a bit kind when saying terse. There's a lot of other words I'd like to use to describe his attitude. He seemed like a jerk which completely turned me off to watching NASCAR on FOX. Bring on TNT!
Just jump forward, and selectively skip drivers.
David Hill, is that you?
Everyone has a favorite driver and every driver has fans. Why short-change them?
Let's relax on the SPEED issue on this post. SPEED has always delayed the coverage to show all cars equally for years now.
The rain made things run a bit late, they left the air when it was over.
Speed qualifying is great. Everybody is given equal air time. It isn't like qualifying overlaps with the actual race. It only overlapped with the pre-race, which doesn't tell us anything new.
There's a lot of other words I'd like to use to describe his attitude. He seemed like a jerk which completely turned me off to watching NASCAR on FOX. Bring on TNT!Indeed. Although Hill is probably pleased with his answers, I think he showed an astounding lack of understanding of the sport and a total disregard for what the viewers want or care about.
Anyone have the updated weather?
JD,
AB said a 30% of rain, that's all I know.
Let's keep an eye on who parks.
Did ESPN just dump out of a break to make the restart?
Were my eyes deceiving me? Did they actually come out of a commercial for the restart?
nice replay of the 1 car
I don't know how but I missed it!
I did not, however, miss Rusty's plug of his own son missing an accident that I think Brian Scott did a better job of avoiding. As I'm typing this he's on pit road with driver door sheet metal trouble.
I did not, however, miss Rusty's plug of his own son missing an accident
He has to look for bright spots anywhere he can--since Steve will inevitably wreck at poem point tonight.
@Jack--Oh dear! I remembered it but finally got settled down and didn't bring it up. I'll have to see the transcript.
I hope Mr. Alligator has a good race tonight :)
gymmie, it's quick and easy to read. Not a lot in it.
The 05, 90, and 91 are in the garage.
Just seeing the GoDaddy.com commercial with Danica reminded me... They're the presenting sponsor of tomorrow's Southern 500, so get ready for 100 of those commercials throughout the race.
Jack from PA said...
Just heard a crew member say "I'll let you know when you're half a lap down." S&P, anyone???? Wow.
Actually I think it was the driver who said that b/c his crew chief repeated it as a question like he wasn't hearing it right. I'd love to know who that was.
I'd much rather see Danica Patrick in full screen than side-by-side!
0, 52, 49 to the garage.
Thats 6 before lap 20!
@ Karen,
Thanks for the explanation.
@ Anon 8:03,
That's looking at the positives, for sure!
are the 90 and 91 Phil Parsons' cars?
@JD--thanks about the heads up on the transcript :)
#31 to the garage - Thats 7 lap 20 or earlier.
JD- Yes, Phil Parsons owns the 90 and 91. They have never finished a race.
JD, where is the transcript? I'd rather read it than listen to it.
Oh boy, the "points as of now" is back!
Karen, use the chat link on my david hill post. It auto-starts.
They threw the caution for a car bouncing off the wall. Are they kidding? I guess NASCAR was afraid Kyle & Carl would lap all the Nationwide series regulars, so it was time for a caution.
I was not impressed with David Hill at all. Even though I got my question answered, I thought he was quite rude with some answers he gave. Arrogant and terse just begin to describe his demeanor on his "chat" today.
there ya go fox, that is how to do pit stops!
We didn't realize the race was starting so early and were watching taped Nascar Now. Trying to keep up what with hubby changing back and forth to the Astros game.
Good triple pits.
As for qualifying, its ALWAYS behind real time. Qualifying on nascar.com is finished usually 15 mins before the broadcast is. they have gotten into the habit of "showing every car" which means tv falls behind in a hurry. Nothing new.
Let's remember these few weeks of posts later this year when we are critical of ESPN and the anons come out and say we never were critical of Fox's coverage.
That's odd, with back-to-back Rays/Red Sox promos.
Good triple pits, just wish we were seeing this 24 hours from now on FOX.
I've got it. The S & P are confused. They must think this is drag racing.
Breaking away from a commercial break to show a restart.. Genius.
#84 to the garage. 8 parks tonight.
I say these networks stop acknowledging the S&P's on the ticker from now on, since they're just taking up space that could be better used showing cars that actually race.
I liked how Mr. Hill answered the questions. I much rather have a rather blunt and brash answer, even though it may not be the one I wanted to hear, rather than some exec trying to spin, sugar coat, or flat out BS his way through a question.
I admire honesty, no matter how harsh it may be.
haus20 said...
Let's remember these few weeks of posts later this year when we are critical of ESPN and the anons come out and say we never were critical of Fox's coverage.
I said this last year when we were critical of Fox. They have hands down the best booth. We'll be praying for their return by September.
What you guys are saying is true. I love the BOOTH, but I can't stand Digger, "the only cartoon featured during a sports broadcast 50 times per event."
Nationwide race broadcast: Great
Nationwide race: Not so great. It gets tiresome to see the same drivers up front every week.
FOX may have a great booth, but their production truck as their heads up their rears!!!
ESPN has decent production, but a weak booth. if ESPN would stop trying to go "above and beyond" and simplify things, they would be amazing again. This group HAS potential. The baseball promos and CF promos are just an ESPN way of life, we have to deal just like FOX with their movie and tv promos. I pray, pray, pray that with experience and them listening to viewer feedback and making those adjustments we NEED, they will shine. They've made strides where FOX has only shown glimmers. Which is a shame considering SPEED. Guess its the joys of a high dollar network who paid big bucks to have this contract and we have to suffer through sponsored everythings and stupid commercials and gimmicks...
I admire honesty, no matter how harsh it may be.
Honesty is fine.
But when the honest answers are essentially (a) "screw you" and/or (b) "I don't get it," that's a bad sign.
His most memorable race experience was a rainy night in a parking lot? Hasn't been to many races, then, or doesn't watch them very closely.
If you don't like Digger, "tough?"
See, when representatives of service-based industries talk to me like that, honest though it may be, I tend to go elsewhere--in this case, MRN and Raceview.
#42 to the garage, #52 back on the track.
wow, s&p's are a story tonight.
Why is it that there is no bottomline on the the basketball game on ESPN, but we have that minutia on the deuce?
total of 8 s&p's so far
I saw Terry Blount on Nascar Now this week talking about a column he had on nascar.com about why are there so many cup guys in the Nationwide series races and he said 90% of readers had issues with so many in the races. Yeah, it's the same guys up front every race.
@haus
Because BSPN thinks NASCAR IS Minutia! :(
it is annoying, aint it?
great recap!
Maybe it was the fault of whoever was conducting the chat with Mr Hill ...
I've seen him on "Fox & Friends" ... He's a very personable & funny guy ...
Sometimes, humor / kidding doesn't translate from in-person to internet ...
Another competition caution for a car hitting the wall.
Nice rundown of the lead lap cars there... now for TRIPLE PITS!
Good evening everyone... I caught part of the race, heard one name... and immediatley unplugged my computer (back on now, but not watching... apparentley SDDD kills my Friday evenings, he sure did last Friday!)
I'll rely on you guys for 'updates' and mood lifts.
tiamatsrevenge said...
Maybe it was the fault of whoever was conducting the chat with Mr Hill ... I've seen him on "Fox & Friends" ... He's a very personable & funny guy ...
I could read the sarcasm in his voice. Maybe I was influenced by the previous posts, but I don't think so. Sounds like a horse's ass to me.
Have they told us who has gotten the lucky dog tonight? Where's Dot tonight?
@ haus20,
I believe whenever the Nationwide races are on ESPN, they do not have the Bottomline ticking along the bottom of the screen. I think ESPN does not have it, whereas ESPN2 does.
Triple pits... interesting.
And yet, apparently, FOX does it wrong with four? (STILL don't see the fuss)
Dot can't participate until 8:30, she says, b/c of work. Maybe she's trying to catch up.
Catch up... who's bringing the fries?
@ dear Sophia, too funny.
@ Hotaru, I'm with you about SDDD.
@ Karen, here I am.
No wonder it's crazy on the track --
FULL MOON ROTFL
I like the triple pits more because it shows the entire pit road which takes about about half the screen. Basically, you're sacrificing the focus on a fourth driver for showing the entire field on pit road. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Yeah, I too am sick of the 'script'. And David Ragan's not in this race, so :(
Dot, you know you've gained fame here when we start wondering where you are.
guess it's a fine line between bringing out a caution on purpose and spinning out
@Vicky
I was JUST thinking of Dot..thought she would be on after 5.30 her time? so what is she, two behind EST?
susal
did you mean infamous? :)
According to Jerry Punch Brad went sailing into the corner, I haven't heard that in a few races. JP is actually more animated tonight than several previous races too.
@ Vicky,
This race is only 147 laps. Now if he was announcing the Cup race tomorrow night.... :)
I just told Dan that SDDD really wrecks (oh, I wish) NW racing for me. I only watch so I can hang with my e friends.
@ dear Sophia, I'm 2 hrs behind TX and 3 hrs behind east coast.
that's the way to always run the ticker at the top..distance behind right with it
I'm loving the wide shots when the cars come off turn 2 down the backstretch, particularly on restarts.
Wonder if ESPN will utilize the In-Race reporter tonight??? I don't believe they've talked to Brad since the start of the race.
3 cautions for the 88 tonight. Rough night for Brad.
espn has the bottom ticker on the ball game now also
Dot-
He wrecks NW for me too.
Jack said...
I don't believe they've talked to Brad since the start of the race.
He's probably dizzy from spinning so much, he can't talk. Bummer.
I'm behind on the DVR, thank you JP for pointing out the gas can on the ground.
oochie snake bite :(
I had a flat tire on Wednesday and it's not fun. Fast race tonight. Good crowd in the grandstand too.
@jack in pa
I am enjoying the WIDE SHOTS, too. great camera work there.
JD
COuld we turn off the word veri thingie? since ur here
bozo, that was the update they have every 30 minutes
Seems like a race where Kyle Busch is going to make a mistake or something will happen on a restart and ruin his night... just getting that vibe now.
I'm very pleased with the coverage tonight, though.
LOL! Dot! I was thinking "Thank you Captain Obvious" when he mentioned the gas can. It may just be me, but I'm sure those mysterious "new race fans" or those channel surfers who happened to land at that moment could have figured that one out *giggle*
30TG... wow, I've been not paying attention for a while.
Just got the MRN stream back up.
I'm surprised that JP didn't tell us when Brad had his flat tire, that it was only flat on the bottom!
Woah, how 'bout Erik Darnell in second? Cool, hope he passes SDDD.
Is it just me or does Rusty seem kind of tame tonight? Other than his comments earlier on Steven, he seems kind of quiet. I almost like it.
sorry
I have too much Kyle Busch fatigue.
I wanna hear bout NW drivers.
A record no of cautions? Wow.
Kez spins again? I'm at 40 to go.
Being the in race reporter can be detrimental to stock car racing.
@ Sophia,
I second that.
Intervention!
evidenlty i missed something, but what does SDDD stand for?
Haus I was just about to ask the same thing
SDDD- Shrubba-Dubba-Ding-Dong.
I came up with that.
Hot - very clever!
If you noticed, Rusty stopped talking over top of Andy and listens to him.
Thanks I misssed when it went to the acronym, love the name
ok i remeber seeing the full name - didn't make the connection - thx
come on jerry, it ain't going to be a race unless we have a yellow regardless of traffic
@ haus20,
I was wondering what SDDD stood for as well. Had no clue.
@ JD,
I picked up on that too. And JP seems energetic tonight too. With 6 to go too!
go leffler go!
One thing to remember when comparing promos/advertising etc between Fox and ESPN or Fox and TNT. ESPN and TNT have a dual revenue stream. By that I mean they are getting $$$ from their advertisers for commercial spots and promos and they are getting $$$$ from cable companies to carry their channel. You have to pay to watch ESPN.
Fox only has the revenue stream of the commercials and promos and sponsorships that they sell. With the economy going down the tubes, and the car manufacturers being hit very hard, NASCAR on TV had a lot of sponsorship money disappear. I'm making up dollar figures here because I have no earthly idea how much a sponsorship goes for, but figure if FOX had 3 sponsorships for $10,000/ea last year, they may have gone to 10 sponsorships for $3000/ea this year. I'm sure that ESPN and TNT are having the same issues.
Aren't you surprised they haven't sold a Digger sponsorship yet?
There's the yellow from it being a full moon.
I looked out my window at the moon last night and thought... gee, I hope no one mentions the full moon.
So much for that.
i don't understand how busch is that much better on restarts, 2nd place should be in a low gear and hit him if you have to..that's what he did to JJ last year
Oh no Joe crashed!
I knew I saw debris flying when the leaders passed Nemechek's car. Didn't know it was Kyle Busch who hit it.
They mentioned SDDD being worried 'bout the tire on MRN.
Jamie Little bother Roush
Looks like he was giving her what for as the camera left.
wow, Jamie has been looking so bad over the last couple of races.
Someone should tell her this is not MTV. Things happen live.
Jack Roush just blew Jamie Little off!
WOW nice blow off of a reporter by Jack Rousch!
Great time to bother Jack. Good move producer.
Did you catch Jack pointing his finger at Jamie?
Did Jamie just get in trouble with Jack Roush? He didn't look pleased with her...
What the heck were they thinking?
i think the pit reporter just got chewed out by roush
I bet Jack gave Jamie a little bit of reporter training.
Good stare Jack!
There's a highlight, Roush telling Jamie where to go. Gotta love live TV.
Looks like he may come down pit road. Shrub, I mean.
The 4 pits cover the screen and don't show the pitroad.
Triple Pits then cut to each car for a few seconds is far superior then a 4 split all the way down that doesnt really tell you anything.
And wow did Jack looked annoyed by Jamie.
Losing a tire under caution is a lame way to lose the race.
Maybe this won't be a bad night after all :)
with so many out of jobs
do some keep their tv jobs because they are attractive faces for tv?
sigh
what was the reason for the roush/jamie little deal??? I got distracted andd missed that, why was he mad at her?
Well I was considering not finishing watching this race since it appears SDDD again but sounds like it's must see event. I'm behind a little. Oh Jamie who's idea was that anyway
With Busch pitting, I wonder if the producer will send Jamie to interview Kyle after the race???
I'd hate to be the reporter who is asked to interview Busch after the race if he loses.
SDDD came down pit road. Tire concerns.
once again, go leffler GO!
@ hotaru,
I agree 100%
@ Sophia - yes- it sure isn't common sense or an ability to gauge a subjects mood!
kyle won't have to do an interview not in top 3
This should be interesting
All that hype for 10 seconds of a green white checker.
well, that really was a vanilla ending.
maybe Jamie can go get Kyle Busch now....
all that for a yellow flag finish.
Don't they try and interview a top driver, though? You know he'll refuse either way.
Kyle really didn't have to pit. He would have won if he stayed on the track.
Well, that was blah.
Good for this Roush fan!
Enough of the Busch lovefest!
Well at least the Usual Suspect didn't win.
that's the problem with g/w/c at a track like this..you won't get through with the firs lap
Hah, 'the script' has been deviated.
Congrats to Kenseth... good race.
good point he should have taken his chances however kenseth could have gotten by him even in that short of time with a flat tire
Time for Kyle to have a temper-tantrum.
And look at SDDD walk!
ok..i don't like KB but MUST BSPN FOLLOW HIM when he does NOT want to talk.
gee whiz.
He looked like he was going to cry!
ok thought on the whole follow kyle walk away routine?? I hate kyle as much as the next guy, but I'd be pretty peeved if that was my favorite driver they were treating like that...
Usual suspect? It was a Roush car, 3rd win this year for that car too. Not really much of a finish if you ask me either way. One dominant car hosed and the other won.
Maybe if Leff would have got it, then we'd have something to talk about.
Still a Cup driver and a Cup team.
Where was Jamie??
and we wonder why athletes push cameras out of their faces...
Id cry if I was Kyle. Losing is such a disgusting feeling, especially like that.
David - and a cup pit crew also.
get that stuff off his face...lordy
Note to Darlington higher-ups: use confetti that doesn't stick to skin.
Matt's going to be mortified when he sees himself later!
15 min to go, will we hear from Kyle?
He is the only story...
Kyle is my second favorite driver. However, I do think something needs to be done about all of the Cup guys dominating the NWide series. Even if Kyle was running at the end, I would not have minded if a NWide only guy was able to pass him and win. With that being said, since there are other Cup guys in there, I was rooting for Busch.
WHAT THE HECK SHANNON?! One guy GLAD to see Kyle have a problem?! Totally wrong thing to say. Glad Carl has been pretty chill and didnt take the bait.
JD,
I think another story is the two drivers making their first Darlington start (Darnell and Allgaier) scoring top 10s. Joey Logano finished 12th too.
What is the purpose of the TNT and ESPN pit reporters wearing fire suits? The Fox guys are in shirt sleeves and seem to do just fine.
JD, Kyle declined the MRN guys and we say him hop in his golf cart and drive off on ESPN so I would guess there would be no interview.
@ David,
I expect nothing less from the ESPN pit reporters. Always trying to stir trouble.
that confettie was creepy.
I am tired of CUP guys winning NW...don't care who it is.
And with all our gripes on Fox I don't think they have EVER sought out a honked off driver, and FOLLOWED HIM anyway.
btw, i think it looks dorky for the reporters to be in the firesuits
Id love to see Darnell in something full time.
Kevin Harvick leading owners points.
Jamie... The problem is you get used to be able to ask anything anytime and get away with it. No one really ever calls out boundries. I'm sure she will second guess asking an owner that was obviously working on strategy a question again.
Firesuits... Believe that was mentioned a few months ago. Something about how Punch had to actually be a doctor on pit road a few times and the safety of the reporters because of their close contact to the pitstops and chances of fire etc.
Wow, what an ending. I had to catch up. So glad SDDD didn't win.
I'm with Karen, SDDD chould've stayed out. He would have finished higher than 16th.
Caught the Jack/Dwin interview. Why, oh why would she jab the mic in his face w/3 laps to go? Wouldn't this just be common sense? I wonder what he said to her? I was afraid just looking at him on TV. Let's see if there's a future interview.
I agree with the firesuits for pit reporters. Makes no sense to me. I believe it was ESPN in the late '90s who started this.
Bill Elliott lost a tire on the final lap in Homestead and lost the lead and the race.
He jumped out, smiled and said "that's racin!"
Kyle really needs to get a clue or TV is not going to keep playing his game.
@David--Usual Suspect = Kylie and Cousin Carl and yes I realize a Roush car still won, but the BSPN script aka the weekly Kylie and Carl show calls for one of them to win any given week.
JD,
That's why I'm not buying this stuff about Kyle maturing. He acts basically the same way he has since his '04 rookie season in the Busch Series.
Caught the Jack/Dwin interview. Why, oh why would she jab the mic in his face w/3 laps to go?
It wasn't her call.
Producer told her to try to talk to Roush. She could have told them it wouldn't work, however.
agree j.d. that's why dale sr was so good, he didn't whine..he called it racing...
JD, thats bill elliott though. I dont really like comparing drivers to drivers because they are individuals. I dont want to see Kyle put a fake face on for TV for the sake of a 15 second commercial about Z-line Designs and how he is disappointed he didnt win with such a dominant car. What Kyle would have said had he done an interview would have either been A. predictable. or B. used against him because he has such a double edged following. The media that loves to hype him, yet LOVES to play up his "dark" side.
As a Kyle fan, I would hope that 15 minutes after the race, he would cool down a little bit and that they would get a quick word before they go off the air, but had this been a quickie post race, wouldnt have bothered me had he not said a word which it hasn't thus far.
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