This final Sprint Cup Series race on Fox has suddenly emerged as one with multiple storylines underway. There has to be a mix of apprehension and excitement at the TV crew prepares for four hours at Dover.
NASCAR's Ramsey Poston announced that the decision had already been made to stop the race at lap 30 and check the tires. Saturday, the CWTS event turned into a disaster for Goodyear and NASCAR with right side tires blowing before a full fuel run was complete. Added to that problem were the current rules of choosing either fuel or tires on each pit stop in the truck series.
There was another major rainstorm on Saturday night at the track was scrubbed clean of the small amount of rubber put down by the Nationwide and CWTS events. Dover is a concrete track and the fear is that the COT will scrub the rubber off the right side tire very quickly on this abrasive surface.
Added to this mix is the continuing Dale Earnhart Jr. story. Lance McGrew was supposed to be starting in his role next week, but since Brad Keselowski did not make the Cup race, McGrew will be on Junior's pit box this Sunday along with multiple Hendrick Racing veterans.
Kyle Busch dominated both the Nationwide and CWTS races on Saturday and didn't win either one. Fox continues to focus on Busch and it should be interesting to see how DW handles this issue on the final race for the network of the season.
Dover makes good pictures, especially from the low level speed shots. Those are the cameras that do not move and let the cars fly by with great audio. Remember, Dover has two bridges over the track at each end of the backstretch. One mandatory TV element is to eliminate these two structures from the telecast.
The only times that the two bridges will be seen are from the aerial shot and also when a driver's in-car camera is being used. Look carefully on the shots from the roof, out the front window and out of the rear of the car to see the bridges fly by.
Digger's last day should be interesting. Recently, the animated character has been pulled back a bit after fans made it clear they had reached the breaking point. That is perhaps the biggest issue, how to judge just how much of something like this is enough. Look for the final cartoon, the animation over restarts and the still shot of Digger on the low-level cameras.
This TV team is the most experienced of all the NASCAR TV partners. Chris Myers will lead Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond onto the air from the Hollywood Hotel at 1:30PM for the pre-race show. This should set the tone for how Fox is going to approach the race today.
Larry McReynolds posted on Twitter that the theme of the race today for the NASCAR on Fox team was going to be having fun. That may be tough with tire problems, Junior stories and Kyle Busch on a rampage. Add to that a couple of hard crashes and Dover may become exactly what is almost always is, a big grind for all concerned.
Mike Joy, McReynolds and Waltrip should be on the air around 2PM and the green flag flies fifteen minutes later. Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren will handle pit road. This is the cream of the crop where TV pit reporters are concerned and this race will certainly keep them busy.
This post will serve to host your comments about the Sprint Cup Series from Dover on Fox. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
568 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 568 of 568@Sophia, I've seen still pix of the Clampetts and Green Acres actors, LOL. Seinfeld, nope, that's off my radar as well. However, I saw Bonanza in Arabic regularly.
I'm so ready for TNT and Race Buddy.
Guess they told Danica to slow down - she's doing @160 now :)
jd, i wonder if mikey wil step aside and let ANYONE take the seat?
Why would you run Digger before we saw Robby get out of that car?
Bummer for Robby...darn
I thought Martin Truex Jr was rumored to be going to MWR and take Mikeys car...was that never confirmed?
Anon at 4:40: childhood in Japan, youth/early college years in Turkey. WAAAYY back when --- finally had TV when I went to college in Beirut, but my Arabic was really nonexistent. (one tiny B&W set in the dorm lounge) I've heard of BB, but haven't seen a cartoon, that I can remember.
Sorry for Robby Gordon.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Why would you run Digger before we saw Robby get out of that car?
jd, haven't you been paying attention? digger is the savior of the sport, according to david hill.
it is to plotz. . .
I'm betting Truex will be in the 55 next year.
@ Tracy, thank you for your bio. I was wondering because you didn't know Bugs.
@ bevo, too funny.
Everytime I see that Claritin ad I think of Jeremy Mayfield.
No offense Tracy but you got gypped out of Childhood! lol
I learned about great comedic sound effects, music and tunes from cartoons. Dixieland Droopy at age 8 was my first exposure to Dixieland music!
I once saw clips of Bonanaza in different languages. the funnies was in Chinese. Something about Hoss saying all those extra words in the voice used.
The camera work continues to disappoint.
WHEN is Fox going to get it that Jr often did well until the last part of the race.
Stop the hype please and let the man be.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Everytime I see that Claritin ad I think of Jeremy Mayfield.
May 31, 2009 4:48 PM
***********
So do I, JD -- so do I.
@Tracy--you've got to check out Bugs! That is how cartoons *should* be made :(
I've only seen one or two Seinfields but get *most* of their tag lines. Like the Soup Nazi "No Soup for You!" and a few others :)
JD, re; Claritin ad. Me too.
JD Im guessing that will happen. NAPA will fund a 4th partial car for Mikey so he can run the plate tracks and a couple select events.
Just my guess
@ JD, I'm sure Claritin is thrilled about that.
Not the best effort by Fox today to say the least.
JD
You don't like Digger??
"Tough!"
sigh
to add to the dale discussion about why he pitted:
from another board, apparently there was a feeling that 2 tires were put on wrong.
(yep, that would be noticeable, given how different the tire pressures are on each side!)
@NASCARSays: #NASCAR No. 7 Robby Gordon out (accident). Gordon was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
Do we have 13 or 20 cars on the lead lap?
@ bevo, 20 cars. Marcos is it.
bevo said...
Do we have 13 or 20 cars on the lead lap?
leaderboard says 20.
@bevo - 20, though FOX makes it seem like 7, don't they?
Andretti plugging along in 36th.
I still like my "Battle Seeker" idea...
Every time I see that Toyota commercial I think of it.
JJ better be careful. We know what happens when you lead the most laps.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Wonder if MW will step aside and get Truex in that seat next season?
Been a very tough year for that car.
--
If I were Mikey, I'd work out a deal to have Truex have a fulltime deal with NAPA and Bass Pro Shops, run a NAPA car myself in the restrictor plate races and otherwise be available to Speed for practice/qualifying etc.
Hey, we're actually getting a mention of cars in the garage! How about some interviews with those drivers?
Annon...you read my mind cuz I mentioned that a few posts back.
I dont think BPS goes with Truex though, I think they are destined for SHR
David-
Great minds think alike, I swear I didn't see your post first
David - I actually think both Truex and BPS are headed for SHR.
@David, I agree about SHR and BPS.
@ Andrew, my guess is they're gone. Got tired of waiting for an interview. They didn't even talk to Robby.
@ David, ditto.
Andrew,did you read what Martin said about his brother working for MWR? Sounded like it was a deal-maker to me.
The swooshing sound is typically a phasing interaction between the stereo microphones.
From the truck
Praying for a caution. Marcos could be LD.
Andrew, its possible but Keslowski might be the guy with Go Daddy.com. BPS would fill out Newman's schedule, back Tony for some races and Brad for some races.
Dont see them going to 4 cars next year and with Martin's brother working at MWR, MWR just winning a race and the fact that Ty Norris is there, its alot like the old DEI was when Martin was developing in the Busch Series.
Is it a foregone conclusion that the Ambrose car will continue to run out of Michael Waltrip's shop? That car routinely outperforms the #55 and if I were a major team, I might want to bring that into the fold.
Dot wishes and gets it
YAY!!!!!
Not too sure Fox wanted to go out like this, not a lot of action and one car dominating.
I don't see anyone blaming Bootie Barker for MW's poor runs recently. Hmmm...
Thanks for the audio update, don't spend too much at the casino!
Tracy - No, I didn't see that article.
David - I forgot about Keselowski coming up and probably going to SHR.
Anonymous said...
The swooshing sound is typically a phasing interaction between the stereo microphones.
From the truck
thanks, gang in the truck. any way to make it disappear? not trying to hassle b/c i think i've become accustomed to it but just wondering.
I just realized that tires have not been the huge problem as per yesterday.
Guess the CCs were paying attention.
Ambrose running well has alot to do with the quality of MWR's equipment. Switching only a year into that relationship could be damaging to Marcos as well as that team. I consider them MWR for most all intents and purposes. The chemistry seems to be there and for JTG it makes sense to not rock the boat.
3 car stable with a partial 4th car...thats what my crystal ball says for MWR
For me there hasn't been any kind of flow to the broadcast. No feeling about what's going on, any possible strategy that might be used.
debris? or nascar manipulating to keep tires from becoming the issue
The full moon was last weekend. Such strange coverage for all the TV partners this weekend. BSPN strange in a good way.
Maybe MW can resurrect the #15 since it doesn't look like DEI will need it anytime soon.
bevo said...
For me there hasn't been any kind of flow to the broadcast. No feeling about what's going on, any possible strategy that might be used.
May 31, 2009 5:10 PM
*******
My thoughts, exactly, bevo.
Ive run through the cycle in my head asto what could happen with Brad Andrew. JRM coming to cup is the worst thing Dale Jr could take on right now considering he has to get himself up to par before worrying about a Cup team as well. Also, Finch I give a 10% chance of trying something but I find it highly unlikely unless Rick can make him a heck of a deal and Micusukee wants to go full time Cup Racing.
SHR just seems to be a fit if they can get someone to split with Go Daddy.com. Granted, im just speculating totally with all this.
Rough broadcast. Only 2 or 3 cars have had the speed and handling, lots of guys fighting cars. that yellow during the pit cycle really messed things up for a few teams as well.
But some really good stories with guys having runs that dont usually run top 10-15 with Reed and Mears having a solid run too
bozo, race official in turn 3 spotted the debris and called the tower
This is one of the good things about FOX - when they see things happening on the track (but not on camera) they'll start commenting on that.
Wow... I had a tweet from NASCARSays 3 minutes before the caution was out on the TV broadcast? Is fox running some type of delay today? I even checked my DVR to make sure I hadn't paused it previously.
BTW for those of you on Twitter I highly recommend NASCARSays. They tell you the reason for every car that is out of the race!
Brian, thanks for the tip!
David-
Now here's an idea . . . James Finch could nominally merge with Stewart-Haas and get to be the listed owner of the #25 in exchange for the partial-season sponsorship from that casio to complement the GoDaddy.com piece.
And the crowd goes wild.
Just talked to Freddie (the A1 for the show),
The swooshing is in the audio mix here at the truck too. It is phasing of the stereo mics on track and in addition the noise that in the inside of the booth glass makes.
from the truck
and those cheers are not amplified: i heard the same response at the truck race. he is NOT well-liked, at least at dover.
Boy bummer for ol DW...
Why not just change all 4 tires? Thank you Larry.
Guess it wouldn't help the splitter.
Annon:
Interesting idea, but I dont think Tony and Gene would green light that.
DEI has tried it with Ginn and Gillete with Petty and Petty; it seems the more you add people, the more confusing it gets.
thanks again, truck gang, for answering a minor -- but interesting -- question for us!
@ David, yeah, look at the Ginn deal. He's been bought out and out of racing and now he's a car owner again.
To All Who Suggested Twitter
Thanks in a good way &
Thanks in a not so good way LOL
So we have 1 TV, Pit Command, MRN, 2 computers, blogging here & now Twitter LOL
To the TV truck - getting race info should not be this complicated! There are more than 5-7 cars on the track & Jr.
Wide Shots & info on all the cars please.
I can't wait for TNT - c'mon RaceBuddy!
Nice sentiment except they couldn't wait to call the race last week so they could go home.
Last crackpot theory of the race:
BPS could split their support like Menards does...
Sponsor Martin for 5 or 6 races at MWR, majority of the support for SHR.
Dot, what car does Ginn now own?
Sixth yellow flag for debris? Geeze I had lost count, thank you Mike.
No one is going to suggest that sounds slightly unusual?
All 4 RCR cars on the lead lap now...far cry for Lowe's last week. FOX should give them some kudos for what seems to be a slight turnaround.
this blog loading slow for anybody else? have it freeze up for comments and close browser and come back.
same with Twitter..but some other sites are fine..major internet traffic jams..running a scan now.
So the race should restart with 32 laps to go? hhhmmm....
Bobby Ginn is listed under the #8
It happened when they sold off points. Teresa is under the #1 and #34, Chip under the #42
Tracy - I believe that he's listed as the owner of Bowyer's car.
@Jojaye- That's an issue for the Director/Producer and of course the esteemed Mr. Hill Esq.
Folks in the truck just do what they're told.
Did they show the debris?
More reasons to show those pit stops in triple. What happened to JJ?
Thank you David. I couldn't remember which car. See? It is confusing.
Maybe next week Ralph Shaheen (or whichever one hosts the alternate feed) will give us advanced intel on the Stewart-Haas cars going with two tires.
anon@5:25: not surprised in the least. there's been a bunch of banging and that causes all sorts of "stuff" to fall off/out. also, the debris slides down thet rack but often doesn't make it quite out of the bottom groove and onto the apron.
maybe the cup teams have just conceded that they can't set the camber so severely and have to protect the goodyears?
Dot - He took four tires, as did Martin.
Ok thats right. Bobby is listed under the #33. See. Even confused myself.
Hoots was not pleased with that last restart
77 free pass
Oh my, MM into the 12 - REally?
Reut missed him....bythatmuch. Wow.
Thanks Andrew.
stremme needs to learn how to lock it down and keep it along the wall when it wrecks.
reut was astounding!
Where is the Johnson follow up??
Thank you...that was very late and missed when it happened. He was the leader and the dominant car.
thats a cool trophy.
great replays. nice work Reuti!
Dang, Reut really did a great job.
WOW. Those ARE some empty stands. At least in 3-4
Does anyone know why the 88 went backwards?
@bevo -Thanks I think I remember that from last year - any chance TPTB will listen? roflol
JD, they just showed it.
Anybody notice the voices sound different sometimes? More clarity or something for a second.
Yeah, and before any of you smart a**es say anything...it's on my TV. No HD.
@tracy: that may have been when he came in for an "extra" pit stop and he/they thought that perhaps two of the tires were put on in the wrong order.
Slice Bread needs some love. Running well today.
Whose chatter was that?
took them long enuf to update JJ. course, the wreck didn't help any. Great driving by Reut!
how do you like the full screen without the ticker? Looks good to me.
No ticker forces them to tell where the drivers are. I like it.
@red, thanks for the explanation.
There are 20 laps to go, why are you showing this NOW?
Guess only 3 cars left on the track...
@Charlie I like it too.
Timing and scoring monitors are down from NASCAR to the truck.
from the truck
@charile and dot: i'm right there with you guys on
that opinion. looks old school, doesn't it?
Shouldn't the monster moment be at the end of the race?
Well Jr. is still in race - if Mr.Hills theory was right the place should be packed! Its not - nor has it been. And that wide shot really showed it!
anyone else liking the fact the ticker is gone? looks nice
Anonymous said...
Timing and scoring monitors are down from NASCAR to the truck.
from the truck
thanks! i'm not sure we're missing it right now -- with 20 to go, less is clearly more!
Digger must've chewed through the cables that connect FOX's booth to NASCAR Scoring & Timing.
34 to the garage
Menard pitting.
Wow, the 14 is amazing.
Finally some racing drama for Fox.
@Andrew, ROFLOL!
who was it who said earlier today that they ignore the #14 until late in the race and then wonder where he came from?
@Andrew- Good one, maybe they'll finally kill the rat :)
This is where DW shines. "JJ overdrove turn 1."
agree JD :)
me Red. Me.
Hey, someone is reading TDP....lol
"No, Digger did not cut the cable." ROFLOL
hey are they reading the blog *giggle*
hey andrew! they heard you! "no, a gopher did not cut the cable!" excellent!!
Andrew said...
Digger must've chewed through the cables that connect FOX's booth to NASCAR Scoring & Timing.
Mike must be reading this . . . .or at least the guy who writes his material is
Should be some time for interviews today.
Good thing they didn't start the race 1 hour later.
Congrats to the 48
At least Tony gets the points lead according to his radio
Typical Fox cheap busch league performance. There is no excuse for not having a ticker. Absolutely trash, horrible, and pathetic. Thankfully this is their last race.
man the blog froze up and I couldn't get here or twitter..weird.
Reminds me of the finish in Richmond last fall...Tony and JJ fighting it out.
Good finish view plus they held it and even told who what coming by. Did they do it that way because there was no ticker.
Wow, good finish. Wished Tony would've won though.
Smoke gave it all he had! Would have been great to see him win but 2nd rocks!
It was a good duel at the end (even if I don't like the result) but this was still a fairly mundane race and a very poor broadcast, especially the coverage of pit road and the (lack of) coverage of cars in the garage.
Oh, and I think they were reading the blog. :D
anon@5:48: ya know what? i didn't miss the ticker at all those last 20 laps. it kept the ecreen clean AND it made the booth actually call what was happening and who was where.
i had the leaderboard up and could have checked it but that was such GREAT racing, i didn't even care where my driver was while the 14 and 48 and 16 battled.
Bye all - Sophia, have you run an anti-virus program/ done a defrag recently? Freezing up can come from too many cookies too. Delete them.
Tony made the right call with 2 tires, even if he didn't win he wound up better than he would have. I don't think they mention that enough that 2 tires "working" doesn't have to mean winning.
Scoring was fine on NASCAR.com, sprint mobile, and a variety of different sources. You need redundancy for something as critical as that.
I hope SHR has a health plan. First they win, now leading the points. The crew will have to go in for heart tests.
Deft. the right call by Tony and Ryan. For Ryan it was a wash, but Tony got 2nd and was in position to win. shows alot of confidence in what they are doing at SHR for those guys to take a chance like that late in the race and have it pay off.
Is Krista the best or what?
@ JD, yes she is.
Is Chad on TWIN?
It sure was rough to miss the leader's pit problems live on that final stop due to this network's new experimental approach to yellow flag pit stops. Coupling this incident with missing a similar problem on leader Brian Vickers's next-to-last stop last week I hope that puts the final nail in the coffin on Fox going to a more conventional three-pit split next year. We just can not afford to keep missing major pit road issues on the leader's final pit stops like we did each of the last 2 weeks.
In the positive side it sure was nice to see this production truck bend and use a conventional finish line camera shot. I sure hope that carries into 2010. Thanks.
Hey, Matt did what he was told to do and he kept a straight face!
Using the Fox cup to hold your Coca-Cola. That seems quite appropriate.
Smoke was rather confused by this Fox Cup thing.
Knowing Matt and Tony's relationship, that interview was incredibly funny. Tony might just be putting that Cup on his toilet much like Harvick did his with Stewy.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Hey, Matt did what he was told to do and he kept a straight face!
May 31, 2009 5:56 PM
*************
The look on Tony's face was priceless.
FOX...if you care...LISTEN TO US!!! Please. WE CARE TOO!!!
Thanks to all of you for stopping by. SPEED Report at 7PM, Victory Lane at 8PM and Wind Tunnel at 9PM.
NN at 6:30PM Monday and TWIN at 8PM.
There will be a column up shortly about the final telecast on Fox.
JD
little presumptous by darrel.."no cares more than us"
Jenna Fryer on Twitter: Will anyone miss Fox's coverage? Anyone? Crickets...
Wow!!
With apologies to the University of Minnesota, instead of a Fox Cup, I'm surprised they didn't offer a "Golden Gopher"
(with replicas available at Foxsports.com and DWStore.com)
Darrel - you & Fox may care - it does not show ! And your actions were so loud we can not hear what you are saying.
Fox grade C- or D+ - not good.
C-
DW sounds like what we used to say we thought the FAA's motto should be. "We're not happy till you're not happy".
Frank in Sebring
It amazes me when you have both the best play-by-play announcer and the best pit road team in the business that the overall grade could be that low, and yet -- it is
agree with anon 6:12.
the best talent and production team has been overrun by a rodent, silliness, too many graphics, etc. Remember when the first FOX telecasts were fresh...no more.
May they regroup before next year.
Poll on NASCAR Scene Daily - which network covers NASCAR best. FOX 41%, SPEED 38%, and ESPN & TNT split the remainder - over 3,000 responses, and yes not scientific.
There is a new post up for your comments on the Fox coverage of Dover and the 2009 season.
Thanks as always,
JD
Post a Comment