Sunday, May 31, 2009

Live Blogging The Sprint Cup Series From Dover On Fox


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:

  1. So, Hamlin says more than one competition caution for tires and Lance McGrew will be the crew chief and call the race for Junior.

    This should be good.

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  2. I hope JRs pit box doesn't have too many "cooks".

    Hermie telling Clint, happy 40th bday. Too funny.

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  3. Based on the Truck race and the overnight rain this race definitely has an Indianapolis feel to it. I sure hope I'm wrong though.

    It should be interesting to see what tone the TV crew sets during the pre-race show. Will we get serious analysis and a preview for a potential disaster, or will we get cartoons, goofiness, and a complete disregard for reality?

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  4. I am a bit baffled about the Jr too many cooks, too, Dot. or will Lance have the final word.


    Man, I hope they lay off Jr during the race but with it being Fox's last race, I doubt it.

    I wanna know WHO's directing the camera.

    Folks, take notes on 'how we see' the cars and compare it to TNT. I hope Mr. Wells does not disappoint. Those races will be my final hurrah to enjoy the race season this year.

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  5. Lance McGrew is going to be the clear-cut crew chief for this race and will make the calls for Junior.

    That is the latest from the infield media center.

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  6. Eury Jr. wasn't fired. He was reassigned. There is a big difference. ESPN had a "fired" headline earlier this week and now Fox has used graphics that say the same thing. I am not a Jr. fan per-se, but I think accuracy is important no matter who you are talking about.

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  7. And Fox fails to distinguish the difference between being fired and replaced with its prerace graphic about Tony Jr. being 'fired.'

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  8. Thanks JD. RD said there would be a crowd on the box.

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  9. If Lance is going to be making the calls, why did they say Brian Whitesell is the crew chief for this race? Why not just say Lance McGrew is the interim crew chief starting now?

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  10. @Dot- The theory behind it is to outnumber Jr about the car.

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  11. @ Martin That is because Lance was scheduled to be Brad Kesselowski's crew chief this weekend, sence Brad K did not make the race they just put Lance on Jr's car

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  12. Calm down guys. There has been a change announced for today.

    Lance will be the crew chief for Junior in this race. It may have been a decision from the team meeting a couple of hours ago.

    It was released to the media a short time ago.

    Lots of things in progress...like the tire problems.

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  13. Haus and Brad,

    That is what makes me nuts about NASCAR TV today.

    Those networks said Tony Jr. was fired as Junior's crew chief to sensationalize it.

    As we all know, crew chiefs are moved and switched all the time.

    Hold on, I have to watch the Digger cartoon!

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  14. Another Digger repeat to finish it off

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  15. Sooo, according to DW, there are other drivers who think Jr. can't drive also. This from the guy who swore Jr. would win 6 races last yr. I can't WAIT until Faux is gone!

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  16. I'm feeling melancholy about the swan song of Digger for this year. Sniffle.

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  18. Perfect timing. I missed Digger to change out my laundry.

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  19. I prepared lunch... Anything but Digger, I don't care what David Hill says!

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  20. We get all kinds of TV and racing opinions in our chat. We welcome those without hateful speech or derogatory comments.

    It's going to be a long five hours folks.

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  21. Marty Smith just tweeted that he's watching on TV, so this is the first time he's seen Digger. He's "sorta speechless"!!

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  22. Wow, been awhile since I've been here.

    I'm quite glad that this is the last we'll be seeing of Digger for awhile. Could someone call Bill Murray to deal with him before next year?

    Odd to see Fox saying that Eury Jr was fired. Just one more gap in the huge disconnect between their coverage on FOXSports.com/covering practice on Speed and the raceday coverage.

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  23. And while Fox gave us a rat cartoon MRN interviewed Montoya.

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  24. priceless tweet from marty smith :

    " Uh. Uhhhh. Ummm. I'm normally at the race, so I've never seen Digger before. I'm sort of speechless."

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  25. Mark, how many Digger cartoons do you think they made? Like 4 or 5?

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  26. JD, HMS said on Friday they werent going to throw Lance on the box this week so I find it surprising they changed their minds so fast.

    Dont think Hamlin said for a fact they were going to have multiple cautions, just that he expected more than 1 caution whether that be competition or for other reasons...

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  27. I think they did 6...for some odd reason i remember that number. never watched any of them though

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  28. 3? I've been trying to ignore them.

    I think I missed something. Why isn't Marty Smith at the track today?

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  29. What is with DW throwing his"JuneBug" under the bus. Guess he cannot stop the Kyle Bush admiration society long enough to realize who he is supposed to be a friend to. Unbelievable. And the remark about that race car driver's don't have any original thoughts so Kyle HAD to hear other drivers bashing Jr... So sad to see how far someone will stoop just to "support" the driver of the moment.

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  30. Think Marty has the weekend off. Angelique Chengelis and Jamie Little are on-site for ESPN.

    Mike Massaro, Brad Daugherty and Tim Brewer were in Bristol, CT for the preview show this AM.

    Good show, Brewer is better in the studio.

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  31. At least it's not the Digger Cup.

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  32. All I remember is I think they began repeats back at Texas or Phoenix(one of htose two)

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  33. Yeah man "Fox Championship" they are always thinking!

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  34. I sure was hoping the payoff to the Digger cartoon segments would the security animal thing blowing that Digger hole to oblivion. No such luck. But yes I know, David Hill is right about Digger and all the NASCAR fans, NASCAR print media, NASCAR electronic media, and even the unnamed high-ranking NASCAR official referenced in the USA Today article are all wrong.... just like hockey fans were "wrong" about the glowing hockey puck and baseball fans were "wrong" about Scooter... right before those other failed ideas were also scrapped.

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  35. "Fox Cup"?

    stricklinfan82, I think we know which way they decided to lean with the pre-race today.

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  36. What the hell are we watching now?? Good grief..

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  37. I'm at work and only have TSN as an option for watching the pre-race show. Again, TSN is showing French Open tennis instead of the pre-race bumpf. This is turning out to be a problem for them. I have no program guide at work, so I can't tell if TSN has shunted the pre-race off to TSN2.

    I'm OK with it, though. I think tennis fans should get to see the end of their match. I'd be cranky if TSN decided to cut off the last 30 laps of a race to broadcast a pre-match tennis show.

    --KarenB

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  38. Just a guess here... but I imagine the reason Gordon "keeps talking about it" is because everyone keeps asking him about it.

    ... but then I'm not a big time tv guy. :)

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  39. What is this back to the future

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  40. I dont have many nice things to say right now JD. Does that make me a bad person?

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  41. Larry Mac said they were going to try and have some fun today.

    Guess this is it..

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  42. Just when you think it couldn't get any more moronic Fox comes through.

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  43. Quick happy Birthday to Krista Voda before things get rolling.

    Good person, great TV personality.

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  44. I finally have a positive comment: TNT has the coverage next week!

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  45. Karen, I hope you get TSN2 pretty soon.

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  46. Happy B-day Krista!!! May you be in the Hollywood Hotel next season!!!

    Thanks JD for giving us something positive to work with!

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  47. Everything on Fox so far has been a total embarrassment to this race fan...can't imagine fox treating the nfl this way..feel i should hide my head in shame for being a race fan..godspeed tnt

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  48. Wow, even Myers is a beat behind.

    He needs a Twitter account!

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  49. Digger fixing his own camera now

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  50. Now they're following Lance-geez.

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  51. I hope Lance is prepared for face time on TV. I hope for his sake JR runs well today.

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  53. @kbaskins - Tennis on TSN2 as well, I'm watching on Fox until TSN kicks in.

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  54. I missed the first half of the pre-race. Did they even mention the tire problems in the Truck race?

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  55. Who picks the anthem singers? the track or nascar?

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  56. Mike, no animated robots or rodents on the field as the QB takes the snap on a first-and-goal play huh? Darn it...

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  57. Where was the love for Reutimann coming off his FIRST career win? Instead you talk about a crew guy and Tony Stewart, as well as Dale Jr? Again no serious discussion on Mayfield shocks me too.

    Maybe they are taking my position on it which is no opinion until more comes out, but they are the media...aren't they supposed to speculate? After all they just got Lance McGrew getting fired before season's end?

    Wow...this perhaps isnt a horrible anthem? Maybe there is a silver lining to this cloud called FOX.

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  58. I nominate JD as the official NASCAR anthem performer chooser.

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  59. Anon - Being "fired" from an organization means you are no longer in the employ of said organization. Eury Jr. was reassigned, not fired.

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  60. Hey, who has the weather forecast? Wendy said it was getting hot?

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  61. One of the better anthems.

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  62. @MV- the track does all of the pre-race stuff. Most tracks hold auditions for singers if it's not a commercial tie-in.

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  63. We have Digger and a tire that won't make it to a full fuel run. This is Nascar.

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  64. Weather: http://preview.tinyurl.com/l2r8dd

    Looks like it's hit 78 and isn't supposed to get hotter.

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  65. Tony Jr wasnt FIRED. FIRED means he no longer works for Hendrick. Fact is he was REASSIGNED. That isnt a sensitive way of saying fired, they are two different things.

    You use a word like FIRED because you are spinning the story and placing blame on his shoulders. Kyle Busch's comments in that respect werent too far off in my eyes judging how the media has played this up this week.

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  66. @Andrew - I didn't hear anything about the tire problems, it probably falls right in line with the weather for subjects that can't be discussed or acknowledged by Fox.

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  67. Since this is the final NASCAR on Fox race, we are going to try to keep things focused on the TV coverage today.

    Any other issues can be emailed to me or drop me a note on Twitter at TheDalyPlanet.

    This should be a very interesting TV telecast.

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  68. David and Andrew, relax. I will take care of those folks. No problem.

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  69. Most of the time when you're fired you don't keep coming in to work and get a check.

    But never let common sense interfere with a thought.

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  70. I watered and fed the birds & other various wildlife during the Digger cartoon.

    Surprised also to hear DW say that about drivers' don't have an original thought to Kyle's attitudinal comment on Jr. DW should explain himself as it did sound like a putdown to his beloved Junebug. Ouch.

    And don't get me started on Tony Jr being "fired".

    I bed Jr wish he could drive under the Witness Protection Program for a few weeks.

    That segment from "miami" was lame.

    A "Fox Cup"? Are you kidding me.

    A somebody said, thank goodness for TNT next week.

    Now if TNT/NBC only had the money for the last half of the season as opposed to what we are gonna get.

    For those interested, reminder the IRL is on ABC today so those WITHOUT VERSUS can watch..think it's 3.30 EST.

    We will have two tv's side by side along with IRL side by side :)

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  71. The guys were talking about how hot it had to get to make the tires go away even earlier. Does not sound like 80 would do that but who knows.

    I just hope nobody gets beat up. Did you guys see Jeff Gordon hit the wall in practice? That was huge.

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  72. Man I am tired already..I type one comment and 30 more appear!!

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  73. What kind of timeslot do they have today JD?

    Will we get an extended post race like in years past?

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  74. Sorry JD, posting at the same time.

    I understand.

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  75. JD, yes saw Jeff hit the wall. How does he manage to hit where the safer barrier isn't?

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  76. Current weather at Dover
    Mostly Cloudy
    Feels like 77°
    Humidity 63%

    Forecast Today
    Partly Cloudy
    High 78°
    Humidity 50%
    Wind 13mph
    Sunset 8:22pm

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  77. JD - Yeah, that was a huge hit. Can't have helped his back. And he managed to find another wall without a SAFER barrier?

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  78. @JD - Wasn't Gordon's big hit in qualifying?

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  79. Fox is scheduled until 6PM ET. Victory Lane at 8PM. Robin Miller and Jade Gurss on Wind Tunnel at 9 with Dave.

    Those of you who have not signed-up for Twitter, various race teams and reporters are posting insider pictures and comments while the races are in progress.

    If you are a multi-tasker, it certainly is worth it for free with little hassle.

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  80. Finally, the weather! Though I suppose it's best to get this in when most people are watching.

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  81. MV, could have been. Flew by on my DVR. Fast forward is a great invention.

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  82. Looks like RPM is getting it in gear with the new engine combo. Little surprised they didnt mention that since DW brought it up a million times last week

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  83. @JD - Have you heard on the news that Twitter may not be a free service for long? I heard that in the last couple of weeks, I think.

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  84. Only problem with DW's tire explanation is there wasn't any rain between races yesterday.

    The groundwork has been laid to place blame for tire issues on a green track.

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  85. Tennis still on TSN, I hope it's not green-flag racing anytime soon or I'm gonna miss the beginning of the race. Then again, I probably shouldn't be watching the race at work anyway. :-)

    --KarenB

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  86. bevo...im starting to hop on the blame goodyear wagon lately because of this. When racetracks that havent been resurfaced or repaved are having issues keeping rubber that signals a red flag to the manufacturer...

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  87. @MV - Where did you hear that?

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  88. Oh, by the way Im taking a major shock to win.

    Joey Logano breaks through, my sleeper is Jeff Burton

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  89. JD - IRL in Milwaukee NOT available in Seattle ...

    Fisher Communications disdain is for ALL auto racing fans ... Not solely for NASCAR fans ...

    They're pre-empting the IRL race with the Children's Miracle Network Telethon ...

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  90. Tim...they did veto that racetrack thing too...

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  91. I am pretty sure Montoya already won in NASCAR.

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  92. So much for the COT not being racy

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  93. Beautiful day today. Sun is shining, birds are chirping. Last time I will have to endure Boogity Boogity Boogity, and digger during a race broadcast for the rest of the year.

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  94. What network has the IRL race and what time is it on? Not into that series this season other than Indy.

    Did get a Twitter from Danica though!

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  95. Anticipated start and parks today:

    36, 37, 09, 66, 87

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  96. Erik you will see Digger on Speed. They have a full warehouse of stuff to sell.

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  97. ABC is running the IRL race today. Dont know the timeslot. You should have seen the promo on ABC during the NW race yesterday lol.

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  98. JD - IRL is on ABC at 3:30 Eastern.

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  99. I am wondering if they will pull off at the comp caution at lap 30.

    Most of them do not want to pay for tires.

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  100. IRL tv coverage to start at 12:30pm west coast time.

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  101. Not even 15 full laps before the first commercial? Yikes.

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  102. They will still have to pit at 30 to look at the tires

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  103. @Andrew - Heard it on the news and read this published 2 days ago.

    "Twitter Inc's co-founders say the rapidly growing online communications company will eventually charge fees for its services, but it's unclear which ones and what will drive revenue."

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  104. Wow, I hope they do not bring those commercial bumpers back for next season. Weak...

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  105. KOMO-tv owned by Fisher is the ABC affiliate in Seattle ...

    If it's not Mariners or Seahawks, they hate it ...

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  106. MV, Twitter is drowning in spam and commercial garbage. They are either going to create a commercial category and charge to post or increase the commercials offered on the site.

    No intention of charging residential or individual users right now.

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  107. Also NBC tennis coverage begins at noon. All of the matches are over, but NBC had the rights to the Nadal and the Sharapova matches so TTC couldn't show them live.

    Its kind of like the truck race originally scheduled to be shown on a delay. With the internet big fans don't care for these delays and will look for live streams on line if possible.

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  108. Since I don't watch most pre race anymore I didn't log on to comment earlier. 109 & race just started. yikes.

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  109. Oh, there's another thing I hope to not see on ESPN - the Ask.com questions.

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  110. Finally! Race is on. Missed the first 24 laps or so.

    --KarenB

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  111. Wow. Reed Sorenson. I ran Dinger over him in fantasy...

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  112. @ Andrew, Ask.com wouldn't be bad if they would just answer the question on the air.

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  113. Jojaye, you want us to describe the final Digger cartoon to you in detail?

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  114. JD,

    Are you implying that NASCAR fans might prefer seeing live green flag racing over pre-taped footage of a driver playing the drums?

    I sure would love to see the stick-and-ball fans' reactions if the ABC production truck missed even a few seconds of live NBA Finals action with a taped video of Kobe Bryant playing the drums or if the Fox MLB production truck missed a few pitches by coming back from break with a video of A-Rod screaming through a megaphone "This is MLB on Fox!"

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  115. So are we into the "showing favorites instead of battles" mode?

    In either case, nice to see the 43 in the lead for once!

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  116. @Dot - Exactly why I don't like them. :p

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  117. Let's see how the Director cuts this pit stop.

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  118. sponsorship on the inside of pit wall? these really are tough times i guess

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  119. Read somebody included Nemechek in the list of start and park drivers. He has 4 sponsors on the car, I kinda doubt he'll park it without giving it an honest try.

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  120. @JD No!!LOL anything but that ! LOL So sorry I missed Digs last stand

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  121. The official near Reed's car looked like the Michelin man.

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  122. Showed us pit lane the whole time - good job!

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  123. Well, that pit stop coverage was less than informative.

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  124. MV. He may go to lap 100 or so but I imagine if tires become a serious issue he will park.

    37 parked.

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  125. If you were NASCAR, would you let cars stay on the track with worn tires? This should be an interesting call.

    EZ way out on the pit stops. Two boxes and nothing more. At least it was clean.

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  126. JD I think they were staying out to lead a lap. Some of those were the S&P cars too I believe

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  127. JD,

    MRN said NASCAR made them come in

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  128. JD - I thought on a Nascar competition caution, all the cars had to come in.

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  129. It sure is disappointing that this production truck thinks it is better to show small snippets of the 16, 43, and 00's pit stops one after another in one box rather than using a triple-pit split that could have shown us all 3 stops in their entirety.

    Giving the viewers less instead of more is not a positive innovation, I'm sorry.

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  130. OK, where are Junior and Kyle? Time to catch-up on the stories.

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  131. Agreed with Larry Mac - What was Sadler thinking? I'm thinking we'll see another attempt at pit road coverage before too long here.

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  132. I thought everyone was required to pit during a competition caution??

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  133. anyone ideas have why raceview is not working yet again? multiple systems/browsers, etc, I haven't been able to get it to go past 2% weeks... (since they started the 10 minute free trials

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  134. If the 71 didnt have a sponsor, then they were one i didnt include

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  135. "His Chevy has had some trouble" said Joy about Gilliland. "Blaney has taken his Toyota to the garage."

    Maybe that would be money trouble?

    Should have put Brad and Max Papis in this race and let them run the whole distance.

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  136. #37 has a good reason to park it now!

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  137. Well Front Row Motorsports doesnt know how to S&P very well lol

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  138. That's the first tire issue today!

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  139. hi gang! had to get some yard work done since i spent friday AND saturday at the track. glad to be back with the planeteers for the cup race.

    observation: yesterday, young mr busch was flat out killing them by running up high coming off turn 1 all the way into turn three. he did it consistently, at one point passing 7 trucks that way. wonder if that groove will rubber in by the last 50 laps?

    too much side by side camera work already for me.

    and there goes the first tire. i didn't watch pre-race: was the tire fiasco from truck series covered? my guess is goodyear will cry "too much camber!"

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  140. Yikes, Raines did not need that. But it looks like we may have the limit on tires.

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  141. Gilliland has CompUSA.com on the sides and Charter Air Transport on the TV panel and deck lid.

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  142. Hey, is anyone having problems with Raceview?

    Usually we hear it right away if there is a problem.

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  143. @ VickyD, one of many I'm afraid.

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  144. Brad and Max shoulda went faster on Friday though JD. Brad said it yesterday regarding qualifying, he blew it and missed the race for his team. As much as I hate the S&P phenomena Im not willing to tell these teams to not bother showing up at all or kicking them out of the field in favor of bigger teams or bigger sponsors. Thats allowing the rich to get richer without giving the little guys a shot.

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  145. Raines finished ahead of Gilliland and Blaney. 6 more points.

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  146. It sure is disappointing that NASCAR thinks it is healthier for their sport to have several start-and-park cars taking the place of a fully sponsored Hendrick Motorsports car with yesterday's Nationwide winner and Talladega's Cup winner Brad Keselowski behind the wheel.

    A potential top 10 finishing team vs. a team that will pull off the track within the first 50 laps? Which do you think makes on the on-track product better?

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  147. MV I saw CompUSA was on the car last week and live leaderboard shows them as their sponsor too. Little surprising if he had an issue because he was running well early. Better get an interview with him to clear this up of whats wrong with their car

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  148. Who had contact w/Mark on pit road? Nice of them to tell us.

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  149. JD

    Twitter also having issues with Twitterjacking. Folks say click on this link i.e. "Get 100 followers a day" is haunting a pharmacist. It tweets everyday same time and he isn't doing it. I did some research and it's becoming a problem.

    a. Tinyurls make "blind links" and you have to trust the person posting them

    b. You get to link and hacker can get into twitter and steal password. Changing PW can help. I will find out today if this business man does not tweet 'Get 100 FOLLOWERS A DAY again.'

    So, Twitter has issues..and spam and xxx stuff.

    Also some people take it way too seriously. I stopped following a lady who TWEETED 140 times a day! and she got bent out of shape. she has 2000 followers..who cares? It's not saving the world one tweet at a time.

    Now back to the race.sorry for the digression.

    In time for Digger (ugh) Hope he is not moved to SPEED.

    I hope they are laying enough rubber on the track to prevent serious issues.

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  150. David, how does that make sense? Tricking a car out for qualifying with no intention of racing to get into the field and park is just wrong.

    If you have cars that have the resources to run the race, why should you let a car in with no pit crew, tires or intentions of competing?

    Guess it is theory vs. reality for me.

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  151. Sophia, it might be decaf time dear.

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  152. Out of curiosity -- If you take Digger out of the equation, how do you guys feel about the camera shot? It is pretty cool to get a feeling as to how fast these cars are really going -- like an additional Low Angle Camera shot. I saw ESPN had one in their race yesterday but didn't brand it at all and I didn't see any complaints.

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  153. @Anon 2:47 - The low angle is great, when it's not accompanied by a silly cartoon gopher.

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  154. Was Skinner such a good choice for the #36 if they're going to start and park anyway? He's not even getting sponsors for his Truck team and he's running well there.

    Why not let younger drivers with sponsors rent the ride like Hermie Sadler was doing with him team a few years ago?

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  155. Martin had to come back to pit road? First we've heard of this!

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  156. JD

    why do you say that? Just wanted to warn about major Twitter problem. Site was down hours last night.

    Too many in car cam shots & bumper shots. I am missing MRN now.

    We are losing perspective of this mile track.

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  157. Dover speed-shots are great, especially when they are coming up at you off the turn. Awesome sound as well.

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  158. In-car All The Time...

    Not interesting when the nearest car is 5 lengths ahead or behind.

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  159. I wonder if the S&Ps were discussed at the meeting. I still think NASCAR doesn't care. They get the entry money.

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  160. If Nemechek runs the whole race, I think we're done with the start and park teams now, Bliss is in.

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  161. Andrew said...
    @Anon 2:47 - The low angle is great, when it's not accompanied by a silly cartoon gopher.

    agreed! and this is one track where, being placed where it is today, we really get a sense of the angle of the track and the speed that the cars carry as they come toward it.

    BUT -- overuse will kill it!

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  162. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  163. Surprised Skinner is indeed part of S&P. Usually he is good at seeing if what another driver is feeling in a car is what is really going on. But I guess everybody needs to make a paycheck nowadays.

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  164. Users sign-up for the folks the want to view, right? No spam or unwanted messages makes that service great for me.

    Kyle Petty's charity ride was wonderful.

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  165. @ Andrew, Mark and an unsub hit on pit road. That's why he came back in.

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  166. No Junior and no Lance McGrew audio yet.

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  167. when they asked the aflac question, did they say the answer driver was "at the race today but not in the race"? so, is allison at dover today? i'll be annoyed if i missed running in to him this weekend . . .

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  168. @Dot - Thanks.

    Anyone else surprised they haven't talked about Junior all that much?

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  169. BEVO SAID

    In-car All The Time...

    Not interesting when the nearest car is 5 lengths ahead or behind.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    Can we SEE the wide track. This is a good track to see on TV.

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  170. Looks like Nemechek & Bliss are out too.

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  171. Blaney's back out, will probably beat Nemechek by one lap and park again.

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  172. Hearing Mike Joy calling Mike Skinner's trip the garage sure made me instantly admire Scott Riggs a lot more after. Riggs was very outspoken earlier in the year when his team wanted to run entire races and were missing events at the expense of start-and-park cars. When the shoe was put on the other foot and his team became a start-and-park effort that was sending legitimate race teams home he walked out the door and wouldn't accept the last place paychecks.

    I have no ill will towards the start-and-park owners. NASCAR allows them to show up to the track to collect checks instead of to compete in the races, they're doing nothing illegal based on the current rules.

    I will just never understand how NASCAR justifies sending legitimate teams like the 13 and 25 home at the expense of cash collectors. It only greatly hurts the competition and gives the sport a black eye, in my opinion.

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  173. I am really surprised that there's not anymore chatter on Jr. today. And MM has really moved up but I guess the broadcasters haven't noticed . . . . .

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  174. Daly Planet Editor said...
    No Junior and no Lance McGrew audio yet.

    according to those who are listening, apparently there is a VERY high level of communication between those two right now. lots of discussion about hpw the car is handling at various points an d mcgrew chattering in his driver's ear.

    i really intensely dislike these commercial bumpers with a heartfelt passion.

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  175. Ditto on the Riggs remark Stricklinfan.

    JD, shot you an email on where I stand with S&P cars

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  176. JD

    just what we need. More video bumpers.

    and bumper cams, and in car cams.

    sarcasm ;)

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  177. @stricklinfan82 - Agreed wholeheartedly.

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  178. Looks like Blaney's pulling in again, 3 laps ahead of Nemechek.

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  179. Hammond on Twitter: A big thank you to our friends at Edgewater Restaurant in Annapolis, MD for sending the best crabcakes! Tough keeping Myers away!

    Geez, I am thinking about going to Subway..

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  180. I think Truex spilled it a little when they asked if BPS was leaving if they'd follow and he said he didn't know if they would or not.

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  181. jd,i just read that hammond tweet as well and wondered why the freak he wasn't talking about the RACING instead of food?!? life must be just one big commercial for some.

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  182. Aside from Riggs, have we heard any driver opinions on s&p?

    I know Max Papis is too nice and new to give one publicly.

    He apologized for a Milka Duna comment on Twitter a couple weeks ago and I told him not to worry about it, many feel same way

    Good crowd at this track today. Glad to see that.

    15 seconds in Kahnes car and then they went to split screen on him. sigh

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  183. Lots of communication on the 88 radio today-more than I've EVER heard. No swear words either!
    These are horrible camera shots-single cars going around-show us the racing!

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  184. Hornish kid in 12th...might be a great time to run through the top 15...

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  185. so there is finally a race starting before late afternoon, so i figure what the heck i'll spend a rare Sunday afternoon watching a whole race. flip on t.v. and what's the first thing i see, a Digger cartoon.

    and Fox wonders why their ratings are plummeting.

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  186. as someone else noted: dover is a great track for big shots but all we get are these tiny close-up and one-car shots. a wider shot is preferable, especially at a track like this that rewards it!

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  187. I was about to complain about Mark Martin not getting any love, but here's some. But what about Tony Stewart? Have they even shown his car today?

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  188. This camera work is choking the race. Not first time fox has done this. . .

    and they wonder why ratings are down

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