Sunday, June 14, 2009

Live Blogging The Sprint Cup Series Race From Michigan on TNT


TNT rented a house on a Michigan lake for the NASCAR on TNT announcers. It was close to the track and made the travel and logistics a lot easier. Kyle Petty quickly dubbed the place Camp Weber.

When not fishing or having a sing-a-long with Petty on the guitar, the TNT guys were talking about the issues with MIS. Junior fans remember him creeping across the line on fumes last year, saved by a late caution flag.

Now, the Sprint Cup Series comes to MIS after a wild season that has featured as many stories off the track as on the racing surface. MIS has the potential on TV to either provide a great telecast or become an exercise in gas mileage once again. NASCAR is hoping that the double-file restarts will add a kick to the middle and closing parts of the race.

The irony of General Motors announcing the withdrawal of funding for the truck and Nationwide series this week is not lost on the Cup teams in the garage. Putting on a good show is more important then ever when the survival of the series as we know it may be at stake. Next week will bring the real world fall-out of the GM news.

TNT is off to a good start in 2009. Petty, Larry McReynolds and Wally Dallenbach have been working well as a unit with Bill Weber directing traffic. Petty may be the star, but Weber sets the tone and he got annoyed in the closing stages of the Pocono race.

That break in communication caused a failure on the final lap that resulted in a big hiccup. The TV perspective was lost on the last lap, the cameras only showed the leader and the drama of cars spinning and running out of gas was never shown. Weber's words about Tony Stewart being the story made no sense with blue tire smoke in the background and other cars slow on the apron. In NASCAR TV, the final lap is more important than the first.

TNT's online companion is RaceBuddy. Again offered free to any broadband computer user at NASCAR.com, RaceBuddy offers a designated pit road reporter, four camera angles and team scanner audio. For those fans who enjoy multi-tasking, it just does not get any better.

Petty continues to push the envelope by Tweeting while he is on the air and this week TNT has added a direct link for fan questions at the NASCAR.com website. Upping the interaction between the fans and the TV crew is something that TNT has been doing well. Hopefully, somewhere ESPN is making notes.

TNT has been great with the directing, including the triple-splits in the pits and the priorities assigned on the track. With the huge MIS facility, the TV coverage is going to have to jump continually to the best racing on the track, regardless of the position of those cars in the line-up.

The network offered good recaps last week and seems to be aggressively including the pit reporters continually during the race. Interviews of the drivers who are out of the race this week is going to be important, especially if there is a big incident early on.

The biggest complaint emailed to TDP about Pocono was the fact that TNT left the air 15 minutes before the scheduled off-time. The remainder of the post-race interviews were done online at NASCAR.com, but that eliminated those not multi-tasking and did not seem to be fair since there was time remaining.

In 2007, TNT did the same thing during a crucial race and explained that it was more important to start the vampire movie early and keep the audience than offer interviews to NASCAR fans. The resulting anger changed that policy rather quickly. Perhaps, it might be a time to review that memo.

MIS offers the clear opportunity for both NASCAR and TNT to put the sport squarely back in the spotlight. Great weather, evenly matched cars and double-file restarts might be just what the doctor ordered to change the momentum for this series.

TDP welcomes your comments on the TNT coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from MIS. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

We appreciate you taking the time out of your Sunday to stop by The Daly Planet.

432 comments:

1 – 200 of 432   Newer›   Newest»
The Loose Wheel said...

only halfway through the pre-race show...

great pieces so far, but its still a LONGGGG wait...

Cant wait to see what Daytona is like...

Anonymous said...

Amen David - pre race the show that never ends lol post race the show that isn't. Gotta fix it!

The Loose Wheel said...

I love these pre-produced pieces, that interview with Childress screamed Cheerio's promo. Guess I should be used to it by now yet Im not...

Shame to see those guys struggling, little disappointed they didn't get more into how BAD RCR has run this year. Harvick completely went off on the radio last week about the cars and how bad they have been.

Starting to wonder what will happen when Harvick's contract is up

brad said...

with 5 hours of pre race coverage you should now be ready for a good Sunday afternoon nap in the middle of the 3 1/2 hour no pass for the lead merry go round, see who has gas left after 500 miles that is racing at MIS. I love raceing but some are hard to handle watching on tv with interest for 3-4 hours. Hope we atleast get a late caution to bunch up the field.

Andrew said...

The segment with DW was great, and it was nice to see him acting serious and intelligent, instead of the cartoonish DW FOX insists on foisting upon us.

Last week's broadcast was nearly perfect; only the last-lap coverage and leaving 15 minutes early brought the technical broadcast down. The race itself was not exciting at all for the middle 300 miles (as is usual at Pocono) but the TNT guys did an excellent job of trying to keep some excitement going.

Michigan is a strange track - it's produced some excellent races and some pure clunkers. But with the double-file restarts and TNT's coverage, this should hopefully be in the former category. And if they fix the last-lap and postrace coverage, it could be perfect.

Vicky D said...

The pre-race show that never leaves!!!! Thanks TS for "hello" to JB. Get well fast too!

Hotaru1787 said...

Kind of reminds you of that song, 'this is the song that doesn't end...'

This is the pre-race show that doesn't end.

Andrew said...

Hey, no more blue suit! And nice to see TNT reporting on serious issues like the GM cuts instead of sidestepping them.

The Loose Wheel said...

oh my freakin god!

The Loose Wheel said...

I guess the S&P verbal ban has been lifted, glad they addressed it.

Cant argue with what was said.

Newracefan said...

Enjoyed the DW piece and the GM issues, BF didn't look like a total idiot for a change. Wow start and park this should be interesting

The Track Girl said...

Missed last weekend's Wally's World. Wow! I love it!!

Kudos to the producer and who ever came up with the changes.

Hotaru1787 said...

About time they said something 'bout S&Pers.

Lou said...

Looking forward to another good broadcast from tnt today. Keep up the good work all.

Dot said...

Will we have to go to N.com for post race interviews? I couldn't get the something or other player to load on my computer last week, so I missed it. I don't enough about computer stuff to know what went wrong.

Just how is the Emperor going to help the Odd Wads? Like he cares about them.

Karen said...

I really like the change in Wally's World. Much more interesting than trying to hear over that loud engine the last few years.

Daly Planet Editor said...

I think they were a bit embarrassed that we nailed them as having taped all the WW at Pocono last season.

TexasRaceLady said...

I'll be interested to see how TPTB "helps" small teams.

Andrew said...

They're singing "O Canada" on RaceBuddy. Wonder if TNT will show that?

Andrew said...

Well, that was a quick answer to my question. :p

Daly Planet Editor said...

Supposed to be a killer fly-over, look for it.

TexasRaceLady said...

Can I get an "AMEN"!

Now, THAT is how you sing the anthem. Great job.

Nan S said...

Now that's an anthem!

Sophia said...

Hey guys.

Can SOMEBODY tell me what they said about S&P? Just got online and been on important call...what'd I miss?

I missed what Brian said too. please clue me in.

Not limited to 140 characters here thank goodness, lol.

But twitter is a blast with Kyle..and last night some young sweetie emailed me a pic of my band I help promote from huge Charity fund raiser.

You pick the right peeps to follow on Twitter and you can get local stuff, news, tv, sports, weather, fun stuff and just things you need to know.

Kyle Petty is just really going to make the season a drag after TNT leaves. He and Rut have put the FUN back in this sport imo. :)

I recommend following those two on Twitter.

WOW..fireworks! Don't see the flyover..what happened?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Wow, so much for that!

The Loose Wheel said...

heard the flyover...didnt see it of course

stricklinfan82 said...

Looking forward to the broadcast. I just hope they learned from last week's botched ending and will be sure to finish the deal this time around. If they keep the cameras focused on the race until the entire last lap is finished and fill all the way until 5:30 (since the John Q fans won't be actually be tuning in for their program until its scheduled time anyway) the results should be great.

Labbie said...

That's how the anthem should be done.

We need them at every race!!!

The Loose Wheel said...

sophia, wally was talking about how he spoke with some of the owners and how these teams employ 8-10 people that if it wasnt for what they do (start and park) that those people would not have jobs anymore. The fact they are at the track keeps them closer to the competitive edge they need while they continue their ongoing battle to find a sponsor not just for this race or next, but the rest of the season and next year. Also mentioned how if you aren't at the track in any way, your out of sight and out of mind so when you attempt to come back, your behind the 8 ball even worse.

Also mentioned NASCAR said they would "try" to help the smaller teams but no one has any idea how they would do it.

West Coast Diane said...

Reposting this since there are still comments about prerace and being WC a bit behind.

Also, great DW piece. This is the DW we need to see on FOX next year...please, please, pretty please, with sugar on top.

Repost:

I do agree I would like more post race interviews, info, etc. With that said, people don't need to watch pre race shows if they think it is too much. I DVR, then pick and choose what I watch. Also, I am usually on my laptop or reading something...so I don't sit glued to the TV.

The other comment regarding pre race shows...appears the majority, if not all, of the posters here are major fans and watch practice, qual, race, read internet, watch other race shows on TV. We the be majority here, but I think we are the minority when included in all the actual race viewers. I have two brothers who consider themselves big race fans and always watch "the races". They only occasionally watch practice, qual, etc. So, what may be redundant to us, is news to them.

Last comment. Replace Jimmy Spencer with Kyle Petty and calm Kenny down, or replace him. Agree with Frank in Sebring...Jimmy and Kenny are getting old.

Dot said...

When Kid Rock gives the command, Dan wants him to say "Gentlemen and Kyle, start your engines".

Sophia said...

THAT STINKS we heard the noise but NO flyover....ugh. I thought the noise.

I TAKE IT BACK they are showing it now for a minute back from commercial.

KUDOS TNT!

I even am enjoying Bill Weber. Truly I am. :-)

I LOVE THIS BOOTH's CHEMISTRY.

Martin Vincent said...

What happened at the start/finish line? Looks to me like they had to spread and are now cleaning lots of "speedy dry".

Vicky D said...

Dot - Dan's a very smart man!

PammH said...

Better late than never w/the flyover..great anthem.

The Loose Wheel said...

FYI on race buddy, this is Tony's in car with Biffle's audio

Sophia said...

David

Thank you SO MUCH for the detailed answer. To be honest, I kind of felt that way for those S&P teams and totally understand it...you have to do whatever in this economy. tx for filling me in:)


Good Command by Kid Rock.

@Dot

Dan is nicer than me..I would've said "Gentlemen and brats, start your engines"

BK another gross commercial.
Gonna boycott them.

ok, so I haven't eaten there in years. . .

Lou said...

another strange burger king commerical

Newracefan said...

MV Prerace Hummer leaked oil or something on the track OOPS

Dot said...

@ MV. I think it was the fireworks.

Andrew said...

@Sophia - I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who dislikes the BK commercials.

Sophia said...

Can Race buddy be hooked up to an HD tv? My room mate does it with tv shows online?

We have a second TV in LR.

Has anybody tried this??

Nan S said...

Questions regarding RaceBuddy. I'm playing with it now and ever time I change a view I get a commercial first. Does it do that during the race?

Also, does it just show one driver at a time in car or do you get to choose from several?

Dot said...

@ Nan, no commls during the race. I think the drivers are pre selected.

The Loose Wheel said...

sophia, np

i understand it too. i also don't feel it greatly, or in any way hurts the quality of competition because if they raced, they would finish in the back regardless. you can only go so far with no resources. see morgan shepherd...you get tires given to you but still have no pit crew so when you stop you lose laps under green. as a result, they finish near the back.

ok...confirmed, it IS biffle on racebuddy audio

The Loose Wheel said...

drivers are pre-selected and every time i change cameras, i get that 15 second commercial

Sophia said...

BK commercials in two words?

"Ick factor"

Daly Planet Editor said...

Sophia,

The output of a tower or laptop can be direcly plugged into an HDTV, which is just a big monitor.

Many TDP readers plug RaceBuddy into the HDTV.

bevo said...

@Sophia- Depends on your computer and connections. A/V out or HDMI and video card

Daly Planet Editor said...

David, that is paying the RaceBuddy bill...

SallyB said...

You guys talked me into it. I'm trying Race Buddy today. My first attempt at multi tasking during a race. This could get ugly! ;)

The Loose Wheel said...

i know jd, i was answering a question that was asked by nan

bevo said...

JD-
Any word on the Roush segment?

Sophia said...

Finally a JB mention

The Loose Wheel said...

ok, the red/green light at pit entry is broken, gonna have to watch the flagger today

Newracefan said...

Did they always tell us who was directing, producing etc, I like it

Martin Vincent said...

I heard #71 Gilliland was going to the full-distance in the next 2 races, so our S&P cars should be #66, #87, #37 and possibly #09 although it has Miccosukee sponsorship on it today.

red said...

and i really like the fact that tnt mentions all the folks who bring us the broadcast -- class act.

stands look light.

The Loose Wheel said...

09 should be giving it a go the full way today.

Vicky D said...

All the pre-race segments with all special effects and technologies and they can't get the pit road lights to work!

Sophia said...

My room mate has RB on the second tv. Woot!

WOW.

THIS IS TOTALLY COOL. two different camera shots.

RB is da bomb.

Sophia gonna get confused

Sophia said...

OMG and his wireless mouse works from the recliner.

back in a few.

Multi tasking overload!

TexasRaceLady said...

Sophia, if you're like me, you were born confused. LOL

The Loose Wheel said...

71 has something on it so that explains why they are going the distance

Dot said...

A mention of S&Ps again.

Karen said...

Nan S and David, refresh your page on RaceBuddy and the commercials go away.

Sophia said...

Texas Race Lady.

Ha. Love your comment about born confused.

Especially about techonology.

Oh no, thunder storms!!! dark here

Anonymous said...

Any bets on how long before the "handling," "ignition" and "too slow" issues begin to appear?

Karen said...

On RB, one car in-car. On right, you can vote for whose in-car you want to see every 50 laps.

Daly Planet Editor said...

bevo, no email back yet about the Roush thing. Supposed to be Ralph at his car museum. Might have been dropped for time, bummer.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! Look at all of the empty seats!!!!

Nan S said...

Thanks to everyone for answering my questions.

red said...

some great racing on the "battle" screen of RB!

Martin Vincent said...

@Anon 2:25PM - In Cup, the S&P usually run an average of 50 laps before they park, not like the Nationwide Series races where they start falling out after just a couple of laps.

The Loose Wheel said...

dropped for time? =0

The Loose Wheel said...

35-45 laps today MV since the fuel window is 50 laps

Andrew said...

@JD - 90 minutes of prerace and it was dropped for time?

Dot said...

Is SDDD faking or does he really have a problem?

TexasRaceLady said...

Anonymous said...
Wow!!! Look at all of the empty seats!!!!

June 14, 2009 2:27 PM
**********
Went to Michigan for 4 yrs. Those seats in Turn 2 are the worst.

The Track Girl said...

Happy Race Day!
Man, I love TNT.

The Loose Wheel said...

Dot...Kyle can over-exaggerate things sometimes, but this early he might have an issue that just adds to the frustration since the handle is off some.

My guess is Kyle and Larry got this right, its not the engine

Karen said...

Probably will do Roush piece during a break or caution.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Andrew, 60 min of the first show is about 40 min of content. The 30 minute show is about 21 min.

If Ralph's piece was three or four min, it could be the first one dropped when a live seg runs long.

I will update when I get the info.

bevo said...

Thanks JD, hope they run it next week. Always love to drool over those car collections :)

Andrew said...

37 to the garage.

Daly Planet Editor said...

37 to the garage being told...that right?

brad said...

anybody know the seating capacity at MIS? if not 160,000 or so they are in a real bad way with all those empty seats!

Andrew said...

Leaderboard lists the 37 as four laps down. Looks like he did indeed go to the garage.

Now the 87 is one lap down. Garage too?

red said...

Daly Planet Editor said...
37 to the garage being told...that right?

and there's the update from weber . . .

The Loose Wheel said...

spotter told biff 2 cars heading to garage, i imagine thats 87 and 66 to guess

Daly Planet Editor said...

brad, there is probably no area that has been harder hit than Detroit. Guys are guessing 80K in the grandstands. Smallest crowd in years.

Andrew said...

@NASCARSays: #NASCAR Sterling Marlin and Dave Blaney to the garage. Tony Raines and Joe Nemechek are off.

Twitter is wonderful for these kinds of updates.

red said...

anyone hear anything about what was up with edwards' n'wide car last night?

Anonymous said...

JD - the only "down" of RB is in car audio is Biff, Tony is video. Confusing.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Looks a lot like practice....

brad said...

JD unfortunately I know all too well how hard Detroit has been hit. I haul cars and feel for everyone up there. was hopeing to get up around 80% which would be great all things considered!

The Loose Wheel said...

Red, if i had to guess they weren't good there last year and with the track having got more bumpy in the offseason, odds are they had a bad spring package on it.

no one has said if anything was broken, Carl said they just got complacent with the setup in happy hour the day before and it was junk in race.

long story short, i speculated but have not heard anyone give an answer on it

Daly Planet Editor said...

One good thing is that Chad is on with Mikey and Steve on TWIN this Monday.

red said...

Daly Planet Editor said...
Looks a lot like practice....

agreed but . . . RB continues to seek out and show good racing on the battle screen. maybe tnt needs to lose the in-cars?

bevo said...

When certain politicians and tv/radio blowhards say there isn't an economic crisis all you have to do is look at those stands. Real working class folks are hurting big time.

The Loose Wheel said...

im actually glad its biff because he has made a heck of charge through the field so far

Anonymous said...

Wish the RB in-cars weren't limited to the Coke family of drivers.

Newracefan said...

Red hearing late gear rule change might have thrown off bunch of cars pit road number speed number. Guess some temas forgot to fix the math and the tachs

Daly Planet Editor said...

Going to be very expensive to repave Kentucky every couple of years. Lesson learned.

SallyB said...

I like that TNT isn't downplaying the sparse crowd...maybe just because it's MIS and everyone is so tuned into the trouble with GM and Chrysler. They are being very up front about that and the S & P crowd.

Anonymous said...

Kind of amazing that a car that has won a Sprint Cup race this year (09) cannot find the sponsor money to actually run all the races. I know its a different team when it runs Hendrick Chevys, but still.

bevo said...

OK I feel really stupid for this but here goes... that Aflac commercial was funny

The Loose Wheel said...

jd, wouldnt they try to diamond grind it first before trying a repave. not talking that levigating crap humpy pulled but instead doing what they've done at tracks like texas and others

Anonymous said...

Is there any other sport where you can just quit with no penalty---- Weber was nice about it
"they had not planned to run the whole race"....NASCAR shouldn't allow "valet parking" supplement the backmarkers with tires if thats the issue--

The Loose Wheel said...

green flag stops underway

red said...

nrf: interesting about the gear rule change and its impact on all those speeding penalties. balash was as definitive as i've ever heard any nascar official when discussing anything related to the sport!

any word on how flat out crappy edwards' car was yesterday? it was uncharacteristically bad. . .

Sophia said...

Major rain and thunder here...infomercials all over local tv and no weathermen on the air??

But if it were sports or movies, they would be breaking in..go figure. In 10 minutes we had 1/2 inch of rain. Flash flood anybody? Still coming down in buckets

The Loose Wheel said...

Annon, go to charlotte and tell the guys that work on the team they need to run the full race without resources and see how far you get. close to a 1000 people lost their jobs in the offseason and for some this is all they have. those teams run the full race with or without free tires, they wont make enough to last for long and those guys would be unemployed again in a hurry.

red said...

@david: sorry, i missed your explanation in re: edwards yesterday. i figured it had something to do with the spring package, given the way it was tracking on the front.

Anonymous said...

If you really wanted to eliminate the S&P, you could eliminate purse money for cars that fail to complete a certain percentage of the race distance, distributing those dollars to the rest of the field.

For a team that runs regularly, the occasional parts failure or early wreck would balance out.

But, then you wouldn't have 43 car fields.

Sophia said...

I heard Weber's comment. they hd not planned to run the whole race.

HONESTY from a NASCAR broadcast. Impressed.

Dot said...

@ dear Sophia, I hope you don't lose power.

Marcos not running well today, shown a lap down. I'm in for a long day.

The Loose Wheel said...

happy to try and help red lol

The Loose Wheel said...

if biff gets a caution he and jimmie will have a heck of a fight for this all day

Anonymous said...

David:
That is what the Nationwide Series & Camping World Truck Series is for...this is the highest level of racing...we knock IRL because of a lack of competition....only about 20 cars seem to be competitive---

The Loose Wheel said...

guess its easy for jr to have the fastest pit crew when he drives right past the box...

Daly Planet Editor said...

David, everyone has the right to their opinion here, OK?

If NASCAR helping with a tire bill will get the S&P cars on the track, then maybe that is not a bad idea.

Dot said...

We need a caution. There has to be some "debris" somewhere.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Wow, this is going to be a rough one. Everyone racing the track.

red said...

Dot said...
We need a caution. There has to be some "debris" somewhere.

hey dot, there's a big hunk o' post-accident fender outside -- does that count?
oh wait! you meant at the track, right? don't think i can throw it that far . . .

boyd said...

Dot,
We have to wait until JR. is about to be lapped

Andrew said...

Weber meant 218 "miles", right?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Dot, are you going to the dark side? Time for the well-placed hot dog wrapper.

SallyB said...

That's the trouble with races on these big tracks...they get so spread out so fast that it's not the most exciting racing to watch. And they wonder why fans aren't thrilled with the 1 1/2 2 mile tracks.

Anonymous said...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Wow, this is going to be a rough one. Everyone racing the track.



About time to start saving fuel.

Dot said...

@ JD, I live on the dark side.

The Loose Wheel said...

its going on in those 2 series' too.

When those teams like nemecheck and blaney CAN run the full race, they do well. The issue is sponsorship. If they dont have sponsorship for Cup, they most certainly dont have sponosrship for Nationwide or trucks. You cant make money in trucks without a full sponsor anyways so going that route is a waste.

These are teams trying to stay in the black because owners like Bobby Ginn and the BANG truck team a few years back came in, overspent, owed tons of people money and disappeared. The S&P's are racing within their budget. They wouldn't run a full NW race either for the same reason. No sponsor = no full race regardless the series.

Dont see sponsors lining up to sponsor truck or NW teams these days

Daly Planet Editor said...

Would like to see the real time telemetry. Those guys are hauling the mail at the front. Wonder what the top speeds are?

Vicky D said...

I'm not sure what the entry fee is for these races, but maybe Nascar can set aside the payment of it for the S&P'ers. But I think it's the tire bills that's the big issue here for these teams.

brad said...

I don't think tires are the real concern for s&p cars. They are probably trying to make sure that they have a motor to try and show up week after week. Most of those guys can't afford to get a new motor every week. Any help Nascar gives is probably a good thing in the long term.

Anonymous said...

JD, try pit command or FoxTrax for speeds. Johnson fastest, 88, 6, 24, 42 all running fast laps.

Daly Planet Editor said...

There's a good date movie, huh?

MikeC said...

I remember a time when Michigan would sell both races out in a heartbeat. Not only has the economy hurt them....but also Chicagoland and Kansas getting races....people that go to those 2 now were people that would go to Michigan in the past because that was the closest track to them.

The Loose Wheel said...

COME ON CAUTION FREE RACE!

please lord.

red said...

someone asked earlier: mis website says current track configuration seats 132,000.

Sophia said...

going to go enjoy the three monitors (two are tvs) and pay attention.

1.5 inches of rain in less than an hour but it's easing up....back in a bit.

This is way cool.

boyd said...

J.D.,
With all the off season talk of the TV people trying to save money, what was the outcome.
Fox seemed pretty normal, TNT is adding features, and we really don't know what ESPN will do.

Sophia said...

well it was easing up.

We are 3 hrs south of MIS. Hope it stays clear up there.

Anonymous said...

Great audio, motor noise not overpowering. Can understand the announcers 2day,thanks audio tech.
Tks.JD. Ron Il.

MikeC said...

At the rate this is going, it'll be over at 4:30, leaving TNT with an hour to kill.

bevo said...

Booth and pit reporters doing a good job so far

The Loose Wheel said...

re-visting my dover complaint...i dont hear the "whooshing" annoying hiss i heard there...

Anonymous said...

@MikeC

Well its TNT, which means they always have a Law and Order rerun in the queue.

red said...

i can't get used to seeing the #1 wrapped in blue . . .

The Loose Wheel said...

i know red. it looks weird

Sophia said...

p.s. that refreshing the page to get rid of adds..only works on xp laptop. Vista with RB on tv still has the adds.

Also just went to TS cam...was that still Biffle audio? They need to fix that..never fixed it last week either. Boring to watch for more than a few bits

Daly Planet Editor said...

boyd, just a couple of spots on the crew. Fox kept the Hollywood Hotel, ESPN kept the Infield Pit and Tech Centers and TNT still has the infield whirling stage of death.

Nothing was better than in 2007 when Marty Snider kept spinning Weber around-and-around on that thing in the rain.

Other than no sky-cam, its basically the same IMHO.

Dot said...

Why not just show the whole GY comml?

Dot said...

And here we go.

The Loose Wheel said...

sophia, it worked for me and im on vista.

bloody heck...why debris? not necessary =\

Andrew said...

I don't usually like debris cautions, but in this case....HALLEUJAH!

#NASCAR on Twitter just exploded with similar opinions.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Driver water bottle the debris? Hello...TNT?

The Loose Wheel said...

what ever happened to having a caution-free race?

Andrew said...

@David - TV ratings.

Martin Vincent said...

Other than #39 Newman being the Lucky Dog, 15 other cars can get back on the lead lap by staying out and gambling that another caution will come soon.

Anonymous said...

JD-

Is that what it was? A water bottle?

I seem to remember that throwing foam or something else on the racetrack causing a yellow is supposed to be a 1 lap penalty.

Dot said...

@ JD, isn't it Carl that always throws his bottle out the window? I have always wondered how he could do that.

The Loose Wheel said...

last non-plate caution free race...Michigan 1999...ratings have gone up and down since...

bums me out because it doesnt bother me or bore me to see it string out and actually show you who is good and who isn't. biffle got 19 spots on that run

The Loose Wheel said...

Dot, every driver does. obviously someone saved theirs...

Martin Vincent said...

Although I guess everybody needs fuel now, so not too many will gamble this time.

red said...

@dot, it may depend on the track. i recall earnhardt jr being told by eury sr a few years ago to wait until he got close to the entrance of pit road before throwing anything out and that nascar would be ok with that.

Dot said...

Thanks guys. I swear I've seen Carl do it on the track.

Andrew said...

Huh. What are they doin' to Newman's tires on RaceBuddy?

bevo said...

They all throw the bottles out, don't want anything loose rolling around in the car. They toss them out into the infield. Moody has answered that many times on Speedway, they toss them under his turn position all the time

The Loose Wheel said...

bevo...have they ever finally pre-recorded answers to the questions everyone asked like they threatened to do last year?

MikeC said...

Why not call it double file restart? I'm sure Mike Joy is working on a name for it for next year, like overdrive, knockout qualifying, etc.

The Loose Wheel said...

Credit that 88 team, they got a fast car too.

Daly Planet Editor said...

This just in:

Brian France - NASCAR continues to have contact with foreign-based carmakers who are not yet involved in stock car racing but have manufacturing plants in the United States and may want to market through NASCAR.

Other such companies with U.S. plants include Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

It's going to be an interesting summer in NASCAR land.

red said...

David said...
Credit that 88 team, they got a fast car too.

and a planeteer notices what the broadcast booth has missed so far.
thanks, david!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Mike,

How about the Terminator Salvation ServiceMaster Sprint Aaflac restart sponsored by NASCAR.com?

The Loose Wheel said...

red, i saw em moving up, but biffle was moving up faster...30th to 10th is impressive. if the pit crew does their job its a top 10 car no doubt

The Loose Wheel said...

Or if jr could stay off the wall...

red said...

interesting about the importance of the skirt in re: areo of the cot. i remember earnhardt jr finishing 3rd at this track with no front left fender on the car and the tire showing . . .

Dot said...

@ JD, too funny.

Dot said...

Is Kahne the only RPM car with the new engine still?

Martin Vincent said...

Michael Waltrip has made his pit stop and drops from 24th to 35th.

bevo said...

@David - not yet :)

@JD- mark Honda off that list, pulled their F1 effort much to Ross Braun's good fortune.

If any get involved my money would be on Nissan. But don't doubt NASCAR floating that stuff just to make things look better than they are.

Andrew said...

@Dot - Yes, and they don't even have the money to run it every week.

Dinger is apparently really mad about how bad his car is and suggested he bring it to the garage to fix it.

The Loose Wheel said...

red, to spare you a confusing david-splaination it makes sense. its not just the COT that reacts that way either...

Anonymous said...

JD-

Remember that Penske's Nascar engines currently "Dodge" are produced in part by the British operation Ilmor engineering which also produces all of the "Honda" engines for the Indy Racing league and has also been involved with Mercedes-Benz over the years.

The Loose Wheel said...

mark BMW off that list too. losing too much money in the US right now and that was a year and half ago i heard that.

red said...

@david: explain away. i understood the old car and it's aero issues but this one? not so much -- yet.

Vicky D said...

JD - you forgot Flowmax and Mistress Mandy too (thankfully I haven't seen her yet this week)!

The Loose Wheel said...

Anon 3:29...did not know that.

conspiracy theories begin!!

Andrew said...

@bevo - I wouldn't mark Honda off that list. Hendrick has a boatload of Honda dealerships, and both Penske and Ganassi have ties to them through IndyCar.

Karen said...

I want to hear the radio play of Jr. telling everyone to quit talking so much, he can't think.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Vicky,

The Flomax Restart! THE BEST!!!

Anonymous said...

David. . . yeah, Roger is a co-owner of the special projects operation of Ilmor. It's why I don't entirely write off Saturn from appearing in the Indy 500 in several years either.

red said...

whoa! RB just showed the 44 on pit road and the pit guy cranked so much wedge in the back window, it looked as if he stopped not b/c he was finished but b/c his arm was tired. that car must REALLY be junk.

Vicky D said...

Roger Penske said this morning that his purchase of Saturn should go through this fall maybe he can get them to start working on a Saturn car then.

The Loose Wheel said...

its all to do with air flow under the car red. that skirt missing disrupts where the air goes so instead of flowing straight back under the car, it splits off and shoots out the right side which kills downforce since the air is more turbulant. I can't say that is the scientific explanation, or even totally correct but it is how I understand it from everything I have heard from people much smarter than I.

You'd be amazed what people learned about backpressure up the tailpipes at a plate track and how some was better than none in terms of speed...

How do you get away with no left front fender? Great question, I dont know but arguably its the least important one on the car since that is usually the corner under the least load and provides the least downforce.

This lesson has been brought to you by paint-by-numbers.

bevo said...

Shouldn't rain delays be brought to us by Flomax???

boyd said...

@bevo,
Funny:)

The Loose Wheel said...

Saturns will still be provided via GM until Roger finds someone to provide them otherwise.

Dont get giddy on the Honda/IRL connection, Honda is forced to be the only supplier and would much rather NOT be the only supplier in that series from what they have said in the past.

The Loose Wheel said...

Flowmax restart...

Easier time going...

DFR's mean easier time passing...

Holy smokes a match made in heaven!

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