Update: Rain stopped Nationwide Series qualifying with only two cars left to go and cancelled Cup quals totally. Nationwide Series on ESPN tonight at 7:30PM with entire field set on points.
ESPN2 is up first with coverage from Daytona of Nationwide Series qualifying at 1PM ET. Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will be calling that session. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Mike Massaro will be handling the interviews.
This is a race that features many Sprint Cup drivers crossing-over to race. Unfortunately, qualifying coverage at Daytona is tough on TV because of the lack of drama. The NASCAR on ESPN team is going to have to use interviews and lots of commentary to make this program interesting.
There are lots of stories going on in the sport and it should be interesting to see if ESPN has the Infield Studio open for this session. Allen Bestwick, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace sitting in the air conditioning could really lend a hand to this coverage.
It is a steaming hot day in Daytona with rain on the way later in the afternoon. ESPN's goal is certainly going to be to get this session over without an incident or delay on the track. Then, let everyone get cool and begin the build-up to one of the biggest Nationwide Series races of the season at 7:30PM on ESPN.
SPEED will come along at 4PM and handle qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series. Steve Byrnes will be joined by Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond. Ralph Sheheen and Matt Yocum will cover pit road.
The drama of this session should only be at the rear of the field. Most top teams are concentrating on race set-up and not putting effort into an attempt at the pole. SPEED offers coverage that focuses more on the cars on the track than other stories in the sport. It is a straightforward presentation that should serve as a good warm-up for Saturday night.
A half-hour version of Trackside airs on SPEED at 7PM, while NASCAR Now airs at the same time on ESPN2. Then, Bestwick and company begin the primetime coverage of the Nationwide Series race over on ESPN. TDP will be live blogging that event.
This post will serve to host your comments on today's NASCAR TV coverage and the issues on-going in the sport. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly site, please keep that in mind when posting.
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75 comments:
Talk about hot. Anyone know the rain update?
Rain still out in Tampa Bay. Expected to come across state later in the afternoon. S/b over Daytona by 5:30-6:00 p.m. Of course. Looks good for race tonight though.
Thanks, I really hope there is a great race tonight. NASCAR really needs it right now.
Brian France headed to the media center for press conference...this should be good.
I hope so too! Has this been the wettest season ever? It sure seems like it :(
Does Kyle know how to give an interview without being a complete arse in it?
Yes I follow NA$CAR Says so I'm checking the tweets from them....
Did you guys see the Steven Wallace crash in practice?
Yes, Wallace's crash was crazy. Would have loved to see in-car telemetry of where his feet were at time of him wrecking 11.
Many NW drivers avoided the last part of practice. Hmmm.
Imagine, a split screen showing podal action at time of a wreck, or a video of his two left feet.
...with Daddy commenting.
Jenna Fryer of the AP on Brian France in the media center on Mayfield and the drug policy:
``There is a list, it's many, many pages. it's not a pamphlet i'd have in my pocket. We focus on impairment."
From reporter Jeff Gluck: France says NASCAR's policy focuses on "impairment" and not just suspending people for no reason. Very high standard, he says.
And the beat goes on...
Kind of shows the state of things, when a blog on a live event ends up commenting on twitter messages. Is there anything as mind-numbing as qualifing at Daytona?
Poor Cousin Carl :)
Just wanted to update the Brian France press conference and make sure to explain the source of the information.
Only Talladega qualifying is as boring as this...and it used to be just as hot!
I did notice there were ALOT of Jeremy supporters at the Speed stage earlier today. Many signs out front.
From Raceweather Tweet:
T-storms mving towards Daytona. Storms 10 miles W, radar indicate 70% chance of hail. Add'l details at http://www.raceweather.net #NASCAR
Helton would be a better choice to talk at the press conference. BF doesn't come off too well in front of the media.
Looks like it is about to get wet.
This has been a tough show for Punch without Bestwick and the infield gang. Mistake for ESPN.
Dot BF looks pretty good in Tweet print maybe it's no visual and short sentences
DeLana saying it is raining and N'wide Q may be toast.
@ nrf, funny.
@ JD, did you mean CUP qual?
J.D.,
The ESPN gang is talking about the approaching rain. I hope they do this during the race.
West Coast Kenny
(who has Saturday night off! Whoopee!)
Alameda, California
No, you are watching time shifted coverage on ESPN. The live N'wide quals are stopped.
NW quals have been washed out. Starting on points. Got to love TV...right?
according to the tweets the track is dry the rain is just around Daytona so they're in a holding pattern due to a few cars being left
From Pockrass
Rain has suspended Nationwide qualifying. If it rains tonight during race, it likely would be run at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Weed must've been doing the rain dance.
I didn't know it was time-shifted. I saw the radar showing heavy rain over the track and couldn't figure out how they were running. I thought maybe they were slipping between cells.
larry, just like on SPEED things get a bit delayed toward the end of the session.
@ Kenn, are you off tomorrow AM to see the NW race?
I didn't know it was on a time shift either. Sorry JD, I couldn't figure our what you were talking about.
Hey, there's Brad & AB. Talking about DFR SOS. SPEED isn't calling it that anymore. YAY.
Are you made the quals are time shifted? Is this not the same blog that called for quals to be time shifted so they could show all the cars?
Wow, yesterday's practice instead of the Hall of Fame show....that is a statement about the real relationship between SPEED and the NASCAR Media Group.
I am floored.
hey guys, Nationwide Qualifying has already rained out. ESPN just did not know that when they left the air.
You are not missing anything, the track is wet and this is Thursday practice repeated.
JD
From Brad Keselowksi:
A blast of Florida rain has washed out Q with just the Earnhardt boys to go. We start on points, Brad on Row 2. Now for the Phoenix #09 car!
ESPN should have hit the "Live TV" button on their TIVO before going off the air to give us the latest info. The way they handled it needs improvement.
I have to assume if they can't get qualifying underway by 5p.m. that they'll cancel it. Anything after that, and I don't believe there'll be enough time to get all the qualifying attempts in before they have to start gridding the Nationwide cars.
Once again the NASCAR fans get burned by ridiculous scheduling that leaves absolutely no wiggle room for even the smallest bit of rain.
JD, if you're right that Nationwide qualifying is already scrapped with just 2 cars left to run after just a few minutes of rain I'd be irate if I was Borneman, Harmon, or Gerhart who were in the race and now have to go home.
I would have very much preferred Speed Channel staying on the air live to do some interviews. There are tons of stories out there to cover despite the rain:
- The fallout of Nationwide qualifying apparently being scrapped - Bowyer losing the pole, Brian Keselowski, Mike Wallace, and either Terry Cook or Kerry Earnhardt getting new life after originally missing the field, and the previously mentioned heartbreaks for Harmon, Borneman, and Gerhart.
- The fallout of Cup qualifying inevitably being scrapped by the ridiculously tight scheduling, which sends the real teams of Regan Smith and Max Papis home and allows some other slower potential start-and-park cars to make the race in their absence.
- The Jeremy Mayfield situation and the Hall of Fame nominees.
Running off the air and immediately switching to alternate programming after about one minute did the fans a major disservice in this instance, in my opinion.
I agree it would be a crime if teams that are truly trying to compete get shut out by the start and parkers.
BTW the Tour de France is starting this weekend, talk about drug testing.
Daly Planet Editor said...
From Brad Keselowksi:
A blast of Florida rain has washed out Q with just the Earnhardt boys to go. We start on points, Brad on Row 2. Now for the Phoenix #09 car!
July 3, 2009 4:05 PM
Is this true at 4:05? thought things in holding pattern. phantom tweet??!!
checking with some guys in the Media Center.
Some folks saying NASCAR is going to try to run the final two N'wide Cars.
Others say field is set on points and N'wide is done. We will see shortly...
JD
Hermie reports meeting in progress because N'wide race must start on time.
That means N'wide quals are done. Updates ASAP.
JD
If they do cup qualifing...no reason not to let 2 Nwide cars go first. Maybe just add 8 min or so.
As I mentioned earlier there are so many stories to be told out there both in the Cup and Nationwide garages with the qualifying rainouts and outside the garage with the Mayfield and Hall of Fame stories. 45 minutes into Speed's scheduled programming block and we finally get the first live interview from the track - and it's a glorified commercial with the president of the Homestead race track. Now back to re-aired filler programming.
WOW, Speed has really dropped the ball on this one.
Anon, that would be totally unfair to the cars that had to qualify on a hot and slippery track. That is the reason it is normally not done.
Also, TV says the Nationwide race must start on time. Once they commit to quals, one accident or oil down and things could be a mess very quickly.
Should be interesting to see what they do, probably worth it to put the Earnhardts on the track.
JD
Dot,
I'm off until Sunday night. Thanks for asking.
WCK
They start driver introductions for the Nationwide race at 7:30. And that's pretty much a "hard" time. So, the window for qualifying cars is quickly shrinking.
3rd time we have seen this early Thursday session. I almost know the words by know.
i was a bit surprised they didn't show final practice instead.
NW quals should wrap up regardless...Cup is probably washed if they dont get going by 5:30
All quals cancelled. Nationwide Series race will start on time.
What a weird TV day....see you all tonight at 7:30PM for ESPN's coverage.
JD
NW quals will finish at 6 per nascar.com
This is more fun to sort out than anything in recent memory.
So. Cup quals done. Both Nationwide cars still waiting for possible qual run.
Boy, that is going to get some folks rattled. Nice of NASCAR to be flexible.
2007 here was a mess. some 6 cup cars to go and cars that were top 10 on the board at the time got sent home. in fact wasnt boris said on the pole when qualifying got washed out which sent him home too?
What a debacle. When less an hour of rain from the scheduled start of qualifying is too much to wait out you have some major scheduling issues. It's time for NASCAR to stop scheduling events as if they were run in domes.
Speed Channel shows that Regan Smith is in the race instead of the 64 car. Is that a mistake or did Furniture Row pay off Gunselman to withdraw again like they did last week?
NASCAR.com still says Nationwide qualifying will resume at about 6pm ET. Only Sprint Cup qualifying has been cancelled.
SPEED did not just drop the ball, they kicked it over the fence and into the street.
This was a mess and there was absolutely no reason why it had to be.
Now, Trackside is shifted to 6:30PM so it can run for an hour.
This is the THIRD time the early Thursday practice has been shown on SPEED.
Trackside is now on at 6:30 pm instead of 7 and the 64 was a post entry so that takes him out of the eligilabilty to get in the race.
I would rather see the early practice than wrecked marathon but I would have rather seen the NASCAR Hall of Fame show.
They may need to look to going back to Thursday night qualifying for both series at Daytona, like they did years ago.
Anon 5:33, they already played this same footage back last night when Happy Hour was delayed by rain.
As I mentioned, it's a nice TV mess.
A couple questions for you JD if you talk to anyone in TV land....
1.) Will we see the conclusion of Nationwide qualifying on TV somewhere if it's run? On Speed Channel, ESPN2, or otherwise?
2.) Any idea on ESPN's contingency plans for tonight? Will ESPN pull an ABC and dump the race to ESPN2, ESPN Classic, or ESPN360-exclusive if it rains again and runs into the Sportscenter window? I won't be home to watch the race live so I have to rely on the DVR tonight, and I sure am nervous with the Nationwide Series being on the "big network".
JD
Why can't they qualify the cup cars tomorrow morning? It is an impound race, so what it the big deal. I feel it is extremely unfair to those that are not in the top 35. I also feel like they should be able to let Kerry and Dale JR qualify. It is only two cars!!!!!!!
Oh well
Thanks
Marilyn
Same ridiculous procedure, time after time. And this track has lights! Why not allow the Cup cars to qualify, shorten the Nationwide pre-race (and the endless TV pre-show) and actually show all the racing ? More annoyed fans, which NASCAR surely doesn't need.
Marilyn, the Rolex sports car race is tomorrow morning and I would imagine they have track preparation to get in order which is why they would not try to get them going in the morning.
Unfortunate, but this is one of the beauties of how they schedule these types of races.
=\
Figure they would learn from history. Guess Not.
Final two Nationwide cars are supposedly heading out shortly.
No TV coverage right now...great way to end the day.
so what was Hermie's meeting he was tweeting from????? Does not make any sense at all.
I can't remember the last time a qualifying session was postponed until the next day. It's been several years, at least.
No TV for final two Nationwide Series cars already underway.
And Nationwide qualifying concludes under a television blackout. Thanks a lot ESPN and Speed Channel.
What a train wreck today has been, both on the NASCAR and TV side of things.
The only thing that would make this night complete would be ESPN dumping the Nationwide race for Sportscenter tonight if rain comes back to the track.
In the end, Dale Jr. qualified 7th and Kerry Earnhardt 8th
To me missing the last two wasn't going to kill me.
I mainly just thought they should find time to get the TWO in. So many excellent runs would have gone to waste. Morgan Shepard and Bobby Gerhart would have been really sad if they would not have kept their spot they worked for or even worse not made the show.
They did get the last two in, but for awhile NASCAR.com mistakenly listed the lineup by owner points. They've now updated the lineup with qualifying completed, including Dale Jr. in 7th and Kerry in 8th as the poster above noted.
Jim, those two were the end of a three hour live show on ESPN2. The program ended with one of them actually on the track.
To not have it shown, updated or information even passed along while SPEED is actually on the air from the same track is mind bending.
"Us vs. Them" were ESPN and SPEED are concerned could not have been made more clear.
Love to be a fly on the wall in the TV compound right about now just to see who gives a damn.
I understand that point JD. Like watching a movie and they cut off the end and never tell you the ending. Then to try to get info on the web was horrid. Nascar.com doesn't seem to know busch qualifying was going on.
I've just grown to accept that networks don't play well together. I mainly just wanted the two to run for pure fact of the smaller guys that kicked butt. Plus nice to see at least one known S&P sidelined by people trying to actually run the race.
@ JD, US vs THEM. Perfect.
When this TV package was implemented back when, why weren't there any provisions made for the circumstances like what happened today? NASCAR's forward thinking at work, I guess.
It would have been nice of SPEED to break into the THIRD showing of practice to show the Earnhardt's qualifying. What a mess.
There is a new post up for the Nationwide Series race on ESPN.
Thanks,
JD
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