Sunday, August 9, 2009

Watkins Glen Race Postponed To Monday At Noon ET


Update: The Sprint Cup Series race has been postponed due to rain until Monday at noon ET. There will be a one hour RaceDay show on SPEED at 11AM. TDP will live blog both shows. Join us for updates and info tomorrow.

Here we go with twelve hours of NASCAR TV. NASCAR Now is the bookend, with the preview show at 10AM and the review show at 10PM. Long day for host Mike Massaro.

RaceDay from the Glen allowed Wendy Venturini to put her meteorology skills to work and point out the huge storm headed for the area that is supposed to hit around 2PM.

Jimmy Spencer starred in the show opening as General Patton and had one foot in funny and the other in creepy. These interesting show opens are actually courtesy of The NASCAR Media Group that produces the SPEED Stage shows.

Allen Bestwick has Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside as he hosts an hour of pre-race at 1PM. This show should use the Saturday Nationwide Series race that ESPN produced as the foundation to build the Sprint Cup Series preview.

Wallace and Daugherty have been doing a very good job of building the excitement for these races. Between Wallace's outspoken comments and Daugherty's over-the-top enthusiasm, the Infield Pit Studio has been fun to watch.

Jerry Punch will have Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree next to him in the broadcast booth to call the race. Lots of TV watching in the booth as this is a road course and seeing all the way around the track is tough. Both Jarrett and Petree called the Nationwide Series race, so they should be ready to go.

As usual, the challenge for ESPN is to balance in-car camera views with wideshots following the double-file racing in the field. Trouble comes quickly at The Glen and the TV team is going to be called on to react quickly when something happens on the track or on pit road.

Watch the TV director cut the pit stops on this track that runs in the opposite direction from the other road course. Green flag stops should be in a double video box that allows the racing on the track to continue to be seen continually.

The quick camera cuts of this track make it tough to integrate elements like pre-recorded driver soundbites that ESPN has been forcing into the last two Sprint Cup Series races. It also makes it tough for Tim Brewer to get his points across from the Tech Garage. Hopefully, Brewer keeps it brief today.

ESPN continues to use the "flying headshots" as the cars finish the race instead of the same drop-down electronic graphic favored by the other NASCAR TV networks. This makes it tough to watch the race and also see who finished where.

We are going to open the live blog early today and welcome your comments on all the NASCAR TV programs on the air this Sunday. 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 stopping by TDP.

374 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 374 of 374
cindyMN said...

A couple hrs to dry the track? why is ESPN still on??!!

snlfan3 said...

@ JD I heard on tv that it takes about 2 hrs to dry

The Loose Wheel said...

thanks bevo.

JD i figure 2 hours

Martin Vincent said...

The radar shown on ESPN only showed the darker green rain activity. On Weather.com, there's a bunch of lighter green rain activity that is not shown on ESPN's radar image.

Anonymous said...

2 hours to dry

Anonymous said...

I think today illustrates why a 2:19 PM green flag is rediculous. The track wont be dry until 5:00 at the earliest. This is a 3 hour or longer race. The race wont finish before dark. If they dry the track expect NASCAR to pull another stint like they did at Kansas Speedway two years ago. Shorten the race and call it due to darkness. Don't say I didnt tell you so ;)

Daly Planet Editor said...

So, that would make it a 5PM start at the earliest. OK, smart guys, who knows what time the sun goes down tonight in Elmira, NY?

Anonymous said...

If this race was on Fox, Myers would be saying the green flag is only a few moments away.

MikeC said...

Always have to love how they use words like "shortly" to classify when the rain will stop.

The Loose Wheel said...

Looking at most of the VS graphic package...looks alot like the old ESPN stuff...

The Loose Wheel said...

They said 8:18 earlier JD

Anonymous said...

Sunset time is 8:16 PM

MikeC said...

Sunset in that area is right around 8:10p.m. Eastern. But according to Weather Channel's "future" radar, it's showing the rain not pulling out until about 4:45 to 5:00p.m. Eastern.

SonicAD said...

Sunset is 8:17PM.

Martin Vincent said...

Sunset is at 8:17pm.

Anonymous said...

Last night the sun went down at 8:00 cause it was pretty cloudy out. (this is from the rochester area whichh is near the glen).

red said...

jd: sunset approximately 8:16 pm but that means little if there is heavy storm cloud cover.

PammH said...

8:16 pm sunset 8:46 civil twilight

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
brad said...

everyone set your dvr for noon eastern tomorrow.

SonicAD said...

Also, it gets more interesting: Rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday as well. If rain keeps hitting and it gets delayed past Monday, I wonder at which point they'll consider moving it to the next off-weekend after Bristol.

Hotaru1787 said...

Let's just say sunset a little after 8 PM. (noticed the differ in times) :)

Like I said earlier, long day.

Not liking the choice of guests right now.

Haus14 said...

Kenny Wallace just posted this on twitter. "Let me tell you all a secret!..Everyone in the sport want's earlier starting Times..Even NASCAR!...It is a ratings thing...West VS East.."

Daly Planet Editor said...

So the actual window to run the race goes right up against the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game.

Fun to be at ESPN right now in a meeting...

cindyMN said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the road races are that long at all. 3 HRS? I think the road races are the shortest races.

Charlie said...

NFL Hall of Fame Game starts at 8:00pm, 17 minutes before Sunset at the Glenn.

Martin Vincent said...

In 2006 and 2007, the race took 2h 50m to run and last year was a fast one at 2h 16m.

MikeC said...

The average Glen race takes about 2 1/2 hours....one of the quickest on the schedule. They've certainly got that going for them.

brad said...

JD they have proved in the past there is no need for a meeting the game will start on time and the race will move to espn 2. Don't know what is on 2 at that time but we all know they will not dare push another sport for Nascar.

Martin Vincent said...

@SonicAD - An August 30 postponement would be interesting as a quite a few Cup drivers were planning on running the Nationwide race in Montréal that day. I wonder if they would postpone it to Saturday August 29 if a postponement is needed.

The Loose Wheel said...

Boy, if that hurry-up would have happened...

woohoo, NFL! I'll be at work though, my Lions get going again next Saturday though!

Kenny Wallace...omg...SOOO TIRED OF IT!

I am a west coaster, give me a 10 am start time PLEASE!!! I dont like getting up at 8 to sit through 3 and ahalf hours of pre-race. The earlier the BETTER! Leaves me the REST of the day =)

Anonymous said...

ESPN2 is wide open. After womens tennis ends at about 7pm, they'll just move the race to ESPN2. Very easy call.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Too bad we could not get Kenny over here and just let him go off on the later start times..

Charlie said...

World Series of Poker on at 7 on Espn2 and you know that won't stop that one. Remember yesterday.

bevo said...

Well since it's Yankees-Red Sox and those are the only two teams in MLB for ESPN I think we know who will win that battle :)

cindyMN said...

Can't they get some established drivers on the show? Or are they all taking naps?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Anon 3:09,

Not quite that easy, but I understand the thought.

Daly Planet Editor said...

OK guys, what are you watching? NASCAR rain fill, IRL or something else?

MikeC said...

Here's my take on the East-West thing.....let's say it's working in picking up West Coast viewers. But, if the overall TV ratings are down, what's that say for the East Coast viewers? It tells me you're losing more East Coast viewers than you're gaining in West Coast viewers.

The Loose Wheel said...

rain fill and IRL

2fast4U said...

Rain fill, waiting for Red Sox game..

brad said...

alms, irl and rain fill about 5 minutes at a time

Haus14 said...

i am still watching rain fill waiting to see if they will give any updates on what they are going to do...it may be an exercise in futility, but here's to hoping!

Anonymous said...

IRL why watch repeats of earlier stuff on bspn

Martin Vincent said...

With the next race being Michigan, would the teams be able to send haulers up with the Michigan cars if the race can't be run until Tuesday or Wednesday?

red said...

@jd: irl only and catching up on stuff i missed during the week. i'm not a good one for pre-race and rain-fill programming.

Palmetto said...

JD, rain filler is on in the background, but I'm paying bills and wishing some of that rain was falling here in SC. I've regained control of the remote, but I've decided it's too late to get interested in the Indy race.

Andrew said...

@JD, I'm sitting in the Baltimore airport, so I'm watching both the rain fill and the golf.

Daly Planet Editor said...

2fast, I am not a baseball person. Is there another Yankees vs. Red Sox game and is that the ESPN night telecast?

The Loose Wheel said...

Wow, I TOTALLY agree with Rusty on something! Road racing is 90% attitude in my eyes

The Loose Wheel said...

yeah JD, AB just ran a promo for it out of this most recent break.

Andrew said...

@MV, I think the big teams have two trailers
so they could do it. The smaller teams would have trouble
though.

The Loose Wheel said...

Isnt it ironic KHI seems to have followed a blueprint DEI followed...Trucks then NW....

NorCalFan said...

Watching IRL and reading TFP for updates.

Anonymous said...

JD its all Yankees/Sox all weekend for baseball. Only 2 teams that matter I guess

bevo said...

IRL.
Sirius 128 on low in the background.
Ready for Rangers - Angels at bottom of the hour. Can you imagine the gall of them or any other team playing on the same weekend as the Yankees-Red Sox??? :)

/ yes I HATE Yankees-Red Sox

Anonymous said...

Dont know if this was mentioned, but Bill Weber is back! Hes over on NBC calling the tape-delayed American Le Mans Series.

red said...

@jd: boston/ny is a big deal right now and i would have NO expectation that espn would show nascar over this game, regardless of where the race is -- or isn't.

Anonymous said...

cindyMN said...
Can't they get some established drivers on the show? Or are they all taking naps?


People gripe when ESPN only interviews the stars, and gripe when they interview all the rest. Geez.

Charlie said...

Watching Golf here and checking TDP.

Haus14 said...

Kenny just made an excellent point about NFL start times. Everyone seems to get along just fine with a 10:00 am NFL start on the west coast. Last time I checked they are the highest rated sport on tv. Why all the hub bub about Nascar? I think consistent start times would go a long way to help NASCAR in many ways.

matt tsb said...

I'm going swimming, then hoping that the Sox somehow don't get swept.

Be interested in seeing what the ratings are for the game as compared to NASCAR-there is no way that Sox Yanks would get bumped, but wonder about thge numbers.

Anonymous said...

sounds like they won't start the race later than 4:30...... sooooo..... still raining here...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Charlie, no truth to the rumor that I might be the next LPGA commish....just FYI.

The Loose Wheel said...

My beef with the start times is this. On a tv guide the start time is one certain time, in the case of this race it was probably 2 pm. On NASCAR.com its 1 pm.

As I dont have a guide I have to go off the website which irks me because several times with FOX when I assume we will have an hour long pre-race it turns out to be a half hour because its a smaller market race and I wind up just barely catching the start. However when you figure that logic would carry to ESPN with a race like the Glen, it doesn't.

going to a 1:30 start time across the board would be fine by me with a 7:30 start time for Saturday night races

WickedJ said...

Dear NASCAR: Can we have the damn rain tires yet?

NorCalFan said...

Make that TDP....hate my new laptop

Daly Planet Editor said...

Anon 3:17PM,

Bill still has his NBC stuff and the off-road deal with Wally.

Just off the TNT summer six pack.

Somehow, that terms seems ironic!

Anonymous said...

@bevo - I understand hating Yankees/Sox hubby is Yankee fan & he honestly does not get it that eveyone does not care about Yankees/Sox rivalry...
& KB thinks Jr.s fans are crazy!

The Loose Wheel said...

Weber is back...wow.

Charlie said...

I heard your name somewhere about you and the LPGA.

Patrick said...

@19Spotter doesn't think it can get started by 5, unless all the media get out there with leaf blowers (addressing @bobpockrass)

MikeC said...

Wow....that radar they show on ESPN looks nothing like the radar I'm seeing at the Weather Channel's website.

Martin Vincent said...

At the risk of being the bearer of bad news, there seems to be another cell of harder rain forming just west of Watkins Glen. There may be no more lightning as that cell might pass to the south of the track, but the rain might pick up a bit in the next hour or so.

Daly Planet Editor said...

bob pockrass:

they gonna have all the media out there with leaf blowers?! That's the only way we start by 5...

cindyMN said...

Well, they need a good mix. Like right now, stremme with Harvick. Good mix.

Andrew said...

Well, I'm out. Hope they get this thing going soon!

The Loose Wheel said...

AB asks the best questions

Anonymous said...

AB seemed to have a few more grey hairs last week than this week.

red said...

irl's using foot cam w/danica right now . . .

Patrick said...

Is Milka a S&P? Out, Handling. Just a joke. We all know she's a rolling road block. No mention on the broadcast either, but I don't blame them. I wouldn't give her any recognition on TV (regardless of my mentioning her here). This is a really good broadcast most of the time. I really like how when they show on-board cameras, they're only there for a few moments and they're relevent. Plus, the sound of an IndyCar is pretty cool. Good ol' Bob Jenkins. One thing that doesn't work, during the pre-race stuff they have the stage where Arute and drivers stand at a podium. Arute has gotten a little think in the mid-section and should be behind a desk.

SalB said...

I can see Nascar not using the rain tires during a downpour...the hydroplaning in the Busch race last year was the problem...along with the fact that many of the cars hod no wipers or defogging equipment. However, once the rain stops and the worst of the water is off the track, wouldn't the rain tires help them get the race started as the track dries..then change to slicks as F1 does? Add some interesting strategy.

Patrick said...

red said...

irl's using foot cam w/danica right now . . .

Where's all that natural light coming from?

Patrick said...

@WendyVenturini: I was at the gate ready to board flight. Speed is having me come back. C u soon

Another RaceDay tomorrow? Lookin' like it.

Palmetto said...

Part of the 'start time problem' goes back to the first race after the Sept. 11th attacks. Prior to then, drivers got in their cars before the prayer, and pre-race ceremonies were broadcast as part of the pre-race show. The cars would start rolling a few minutes into the actual race broadcast, and the green would drop by :05.

After Sept. 11th, the prayer, anthem, and command were moved from pre-race to the primary broadcast. At the same time, the drivers began getting in their cars after the anthem instead of before the prayer. This added more dead time to the broadcast and killed the old joke about the last four words of the anthem being, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"

I'm as patriotic as the next guy, with the military retirement to prove it. Still, I wish they'd move the ceremonies back to the pre-race show and drop the green five minutes into the broadcast. The NFL can do it, and they've often got eight games starting at the same time.

The Loose Wheel said...

great job by the studio with Stremme and Harvick

Martin Vincent said...

Good thing Speed Channel hasn't put a ban on Twitter communications. That's solid information, if Wendy's headed back to Watkins Glen, these cars are not hitting the track today.

red said...

@patrick: yeah, i caught that as well. at first, i thought they rigged some sort of light source just for that camera angle but the more i watched it, the more i thought it's natural light.
i just have no idea why it should look like that. anyone else?
@patrick: hated that podium: they need to eother get a larger "stand behind" podium or invest in a desk or table with chairs. it looked quite awkward and amatuerish.

Lou said...

like the interviews w/david stremme and w/kevin harvick. rusty is doing ok and ab is great a s usual

SalB said...

If they postpone till tomorrow, won't SPEED just re run most of the pre recorded crap they showed today to stretch minimal information over 2 hours?

MikeC said...

I don't look for ESPN going much longer. I wouldn't doubt as we near the top of the hour we'll hear the magic words.

bevo said...

@Jojaye- sounds like grounds for divorce to me :)

My mom was from Brooklyn and was a Dodgers fan, uncle was a huge Yankees fan. Saw my first MLB game at old Yankee Stadium and loved it (late '60s). Never had a problem until the '90's when ESPN started pushing it down our throats and everyone jumped on the bus.

Patrick said...

SalB,

It'll probably be a 1-hour RaceDay.

brad said...

@sal
it will only be 1 hour tomorrow and they will interview as many drivers as possible as ESPN will not have a pre race.

Martin Vincent said...

Rain cell is getting bigger, passing over Bath, NY, about 25 miles west of Watkins Glen.

Anonymous said...

Why is NASCAR wasting time drying the track if they wont be able to start until 530pm at the earliest?

Haus14 said...

AB just said, they hope to get the race in today...i sure hope that he doesn't have any information to the contrary and that was just tv speak.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Could you switch to lower case please? On the Internet, upper case is considered yelling.

Thanks...

Anonymous said...

Allen's optimism seems to be waning bit as compared to just a little bit ago.

brad said...

pockrass said there is still aheavy drizzle coming down.

Daly Planet Editor said...

jone, because they only have to get to halfway.

PammH said...

This race is not gonna happen today. Radar looks bad.

Anonymous said...

Allen's laugh is pricless.

Anonymous said...

@bevo - weonly got close to divorce 1 time early on - I was so very sick of Yankees, they were playing Dodgers in World Series I decorated house in LA Dodgers stuff - esp Steve "f." Garvy. He toned it down somewhat and I got my own TV, I have not repeated that stunt. LOL

Hubby's brother has a surprise for him Andy is Yankees, brother Jerry Mets, Jerry got them tickets to ball game ( Mets) LOL

red said...

Daly Planet Editor said...
jone, because they only have to get to halfway

agreed that's their logic but as a fan who's been in this position? i would much rather watch a full race the next day than sit thru a "1/2 way + 1 lap" strategy fiasco.

The Loose Wheel said...

great hearing Bob Jenkins' voice again. If only ESPN brought him to NASCAR...

bevo said...

Sorry JD, I know that but I really don't like Yanks-Sox :)

brad said...

Dixon wins Irl again.

Haus14 said...

now what to do...irl race is over already

Anonymous said...

In the past Helton said NASCAR would only start a race unless they can reasonably expect they can finish it. They want to give the fans a full race.

MikeC said...

Let's see if they show their radar anytime soon.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Is Ryan Briscoe the other half of Nicole Manske? Not up on my Indy guys.

James said...

I think reality is starting to sink in to the t.v. crew about getting the race going for today.

Martin Vincent said...

@JD - Yes, Manske and Briscoe are engaged.

Andrew said...

Back, briefly, with a dying battery. The captioning just called DJ Ned's grandson. Please say JP didn't actually say that.

The Loose Wheel said...

RYR running those "smaller" plate motors...the innovations that group has made in engine technology is insane.

Really pushing for FI

bevo said...

I'll take half of Nicole :)

/sorry but that came right over the plate nice and slow

The Loose Wheel said...

i concur with bevo...

WickedJ said...

Why is the rain delay coverage 10x better than race coverage

Martin Vincent said...

@Andrew - No, Jerry didn't call Dale Ned's grandson.

boohiss said...

Tony Stewart coming up next...

Daly Planet Editor said...

So, I wonder when the drop dead time is for NASCAR on this deal?

James said...

Tony coming up, cool.

brad said...

Pockrass said the rain has picked up in the garage area. not good!

red said...

irl still on the air w/driver interviews . . .

MikeC said...

I'm thinking they need the green flag to drop by 5:30p.m. at the latest....take into account time to dry the track....I'm getting the sense we're in the closing stages of this broadcast. Watch closely for the NASCAR "We hope you enjoyed today's broadcast" copyright disclaimer at the end of these commercial breaks.

The Loose Wheel said...

Because JP is a reporter and depth guy. Not a pxp guy...

THIS is what Jerry does perfectly! Calling the action as it unfolds for 3 plus hours just isn't. He tried it in 1999 and 2000 with NASCAR, he called Big E's last win and was good but then he was out of the mix for 6 years and the sport changed as did the action and how the coverage is called. His trailer never helps but when it does, he still struggles.

Shame that he can be so good in these delay situations then SOO far off base when the green flag falls. The guy deserves better then being a PxP punching bag for us week in and week out

Martin Vincent said...

The north edge of that next storm cell that was forming west of the track is going to get really close to the track.

Pookis Mac said...

Raining harder here.

The Loose Wheel said...

Feels like the old Inside Winston Cup in this studio! LOVE IT!

Martin Vincent said...

There might even be more lightning south of the track the way this cell is getting bigger.

Anonymous said...

Great drivers like Jamie McMurray...??!? Thats very funny Tony.

SalB said...

David...you nailed it! This delay coverage feels much like the original TWIN. Mostly unscripted, off the cuff, and personal. This is why I can't bring myself to watch the latest 'evolution' of the show.

Patrick said...

@dustinlong: #NASCAR officials saying that they've lost the track again because of the rain

Daly Planet Editor said...

Well, NASCAR lost the track due to rain again. Wonder if 5PM will be the drop dead time?

Patrick said...

@JoeGibbsRacing: They're bringing the cars back to the garage.

Haus14 said...

Joe Gibbs Racing tweet. "They're bringing the cars back to the garage."

brad said...

exit shot looked like they are getting ready to move the cars from pit lane to the garages.

Martin Vincent said...

Crew members next to the cars probably means the cars are getting pushed back to the garage.

The Loose Wheel said...

From the most recent views of the track, still 2 hours before we'd even be at full race speeds. Bottom of this hour is my guess for a drop dead time so they can get off the air by 4:45 or 5. 5 would be the latest to make that call if they wait

MikeC said...

Latest radar projections show this finally pulling out at about 5p.m. Eastern.

Anonymous said...

looks like they called it>>>>

MikeC said...

It's interesting how they've quit showing us the radar. They're just telling us what they're seeing on it.

Anonymous said...

yup, it's officially called..

Palmetto said...

Goodnight everybody!

The Loose Wheel said...

Wow. Impressed with the call. Its the right one in my eyes. Now I can roll out of bed at 9 and see the race! Just like the good ol days...wait that was just last week! lol

Patrick said...

At least this week, they told us right away. Instead of waiting for the interview with JG to be over.

Newracefan said...

Off to the store to find that radio

MikeC said...

Yep....They just didn't have any time remaining to dry the track and then try to get all 90 laps in before darkness.

Anonymous said...

@Sophia--that's why it always cracks me up because even though I know his real name, I still think they're saying "Jackaroo" as well! It's like Krista Voda, it always sounds like its' being said as "Kris DaVoda"

@bevo--I got a linky but not a joke :( but definitely will check out the linky <3

Daly Planet Editor said...

Thanks everybody for hanging in there with us. We will be live tomorrow for RaceDay on SPEED at 11AM and then for the race at noon.

Have a great and dry Sunday!!!

Anonymous said...

Nap time - have a good night all!

bevo said...

Adios folks - see y'all tomorrow

Charlie said...

@newracefan
If you want a good radio look at one called - Super Radio by GE

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
bevo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bevo said...

@Gymmie- sorry, link was for IRL race. I'll have to write down the joke for you later

Anonymous said...

Here we go again. Another Monday race. The 24 Hours of the Glen is calling and so much for another episode of TWIN. Anyone up for the World Of Outlaws Sprint Cars from Eldora on SPEED?

Vicky D said...

Oh no, well I'll be working tomorrow so won't be able to watch the race. It also started raining here so maybe it came south. Not necessarily Nascar, I did watch the Indy race and it was a great broadcast.

Martin Vincent said...

Jeff Gordon must have said "you know" about 200 times in this interview, that's counting all the times he abbreviates it to "yo"...

The Loose Wheel said...

Can we give AB a raise?

I love this guy!

Martin Vincent said...

Tomorrow doesn't look good with thunderstorms, same for Tuesday...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Thanks folks, see you Monday at 11AM.

Brian said...

ummm... anyone know why the Pocono "bonus coverage" isn't in HD?

The Loose Wheel said...

MV I think the window is good enough to get the race in though. 3 hours to run it, rain starts to come in about 4. AB is right though, the realfeel is 90+ from noon to 4

Charlie said...

Like I mentioned last week when they had the race on Monday.
Nascar.com should make Pitcommand available as a Free preview for this race. Look at all the people that maybe at work who may have not tried it yet. With the chase getting close it might get the interest of a few and pickup more subscribers.

Sophia said...

did not see the rain delay on espn cause ya never know what your gonna get...watched the irl race and also wondered about the natural light in danica's foot cam.

odd.

folks on twitter hinted no race before tv called it, too, besides wendy. forget who now.

I am so with KW. he may be goofy at times but when he is on target he is correct re RACE START times. this late afternoon stuff is nonsense. it cannot be helping ratings issue either.

think about it...race goes thru lunch/dinner/any other event on sunday's now. some of us find other stuff to do. curious why tv does not see that.

see ya tomorrow

glenc1 said...

I tried to read as many comments as possible before posting, but I've been in a car for 6 hours so I may have missed something.

We all knew the storm was coming...to their credit, I must say it supposedly came in faster than they expected, I think that's why the long wait, they wanted to see what was going to happen. Prerace went off as scheduled at 1:30. But, I do believe NASCAR endangered the lives of thousands of people by waiting until they got their precious opening ceremony in...*then* the lightning flashed....we had MRN on, and they said 'covering the cars' so we booked for the exits....just then they flashed the 'please take cover' on the Sprint vision screens. You can't evacuate a grandstands in seconds. We're standing there while the lightning is flashing around us, hoping for the best. Thank goodness it wasn't any closer. Second, whoever said the people should have been forced out, yes from the frontstretch, and they shouldn't have been under a metal grandstand either. We went to the car, but it's spread out here and not everyone was as close as we were. Very dangerous, and every second mattered.

Consequently, we were able to turn on the TV frequency so I did hear some of ESPN's rain delay. Right after AB said 'it's clearing and we hope to get it in' my friend said 'they LIE!' as we looked up at the big gray clouds and saw the sprinkles. Yet as soon as mikes were off, someone asked AB if they were going to get it in and he said no, he didn't think so. And yes, they said 2 & a half hours to dry the track.

I must say....Rusty, Allen & Brad have a great rapport, and you could hear it when the mikes were on as well as off...there was a lot of friendly banter. BTW, when the sound/audio was out of sync, they mentioned it and went right to fixing it.

BTW, if you didn't watch the delay coverage, Harvick explained why not run in the rain...it's the lack of visibility, the window doesn't defrost well and the way the spray comes up from the tires make it very difficult to see. It's not about control or speed; you shouldn't race if you can't see. I'm sure I'll think of more later. We will be driving back tomorrow. sigh.

Dot said...

Let me add my 2 cents on various topics brought up in the comments.

Why doesn't NASCAR schedule the Las Vegas race in July instead of Feb/Mar? Because they know it's 150 degrees in July. Even at night it's still in the 90s. So why don't they check the weather patterns before scheduling the other races? I know rain can happen anytime, but they have a knack of going to tracks during those rain times.

About the race start times. I live in the PT zone. I would love for the races to start at 10AM my time. Who are they kidding that the west coast wants the races to start later? Before NASCAR got all big, I remember the races started at 10 or so. How did NASCAR racing grow if the west side of the country wasn't watching them? The NFL has no problem with 10AM start times, so why should NASCAR?

About the pre race shows. RD should be cut back to an hour. The Countdown show should only be about 15 minutes. If you took out all the BS they rerun from NN, that's about how long it would be.

About running in the rain. Like glenc1 said, visibility. NASCAR is not prepared for the cars to do so. Remember Montreal? And, what fan would want to sit in the stands watching? I sure wouldn't. It has something to do with me being made of sugar.

Sophia said...

Glen

Thanks for your play by play of what it was like to be out in lightning. Very disturbing as I can't believe they did not have better watch dogs on the storms at WG track. Glad you got out safely.

Nice to hear there seems to be good chemistry for the guys in the booth, too.

now if they could just get a Mike Wells Camera director, there might/could/possibly/maybe hope for the race on TV. But I am not betting on it. :)

I still am with KWallace. Start races earlier to help with rain delays. I never thought about all the early NFR games over the years WCoast watches for breakfast. :)

Anonymous said...

Re: Wind Tunnel

Peewee Herman look-a-like!

Best I've heard in years!

Sophia said...

Dot we posted similar thoughts at same time. Check ur Gmail girl. :)

glenc1 said...

btw...Rusty has a bald spot...lol...saw it when he was interviewing Stephen, Kenny & Mike on Saturday. Needs to get some Propecia from Kenny...
:)

Dot said...

I just checked weather.com. Stormy @ 9AM at WG. Set the DVRs accordingly.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 374 of 374   Newer› Newest»