There should be an opportunity for a very interesting pre-race show from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal today.
The field for this event normally contains some Canadian drivers, but this year the list is even more international. Familiar names like Max Papis, Patrick Carpentier and Jaques Villeneuve are in the field. Also racing Sunday are Jean Francois Dumoulin, Alex Tagliani and Antonio Perez.
On the American side, Jeffrey Earnhardt is back as is Brad's brother Brian Keselowski. Familiar road course ringers include Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Andy Lally. It should be a challenge for ESPN to get the fans up to speed on the line-up.
Marty Reid will call the play-by-play with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree alongside. No real indication of why Randy LaJoie is not on the telecast and that is a shame. LaJoie is closely identified with this series and works very well with Wallace and Reid. LaJoie provides the fun with his comments and that will no doubt be missed on this telecast.
Dave Burns is on pit road with Jamie Little and Shannon Spake. Burns will probably be hosting the pre-race show as he has in the past for these stand-alone races. In many ways, having the host roaming pit road is more effective than three men in suits sitting in an infield studio.
This road course has seen its share of TV adventures. From the rain tire debacle to the Robby Gordon vs. Marcos Ambrose slam-fest, the track seems to make for tight tempers whatever the weather.
The challenge for ESPN's crew is to keep the leaders updated while searching for the best racing on the track. Unlike an oval where the director can keep one designated camera on the leaders at all times, a road course requires keeping track of multiple cars while continuing to cut cameras constantly.
The use of in-car cameras has been a huge issue since ESPN took over the Sprint Cup Series. It's almost as if the network has discovered this technology for the first time. In a recent race, the director actually cut to an in-car camera angle in the middle of a high speed crash on a superspeedway. Viewers saw nothing but smoke and blurred images.
In Montreal, the TV team will have a new challenge. The director must first show the cars and establish their position in the race and on the track before cutting in-car or the TV viewers will have no point of reference. This is not Watkins Glen, where familiar turns are easy to identify even from the in-car angle.
The weather is a 30% chance of showers with a high of 70 degrees. Looks like this may be a solid road course race for TV after all. The diversity of the field may lead to some outstanding racing and that is exactly what the Nationwide Series needs right now.
This post will serve to host your comments before, during and after the Montreal race on ESPN2. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.
498 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 498 Newer› Newest»MRN got to Allgaier first. He says he wheel hopped and clobbered the other guys. He's sorry he ruined their days. Good kid.
Fellows, don't know who, but 'bonehead'.
'poor' Justin wrecked himself, poor Ron is more like it.
Ah, he's taking the blame. Rookie mistake. I like this kid.
Glad to see Allgaier owning up to his mistake; he's gonna be good once those mistakes go away.
Took them WAY too long to catch up with Carpentier.
http://twitpic.com/fvwzw "How do you feel?"
Ron..needs...a...hug..:(
Is it just me? These yellows are excessively long aren't they? At this rate they will be racing until 8 PM.
Bah. This Favre commercial sums up what's wrong with ESPN's priorities these days.
Anon at 4:31 - do they have lights at the track? This race day is going to take forever!
I just don't understand why they race here. I counted 9 or 10 cars during qualifying yesterday that had 0 NASCAR Nationwide points. So 1/4 of the field don't usually run this series. Then, folks like good Mr. Shephard goes to the house with empty pockets. Go figure???
anon 4:31
That's just the nature of road courses. One lap to line up behind the pace car, one lap to pit, one lap to line up for the restart; at a minimum. One caution lap = 4 min 20 sec.
Steve L.
You saw 11 drivers that didn't have points. There was only one (1) car without OWNER's points.
This broadcast needs Dr. Jerry Punch. He is the glue that has held everything together. I miss his enthusiasm.
Guess we know why Ambrose's car is so high in front...it's for hopping those curbs!
Did the director forget his ADD meds? we go from a 3 wide battle to single file racing for the lead to one car running all alone then back to the 3 wide battle
anon @ 4:37. you should probably declare your sarcasm. someone might think you're serious.
I bet Dot is happy for Ambrose - gee they might ask him to drive for the new US F1 team. That would really be something.
yeah, I timed it at the Glen once & it's about five minutes. I'm kinda used to it, but NW always has more cautions because there are more inexperienced guys in it.
Anonymous said...
This broadcast needs Dr. Jerry Punch. He is the glue that has held everything together. I miss his enthusiasm.
August 30, 2009 4:37 PM
Is that you Dr. Jerry?
I asked about McDowell because he was in the top 5 before the caution and then just disappeared
"Did the director forget his ADD meds? we go from a 3 wide battle to single file racing for the lead to one car running all alone then back to the 3 wide battle"
He needs to cut his dosage by half.
Or maybe take two:-)
no offense, Vicky, but I doubt I'm alone in thinking I'd rather see an American in that car...
bad day for Brad. couldve been a good points day too
curses
Any word on why Bliss is out? Ran out of money?
at least Andy work up a bit. But man, this is brutal.
Glen,
I agree about the USF1 team. Should have an American in it...
Glen we would also like to see an American in it too but who would/could it be. We need Robin Miller to find that out.
Hello ESPN, when you zoom in on one car, you only see one car without any perspective. Do you realize that we are only seeing the aftermath of accidents. If you would give us a wider view, you might get lucky and accidentally capture some of the real action.
really? not even a replay of stanton barrett dumping the kez in what rusty calls the "hairpin".
Patrick...is that what happened to Kes? Gld to know he isn't THAT bad on a road course
SalB,
thank you for making my point.
@ David
Bliss got fired, totally out of the blue, a couple of weeks ago.
--KarenB
Seems like they're trying to shoot this like they do all the other tracks. Close shots of leaders and in-car shots. Looks like their usual qualifying shots.
JD, did you know four in the booth for Atlanta?
Karen
and Bliss just parked a couple of laps ago.
I hate to say it, but there's a quick moving line of T-storms headed right for them, headed NNE...
Guess that proves how much the coverage (or lack thereof) can alter your perspective of the competence of a driver, doesn't it?
Karen, I knew that.
Im asking in this race. He is in the #87 who is out of the race.
They had said when Bliss got into this car at Michigan that it would NOT be a S&P so was wondering why the car is parked.
:(..no..Marty..next..week..:(
Just my opinion:
I do not enjoy Mr. Reid. His voice cadence sounds like a baseball announcer. “So far, so good” and “no harm, no foul” are getting a bit stale.
Mr. Reid seemed very “up on the mic” at the start of the race. Even though Rusty tried to hand over to Andy a couple of times, Mr. Reid just walked over him. After a couple of commercials, Mr. Reid seemed to calm down a bit and Andy was able to talk.
I don’t know why Andy has seemed off pace lately. I have a feeling that he is being “over directed” in his ear piece.
Unfortunately, the ESPN creative camera shots are still with us and are destroying the enjoyment of the race.
I think that I would rather forego the TV and listen to the radio rather than just sit and read a ticker to find out what is going on with the drivers.
(JD- I am wondering if ESPN awards troll points like the drivers receive chug points. :) )
MRN says Steve Wallace makes a pit stop & talks about brakes. ESPN gives us a video package of Marcos Ambrose talking.
@Glen
Good! i am a fan of racing in the rain. stupid timezones prevent me from catching more F1 races though grand am in the rain is just crazy
@ Patrick
Oh! I didn't realize he was driving for NEMCO. He got fired from Phoenix racing after Iowa. That's what I thought David was referring to.
Duh. I'll figure this racing thing out any day now...
--KarenB
Is there any "action" or a battle when the cameras follow the leader at a tight zoom? He's leading by nearly 4 seconds and there's nothing else interesting we should know about. hey ESPN, we aren't at the track, show us the ACTION. stop the compulsion to use the zoom. or install stops that won't allow you to zoom in all the way. just stop it. i barely see the trunk deck of the car in front of the #98, but can't tell who it is because of your incessant zooming.
Lol, its alright Karen. Im pretty up on who is where and why so Bliss getting the boot from Phoenix was no shocker there.
Have they even mentioned JR Fitzpatrick yet driving for KHI?
I think that I would like the racing and the track if we had a chance to see some laps.
This hopping around and in-car mania is just ruining the sport for me right now.
The IRL race keeps playing back in my mind. Three wide four rows back and Bob Jenkins cranking the excitement....
Just to confirm, these pictures are controlled by ESPN and not by Rogers SportsNet or TSN as they would be in Formula One?
Correct, Anon
Luckily I've been checking in on the ALMS race during most of the long cautions/ads. Great stress relief. Good coverage of a road race.
Kicking back to the track from commercial was good.
Sal, where is ALMS this week?
@ David
I didn't even know Bliss was in Montreal. If they mentioned his name on TV, is missed it.
There's about 30 names they haven't mentioned. It's sad, really.
--KarenB
Not for this race. NASCAR and Grand Am splitting the facilities.
@David - I haven't heard it.
I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison of TNT's Sonoma coverage against ESPN's road courses. Even if you mute the booths, the difference in camera work is huge. TNT was using sweeping shots and minimal in-car cameras. ESPN simply can't grasp the concept that tight shots do not work on a road course.
Also, when showing green flag pit stops, would it be too much to ask for a splitscreen, with the racing at least in a small box? And we really don't need to see in-car cameras on a pit stop.
Mosport?
I guess you either have to drive for a big team, be Canadian, or a S&P to get mentioned.
Really sad.
Imma go wash my car before work.
ALMS is at Mosport.
wicked...right now al ALMS, Corvettes running 1st and 3rd in GT2...Ferrari in the middle in 2nd.
Half a lap of ALMS, more wideshots then I've seen all race so far...
Do we really need a tight shot of a car all the way down pit road? There's got to be racing on the track somewhere.
And they can cover 3 different class cars and make sense of it.
Can't wait for Atlanta next week, I'm shooting the entire weekend. I'll be working right next to all these people. Think they'll take any advise?
Steve....HAhahahahaha.
Karen, I think Joe put Mike in the 87 as a favor so Mike could keep his driver's points...I expect they run the whole race *if* they can, but I think he did S&P at the Glen.
wickedj, I was at the GrandAm Glen race a few years back during the rain....multi car wreck in turn 11 happened right in front of us, one guy ended up in the hospital. But, it was a very sudden downpour. With the right tires (& warning, they're pretty good.) But in general, yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing them run in rain, but it would be even slower....
If the cameraman weren't so zoomed in or if we weren't watching the tire changer's helmet-cam, we might have seen that tire rolling away. See ESPN? this is why wider shots are better.
@Steve - Thanks for the laugh.
Bliss did not run the Glen.
Joe ran his own car.
Bliss got in the #87 at Michigan and has run the last 2
amazing isn't it Patrick?
great racing on speed.
Great 'Vette vs. Ferrari battle in ALMS!
even the booth crew are tripped up by the lack of perspective provided by the camera work. didn't know that ambrose maintained his lead through the pitstops.
Most of the pit reports are nice but a few won't give you the time of day.
Do the girls ask you 'how you feel?' ;)
Just Shannon!
Yeah, right. The Google Earth camera shots would work much better. Some of you people are rather dense. Its obvious you have no clue on how to produce a sporting event.
And neither, apparently, does ESPN.
You know, I still don't have a clue how ALMS works and yet the broadcast is still far more exciting that what ESPN is foisting upon us. Excellent booth dynamic, nice wide shots, good split-screens, and one ticker.
anon @ 5:10. pretty brave behind the veil, aren't we? why don't you stop hiding from your anonomity? If you can't see what's wrong with these shots, then you are either a troll, a payed lackey or both. We may not know how, but we've seen and know what we like.
Why isn't Robby Gordon running this race anymore?
Hey, did anyone know that this is Brad Coleman's last race in the 20 car?? urrrg..
Can they not say the "R" word?
RAIN, it's Rain folks. You can say it, just try.
Probably because they destroyed their car at the Glen. Entries are due in 13 days before and probably couldn't fix the car in time much like Ambrose couldn't get his primary fixed in time.
Steve, guess the FCC doesn't like that dirty 4 letter word
Even with all his trouble today, who knew the Kez was in the top 10?
Why did we cut from a shot of action on the track to the empty start/finish line?
@anonymous 5:10- nice straw man you put up there (look up straw man argument) No one wants a Google Earth shot... we want a wide enough shot to see what is going on in the race. Watch any TNT race or IRL on Versus to see the difference.
We are going to once again ask you to take a moment and give us your race telecast summary on the "Your Turn" post that will go up on the final lap.
There are lots of topics to discuss with this ESPN2 event, so please leave us one last comment before you head out the door.
Thanks,
JD
David, oops, I forgot, Bliss was in the 0 or some other S&P car for the Glen, later he got to the 87. My bad. But I appreciate what Joe did for him.
Did they say what happened to Papis?
Nan S,
NASCAR made Max come to the pits to cut off a bumper bar.
Have they said there's 26 cars on the lead lap? There is and we've not been told.
glen,
Yeah, he was in one of those S&P cars thats right.
Joe did a good thing for him, especially considering Mike didn't bring a sponsor like Conway did.
It'd be nice to see Mike land on his feet. Good CWTS/NW driver.
Oh no that weather looks terrible!
Carl, more people will "stay tuned" if we actually get to SEE the drama.
@Steve - The last lead lap update I heard was back when Kenny Wallace went a lap down.
Time to make the donuts. This could be chaos.
If Y'all are interested in the radar, the link is:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=WMN
I'd like to see it end with rain tires.
Annon, I think you are welcomed to your opinion. But when you start it with a smart remark about goggle earth shots, your going to get criticism right back and get branded as such.
If you disagree I, like everyone else here, would love to hear why you disagree and what you like/dislike about what is going on.
for me this has been a VERY difficult race to follow as I do not have a live scoring ticker up online, do not have any radio going either. The camera shots have been poor at best also.
Did anyone who saw the Sports Car race yesterday have any remarks about the camera work in comparison as I assume they shared crews?
I hope if rain comes, that they call it.
Not wanting to see a rain disaster affect the final outcome after running all day on slicks
@bryan - I'd like to see it *end*. :p
Seriously, though, is NASCAR trying to drag this caution out until it starts raining? Good grief.
Man Marcos really dragged that start slow
Rain. It is raining at the track. I can see it
That was a good example of why the bumper cam doesn't work on a road course. the remote operator can't keep up with the lefts and rights. barely saw the front bumper of the trailing car, which was Ranger I assume.
Looks like this is one time I'm glad I don't have cable in the office...what a pleasure it was to hear Eli Gold do play by play on Sirius. As for the Anon sockpuppeteer..less said the better. As for poutine--the better delicacy to mention in the lifestyle/local color featurette would have been "du smoked meat"
Kyle slid in the moisture
Man, that was so chopped up. I got lost.
MRN is yelling that someone slammed the wall (D.J. Kennington). Wow! ESPN was late to that one. WTH?
I got ill.
"Can't get any wider than that"
Might be the problem.
Man it was wet through there the last couple laps.
LOL, Perez is my hero
Kennington wrecked. MRN all over it, ESPN is lost. ESPN muted for the rest of the race.
Funny how the in-car was misleading, but the wide shot showed what really happened.
Jeez, you think ESPN would grab a clue from that comment.
--KarenB
Did you notice that when the camera pulled away, Marty said, "now you get an idea of where that happened". Uhm, that's kinda been our point this entire telecast. We don't have any perspective with the camera work. We shouldn't be getting the story only upon replay.
#20 BGN...think thats an old program on that computer?
It's a Tim Brewer sighting!
I'm back from the pool and caught up on the comments. Recording the race to watch later with Dan.
It sounds like we'll be FFing through the cautions. We'll have it watched in 30 minutes.
Thanks for the comments.
I deleted my comment as I noticed I wrote the wrong word. Yeah, Rusty, Stephen is having a BAD day. Sorry for messing up.
"Tim, how's the weather in Bristol?!"
"Tim Brewer's got the answer for everything."
Sure, but it's rarely the answer to the question he's been asked.
--KarenB
How about playing back some race highlights??
ok..I am REALLY MISSING radio with this race..been in and out of the room but what I've seen, I've "Not seen the race" due to lather, rinse, repeat of repetitive dreck zoom/in car cams.
miss my radio access for CUP races only.
Tim, Ray already told us that on NN but he used dishwashing liquid. Old school/ new school I guess :o
I love how all the pit reporters are asking the crew chiefs if the race is over or going on to rain tires. They know as much as you do.
Daly Planet Editor said...
How about playing back some race highlights??
what? the best headlight stickers or windshield bracing or lug nuts?
As long as it isn't raining so hard that there is no visibility, wouldn't it be silly to NOT use the rain tires? Obviously the fans have no problem with staying thru the rain.
Brad Parrott wants to go race in the rain. Feels like they'll have a better shot
@ Patrick, too funny.
How long is the rain supposed to last?
I thought Nascar says that you have to have Cup drivers at a Nationwide race in order to have the fans come out. Look at that rain!
nrf, I didn't watch NN and didn't hear Ray say dishwashing liquid. So for once, TB was telling me something interesting for a change.
You got a point there Patrick.
Twitter highlights:
@keselowski web: The disco truck is out again and we're getting wet.
@NASCAR47: Hopefully the rain won't dull the shine on the #47 Armor All car.
w00t! Racin' in the rain!
--KarenB
YAY!!! Bolt on the treads! Hook up the wiper, defog, and taillight!
Ray Evernham mentioned about the liquid dish water soap on Nascar Now this week already.
THIS is where ESPN should be using a four-camera split, whether that's a three-car/pit road shot or four boxes showing four pit stops. This focus on Ambrose isn't even showing us what's happening on his stop!
I saw qualifying and you couldn't see anything from the spray. Wait until we have 43 cars on track at the same time!
Hurray! here come the treadsand the wipers. I think Ambrose has this in the bag now.
Lawd how many laps to go?
I want to go pick up some pints of ice cream at my sisters before SReport and I need 25 minutes round trip.
I need comfort food. too tired to make choc eclair dessert. & ice cream is free.
:)
Why wouldn't you have just run a tearoff on your helmet?
Wipers aren't totally neccesary so Ranger should be alright.
this will be eventful thats for sure...
Wow, Looks like I woke up just in time.
Sophia, your better off sticking it out and waiting. But if you got free ice cream, hook me up!!
That worked really well. Hope it gets underway quickly.
Will the #18's wipers stay on?
Guess that explains the Zoom shot into 1. The guy is like 5 miles away!
Wonder what the track looks like...
Full laps led summary from MRN
With all the adjustments on Ambrose's car - it ought to fly now!
Ice cream for all!
Hope this isn't in KB's favor...
I wasn't paying attention, DVR shut off at the top of the hour. Did they mention that these tires are quite a bit better than last year's rain tires?
Could we possibly get a full-field rundown? This would be the perfect spot for it.
Cameras fog up as well, wonder if this will be a problem?
Patrick, MRN mentioned the total redesign of the tire and how JPM had tested it and everything
Marty and Co - please give us a field summary.
From the crowd, looks as if the rain has let up. Could make for great final laps.
FYI, Vette won their division in ALMS, finished 1st and 3rd.
Did Rusty just ask a question that was answered by Helton BEFORE he asked it?
Jason Radcliffe was chuckling - c'mon Jaime!
Please don't feed the trolls!
RainX ought to pay them for all the free advertising they just got.
JD what ever happend to the guy that was really in the TV compound. He get his hand slapped?
TV Guy. I this is the best way to broadcast this race, maybe they shouldn't race at this track. If you can't follow the race with the camerawork and broadcast heads, there is a problem.
JD, there is nothing to say to that anyways.
At least not anything the FCC would like... lol
@glen - the cynic in me refuses to believe it was truly free.
This would really be something if it stopped raining and then they would have to come back into the pits to change the tires again. Would this race ever be over then?
I'd just like to hear from someone who watched most if all of the race yesterday. I'll see if I can find it online later and watch to compare it to today. If the camera work is similar, then I'll shut up and say we need to find a better track to race at. If it was much better then clearly someone at ESPN has no clue what fans want.
Thankfully the rain has stopped, track will only be damp.
Sophia, if you want I'll tell you a secret about hearing the races. shoot me an email.
I'm watching on delay and keeping up here and Twitter. Eleven laps to go still?
Beautiful camera work in the hairpin. Seriously. Nice and wide for the whole time.
10 now
Kes is passing some cars! Nice comeback (so far) for a bad day.
Kyle Busch deserves some credit today. Had never turned a lap here in dry conditions, been a top 10 car all day and has stayed relatively clean even in the wet conditions deserves a pat on the back.
Rusty has had an expensive race today.
I agree David. That's much better than watching two cars come towards you. It was fun watching the entire pack go through the hairpin.
--KarenB
20 sec difference between wet lap vs. dry lap.
So TV guy, what's the excuse for the rest of the races that aren't a tight track?
TV guy...it's all the in car and bumper cam shots we have a problem with. The long shots (in spite of the tight track) are just fine.
David
Clicked on your profile and no info??
How about you click on my profile and send me info. Merci beaucoup~!
:)
Just drop me an email like everyone else does who has an issue with this blog. No big deal.
No one here believes you are a tv crew guy, no one here cares about your troll posts.
We have it all the time and it's just a price of doing business in an open forum.
editor@thedalyplanet.tv anytime.
JD will delete this, but everyone here bashes the telecast. I'm sure JD realizes that these are the same camera operators that cover all events for NASCAR and all the support races on each track. Doesn't matter which network! You can't always make the best camera cut every time, but I am a TV technician and I have watched this broadcast and feel there have been a nice mix of tight shots as well as racing action. You can't always see everything!
David, Rusty's costs aren't any higher than any random week with Steven at the wheel. Its not like he wrecked 4 cars, but one car 4 to 6 times.
I'll take care of all that folks, keep focused on the end of this one. It's going to get interesting.
Notice the new use of the pit reporters like this? Wonder if we will see this in Atlanta?
I agree David, Kyle's been very impressive today with all that damage
Can Nascar make these yellow flags any longer? My daughter, who lives in Montreal, just stopped watching out of boredom.
The camera operators aren't the problem; it's the choice of shots.
dude, we have opinions from all over the place.
You can post that this is the best TV race in the history of man and it will stay.
Unfortunately, you keep insulting the readers who are NASCAR fans and here to comment.
During the summer, the TNT comments were great. I would respectfully suggest that it is the coverage that gets the reaction, not the TV network.
JD
Id like to see Kyle FINALLY get that test in an F1 car...
Maybe if Indy brings back the double he will go for it...
Sophia, you have mail.
Maybe Rusty ought to bring Marcos in to help Stephen with driving in the rain and on the wet track!
We used to have a bunch of guys from the TV compound who posted, but NMG told them not to do it.
The way to help this issue is to provide more information to the fans about these issues.
If you want to provide that, go to it!
NMG? NASCAR Media Group?
that a title that's over my head....
JD
I deleted myself to save you a trip. sorry,Couldn't help myself but know the drill.
Will be better after I get ice cream.
:)
David & Sean,
While I can't stand his personality and behavior most of the time, I can recognize his talent. I'd like to see that F1 test, too. These are the moments that scare me the most. I'm afraid he'll get too aggressive like Robby did last year and try to win at any cost. Green, green, green
Anon 6:21PM,
Find me one comment on this post that bashed a TV tech guy or camera guy. You will not.
Unless you are the producer or director, this is not about you.
JD
No need to feed the trolls as JD has spoken. Coverage or not, this is shaping up for an intersting finish. Enjoy folks, sorry it isn't always what everyone hopes for. I was a part of the Indycar race last night and if anyone saw that they saw open wheel at it's best. Let's enjoy the end of this one.
Actually, I am a crew member. Im sitting in the compound right now. Its extremely hard to see all the action here, and the camera guys dont have spotters. So as the director sits, he has to rely on the camera guys and input from the 1 cheif spotter, who only sees the front stretch. Im not a troll just posting. I look here every week, but its just getting old when misinformation and speculation, and downright crabbiness ensue here the whole time. Nitpicking, its all it is. So when was the last time you were on the crew Daly? What exactly do you do in the biz?
i loved the tv guys that used to post here..they were very nice and helpful.. helping to give us weather updates and such.
They were anons...to bad they got busted.
Good grief. Can we please just have one caution lap this time? Maybe?
Good lawd! Another caution cause by the rusted son. oops, sorry, they're blaming the #33 for the actual yellow. This is one wild race. Ten cautions. Coleman had shown some road racing talent earlier in the race. what a shame.
Patrick yeah, Brad Coleman is from Houston and his dad was in the restaurant business here and we thought he was going to have a top 10.
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