Saturday, August 22, 2009

Live Blogging The Sprint Cup Series From Bristol, TN (ESPN - 6:30PM ET)


The track is very happy that the Saturday night race is a sellout. One hundred and sixty thousand NASCAR fans are going to be making some noise as the Sprint Cup Series action unfolds.

ESPN has a one-hour pre-race version of NASCAR Countdown scheduled at 6:30PM. Allen Bestwick will be in the Infield Pit Studio with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. These programs have proven to be hit-or-miss this season. Bestwick has the goods to define priorities and host good conversations, but often the production team has other ideas.

This week, the drivers were asked by the speedway to pick a song that will be used during driver intros. Click here to see the full list courtesy of our friend and veteran reporter Dustin Long. Unfortunately, ESPN will not be able to show this because the network has to pay rights fees every time popular music is used on national TV.

Once the action gets underway it will be Jerry Punch calling the play-by-play. Friday night was rough for Punch who struggled with everything from accidents to updating teams outside the top five. This event is extremely fast-paced and the challenge for the on-air TV team never ends. Even under caution, there is a lot of information that fans are looking forward to having updated.

Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will once again be alongside of Punch. These two have been polite and enjoyable, but tonight face a new challenge. Once Punch fades, it will be Jarrett who slides over into calling the race while Petree will provide the strategy updates.

It is impossible to insert Tim Brewer from the Tech Garage full-screen under green flag racing because the laps are so quick. Look for ESPN to present Brewer in a two video box effect. Hopefully, he will be put in the smaller size box so fans can continue to enjoy the action while Brewer talks tech.

The aerial views and high camera shots of this track at night are spectacular. On Friday night, ESPN chose to bypass the opportunity to use this video as bumpers into and out of commercial break. Perhaps, seeing as this event is a sellout, TV viewers will get to see one of the most unique sports venues in the nation tonight for more than just a couple of seconds.

The excessive use of in-car cameras live during the race ruined the Friday night Nationwide Series telecast. Bristol is so steeply banked and the laps are so fast that live in-cars just jar the TV viewer and completely lose any perspective that had been established. Where the in-cars have a value is on replays, especially with the use of the audio recorded during incidents. See if there is a shift tonight.

"Headlights, not tailpipes" was the motto used by the TV networks that have telecast racing from BMS over the years. The ultimate challenge is to continue to cut cameras and stay ahead of the action. TV viewers should be seeing the front of the cars coming at them, not the rear ends of the cars racing away.

There is no doubt that tempers may be tight tonight, especially with drivers who are forced out of the race due to incidents on the track. The ESPN pit reporting team of Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Vince Welch and Dave Burns will be right in the middle of the action.

There is tremendous potential tonight for an outstanding TV broadcast. The fans, the track and the teams are all in place. It would be a great time for ESPN to deliver a telecast that could set the network up for the Chase for the Championship to come.

This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN Sprint Cup Series telecast from Bristol, TN. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

Thanks for taking time out of your Saturday night to join us at The Daly Planet.

674 comments:

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WickedJ said...

Agreed, Steve, i'd rather dump Cali, Pocono..

Jeff Branch said...

What is that a splitter cam? Pretty cool.

red said...

@jd in re biffle; yep. and i THINK mark martin's in the 5: is that correct?!?
sigh.

WickedJ said...

im really surprised more people arent running the Richard Petty groove

Anonymous said...

Damn Espn can we get some coverage of the cars outside the top 10?

Steve L. said...

They look like they're running slow, don't they?

Vicky D said...

Jerry - who won the first Bristol race while you are sailing down memory lane!

SalB said...

On not in the 'chase'?

Anonymous said...

Anyone else think Andy Petree has been very low key tonight?

WickedJ said...

Junior said something came off a car in front of him (44?) and hit his car. im guessing that was what it was (on tv)

Anonymous said...

ESPN's ticker is absolutely blind! Why are they highlighting drivers 17th through 23rd in points in yellow?! We obviously know they're not gonna make the Chase! It should be just 13th through 16th in points highlighted in yellow! And one more thing, WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE RACE BSPN?!

Andrew said...

"Kurt Busch" and all the leaders? Obviously the Old Man is really screwing up the script.

SalB said...

Spitting out a brake rotor can't be good.

red said...

interesting that petree's noticed some brake rotors glowing red but we haven't seen it. that used to be a standard during the night race here.

Vicky D said...

These guys still aren't looking out the window! And AP seems distracted.

Sophia said...

JD I have long remembered your "headlights not tailights" comments.

I will be back in a few. decided to take a break and turn up CD of Cajun songs/Dixieland/Gypsy aka Middle European tunes to help my mood to watch the race now and then on muted tv. It's working! & "Tin Roof Blues" works for how most of us feel about BSPN.:(

I am also tired of Helmet cam for pit stops.
but its the GF camera work thats most disturbing.

Steve L. said...

JP sounds tired already.

WickedJ said...

JD, is there a way for me to change how many posts i see on one page?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Anyone recognize the music being used into commercial break on ESPN?

Anonymous said...

@red--and I also hear that Mark is 50 years old! Not sure why that has to be repeated 8 million times a broadcast but it does. I don't hear 37 year old Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon a zillion times.

Vicky D said...

Doc sounds like one of those (oldtime) records that is running slow. Any minute he'll stop!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Wicked, Google is not updating their chat technology.

I am working with a new Twitter program that refreshes automatically. Still getting it dialed in.

Trust me, I know this is getting old.

Buschseries61 said...

#1 penalty & lucky dog mention. It is still very early, but it looks to be better than last night. The important part is to keep Jerry Punch alert until lap 500.

darbar said...

I sure would be nice to see Sadler get up front to give him a chance to win, so they can get the million for the Children's Miracle Network.

bevo said...

It would be cool at a race like this, short track with a lot of action going on, to have Race Control on ESPNews with the race in a small window to see what goes on during an event.

Anonymous said...

oops I guess they're 38 now...darn 40 down the road for me :(

WickedJ said...

Mmk, thanks. was hoping maybe i could dial it down to 50 per page or something

The Loose Wheel said...

1 speeding on pit road.

Anonymous said...

i think one of the reasons you get such great overhead shots tonite is the race is sold out so there are no restrictions on the camera guy

Jeff Branch said...

What kind of pace car is that?

darbar said...

Sheesh, I wondered if Stewart was going to move over or just sit in the middle of the track

SalB said...

Looks generic enough to be a COT, doesn't it?

WickedJ said...

two "if you just joined..." in 5 minutes

Dot said...

Who joins at 5:41?

darbar said...

I've always wondered how cars on the same team can run so different? How does Mark Martin get the great cars and Gordon and Earnhardt can't do squat?

Buschseries61 said...

"In case you just joined our coverage"...again in less than 5 minutes.

SalB said...

can anyone tell me why, after a caution and pit stops, they wait to reset the field until the green flag?

Haus14 said...

Did Brewer actually use 2 different rotors. It looked as if he was simply holding the one off to the side to give the illusion of the different size. The camera angle didn't help either.

Steve L. said...

This track has got better, more side by side racing this season. Last year it was follow the leader until 20 to go.

bevo said...

JP is an old MRN guy and one of Ken Squier's cardinal rules is to never use the same phrase twice during a race.

Paging Ken Squier :)

IRL FAN said...

RE: Power/Phillippe accident

Since JD likes to call the networks on the carpet for improprieties and incorrect information, I'd like to call him out for his egregiously erroneous assessment of the corner workers and IRL race control.

Infineon does not have course cameras, so race control relies strictly on corner worker reports. Now since each corner work faces a different direction, there's a good chance the radio observer DID NOT SEE THE ACCIDENT. The corner yellow was out IMMEDIATELY, so for the radio observer to even see the accident may not have been until a few seconds after Phillippe's spin.

No one dropped the ball, it was just a perfectly placed accident on a blind corner with two cars following relatively closely

red said...

and there's the "if you just joined our coverage . . . " moment plus ANOTHER explanation of their color-coded ticker.

is there NO racing happening at bristol anymore?

but i do like the overhead shots a ton!

Vicky D said...

Ross Kenseth tweeting tough comments on the 17 car - loose and tight.

darbar said...

Hey, they're not focusing on the leader. They're actually showing racing at the back.

WickedJ said...

Did you guys know Mark Martin was 50?

darbar said...

Punch, WE GET IT. Martin is 50 !! How often can he say that?

red said...

@vickyd; thanks again for keeping us up to speed with the 17 car via his son's tweets. it's more info than we get from the booth.

"mark martin, the 50 year old polesitter tonight . . ."
double sigh.

Anonymous said...

@IRL FAN

what does that have to do with this race??

darbar said...

Red, how are you feeling? Better I hope

WickedJ said...

Trish, JD make the remarks the wreck shouldnt have happened...i think early on page 1 or maybe twitter.

SalB said...

Bevo; How's your resolution doing? Have you thrown anything at the TV yet?

IRL FAN said...

@ trish in nc

The website's own moderator can discuss it but the rest of us can't?

Maybe you should worry about commenting and let him worry about moderating.

Dot said...

Need a caution? Cause a caution.

darbar said...

Gee, can a team call for a caution? Rather looks that way.

WickedJ said...

@Dot: works for robby gordon :P

Jeff Branch said...

Love the paint on the 99

red said...

@darbar: much better, thanks. just tired of drinking only water -- especially right now! a guinness -- or two! -- would solve a few issues, i suspect

red said...

i'll BET tony is "using hand gestures"!!!

Vicky D said...

Great camera work on Bobby's spin.

SalB said...

A camera man really was paying attention there. Knew there might be a trouble spot and nailed it! See what ESPN could do if they really tried?

Daly Planet Editor said...

IRL FAN,

What? The injury was on the second car to hit after the first accident.

1 - track workers can indicate to slow and move to one side with a simple gesture.

2 - one radio call over the IRL channel should have slowed every car immediately.

I appreciate your comments, but do not agree.

I posted earlier about this because fans did not know what series it was in. Folks were just talking about a car hit on the track twice after being stopped.

We have not heard the end of this one...for sure.

JD

Vicky D said...

SalB - the cameramen (and women) are getting great shots - too bad we've only seen one or two so far tonight.

WickedJ said...

All Star race wreck 2.0?

bevo said...

@SalB- not yet! :)

But... I might if Coors Light continues that dumb "press conference" series of ads. Is there one person on this Earth who finds those even slightly amusing?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Looks like ESPN is still struggling with the dual identity.

Half the time covering the race and half the time jamming in-car cams into the telecast.

Steve L. said...

"Then the 9 and 19 got together" Does JP not know the drivers names?

Andrew said...

Dear ESPN,

Bumper cams are great for replays and when there's no racing on the track. Not during a four-way battle for position!

WickedJ said...

Damn. 1 car is up to 11th after that penalty just a little bit ago

Anonymous said...

@Vicky D

thank you, the camera women are also doing a great job

darbar said...

Did anyone in the booth mention how many laps these cars can go on one tank of fuel

Daly Planet Editor said...

bevo, I wrote them about that issue last season. They said they have no NASCAR ads and run the NFL spots instead.

As an avid NFL fan, I think they stink in football games as well.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Guess the stock cars in snow one does not work for August.

IRL FAN said...

@ Daly Planet Editor

John, did you not read my comment that the corner yellow was displayed immediately? What do you think that's supposed to indicate? However just because a corner yellow is out, doesn't always mean the drivers slow. But I see you're intent on blaming this on race officials.

No race steward worth his salt is going to make a snap yellow call unless the crash is right in front of him. Waiting for a report is essential in proper race operations.

No wonder you do so well in television critiquing. You're the epitome of a armchair quarterback.

Anonymous said...

i wonder if they have fewer camera people and are making up the differene with bumper cams?

WickedJ said...

@darbar, i wondered the very same thing last night. Jayski says 130-140 laps on his site

Sophia said...

I must say the bright lights at this racing coliseum DO make the car colors pop out extraodinarily well...on wide cams and of course *&^$ car cams.

and am watching on old style tv

There second compliment in two nights.
:)

Buschseries61 said...

The switch has turned & the tight shots & in-car cameras are back

rich said...

24 just cracked the top 10

red said...

is this "sponsor xyz in-car camera" graphic on the bottom left new tonight or have i just not noticed? so far, i've seen lowes, aaron's and aflac, maybe others?

quit chattering and call the freakin' race!

Andrew said...

bevo - I like the old ones, when they were using the really well-known coaches. The newer ones aren't so good.

Haus14 said...

Kenny Wallace said, "It Seems to me That Announcers Have Favorites!...ESPN Loves Marcos Ambrose!..if he is in the top 10 They are Like!....Look at Marcos..Ha Ha"

Daly Planet Editor said...

From Kenny Wallace: It Seems to me That Announcers Have Favorites!...ESPN Loves Marcos Ambrose!..if he is in the top 10 They are Like!....Look at Marcos..Ha Ha

WickedJ said...

Junior went from 11th to 26th in a heartbeat... WTF did we miss??

Vicky D said...

Ross Kenseth is tweeting they adjusted the car the wrong way - one minute ago.

rich said...

Red, that left bottom logo has been there for quite a while. I think that is why we get so many in car shots

Anonymous said...

Aj has returned back on track and no mention from punch.

bevo said...

@JD- I hate them no matter the event. It's just so amateurish and not funny. They are not Dickie Goodman if you remember his stuff back in the 60's and 70's.

Andrew said...

Looks like it's all about the points, and not about the racing.

Wonder if they'll talk about something more substantial on that subject other than "racing for points", i.e. what kind of risks will drivers be willing to take in light of what happened to Mark last week.

red said...

@rich: thanks. i probably just never noticed b/c the camera angle irritates me so much.

@wickedj: oh, who knows? last we heard from him, he was so loose he wasn't going to complain about it any more and the next thing i know, he's shuffled back to 26th. so much for "a jr bias" on espn.

SalB said...

Has it occurred to anyone that many fans (me being one of them) could care LESS about the stupid points in the 'chase' or 'almost in the chase' until it really matters after the race is over? This is just taking away from covering what's happening on track. Accccck!

Vicky D said...

ESPN is talking too much about points! The race is not even half over!!!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Buschseries61,

Isn't it amazing? Like they are playing musical chairs and switching directors.

We need that wideshot to establish, focus on the races for position and then updates on the favorites. Geez...

WickedJ said...

lol the wrecked car of Logano is faster then the 88

/sighs

Daly Planet Editor said...

Remember how the mod race felt so different on TV?

Night and day with this telecast.

Anonymous said...

All these passes we missed because of the race vs. chase coverage.

bevo said...

The most useless graphic - the MPH balloon on 4 cars at Bristol

Buschseries61 said...

Can we move past the top 3 & show some racing please?

Andrew said...

At least the MPH graphic is about the race, and not the points. Not that that's any excuse! ;)

red said...

anon@9:07: EXCELLENT observation! it's a sequence of points, points, bubble team, chase, "standings as of right now," points, chase . . .

sorta like we're not even at bristol, huh?

Dot said...

Should have another caution soon.

Vicky D said...

And did we ever get a report on Bobby Labonte why he's laps down? I know he spun but what happened to the car? Thanks ESPN pit reporters. We might have missed it though.

Anonymous said...

man why can't espn show some more coverage outside the top 10. JD, do you have their number that I can call.

bevo said...

3 minutes of green flag racing between commercials. Is it just me or are we seeing way more commercials than usual JD?

bevo said...

@Andrew- True but still MPH at Bristol? :)

Vicky D said...

Saw a snippet of Labonte's car and the front fender gone. Thanks for nothing ESPN.

Daly Planet Editor said...

tailpipes, tailpipes and more tailpipes.

Come on TV crew, get in the game and cut some cameras and show us the racing!

SalB said...

What happened to Harvick and Jr.? Nothing from the booth. Nothing from the pits. Is anyone going to let us know what is happening at this race? do they even care?

The Loose Wheel said...

08 broken rear axle, coming to garage. they aren't a start and park

Buschseries61 said...

It's a shame David Gilliland has ran in the top 20 all night & has been ignored. He isn't trying to get into the Chase, so I guess he is not a story.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Anon 9:10PM, no story of the 42 teams in the race. No updates or through the fields like the radio. No clue to where the favorites are or when someone changes big positions.

Junior fans are losing it in my email right now.

Bottom line: ESPN's 2009 coverage of the Sprint Cup Series is really bad.

rich said...

Did anyone catch Jamie's interview with Jeff Gordon during pre-race? She asked him if the racing at Bristol would ever get back to the old style since the COT had ruined it and Jeff had to politely inform her that the track has been reconfigured and that was what had changed the racing the last couple of years not the COT.

The Loose Wheel said...

kudos to the carter/simo group. gonna work on Terry. good to see my guy not running an S&P

Andrew said...

Why are we watching a crew cam DURING PIT STOPS!?

bevo said...

I think we've heard more from the pit reporters in the first half of this race than the total of all of the Cup races on ESPN so far this season

SalB said...

I know things happen fast at this track, but there is NO excuse for ignoring virtually 75% of the cars just so they can hype their stupid not-a-playoff. I knew more about what was going on at Bristol if I was in the stands with no radio! this is disgraceful.

Haus14 said...

tony's radio is now working - lets see how long it takes for that update to take place...this is a test.

Dot said...

Whew, that was close. Jr stays on the lead lap.

Sophia said...

Unless I spaced it, I have not heard ANYTHING on PRN in the last few minutes about Jr or Harvick....sigh

Anonymous said...

when they ignore the cars not in the chase they are also ignoring a paying sponsor & fans. do they realize this?

bevo said...

@rich- Like I said about her in last night's race she does zero homework. It's like she parachutes into the track minutes before the race :)

Sophia said...

waltrip is 15th currently

that's the end of the follow thru on the radio? sigh

Paging MRN.

Haus14 said...

hopefully the new ESPN ombudsman will take me up on my suggestion and listen to an ESPN race and then mute the tv and see the difference in the radio broadcast.

Andrew said...

trish - Since they don't even say the name of the sponsor unless they've bought ESPN ad time, I think that's one of the least of their concerns.

Andrew said...

Er, race sponsor that is.

red said...

jd in re: your email complaints comments: but it's not just the 88 being ignored. the majority of the teams are invisible. any idea what's up with the 14? how about newman? kenseth? the 00? hell, even the 55 is doing well. but you don't get any of that from espn.

so: lousy camera work, a recitation of car numbers, useless trivia, repetition of information we already have been told earlier in the broadcast, focus on chase/points/standings -- i think we know why this broadcast is so weak.

WickedJ said...

Dang, even Allen is confused lol

Sophia said...

Tony Stewart Switched radio frequencies to wish Ryan Newman Good luck earlier.

Then all NIGHT Tony thought he had bad radios..after several radio changes..he realized..OOPS..wrong frequency.

He will never switch Frq again to wish RN a good race they said...per PRN

Ouch

Sophia said...

Did they mention the radio issue on TV causing Tony to do so horribly?

bevo said...

@wickedj- I'm confident in saying it wasn't AB being confused but a production person not giving him the heads up on what the video would be.

red said...

@sophia: too bad we haven't heard that from the espn team.
we're continually forced to use multiple sources to get basic information.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Did you guys hear Punch or Bestwick say this?

JennaFryer: I guess TV just said there was no problem with 14 radio. He switched in pre-race to talk to 39, and never turned the channel back.

SalB said...

Cool shot following the tearoff!

WickedJ said...

JD: i think i heard someone say it was fixed but nothing more

Haus14 said...

didn't hear a thing about that JD. Just AB and Rusty explaining why Tony was running so bad.

bevo said...

@Sophia- So Tony is a natural blonde? :) Wish he was still doing the Sirius show so Yocum could rag him about that!

NorCalFan said...

@salB
Why can't we get good camera work on the race like we get on following a tear-off on the track?

Amazing.

SalB said...

That would be useful information. Why should we expect that from ESPN? If it doesn't have to do with points or the 'chase', it isn't worth mentioning.

Shouldn't they be embarrassed that everyone seems to know more about the race than the network supposedly covering it?

bevo said...

Oops - not Yocum but Digger :)
Just for you JD! :)

red said...

@jd: nope. see my comment in response to sophia telling us she heard it on prn.

basic info like that should be coming from the tv broadcast team yet we're forced to dig around and search out multiple sources to get it.

if i'm going to get my info from my laptop or the radio AND the images on tv are so bad, why bother tuning in?

Sophia said...

red, yep, darn shame.

This all started before the race but guess Tony just figured it out after last radio change. I bet he is SO ANGRY at himself. Sheesh.

Earlier on radio or was it BSPN mentioned Tony could only communicate with Ryan but nobody else didn't they? I can't remember between my disinterest, disgust, distractions and multi-tasking.

I wonder why Tony chose tonight to change frequencies to speak to Ryan??...I always have to have more questions..brain just works like that. Obviously he has not done this before. . .

triple sigh

WickedJ said...

good lord, Junior;s radio has all kinds of static and white noise..very annoying

Haus14 said...

RT @NASCARSays Tower is reporting a right rear tire rub on the 24

Vicky D said...

MW is up in the top 15 and no mention at all because he's in the non-color spot!

Glenn said...

PRN did a full field rundown 10 to 15 minutes ago.

Anonymous said...

@Sophia
didn't all the Gibbs teams have a freq button for their teammates? Seems like i remember Tony & Bobby Labonte talking to each other.

maybe it's the stress of ownership, the race or just a crazy mistake.

Dot said...

Jeff G must be slow if Jr is passing him. AP can be funny.

red said...

patrick, i hope you're having a great time tonight because none of us are capable of doing all the multitasking you do for us to keep us informed!

and lookie there: the 88's in 16th now. wonder how THAT happened?

and is it really a good time for a break when the 24 has a tire rub and might find himself in a bit of a mess during the break?

Sophia said...

PRN has NOT filled me in about harvick or jr.

That's a surprise.

Jeff G and Denny H hit a bit and messed up Gordon's car and it won't handle..real loose out of the turns...17th.

bevo said...

3 minutes of racing between commercials (BTW these are just rough times based on Tivo time, not stopwatch stuff or anything)

WickedJ said...

Junior's crew took a 1/4 round of wedge out on the last stop. hes up to 16th so it mustve worked

Haus14 said...

unbelievable.

red said...

and newman sits in the top 10 and i don't recall hearing anything about him. ditto bowyer.

red said...

and newman sits in the top 10 and i don't recall hearing anything about him. ditto bowyer.

Sophia said...

@Trish NC
not sure but the guys on PRN wondered if somebody wouldn't get a yelling at tonight after the race..didn't know if they meant at Tony or from Tony...I still don't understand how after years of racing this happened...

Haus14 said...

at this commercial rate, we should be all set to get the last 100 laps commercial free.

Sophia said...

I am missing Patrick as well..would love to know what's up with JR.

and others...Harvick...

(Hope you had fun party and good cake? What kind..what kind of frosting?)

That reminds me, my brownies have cooled off.

Anonymous said...

NASCAR should pull the races from ESPN. Any mention of Michael Vick on a NASCAR broadcast is uncalled for.

Vicky D said...

Matt's car - still no change.

bevo said...

If you wonder how you get phone spam on your cell that right there is why

Anonymous said...

I just contacted espn at 860-766-2000. couldn't help so i left an angry message about their nascar coverage.

Andrew said...

Holy cow, they finally mentioned Mikey! Great run for him, btw.

Anonymous said...

poor Tony. Old age creepin up i guess.

jr's site says he is 'way gooder'

Sophia said...

'Mark Martin has been the sharpest knife in the drawer tonight'---per PRN..never heard that cliche used in the context in which they just did before?

red said...

@sophia in re: smoke's error: i believe it's called "a brain fart."

Steve L. said...

Fight for lead and go to commercial!!!!! OMG!!

rich said...

Great race for the lead and they go commercial wow

Kevin said...

They pick that point to go to Commercial?!?!?!?!?!?

SalB said...

Perfect example of ESPN coverage...cars fighting for the lead in traffic...and we go to commercial!

Haus14 said...

what a difference in the announcers during this race for the lead...the radio guys are beside themselves. Jerry Punch...throws it to commercial with a chuckle. That 30 seconds or so of coverage says it all.

rich said...

I forgot to say thank goodness for PRN

Andrew said...

The racing gets interesting, with a battle for the lead in lapped traffic, and we cut to commercial. Having had less than 5 minutes of coverage. (I listened to all of "For Those About to Rock" and started during the LAST commercial break, ending just at the start of this one.) Really wonderful coverage here, ESPN.

Anonymous said...

@Buschseries61--nope if they're not in the script they have to do something spectacular to get noticed and then it's like "uh why do we have to talk about THEM? I want to talk about my mancrush (fill in the blank) UGH!"

@rich and bevo--yup yup! What a shame that we watching on TV know MORE than those being paid the big bucks! What a shame and embarrassing!

Vicky D said...

And that irritating commercial "no problem" at that!!!!

red said...

wow. 3 wide at bristol just then, including the second place car and no emotion from the booth. i know i was amazed to see that, especially after the 9 wiggled and the only mention of his car was how many laps down he is at the moment.

Sophia said...

red,

I hope Tony does better the rest of the night and he can laugh about this moment.....eventually.:)

Glad I missed the Vick comment...I might've kicked the tv..but wont' go there.

Sophia said...

Mikey is 13th and Jr 14th now

Daly Planet Editor said...

You guys listening to the radio heard the word...rain??

brad said...

those Gordon comments were on twitter 10 minutes ago. nice to see ESPN catch up.

Andrew said...

NASCAR.com says Mark has lead the most laps despite losing the lead. Did ESPN mention that little fact?

Buschseries61 said...

Tim Brewer under green...and in the big box. Urgh..

Danger! Downhill slope ahead.

red said...

i thought rusty DID just explain the impact of the right side of the 24? why the need for brewer?

but at least we had a split screen! now, if only we could get the race in the BIG window and the tech center in the small one, we'd be set.

The Loose Wheel said...

THERE WAS NO CONTACT THERE ESPN!!!!

MtnVwJay said...

not that I believe it will make a difference but I just went to ESPN website, clicked on contact us and sent this message:

At the beginning of each race there are 43 cars -unless and until any of those cars are no longer on the track there is racing amongst all those cars and that racing continues throughout the race. I recently listed to the race on MRN radio and was totally astounded at the difference - they actually reported on the entire race and all cars/drivers. Your coverage is beyond horrible, camerawork is totally unacceptable, and you obviously have directed your announces to only cover the top 10. Fix it!

MikeC said...

It's more of that script stuff. They're sticking to the script of when to take commercial breaks, regardless what's taking place.

Vicky D said...

It's a slippery slope ESPN and you are on it!

Andrew said...

JD - Weather Channel says only a 5% chance of rain for Bristol before the end of the race. Radar looks ok, too; if anything, we might get a light sprinkle, nothing that would cause us to lose the track.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Is it just me or did Denny Hamlin not make ANY contact with Jeff?

ESPN is afraid to say they are wrong...you guys see that?

Dot said...

Did Vickers & Mark just get together?

WickedJ said...

Jenna Fryer on Twitter - The 9 is a chicane right now, and down to 11th in the points.

Kevin said...

There is some rain coming towards Bristol from the south...

Andrew said...

TNT doesn't have this many commercials! (Well, they do, but they don't have the constant stream of in-race advertising too.)

The Loose Wheel said...

JD its not you, there was no contact at all. Jeff had a backfire, thats about it.

I noticed there was no contact the first time they showed it too.

Lame ESPN. seriously.

MikeC said...

Seems like the only time they break from the script is if there's something that they can try and draw controversy from.

Karen said...

I didn't hear the Vick comment. What was it?

Haus14 said...

Hoooray for Mikey, about to crack the top 10!

Sophia said...

JD I stepped out of the room for a minute but haven't heard rain mentioned all night on prn?

I haven't checked Twitter much either tonight tho

The Loose Wheel said...

08 turned in their tires, probably done.

WickedJ said...

145 laps to go and a fuel run is 130-140

Buschseries61 said...

Well now David Gilliland finally gets noticed...after he hit the wall & casued the caution.

Vicky D said...

JD I thought the "bright light" from Jeff Gordon's car was from his brakes but hubby said it was the exhaust so we didn't think they hit each other either.

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