Here we go with the Monday drill. SPEED steps in and presents a one hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay at 11AM. This will be the one and only pre-race show.
John Roberts hosts with Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace. At Pocono, this show originated from Victory Lane as the SPEED Stage was gone. Wendy Venturini was called back to the track as she was about to board a Sunday afternoon airplane to head back to Charlotte. She and Hermie Sadler will be the reporters for the show.
Venturini is now rivaling Larry McReynolds with her meteorology skills. She has spent a lot of time during RaceDay pointing at the weather radar screen. Let's hope that does not happen again on Monday.
Last week, ESPN also packed up the Infield Studio because there was no pre-race show. I would expect we will see that again. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will call the action at noon ET.
ESPN's pit reporters have been having a rough couple of weeks on the Sprint Cup Series races. Saturday, the Nationwide Series race also proved to be a challenge. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch will be at it once again on Monday. Controversy vs. coverage is the issue with this bunch.
The Glen can offer great racing for TV. The balance of in-car cameras vs. wideshots is a key to the telecast. Marty Reid did a solid job on Saturday of working very hard to keep viewers up to date on all the teams. Relaying information to TV viewers on this road course may be the biggest challenge.
The new restart rules are going to make portions of the event simply fantastic. Racing for position all the way to the bus stop chicane is going to create great TV pictures. Needless to say, it will also create great racing.
There are lots of storylines in the event, from the drivers who really need a win to those racing to make The Chase. Road course ringers and start and parkers will also play a role. It should be interesting to see who stops and who races at the back of the pack.
TDP will be live blogging the race here and on Twitter. Join us for comments on the ESPN TV coverage from Watkins Glen. To add your comment to this post, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
13 comments:
If Nascar would go back to starting races at 12:30 or 1:00 like they used to, better to see half a race than none at all!!
I must say after reading and hearing from others, and Kenny Wallaces tweets, earlier times would help a lot of things. Weather issues, ratings, folks traveling. Far be it for common sense to over ride 'the rules.'
Hope the drivers get the race in on Monday. Many getting stir crazy in the motorhomes.
Is it me or is this just one of the weirdest seasons for rain? I really cannot remember this many rainouts.
All day, I kept thinking about a comment I read on this blog a few days before the race. It was from someone who talked about how much they loved Watkins Glen, they went every year, but this was the first year in a long time they couldn't attend. He was going to be forced to watch on TV, and at the end of his post he said something about needing good weather because he wouldn't be able to take off work and watch on Monday and it would be the first Glen race he'd missed in I don't know how many years.
All day I thought about this blog and that poster and my heart really aches for him.
The best thing about ESPN's rain debacle is that I got to watch a GREAT IndyCar race at Mid Ohio
7:08 - Actually you can watch anything anytime. New concept - use your remote - it changes channels whenever you want - no like nascar - HIT THE BUTTON!
Anonymous said...
If Nascar would go back to starting races at 12:30 or 1:00 like they used to, better to see half a race than none at all!!
August 10, 2009 12:08 AM
I would much rather see a complete race on Mon or Tues, rather than just over 1/2 of one on Sun.
JD, do you know if ESPN is going to replay the race in the evening or will it only be shown live?
I think a good time for the green flag would have been @ 10am.
Believe it or not, this is only the 4th rainout this year. And its been all the races on the East Coast. The rain / summer this year in the East has been rediculous.
The latest info I have is that the race will re-air in a three hour timeslot on SPEED Wednesday at noon ET.
No Monday night re-air on ESPN Classic.
JD
Again with my axe to grind:Raceday needs some type of modifications. Kenny Wallace has wore his welcome out in my house with his constant phoniness, and drivel about nothing. And the ever-present, "Folks, let me tell you what the late, great Dale Earnhardt once said...." I used to live for Raceday, but now it's nothing but a two hour Home Depot commercial, with Kenny Wallace name dropping every two minutes. If Joey Lagano qualifies 40th, they still make sure there is an interview with him, because God forbid, the Home Depot car doesn't get mentioned in the "Raceday Built by the Home Depot". The weather issues could be addressed as such: If you can't control Mother Nature, then alter the schedule. Look at the weather trends in certain areas, and think outside the box.Look what NASCAR did to Rockingham.It was cold and rainy, so rather than move the dates, they closed it down. If it rains all the time in certain places at certain times, then change.I also agree with earlier start times. I live in Denver Colorado, and I have no problem watching a race at 10:00 in the morning. In fact I love it. Breakfast, then the race, then the afternoon to do what I want.And since people in California don't watch the races anyway, it wouldn't hurt a thing.
Looking at the radar. Noon start, will likely get a whole race in.
And yes, call the global warming voodoo by whatever fad you want, but I believe rainouts are going to be more frequent.
Thanks to ESPN for more pretty good rainout filler coverage. Again, wishing we could see that loose, fun and happy style every race.
There is a new post up for RaceDay at 11AM and the race at noon ET.
Please move your comments to that post.
Thanks,
JD
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