Here we go with Round 2 of the big NASCAR vs. NFL match-up. This week, the NASCAR on ESPN gang is armed with a tough and high-banked one mile track that will generate much more excitement than Loudon, NH. Add-in the new restart rules and it should be a great opportunity to keep sports fans watching NASCAR.
Allen Bestwick will be first with NASCAR Countdown at 1PM. Joining Bestwick will be Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty in the Infield Pit Studio. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage. Reporting this week will be Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Vince Welch and Dave Burns.
Shortly before the 2:15PM green flag, Jerry Punch will lead his team of Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree on the air to call the race. This trio is charged with relaying the excitement of the race to the TV viewers. That has proven to be a tough assignment for Punch who starts fresh and fades long before halfway.
Expect Bestwick to be on the air from the infield after caution periods and when field updates are needed. Keeping a perspective on all the cars in the race and not just the Chasers has been the Achilles Heel of the ESPN crew. Fans of the top drivers who did not make the Chase do not suddenly change their loyalty in September.
Dover is fast on TV. It is tough to sneak Tim Brewer on the air under green. It is almost impossible to play back recorded material under green. It is also a big risk to use the in-car cameras live. One moment at Dover can change the complexion of both the race and the Chase in a heartbeat.
Look for the cameras at the end of the straights to offer the best perspectives. The worst come from the "high" cameras above the start/finish line. The director will work hard to cut around the two bridges over the track all day long. Cutting cameras constantly for over three hours is really the toughest challenge on this track.
This post will serve to host your comments about the ABC coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Dover. 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. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.
339 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 339 of 339Fran, I am right there with you. Andy is on the money but DJ and Punch are out to lunch.
Dave Burns talking over old radio coversation. As the sun comes out the coverage slides down.
Please --- quit with the car numbers, JP!
Martin Truex Jr. is back on track, 86 laps down.
Anon@3:41
Report on the S & P? Good heavens, you want ESPN to admit those exist?
Replay of #9 pit stop, in-car camera watching Kasey drive, commercial. Is there really no racing on the track?
@MV
The crew tried but you're right, damage too severe. CC was off to find the Goodyear rep. The team told to head home.
In race ABC promo for Hank & full screen vidoe package with Kurt Busch. This is BAD!
Who cares about the "Points as of now?"
Drink!
@TRL - I don't know if ESPN wants to expose the whole S&P business, but Marty Reid has no problem telling it like it is.
Missed the pass for the lead during commercials...
We have been working on Rick Allen and he read them off on the truck race.
@MV --- that's one reason why I like Marty Reid.
Stop with the points and please show all the cars in the race.
Talk about redundancy.
Jerry Punch: You're watching ESPN on ABC.
Jimmie Johnson: You're watching ESPN on ABC.
Then the ESPN on ABC logo leads into commercials.
Another weak run through the field (only 5-6 cars again). They had to replay the #26 locking up the tires because they missed it & back off to commercials. It seems like they are bored and just don't care.
Hubby is watching TS Hotpass but we are only seeing view outside the front windshield so we are missing the rest of the action on the track. Good thing it's not the tv broadcast folks - MRN PXP guys are doing a good job.
BAD timing for a commercial. #18 flat tire, #00 & #31 missed pit road & caution flag for fluid on the track.
"being shown in X position"
"being shown in X position"
"bring shown in X position"
Jerry Punch - who talks this way?
Whew, rough to know who is where outside of the top five. Punch is out of gas bigtime.
Yea tho I walk thru the valley of
ESPNB I shall fear no evil. Dont
mind me - I am just praying to God
to somehow get ride of Jabber Jarret and Punch Drunk.
Or wait .. maybe I am the only poor soul in the world ..who can not stand ALL THAT BLABBER AND CHATTER.
You will be happy to know that this is my last comment on the
subject. Wasting band width on
these announcers is not cool.
Of course Every announcer in
Nascar TALKs TOO MUCH AND TOO LOUD.
Goodbye
I realize from reading Allaway's blog that ESPN told fifty-six year old Jerry Punch to "tone it down", but I'm not so sure that they really wanted a comatose play-by-play man. I could be mistaken, judging by the work of the director and the penchant of the cameramen to overuse the zoom. I also realize the cameramen must frame their shots for 4:3 SD television, leaving us widescreeners wanting for more, but jeez.
JD - I have to keep refreshing live leaderboard too today. But according to them there's liquid all over the trck - did we hear that from JP? And where? How about showing us.
After watching the other live events on ESPN, do you believe for a moment that he was told to keep it down?
I don't think the author of that column did either.
@Vicky --
I saw that, too -- about the liquid.
What liquid and where did it come from?
The obsession with Jimmie Johnson continues..
I just saw the massive number of empty seats in Turns 3 & 4. Wow!
Drink!
"Points as of now" ! ! !
I'd be blotto if I was drinking for real. LOL
Football game over, taping Golf.
Figured I would watch the race.
I have the bottom of the Tv blocked with tape so I don't see scores or golf info.
Points as of now is being shown. Is the race on the last lap - ha ha.
The networks really need to be held accountable. This is what I would love to see:
If the fans think that their coverage sucks, they get ONE chance to fix it. If the fans think their coverage STILL sucks, then that network loses the races, and the next network in the queue gets the chance to show the races. And so on and so on.
Maybe if the networks realize that they need to listen to the fans and keep them happy (i.e. have decent coverage not the crappy stuff they give us), then maybe they would actually HAVE decent coverage. After all, if there were no fans, there would be no races.
But this is all just wishing. It would never happen. But a gal can dream, can't she? LOL
Buschseries61 - the LOVEFEST with Johnson continues.
Jaguars win! It went almost all the way down to the wire. Houston shot themselves in the foot at the end there.
Have I missed much? Better question: Have I missed much based on the TV coverage?
Marty Reid did mention the cars that were off yesterday, but I don't believe he used the term "start and park." I was listening because he had used it previously.
Uh...is JP even in the booth today?
Andrew - You have missed 0. Emotionless Punch, director not leaving the top 10, poor questions by Jamie, a race drowning in commercials & promos, overkill of points as of now, & 1 full screen video package. The last 30 laps it has been the Jimmie Johnson show.
sounds like JP is thinking..wow this is a long race, I need a nap. Sad, well back to radio
Andrew - And Lions win to snap their 19 game losing streak.
The rain that was potentially going to come around 5:00pm looks like it won't reach Dover until around 6:00pm, race should be over by then.
they need to get male pit reporters that know what they are doing..AND a voice that is easily heard against noisey cars.
Uh oh...Kyle is angry...guess we will see his fit..this is BSPN.
The losing streak is over!!! Lions win!!!
Back to the race.
Man, Kyle can't get a break today. Not a happy camper from that onboard.
I am excited that the Lions finally won. How ironic that their fans didn't get to see it since the game was blacked out locally.
Everybody involved in the telecast sounds bored and disinterested in the race. They're just going through the motions. They seem tobe praying for the end of the race.
And MRN guys have car noise in background but you can still HEAR THEM. I muted ESPN and watching the NFL game...Cincinnati looks great on tv!
Looking for a friend to wave on TV from his condo's Tweetdeck. :)
Jr 22nd.
Love Barney Hall!!!!!!!!!!!
It is just fundamentally rough to watch an exciting race like this with Punch reporting and tired.
The deep sighs are my fav!
Only took ESPN 223 laps to realize AJ Allmendinger is here.
I just don't understand why Jr. is in 21st position and his three teammates are in the top 5. WTH is going on?
And if JJ leads the points now, we might as well skip the next 8 races and give it to him. Sick of JJ leading races, leading chase.
Another points as of now. I need to take a walk.
Too bad Dot isn't watching race live as her fav is running 11th although we haven't seen much of him since he's not in the chase. Matt & Clint are messing ESPN's broadcast racing in the top 10 now.
I suspect the viewership will drop today because 1. Jr. is not running well. 2. Kyle is out of the race(people watch to root against him) and 3. JJ and the usual crowd are dominating the race.
Why watch?
"Childress has all four cars in th Top 19"
What the heck is the Top 19? And is that a distinction?
That is absolutely the bottom line. Why watch?
The racing on-track is an A- or maybe a full A.
The production is a serious D-, bordering on a full fail.
This is a great race. But you would never know it from watching ABC.
If MRN audio was on ABC with this quality race, you would not have to worry about the NFL. MRN/PRN excitement and detail on network television would be such a revelation, everyone would tune in and you would never be able to tune away.
been so exciting, I fell asleep after slice bread did his flips and just woke up to a POed KB and Jr a lap down glad I'm awake-not
Reed Sorenson rejoining the race after 2 hours and 11 minutes in the garage, 219 laps down.
If Mark Martin passes Jimmy Johnson for the lead, we could get a rare chance for a "Triple Punch". That's when Dr. Jerry mention's Mark Martin's age, a reminder who the three-time champion is, and an X-position mention.
"There's 50-year old Mark Martin passing the 48-car, Jimmy Johnson, and now showing in the 1st position."
A Triple Punch - wow, what a day!
That is a good one!
Why must we follow only the leader?
Aren't there other cars on the track? Please....... *sigh*
As someone else posted -- Why watch?
Watching this race and the running order by team, you really have to come to the conclusion that merchandise sales is the only reason Brad Kezlowski is going to Penske. In other words -- if Dale Jr. didn't sell a whole bunch of t-shirts and hats, Hendrick would dump him for a real driver. Mears couldn't get the job done and was out. Dale can't get the job done, but hey, he sells a lot of jackets!
Anonymous said...
If Mark Martin passes Jimmy Johnson for the lead, we could get a rare chance for a "Triple Punch". That's when Dr. Jerry mention's Mark Martin's age, a reminder who the three-time champion is, and an X-position mention.
"There's 50-year old Mark Martin passing the 48-car, Jimmy Johnson, and now showing in the 1st position."
A Triple Punch - wow, what a day!
September 27, 2009 4:47 PM
******
JD, that's the Gold Star comment of the day.
ROTFLMAO
We have been watching TS hotpass has JP mentioned Hamlin being a lap down. I think that's a good story if they haven't. Maybe BK need to teach him some maneuvers!
This blog is the ONLY thing keeping me awake but I don't know how much longer I can hang on.
Stremme hit the fence caution.
Triple Punch LOL!!!!
@Vicky --
Yes, Denny was mentioned -- but only in passing.
WOW ! There appears to be 20,000 empty seats at the track. There is tarped off sections in Turn 3 and massive empty seats i Turns 2, 3 and 4. I wonder what the offical attendance is ?
Love Montoya's paint scheme but not so easy to find him w/o that red Target.
So is something wrong with DJ this weekend, or was he just mad at Marty? Someone said he wasn't with it today either so just wondering what the consensus is
TRL - changed channel to regular broadcast as I thought we were missing a lot of the telecast. Yeah right! I'd love if one of the non-chasers wins then what would they do that's not in their script.
I think it messed him up switching between JP and Marty.
With JP he has to step in and talk like a PXP guy to help, but with Marty he is just supposed to offer color commentary.
It was very clear that DJ was hanging Marty out to dry yesterday. We thought he might be sick or something, but really have no clue. Thank goodness for Petree.
re DJ,
Could it be that ESPN has told the booth guys about changes for next year and DJ didn't like what he heard?
Makiki
Honolulu
About 90 laps to go before the race really starts. They just need to stay on the lead lap the first 380.
To Dr. Jerry,
Instead of saying "position," why not say: "spot," "place," or "[number]th." The first two save two beats!
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
[reposted to make a correction]
Ive been a "real" Nascar fan, since 1989ish. I traveled to 4-5 races per year and hardly ever missed a race on TV since then.
ESPN has finally accomplished what they wanted, they turned me from a
FAN to a casual viewer.
I cant take it anymore.
One thing was for sure, DJ was not having a good day yesterday.
Hey, J.D.,
Did you just hear Dr. Jerry say, "9th spot"?! Maybe he reads Daly Planet.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
Ack, JP did it.
Talked about Mark being 50yrs old.
We almost made the whole race without that. *sigh*
I just turned the race back to...just to hear Jerry Punch say 50 year old Mark Martin. Ahhhh!!!!
We are popular on the laptops. But, if they msg us and get caught, they get fired. Nice huh?
There's another mention of Mark's age. Kurt must be screaming at Tryson about now.
Daly Planet Editor wrote: We are popular on the laptops. But, if they msg us and get caught, they get fired. Nice huh?
Whomever is reading this on the ABC crew, please make sure Dr. Jerry knows we love him very much. We just think he's miscast as a play-by-play man.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
Drink!
"Points as of now."
Oh, Lord help me.
And, to top it off ---
"if you've just joined us."
Give me strength.
What do you think is going thru Pat Tryson's head today? It's one thing to take abuse from a driver, all crew chiefs to to some extent... but it's another to take constant abuse when you've already quit and have a new job lined up. If I were Kurt Busch, who is running really well all year in sub-par equipment, I wouldn't keep yanking Tryson's chain. That would be as dumb as firing the engine team right before the 1st race of the Chase.
No! Playback under green flag racing...come on!
Seriously, an hour of pre-race and they have to stick those pre-recorded pieces in full screen during green flag racing?...
Whew, this is brutal.
Does anyone else think we're going to have the 48, 24, and 14 door-to-door by the time this thing gets to 10 laps to go and the inevitable double-file restart?
see the tailpipes? director is tired. See no straightway cams?
see no speed shots? No aerials? nothing.
just phoning it in.
Thirty-five year old Jimmy Johnson sails it off into the corner. There goes the 48 car bringing the points as of now up to even. You're watching ESPN on ABC. There is the 24 car being shown in the second position. There goes the fifty-year old Mark Martin sailing off into the corner. That's the 5 car in fourth position.
I'm auditioning for play-by-play.
Last night during the truck race, the pit road reports were great. The sound of the trucks was terrific too why can't they do that here? It sounds muffled or something. Yes, we love JP very much.
What I've heard on the 2 radio has been pretty calm so far. Mostly been on Montoya today. LOVE that team's communication.
As for firing the engine group, better to do it now than the end of the season. Finding a job in the sport is tough enough and allowing them to look for jobs for 4-5 months while still receiving a paycheck for the next 3 or 4 months is a pretty decent thing to do.
The fact that anyone seriously believes these guys would purposely sabotage their team when THEY have to find a new job and if caught get permanently blacklisted from there out, is asinine.
JD, I thought the crew had left the truck some time ago. Just left the rookie interns doing the job.
This is the money stop, this is the money stop, this is the money stop --- where is the update on positions gained/lost on the stop???!?!?
ARGH!!!!!
I'm relly bumbed by Shannon's expando fire suite, I thought surely we would be done with her soon. Didn't anyone tell her all that loud noise and noxiouse fumes would be bad for the babies?
24 broke an air wrench on that stop, really hurt the time
The coverage of that last pit stop was like a bad practical joke on the fans.
I bet if you could peek into the control room, the director is playing solitaire on one of the screens.
And all during the NW race yesterday, they kept on telling us how treacherous it was getting onto pit road druing the stops, except they never showed us.
These guys really know how to suck the life out of a race.
If you are just joining us, we missed the wreck because we were playing with our toys instead of broadcasting a race. Why am I not surprised?
More important to do an ESPN promo that to update us on the crash.
Anon
either solitaire or pin the tail on the donkey to see what cam to use
There's a wreck on the frontstretch and Jerry Punch is trying to plug ESPN's website!...
The last 50 laps have been a sad joke. Tailpipes, ESPN dropped the results off pit road on the money stop, Jerry Punch is done as play-by-play, & ESPN completely missed the last wreck until the cars were pulling away.
MV - I don't think they are looking out the window. This broadcast is brutal.
Awful. Simply awful. If I had NASCAR radio locally or on Sirius, I would not watch another ESPN telecast all year. There is just no excuse. Every single damn thing we've complained about all year is back in full force. No improvement. No listening to people. No heart. And there is obviously no-one at ESPN who cares about the fans.
Andrew said: Every single damn thing we've complained about all year is back in full force.
Try three years.
The brief bumper music going to commercial breaks has been been well done. Recognizable and relative
They gotta "DJ" in the trailer!
AARP needs to sponsor all the times Marin gets mentioned.
Jimmy's wife not on top of pit box?
@Andrew, I think there are a bunch that care, they just have their hands tied and none of them are in the truck
Jerry Punch just wants to go home. You can hear it in his voice. He sounds like the fan you sit next to in an extra-innings baseball game who is just hoping for a home run, not so his team will win but just so he can go home and nap.
It's about time for a show caution. Perhaps Tim Brewer can show us how the flagman throws a show caution flag:-)
Drink!
"points as of now"
I DO NOT CARE, ESPN. Until the checkered flag falls it doesn't mean squat.
@Beating a dead horse
best comment of the day
Thanks guys for showing a non-chaser.
What's the gap between Montoya and Martin? Is it decreasing? How fast? Why don't they use some of their toys for useful information?
I don't know how anyone would want to go to a race and see it live based on what they see on TV. The coverage sucks all of the excitement from the race.
My view is that I would prefer to have the coverage follow the race on the track. The race for positions as you move from the front of the pack to the rear... the sad part is that for some reason the networks seem to think that we need to be entertained as if we had ADD. IE lets go from this shot to this shot to this shot and make it a real close up within a matter of seconds. Pull back a bit to give perspective of the actual drama of the race car drivers and the efforts they make to achieve their results.
I do not need to see someone roll in for a pit stop during the race unless of course it is someone in the top five. I do not need to see a lug wrench to know a drivers pit crew had a problem with a pit stop. Which of course the announcer can comment on while we watch a drama of drivers on the race track. I do not need to see cut outs of the car to explain the speculation or reason why a car or driver crashed.
I'm saddened by the horrendous approach to marketing my NASCAR to which I've viewed since the Wide World of Sports televised it in the sixties with wider shots and the drama between drivers.
Bring back the Drama of racing through and on the track, please.
there you go, Sam Hornish nascar's designated caution maker
@ Dead Horse, the show caution is Sam.
I am so thankful for HotPass. I have had the opportunity to watch the race while listening to the MRN PxP.
Well, it's been fun being with you all. I'll be in KS next week, will check in evenings if the hotel WiFi works. Can't wait to watch the driver I want to.
Jumping the pit reporters on the boxes cannot save this mess.
DirecTV's Hotpass coverage has been unbelieveable. One video box of the race coverage with the other video being of the selected driver channel. Add the MRN audio throughout the entire race, with maybe one commercial break per hour. When MRN goes to a natural commercial, HotPass has two commentators to keep the viewer updated. And when ESPN goes to commercial, you still get the race video in the video box, just without any scroll at the top.
Perfect.
Double file restart -- c'mon TRIPLE PUNCH!
Another of JP's sayings - sailing into the corner! Geesh.
And we finally have a
"sailing into the corner" ! !
Lord, I'm exhausted trying to keep up with this farce of a broadcast.
Before you leave, you MUST leave us a comment on the Your Turn post.
This may be a very memorable race in the history of ESPN returning to NASCAR.
These last 20 laps could be just as dull and boring and monotone as the entire four hours.
Amazing TV.
If they would finish where they're running right now......we wouldn't need you for the rest of the race JP.
Have I been dreaming or have we been spared a "Full Throttle" in both the Nationwide race AND this one? (The Degree v12 sponsorship must have finally run out - surely ESPN wouldn't stop doing it because practically everybody HATED it ;-) )
JD, you do have tongue planted firmly in cheek when you say
"Amazing TV."?
ROTFL
I'm about to blow my top. Now the local station keeps cutting in with local commercials. I am so past done with this broadcast.
According to NASCAR's lap-by-lap, since Martin got around Kenseth, we've missed Sadler getting black-flagged and Allmendinger passing Kahne for seventh in favor the Jimmie Johnson show.
I'll leave a comment, though you tend to censor anything that isn't your opinion.
just boring
Come on over to the main page and leave us a summary of the telecast from your viewpoint on the Your Turn post.
We really appreciate your summary on this post, lots of folks read it over the next couple of days.
48 broke
Here we go. Past 6:00 in the East, so let's hit a bunch of promos and get off the air.
Once ABC goes off the air we are going to move the comments over to the new post.
Your Turn is next.
Thanks to everyone who hung in for this TV presentation.
JD
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