Juan Pablo Montoya is on the pole and that is a sign that things are going to be very different today in New Hampshire. There is a driver working for free, several teams in full meltdown mode and the oldest Chase competitor just extended his contract to drive in the series.
Into this fun walks the NASCAR on ESPN TV team for the third consecutive year. This group will have the ABC television network as a pathway to the fans for the rest of the season. All ten Chase races are on free over-the-air TV.
Allen Bestwick will open the show at 1PM with NASCAR Countdown. This is a one hour pre-race show from the Infield Pit Studio. Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty will be alongside of Bestwick for both the pre-race and for comments during the live telecast. Tim Brewer will be on site with the Tech Garage.
Last season' pre-race shows during the Chase proved to be tilted toward the Chase drivers despite what else was happening in the sport. There are lots of stories across the board to choose from, but expect a full dose of Chase-mania from the ESPN gang today.
Wallace continues to be outspoken and that has been a positive point for these telecasts. Love him or hate him, Wallace draws the fans to hear what he will say next. Saturday, Jeff Gluck from scenedaily.com offered a column critical of current NASCAR team owners like Wallace and Daugherty being on TV. It should be interesting to see if Rusty chooses to respond.
Bestwick will transition to Jerry Punch prior to the 2:16PM green flag. Punch will be joined by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree to call the race. It's no secret that things are not rosy in the TV booth and this is the type of track that requires a lot of work from the announcers.
Flat and sometimes boring, it is going to take effort to continue to comb through the field for racing. The pit reporters are also going to have to push to get the stories as passing on pit road under caution flag pit stops is going to set-up the new doublefile restarts.
Tight camera shots and in-car camera views don't work in Loudon. The track is two high speed drag races with passing going into the corners. Seeing the field come down the front and back straights is going to be key to covering who pulls out to pass. We saw it in the Mod and truck races time-and-time again.
There will be non-Chasers with nothing to lose who take risks all race long. The TV challenge is to blend the reality of what is happening in the race with the story of what is happening in the Chase. That balance will tell the tale for the viewers.
This post will serve to host your comments about the ABC coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.
Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and talk NASCAR on TV.
457 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 457 of 457I'm afraid. This will be a mess.
Nascar wants to make sure we have a 'close race to the finish'. A suspicious number of debris cautions this race...without TV showing any of them.
DrT: i have but 4 letters for you: E. S. P. N.
oh no! the dreaded "double file shoot out" comment makes an appearance.
i think this bus is not only w/o wheels, it has crashed and burned.
@Haus14 - Possibly just the big accident with Michael Waltrip and Robby Gordon happened while on the air.
@DrT...it's because ESPN tries to arrange the race for their convenience, not follow reality. That's why we call it 'racertainment'.
All this time they spend on replays they could be resetting the field.
Between all the JP shots I've had today and the RED shot, now I have to take one for shootout style. I may not last the rest of the race.
Harvick had a leaking brake line, fixed during pit stop per PRN
good call MV that one was shown
Wow. A LOT of fnas have left, judging from that shot just before the restart. It looked fatirly full at the start.
ACCCK. junior crashed!
!#&^!#&!^#!&#^&! Jr crashed
ahhhhhh (lots of very inappropiate words!)
so much for a great race by the 88!
Once again, REPLAY style.
Rats. I ususally like Reut, too.
can I just say from a personal standpoint how disapointed I am right now. Poor Dale
DJ needs to stop trying to make an excuse for Reutimann, he got into Junior and wrecked him. Seems like DJ was fishing for excuses for his former teammate.
Oh no! Poor Jr.
Talk about not being able to catch a break. Comes for well back, runs up front all day, then this happens. Oy.
Once again guys, I am going to be asking you to go back to the main page when the race is over and leave us your thoughts on this race telecast.
This has been our most read column of the week since we started doing it.
Will let you know when it goes up.
JD
Reut:"I'm so loose I can't stay off of anybody. I look like an idiot out here today."
#88, broken upper control arm and brake rotor. Done.
Once again Hamlin has been smoking off and on all day and it's not because of the splitter. The 00 saw it and started to check up.
A Nationwide car insurance featuring Dale Jr. right after the 88 crashes out...good timing.
JD...if only the people were reading it who could do something to make things better...
@red--I hear that.
@Boyd--those of you playing the drinking games may have to switch to Thunderbird if this keeps up during the rest of the Chase. Can't beat the price (30 twice).
Reutimann must have really overreacted to Hamlin's smoke, he was completely to the inside of Earnhardt Jr., maybe even a little bit ahead of him, just before the camera panned away from them.
Go JPM!
dale: "well, if you saw it, you know what happened."
ohhh, SNAP!
he is NOT a happy camper right now.
Wow! Dale Jr. shut Shannon down! "If you were watching, you saw what happened."
Boy, Jr. is unhappy. He doesn't usually say anything bad about anyone.
Jr weary of STUPID questions.
...that was sad...he is really down this time...usually has a good attitude but has to be sick. :(
*sniff*
Jr. looked like that was his Kyle B face.
Can we get rid of the BWINS & their stupid questions?
Seriously...how does it FEEL?
What happened (when it's obvious?)
& last years favorite from SS
"Did you know your tire was gonna blow Jr"...cringeworthy
& not a bit of chocolate in the house....darn it!
Good replay of Dinger's spin today for a change.
Jr. gave good interview on PRN but still threw Reuti under the bus
Wow, now that's how to shut her up Dale.
How can any broadcaster miss so much action? How did we see the Mods wrecking, but only get REPLAYs here? I don't get it.
@ sophia: i think "p**sed off" is more accurate than "sick." any time dale says someone "ran out of talent," you can bet he's angry: it's one of the biggest insults in his arsenal (at least, w/o his usual "colorful" language!)
@ patrick: remember that for the post-race column! you have a VERY valid observation there!
rich said...
Jr. gave good interview on PRN but still threw Reuti under the bus
and, in my opinion, that's EXACTLY where he belongs.
what was up with the yellow
So happy for Mark
Exciting... but dangerous finish
I think DJ just had flashbacks to him sitting in the middle of the track at NH with cars flying at him when he was saying they had to throw a caution for AJ there.
NASCAR almost waited too long to throw that caution. Thanks for letting up know AP.
Redefining confused.
Ridiculously longer than should've been throwing the yellow. Then Hoots has the nerve to chastise the drivers for not slowing down when it finally did come out.
Guys, before you leave take a minute to stop by our Your Turn post and leave your comments about the telecast today.
Don't go away and not let your opinion become a record we can all look back on and talk about this week.
Now is the best time to do it.
Thanks for leaving your comments.
Indeed, why did they WAIT so long for the yellow...cars coming around could've hit him...he was just a target sitting duck
JPM did not want to reck Mark. :-) Might bump him next time. ha
JPM... "screwed you" ??? That's called racin', sone.
I love that heppy cackle from JPM!
Congrats to Mark.
Evidently Dinger was mixing it up w/someone after the race heading to pit road...guess we will never know
44 and 47 called to the trailer.
Driver, spotter and crew chief.
39, 16 and 83 random check along with 11 and 42.
Is the show oVER? My station in CIncy just cut to another show? WTH?
@patrick and haus- 44 and 47, Hoots was yelling at them about the yellow being the end
You guys have to stop by and let it fly on the Your Turn post.
Just head back to the main page.
Thanks again for experiencing this um...interesting race telecast with us.
See you next week.
JD
I just cannot believe Nascar waited until the field was in Turn 4 to throw the caution. How irresponsible and dangerous. My God. And they always say their Number One concern is safety. What if Mark had wrecked into Allmendinger? Talk about affecting the outcome of a race and possibly their championship. I am so mad I could spit.
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