This is one of the biggest races of the Chase. Lowe's Motor Speedway is the home track for almost every Sprint Cup Series team. It's a night race under the lights and in primetime on ABC.
Allen Bestwick starts the night with the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show at 7PM. He will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Center. Handling the interviews are Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Vince Welch and Dave Burns.
The pre-race show is thirty minutes and then the NASCAR on ESPN team takes the air. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will handle the live action.
Last night, ESPN started the night off with a great pre-race show for the Nationwide Series race. Bestwick handed the race off to announcer Marty Reid and the action began on a great note. The first thirty minutes consisted of wideshots of racing, aerial views of the speedway and interviews with drivers out of the race.
Then, ESPN turned the page and started down the road fans know all too well. Extremely tight shots of one or two cars. Recorded soundbites played back during the live race under the green flag. Bizarre oldies music blaring while the announcers threw to commercial. It was the same bad dream again for NASCAR fans.
Marty Reid and Dale Jarrett repeatedly told the producer and director that there was "three wide action further back in the pack." It did not matter. Stories like Mike Bliss and Dave Blaney carving their way through the field were poorly covered.
It was all Sprint Cup drivers all the time. It has been that way since Daytona with the exception of the short-track race this summer from Indy.
On this Saturday night it should be interesting to see if ESPN learns from the Friday night struggles or just repeats the same TV production pattern. One thing is for sure, we will all learn the answer to that together.
To add your TV-related opinion of this broadcast, 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.
756 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 601 – 756 of 756minutes ago i read on twitter k kahne had switched ignition boxes and the booth just now tells me. just sayin
Haus, ESPN has been a disaster since they showed up with Brent Musburger and Suzy Kolber.
Like Patrick said, the play by play guy is the QB and without a good one, the telecast gets off balance.
That is why even when AB comes on for a couple of minutes, he gets your attention.
As a veteran fan and a guy who worked in TV for a long time, this is just sad. I am not even angry anymore, just sad for the sport and the fans.
Why would anyone other than hardcore fans like us be watching this disjointed crap?
oh, i'm not a fan, i just tune in for the bumper music.
so twitter now informs us that the jackman on the 55 wasn't hit by the 83: he collided w/a fellow crewman.
guess those watching tv and not multi-tasking will never know.
not sure i can take another 100 miles tonight w/o losing my patience AND temper.
I predict there'll be a caution for debris between laps 275 and 280.
Nascar probably won't throw their usual 'competition caution' this week, since KK called them out last week. Though he did back down today...said he was 'Just frustrated'.
I agree with this:
"Three minutes of Allen Bestwick just told me more than thirty minutes of Jerry Punch had done."
@Sally, with Jr's comments about his bad year this week, I thought he was hinting to Hendrick to put Eury Jr back as his crew chief.
I see Jr. is rim riding again. At least he's still running.
They miss Kahne passing Kenseth for the lead, but show a replay of Johnson passing Kenseth for 2nd. Go figure.
At this point, I don't know if Jr. has any clue as to what to do. Pretty discouraging.
Truex top ten?
I can't believe there is no racing on this track. Look at the groups of cars you see when they did the speeds at the line. Has to racing there.
Gymmie - IF you're still here ... Do NOT forget about Saturday Night Live tonight !! ;-)
Not a chaser,so no one cares.
17 secs back to 10th. Caution on the way.
JD- I have no clue where anyone is except Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson.
Sailing into the money stop!
Funny listening to the 42 radio as the night unravels... complaining about all the debris cautions in all the other races this year, but today nothing....
Guess they can blame Kahne!
AP just commented that he loves the speeds at the line. I agree. It gives, at a glance, a feel for who's fast at the moment. I just wish they'd rank a little deeper into the list.
Boy, the whole race hinges on this last pit stop. Be nice to have a nice split screen like the old days. And then a nice recap of pit stops and then reset the field. Sounds easy does't it
Isn't it interesting how Kyle, the darling of the 'pre season' has dropped off the radar in Cup? One day you're in, the next day you're out!
@JD- So that means JP is Jamarcus Russell? :)
@rich... too easy for these onionheads.
JD,
How do the cameras work in the cars? Do all the feeds in the cars (roof bumper incar) all record to separate decks? Or is it whatever feed they have selected is recorded?
I cant figure out why they wouldn't show KK actually flipping the switches.
Tripp,
I love the speeds at the line, too. Its the only time we get a wide shot of the track
OMG! Are we really watching last weekend's victory lane celebration? I have no more words.
WHAT is TV showing??????
oh, I'm sorry. Race is over, JJ won.
I looked up at wrong time
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Sally, Project Runway is a lot better than the broadcast of this race!
I love JJ but that was just.... I don't even have words
Bestwick must be soooo frustrated. He knows this coverage is just awful.
It may get my vote for the worst yet.
Makiki
Honolulu
Sophia, attendance in Charlotte is usually very good. Turn 4 appears empty (blue seats). Under the condos I see a lot of silver seats. I can see the checkered flag seats on Turn 2/backstretch. And sadly I see lots of empty seats on the frontstretch. Can't see the infield but it is normally packed. No way to ever tell the infield attendance.
This is the first Oct race I've missed since 1999.
if this coverage wasn't so sad it would be funny.
ESPN obviously has something against showing green flag coverage.
If this was the first Nascar race you saw on Tv would you still be watching?
@Charlie, NO
@Bill... cams are radio controlled and switched from the truck. It looks like the switched feed is recorded in the truck. Only one feed per car recorded at a time.
So I guess someone on Desperate Housewives got some new ...
Is Home Depot too cheap to do another ad with Logano? This one was cute the first 50 times. Not so much now.
Noooo, Max!
Thanks Tripp.
Sorely disappointed in the "Johnson is wonderful" soliloquy from the booth on PRN. I can see that on TV any hour of the day. Not upset at all that I missed the first third of this "show."
Must be nap time in the booth. Too much dead air going into the pit stops. Say what you will about Rusty, but he's up on the chip.
Officials were quick to throw that caution. Normally, they asked a time or two if whoever reported it is sure or will verify with the corner spotters. this time, as soon as debris was brought up, "put it out" (yellow flag).
I didn't even realize Max was still on the track.
I thought it was only Chasers in this race.
@charlie: hell. to. the. no.
makes you wonder how our sport can ever grow.
Doc just lied.
Yes there is a element to the transponders placing the cars off of pit road. However anything close is called by an actually human.
Dave Burns sounded so excited when he thought Jimmie Johnson won the battle off pit road, is he auditioning for play-by-play? Or is he just a JJ fan?
Naw... that caution was easy to call. Max "dun blowed up."
@ Red..i isn't growing. The tracks may have spread across the country, but interest seem to be retracting. Since about the time Brian the Brain took over.
Trish in NC
Thanks. My brother and his wife are there tonight but I don't talk to them much..but will call in a couple days to see how it was.
I think they are in between 3 and 4? He says they will see cars coming at them, in the turn and on the back side.
Charlie,
No. barely been looking at the tv tonight! Just came in from putting sheets on the rest of the impatiens.
I am so not into this race...piddling around the net ...I knew after TNT it would be like this..and sadly it continues...
Ok....time for Jerry Punch to bring it home towards the checkered flag.
I wonder if I can get brain damage from this race?
Jerry Punch - Race Whisperer
@Bill... That might be a little harsh. If NASCAR is like other racing series, they'll use all available resources to determine the right answer. We shot the ACT Late Model race at Loudon and the head of ACT had us focus one camera on the start finish line, just in case. My guess is NASCAR uses all the tools.
@ Bevo....Classic!
JD, I hate to tell you, but we all have brain damage because we're watching this travesty.
JD Not brain damage but maybe alcohol poisoning
@bevo... lmao!
Daly Planet Editor said...
I wonder if I can get brain damage from this race
well, i know i feel stupidier for staying with it. i'm gonna have to stay up tonight doing NYT crosswords online to bring my IQ back up.
That is a Mark Martin Caution!
anyone able to read the speeds at the line. Just as I focused on it, it was gone.
Thanks! Inspiration thy name is Bloody Mary (x3) :)
JPM said it was the same junk that has been here for hundreds of laps! Heh.
J_Fellenbaum
Don't you mean 50-year old Mark Martin? Isn't that his full name?
red, I'm happy to see another cruciverbalist.
I LOVE NYT crosswords.
J.D.,
Even Chad Knaus is falling asleep at the prospect of another Jimmie Johnson championship!
Seriously, this probably finishes the season for me.
WCK
@ bevo, brilliant.
Debris? Where? Let's hope that Kasey doesn't wreck on the DFR SOS.
Nah, Knaus was just caught watching the broadcast
so, putting together what Punch Drunk said about this caution, "the 5 got into posistion to get his lap back and was waiting for nascar to throught the caution" >>>>> minutes later "There really is no debries...."
How can they sleep at night doing that crappy at there job....
@trl" my goal in life is to get will shortz create a friday nyt crossword that is completely nascar related! every single answer is related to the sport. ideally, the grid would be shaped life a car. . .
so during green flag pit stops we get full screen coverage and what do we get during caution flag pit stops??? crew chief interviews. Is this race being directed by chimpanzees?
The slow motion shot of Chad Knaus tilting his head back in fustration made me laugh. I thought TNT used 'We Know Drama'
Tripp,
Theres an official whos only job is to watch that line has a monitor to be able to rewind and review who came off first (or 16th and so on). If its close, the tower calls down to the official to make the call.
I wiah I hadn't finished my NYT Xword last week...I could be doing it now.
SS to Kenny Francis: "Do you think you made the right adjustments during the last pit stop?"
What Kenny wanted to say: "Of course we did you stupid pillock. Do you think they put me up on the box for my skills in shuffleboard?"
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
@sally: online crosswords are also interesting. i'm just sayin' . . .
It must be from my local affiliate, because my audio sounds like these guys in the booth are talking through a tin can.
@bill... So that's what it's like in the big time. (grin)
Oh, red, if only........
I usually have a couple of books of Sunday puzzles so I'm never without a daily dose of puzzle.;-)
It looks really cold outside. It also looks like the grandstands are 50% full. Some sections look like they have a dozen people left.
@ Red, I've never tried one online? Where can I find it?
Notice I'm more excited about that than this race?
Tripp - I keep waiting for the crew chief caught at just the wrong time who responds what he really thinks to one of these stupid questions. Oh -- wait -- here's one for Drew B!
This has really gotten bad we are talking crossword puzzles. Not me however I'm spelling challenged.
Wow.....actually interviewing a non-Chase crew chief in the closing stages of the race.
@Seattle--yup I'm here :) I think AJ is going to stream if not it'll be on NBCs site and Hulu
@bevo--LOL! Race Whisperer!
@Sally--agree! Especially since they cut out the line "ceiling or NA$CAR?" it's not as funny without that line :(.
Tripp, I nearly choked on my tea when she asked that.
are you guys using the espn racecast on jayski site?
It is 50°F there now. At one time it was 44° during the race but has moved back up now.
it has chat also
Race Whisperer is the comment of the night. Thnx Bevo.
@Red,
Will Shortz accepts submissions. Why don't you create a NYT crossword with a NASCAR theme? I suggest a Monday instead... have mercy on us solvers out here. (For the uninitiated, the crossword gets more difficult as the week goes on. Monday being the easiest.)
WCK
@kudzucarl... lucky her question wasn't so epically moronic.
Chad and Jimmie laughing their ass off about them drawing pictures with the speedy dry. Evidently there is a ton of it on the track.
Bevo, you're the man
Oh no they are promoting ESPN News. Think that means the checker flys and we are gone lol.
Jerry Punch: "If or when this Charlotte race ends"...so I can go home...sigh.
@ Sally
http://www.bestcrosswords.com/bestcrosswords/Home.page
This is what you've reduced us to, ESPN! We're talking about freakin' *crossword puzzles* instead of the race.
--KarenB
@sally; i bounce around various sites that i get when i google "nyt crossword online." i've also played w/justa wide open "crossword puzzle online" search to find some from overseas.
@deadhorse... X2
How come they're not talking to Marcos under caution? Because he's a lap down? Why do they bother even having it?
Note to drivers. DO NOT be the in race reporter.
All of a sudden, there are new drivers to show. Imagine that.
Ryan McGee, "Once again Tony Eury Jr, who I'm told is the worst crew chief ever born, has his car in the top 10."
Buschseries61, we've had lots of rain the past few weeks. The air has that cold bone chillin dampness to it. This probably hurt walk-up sales.
And no one wants to see the same winner every week.
Stremme to the trailer for racing a Chaser.
Now the race starts. 20 to go
@dot... roger that
Biff is auditioning for a John Deere sponsorship next year.
David Gilliland should talk to Tony Stewart about completing a 4 wide pass.
Nice save by Biffle!
Mike Bliss is in this race?
@ Karen and Red...thanks! That will keep mo online for hours!
Nice driving by The Biff to keep it out of traffic!
great save by the #16, go biffle, finally the truck and the booth got it in sync. it is about time. decent coverage this time. and pit reporter is on to give us an update. this is what we want, not just now but always. we deserve it
Jerry Punch have lost it
@Beating, Dot and Rich- Thanks. Every now and then a blind squirrel finds an acorn :)
I am absolutely exhausted trying to keep up with this telecast.
No rhyme or reason.
I hate when they say no damage, and the specifically point out a part and say they are good.
She said Brackets are good, when they are clearly showing the far left one is almost S shaped..... at the same dang time.
I know ESPN thinks we are stupid (well we are watching) but it must be my lying eyes.
trish in nc: I'm sure both reasons had a big effect on attendance. I don't remember Charlotte so empty before.
This could be an exciting finish....I can feel it building....I hope JP is ready for it.
45 in Greensboro area and chance of snow flurries in NC mountains. In pouring rain today, stands were mostly full for F1 qualifying in Brazil, but slightly warmer.
Jerry Punch may be sitting in his car calling the end of the race by cell phone, waiting for the traffic signal to change.
He is just a stammering mess. Get the cliche counter ready
Daly Planet Editor said...
He is just a stammering mess. Get the cliche counter ready
October 17, 2009 11:19 PM
*******
Can I use a pencil? I don't think my fingers work anymore. :-)
Richard it is already snowing in th Boone area!!
STOP THE CAR CAMERA SHOTS
Why doesn't ESPN just give Jimmie the Cup, and we'll have done with this crap coverage for this season? They've convinced me that Johnson is this year's champion.
In the (recent) words of Carl Edwards, it would be a mercy killing.
--KarenB
wow. wide screen shot w/the leaders. what a concept. please do not go back to single car coverage/rear bumper shots
Thank goodness there's some good racing from3rd on back...and we're actually getting to see it!
Trish, thanks. Too close for comfort. Brrrrr.
Give Knaus and JJ credit...they have certainly figured out how to win a 10 race title. Yawn.
We have a "Your Turn" post up for your comments on the TV coverage of this race.
This is out most widely read post of the week. If you could take a moment to give us some thoughts about tonight, we would appreciate it.
JD
why would espn cut from the battle
No matter how you look at it, JJ is an awsome driver who deserves another championship driving like this.
He is a nice, polite guy, and has been under rated for years.
How many points can actually be made up in a race like 120 or so??
Who did NOT see this coming?? Ugh!!
Fitting that JJ would win for Lowe's last race as sponsor.
BTW, I won a dollar from Dan that JJ would be still leading the points.
3 camera cuts at the finish. Interesting. Make sense to anyone?
what? they changed cameras instead of holding finish line? WTH?
about 5 laps was DECENT camera work...out of HOW MANY LAPS
EXHAUSTING indeed
Something like 160? 165?
Horrible call by Jerry Punch at the checkered flag. He was out of gas.
ESPN butchers the end & doesn't show every car finish..again.
Brad -- I think it is 155 or 160.
Interesting shot of the finish.
yeehhh Johnson wonnn.not a news flash anymore
Who didn't see THAT one coming? :sigh:
I am soo glad we did not waste our money on this race. Clone car = clone race = clone results. We took our race money and went to the beach this week. Will have to think long & hard about the May races..
What did Chad say was the most wonderful?
Did people feel like this when The King was winning everything? I don't know, since races weren't covered like they are now.
@jd... If I'm looking at what you're talking about, they showed the winner and two battles for position to the line. While that sounds good, I'd have held the shot on the line and racked the other two for replay in the post race if they were deemed worthy. Don't think they were so I'd send them to the bin.
This is what I said on Twitter after last week when Jimmie Johnson won and took the points lead at Fontana:
"Now the Chase for the Sprint Cup is gonna get boring."
And from what I've been seeing through the Live Leaderboard and PRN, the Chase is indeed getting boring again and for the fourth year in a row. And it's gonna get worse next week since they're heading to Martinsville. Tonight is proving, once again, why we hate the Chase for the Sprint Cup and want it gone. After tonight, I'm calling it in for the year. Unless there is a big turnaround at either Martinsville or Talladega, I'm through with the 2009 season and will wait until the 2010 Daytona 500. I refuse to sit through all this obsession towards Jimmie Johnson and how he will dominate every single week! Forget this stupid Chase! I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!
@JD- no sense at all. The old KISS principle should be followed
Thanks for the replies here is supposedly the official type answer. 180 for the winner and 34 for 43 not counting bonus points for leading a lap or the most laps. So I guess all the fans sayin just give JJ the cup may be right. Only Martin and Gordon are within a race worth of points and Gordon keeps falling little by little.
The most that can be made up in a race is 161. If the winning driver leads the most laps it's 185 for the win, 5 for leading a lap, and 5 more points for leading the most for a total of 195. The 43rd place driver doesn't lead a lap, he ends up with simply 34 points. 195-34=161 points.
@Karen
Chad was talking about "the perfect" weekend. Being fastest in all practices, winning the pole, leading the most laps and winning the race.
I take it your not a JJ fan smokey?
Answer me this longtime NASCAR fans.
When Petty won all the time, did they talk about him nonstop? and IGNORE all the REST????????
That's what's annoying.
And there is NO mickey fricky way the camera work back then stank like today. i've watched old shows on TAPE.
Less graphic, LESS TOYS, less gunk, MORE WIDE SHOTS!!
We need that.
LOL....when Petty was winning all the time there wasn't live television coverage.
Thanks for hanging in there through this garbage. Go to the new post and let it fly.
I think we all deserve a Sunday with NO NASCAR!
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