After several weeks of SPEED handling the practice and qualifying TV duties, the familiar pattern of switching back and forth between SPEED and ESPN2 will begin again on Friday.
SPEED kicks off the day at 11AM ET with NASCAR Live. Following Nationwide Series practice at 11:30AM, the first click of the remote is to ESPN2 at 2PM for Sprint Cup Series practice. Click again to come back to SPEED at 3:30PM for Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series practice.
NASCAR Now on ESPN2 starts at 5PM, while CWTS practice is still underway. ESPN2 ends PIR coverage for Friday with Sprint Cup qualifying at 5:30PM. That leaves SPEED to host the only race of the day beginning with the CWTS pre-race show at 7:30PM. When the truck race is over, Trackside will then end the day for SPEED.
ESPN will use Jerry Punch on the Friday coverage with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch are the pit reporters. Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage.
Over on SPEED it will be John Roberts at the SPEED Stage with Hermie Sadler and Randy Pemberton as the roving reporters. For the on-track daytime activity it will be Steve Byrnes, Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds up in the TV booth. Handling the interviews in the garage will be Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner.
Krista Voda leads the CWTS team with Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander as her pit reporters helping with The Setup pre-race show. Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will be calling the race.
It should be interesting to see ESPN get back in the swing of televising practice and qualifying for the Cup Series. The two guests for Trackside on SPEED will be Ryan Newman and David Reutimann. The weather looks good for Friday as NASCAR starts the next to last racing weekend of the season for 2009.
Put a fresh battery in your remote or add some additional time to the DVR as NASCAR schedules are sometimes known to be a bit off at PIR. Normally, this is not a big problem for TV viewers, but with two networks piecing together coverage of one continuous day, fans trying to record coverage might find things a bit disjointed.
One final note, there has been no announcement about NASCAR adding a celebrity host to the Sprint Cup Series banquet. Currently, Krista Voda and Mike Joy are slated to handle the awards and introductions on the stage while Steve Byrnes and Jeff Hammond will handle the TV duties for SPEED.
We passed along on Thursday a Twitter note from Sirius Radio's Pete Pistone suggesting that comedian George Lopez was being mentioned as a possible celebrity host. Fans have been voicing various opinions about whether a person without a NASCAR background should be involved. TDP will keep everyone posted on Friday.
In the meantime, please feel free to add your comments about the daytime TV activities from PIR on both SPEED and ESPN2. We will live blog the CWTS event, so please feel free to join us later in the evening. The complete TV schedule for the weekend is on the right side of out main page.
We apologize for moderating comments, but from time to time things happen that force us to babysit. We like to say that it takes all kinds to make a world. As always, this is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for dropping by!
65 comments:
@ JD, was BSPN ever in the swing of things? Glad I'll be at work tomorrow.
When will we know if there will be a celebrity host? Is this one of NASCAR's test balloons? Like they ever listen to fans anyway.
I will be here for the truck race. Also, will try to peek at the comments during the day.
JD, best I can tell so far the new upgraded system from the swell folk at Time Warner BEING PHASED IN will only allow automatic recording from more than 1 channel if you subscribe to and use TW's DVR service.
That's a lotta television. Hope to catch the SPEED stuff ONLY later in day. Going to be another spectacular sunny day here & hope to endeavor trip to Trader Joe's with sister (30 minutes away)
But I will watch the Truck race...not sure about the other stuff but hope to listen via MRN as my brother is live at all three races this weekend, as he flies in from Seattle for his twice a year vacation to races/SWest area.
Thanks for the schedule.
JD, I just had to comment on that picture - but the cactus is really something.
I will be at the track all day Friday and Saturday for Trucks and NW. The TV compound at PIR is outside of turn 4 from what I saw on the way to get tickets
i've got my DVR set for everything on speed tomorrow during the day and can't wait until the truck race. SPEED's coverage of the truck races continue to be great every week!!!
i havn't watched anything on espn/abc since talladega and i will continue not watching until changes are made.
after the crap espn has put us through since indy, i'm kinda looking foward to that furry little rat on fox. at least if you play the drinking game with the rat you still get to see and hear racing...instead of taking a shot every time jerry punch mentions MM is 50 years old while watching camera's switch back and forth with no understanding of wtf is going on.
mike in louisiana
I suspect most of my TV coverage of nascar today will be on TDP. I'm not going to bother to DVR anything. I'll probably DVR the race in case anything interesting shows up here.
DVR is smoking again today.
Truck practice is over, its qualifying this afternoon before the race later. I'll be watching the race live, should be great!
Georgia Tech at Duke scheduled on "The Deuce" at Noon on Saturday, (in the east anyway).
What's the over/under that we don't see any Cup Happy Hour?
Maybe now that the Beach Bozos have shown a little backbone in the Banquet TV switch, we will start to see some movement next year of the Saturday TV events to mainstream outlets that will dependably show them??!!
Mainstream as in NOT ESPN-Classic, or any of its relatives!
Maybe there's a glimmer of hope???!!!
boy thanks for that schedule update, JD. Following the bouncing NASCAR stuff! I will probably not bother to watch ESPN's "coverage" of qualifying. They simply don't do it well enough to make me interested to watch.
Anyone know if MW is in the booth for the trucks at PIR? I guess I'll have to tune in and find out whether I will watch it with the sound off or not.
Speed uses a grand total of 6 on air people in their broadcast of the truck series and put on a much better show than ESPN with their 11 people (if you include Tim Brewer). Maybe ESPN should get some pointers from Speed on how to run a broadcast.
Looking forward to the truck race tonight. Nationwide and Cup? Not so much
@Vicky D --
I'm with you. When I first saw that saguaro, I nearly fell over I was laughing so hard.
Wonder if it's "talking" to NASCAR?
hehehe
Confusing schedule. I'll keep it on Speed channel today. Out of work here and still not willing to "Chase" the programing. Get it big King Brian? Tired of Chasing your airing of Nascar all over the dial.
Twitter Kenny Wallace back and tell
hime to take his medicine.
God, please, please, PLEASE no George Lopez! That's all we need is a moronic no-talent with no NASCAR background. If it's him, how soon before we hear a "good ol' boy" or redneck comment? Kevin Costner is a fan, Jason Priestly races,Bill Engvall knows NASCAR, so does Jeff Foxworthy, etc. Oh, wait, Brian France is ashamed of the South...
You may as well not even list the ESPN coverage, cuz its not worth watching
Won't be watching ESPN this weekend. Tired of the whole mess.
Wonder if Kevin Conway doing the triple will get a lot of TV time with the 2 others also attempting?
Don't think I can take seeing those ads and the car ad nausem.
Will be using TDP as my NASCAR source. Will watch HotPass on Sunday.
Hope the TDP Comedy Tour is in full swing this weekend!
Unfortunately, it looks like we will be in ExtenZe hell this weekend. Sorry Di!
Will open up comments again shortly, still cleaning up the Wednesday mess.
JD
Nothing special, just the same boring practice sessions we get every week.
May be in for the truck race and possibly NW, for it is David R's final race with Discount Tire. Hoping Shrubba Dubba don't ruin both though >:(
Reading that NA$CAR is going to be at some of Gluck's Tweetups wonder if Baby Brian would ever be arsed to go. Probably not might get questions harder than "how do you feel" plus there's the wrath of Jr. Nation :).
JD as long as we won't have to look at the infomercial on that Extenz then I'll be ok with it. I presume we'll hear more about the guys racing in the 3 series this weekend instead of other stories. Taking a day's vacation today, I just turned to Speed and there's NW practice. On Imus this morning there were many commercials for SpeedTV too.
Sure is same old. Sorry for moderating comments, will be live blogging tonight for the CWTS race.
JD
If Nascar is really coming to Glucks Tweetups that would be cool as long as it's to listen and learn. red and I would have given them as earful at Dover.
My DVR is running and while I also include ESPN mush of it gets FF through while I watch everything on Speed.
I'm on the fence about George Lopez, I enjoy his humor for the most part but would prefer Mike and Krista. I get they need "entertainment" but how about someone who knows Nascar. Any rumors on the music, I know if JJ had his way it would be Metallica. But despite rumors to the contrary NASCAR picks the music not who ever wins the championship, think about it it's not a done deal until Nov 21'st and the banquet is the beginning of December. Not enough notice to get someone other than my local bar band.
5 minutes into the Cup practice and we've had an explanation of how Jeff G. could leave the race with the points lead. But I have no clue what is going on in practice. Time to go clean house.
and for the 150th time...ESPN shows us the wreck of Jimmie Johnson.....i got that wreck in my head now, i dont need no tv replay to see it1
Here we go with the 48 and Chase obsession during practice. Seems to me that only hardcore type fans will be watching practice on a Friday afternoon so do we really need to rehash all this. Ugh.
Two mentions of Mark Martin's age so far. I'm sure the hardcore fans watching practice had no idea Mark was an "older man".
Oh for the love of biscuits ...
Stupid Disney shows Sammy & starts talking about him ... The booth throws him under the bus ... AP says Sammy was a victim ...
THEN
They go to that canned in-glam studio carp of Jimmie ...
Then show the footage of the crash ...
Then show footage of the HMS crews working on Jimmie's car ...
All whilst FAILING to show & tell WHO was in front of Sammy ... slowing down the field ... The guy who benefitted the MOST ... The old guy who started 7th but had backed up traffic cause he was loose & slow ...
WHY is ALL of the media absolving and failing to identify Mark as the reason the wreck took place??
And Menzer at Nascar.com has drank way too much Jimmie Kool-Aid ...
I turned the race off last week after lap 88 ... ALL Jimmie ALL the time is NOT my idea of a race ...
all iam going to say is north wilkesboro speedway
Cup practice is underway ...
And they're showing us a canned piece on the Disney production crew, et al ... FULL screen
You watching Cup practice? Sure love how ESPN has decided to document themselves instead, showing behind the scenes and toys and, it seems to me, defensively justifying and patting their own back about all the money they've spent to televise NASCAR races.
JD, ESPN just had TB showing the tech center and every thing they can show and explain to the fans during a race. Lucky us.
Funny, I just turned on ESPN at 2:56est to watch practice. I've seen the #5 car, the #48 car and that's all.
I'll wait a few miuntes before I post to see a little more.
2:58est.....Still on the #5
2:58est ..... Showing the #48
2:58......... Commercial
But, I'll wait and log the action for a little while. Yea, I'm bored. I've got to give them a chance.. Yea know??
3:02est... ESPN back on. LOL ESPN is telling me how GOOD they are and NOT COVERING the practice.. LOL..
3:03est............... Waiting
3:04est.............. Waiting
3:05est............. Waiting
They are still telling me how good they are.. Lol...
3:06............. waiting....
3:07........... waiting..
3:07est.. Commercial..
I gave them 10 minutes and they showed me NOTHING.
ESPN.. I tried..
YOU SUCK!!!!!!
So, did the winner of practice #1 in the Cup series screw up Disney's script??
Sure enough did ... esp after they've been throwing him under the bus all weeklong ...
NOW
IF nascar wants to show any fairness ... They'll give Sammy the win on Sunday ... since PIR is where Sammy made his first Cup & Busch starts as well as won his first IRL race ...
Good eye Hammond on those hood pins :)
No live leaderboard for Nationwide Happy Hour or Truck Qualifying?!?!?
WHAT is wrong with Turner Interactive and Nascar.com to where they cannot / will not supply this to us ???
88
88
88
Just kidding. Hi everyone, looking forward to a weekend of good racing, football, and lists of numbers.
If racing on television starts just before lunch rather than just before dinner ratings would be a lot higher, IMO. By early afternoon, my schedule is set and I am not going to run back home mid-day to watch television!???
Are you certain those lists of numbers aren't posted by Jerry Punch? Or by someone mocking him?
I think one reason ESPN's telecasts were off the mark is because SPEED has covered this for the last two weeks and they have a very different focus.
Not saying it is better or worse, just reinforcing that SPEED shines the spotlight on the drivers while ESPN is repeatedly shining the spotlight...on themselves.
Interruptions while practice, qualifying or green flag racing is on the track to show features is just fundamentally wrong to NASCAR fans. We came for our teams, our drivers and our sport...not for a TV network.
Just my opinion....
JD
Good thing I missed most of BSPN's cup practice "coverage." Geeze! What an absolute shame!
Agreed JD! :)
They finally showed the decal on Tayler's hood ... for Travis Rutz ... That's only been on the hood for oh how many weeks now ...
Nascar.com screws over Sammy again ...
Instead of showing a pic of Sammy and how he "won" practice #1 ...
They show a pic of Mark and how the championship hasn't been decided yet ...
Reality is getting more twisted by the moment for ESPN as they search for a storyline for the race.
I have a feeling we are going to see and hear a whole lot of Mark Martin.
Recorded the early Speed stuff. Didn't even change the channel.
IMO there hasn't been any NASCAR coverage on any other channel.
Woo Hoo truck racing!!!
I hope we get a good Truck race tonight -- if I stay up to see it. I see we got ESPN back to their normal, stupid ways.
To the lowlife who keeps posting this "14 14 14 14 14 14 14" or "48 48 48 48 48 48 48" BS, get your sorry @X$ off the forum. You're not wanted. We have no time for a spam attack.
Fast forwarded right through ESPN's bs. Tech Center demos, a billion texas highlights, videos bragging about their networks toys, and leaving early to air an Espnews simulacast on Espn 2. EVERYTHING BUT PRACTICE! BSPN needs to just go away forever. Not a damn thing has changed in three years it's time for some new blood.
Awesome. I love Harvick's answer about the silly in race reporter thing.
Does anyone at Disney even comprehend that when Mark called Jimmie "superman" at Indy that it was NOT a compliment?? It was a DISS ...
Harvick dissed Disney and their In-Race Reporter gag ... I think Burns is getting tired of the Disney shenanigans ...
Did I mention that I really HATE having to keep changing the channel between SPEED and Disney?? Yeah, they're right next to each other ... Grrrr
I see ESPN is broadcasting from the speedway in Phoenix. Why can't they keep the focus on the cars and not the faces? FTW! The little window with the content in it is 16" x 24" on a 65" tv. What a waste of hardware. M-i-c-k-e-y.....
Oh, how old is that Mark guy again? I keep forgetting....and who drives that 48 car again?
It is not taking Disney long to get under my skin. TGITruck racing tonight!
Now they've got audio problems ...
The booth sounds like it's under water ... right before JoLo went out ...
I hate to say it but I'm getting to where I can't stand to hear JP's voice any more. It's just so un-exciting or something. I've heard narrators reading books on tape that sounds better than this.
I hate that they keep referring to Jimmie as "superman" ... He's NOT ...
And IF he holds onto the pole ...
I will NOT watch the race on Sunday ...
Missed the pole run while away for commercial. Go figure...
And that folks is what happens when you don't use a Tivo style of qualifying. You miss showing the potential pole run "live".
I just switched off ESPeeN qualifying and tuned Jayski.
I got tired of waiting for the
ticker go to the end. They are
all lost. Did enjoy Harvick putting them in their place. Guess
they couldn't talk to him because
of the 48 novel.
Thanks for the info on ESPN practice guess I'll put it on in the backround while I clean tomorrow. Am watching qualifying but I'm way behind. AP is trying but the insight that the Speed guys have about what would be a fast time is just lacking. They are just comparing them to who ever has already run. I miss Larry Mac. Then of course there is still the car in the little box with crap surrounding it for the entire run= fail
Well, I tuned in to see what was going on with qualifying and got so frustrated with the fact that even the ticker wasn't running that I changed the channel and went over to nascar.com to see the qualifying info. Geez, why can't ESPN get this? I really don't think I'm going to watch the race this weekend. One it's a late start again like last weekend, two, ESPN is obviously searching desperately for a "story" for the weekend rather than just by heavens broadcasting the race that will actually be shown and three, well, I'm just so done with this season.
@beating a head horse -- you crack me up! @50 year old fan -- I so agree with Herman needing to up his meds!
We got lucky, one less ExtenZe reference this weekend.
Editor said:
"Reality is getting more twisted by the moment for ESPN as they search for a storyline for the race."
Spot on JD, or whatever editor wrote that. Spot on..
The reality should be:
Should not the storyline be.. drumms please..................????
THE RACING?? Wow, imagine that..
Kind of a novilty these days with ESPn. Guess they want us to get the info via esp..
Love Bobby Labonte getting a pop!
JoLo qualifies 27th and Dr Punch thinks that's "running good" ?!?!
The next person that says "It is what is" ... is gonna get a salmon upside their head ... ;-)
Hi everyone! The new post is up for the live blog of the CWTS race from PIR.
Please go back to the main page and join us.
Thanks for your great comments today on the daytime coverage on SPEED and ESPN2.
I don't begrudge the product placement, after all this is the series sponsor, but Dipstick Scot is about to wear me out!
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