Can you believe it? Here we go with the final live CWTS blog of 2009!
Homestead is the place and Krista Voda is the face who will start the SPEED TV. She hosts The Setup with Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander. Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will call the action.
The trucks are under the lights on a nice night in South Florida for racing. The pictures from the NMG compound have been great to this point and the sound has been superb on practice and qualifying shows.
SPEED keeps it simple and can be expected to shine the spotlight on as many CWTS teams as possible during this final race. It should be interesting to see how the action plays out on the track and translates to the TV.
This post will serve to host your comments on the CWTS race from Homestead. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks again for stopping by!
168 comments:
Hey all, truck racing for the last time this year!
:(
Everyone will rock as usual but I'll miss them this weekend.
Keith and crew have done an excellent job and let him know.
Look forward to a great race tonight and hope Grampa will be able to have some fun tonight :)
say what you will about the anthem tonight but she's my eye candy so I'm good! =)
DW doing the race tonight will be interesting, though during qualifying they were pretty good. Mikey was really ontop of Ricky spinning out
Been a long day for Byrnes and company, they are getting a little loopy.
Truck time!
I love it when the boys get loopy after 90 hours of LIVE TV LOL I will miss u guys soooo much.
yup the yearly tradition of the Allen Parsons Project and 2 Waltrips :)
It has been a long day for them but still doing a good job. Hope they get lots of rest this off season They are such troopers. Such a long season for TV guys and gals
Allen Parsons Project, lol I love it. If only Rick and Phil started a band...
I'm hoping to be back in time for the race! I have to go get ingredients for my pie - but it shouldn't take that long.
I know SPEED's coverage will be better than ESPN's this weekend.
Krista knocking it out of the park on the fist hit...as usual
@David--I forget who I got it from I think it was a Planeteer :)
I told the truck guys I thought the Phoenix camping skit was not great. Just my opinion.
This is when she is at the best. Just being herself.
@david and Sandie I think it actually came from Johnny TV two weeks ago. I think it means Mikey is the 'project' part of the name
Last truck race for Roush-Fenway...
Should be interesting to see what the series brings to the table next year and who shows up to drive.
I just want to see Johnny B back for 2010
IIRC, Alan Parsons was one guy and not really a band in the true sense of the word. Never toured.
Loving the set up so far. Oh, what the other pre race shows could learn from this.
JD I think that's a very important point about Krista and Wendy being the best when they are themselves. It is not as fun or somehow appropriate for the women of Nascar to be put in a position that can be ridiculed. The men are, pardon the stereo typing here, frat/good ol'boys and it dosen't seem out of character. I realize it is the femanist double standard, but I'm glad that Krista and Wendy hold to the strong female who isn't afraid of being a women in a mans world. They don't have to act like a boy to get the respect of the garage. IMHO
Yes it might have been from Johnny TV now that you say that! But it's definitely an oldie because I know it's been more than a few week that I've heard it.
Yes Mikey is definitely a project :)
I love Brendan!
ri88girl, very well said!
@ ri88, ditto what JD said.
What makes Wendy & Krista so good at what they do compared to Spittle? I don't get it.
David - I was wondering WHO would be the first guy to let Jessie James off the hook ... for screwing up the National Anthem ... based solely on the way she looks ... LOL ;-)
ri88 - Wendy's got the garage's respect because ... she grew up in the sport ... and she can take it as good as she gives it ... LOL My only complaint about Wendy is her shirts are a size too SMALL & (in my eyes) she loses credibility because of that ...
BTW - Heard from a friend of Tayler's ... that it was Joe Albertson's great grandson that dumped him on the last lap at PIR ...
OK, is this young lady a country singer? Help....
Gymmie - Are you having issues with Sybil tonight?? LOL ;-)
Why does Mikey keep saying the Manufacturer's Championship hasn't been decided yet in the Trucks?? Toyota won it a few weeks ago ...
JD...actually she isn't. She's another hybrid singer...apparently Nashville didn't totally love her as a straight country artist.
More of a top 50 singer.
Tia...SHUSH! I have a crush on the girl okay! I am at least honest enough to admit that!!
JD - Ummm ... NOPE!!
She's uhhh ... I dunno ...
Who is this young gorgeous chickadee with Krista..Jesse james but more info ?
Gonna miss the SPEED guys..comfort food for NASCAR.
Get out the bepto bismol for BSPN this weekend, if you are watching. :-D
@ tia, I was thinking about the same thing w/Gymmie/Sandie. lol
Is Jessie James her stage name? What here story? Never seen or heard of her before tonight.
So, she was the female cop in the RaceDriven promo?
Final CWTS S&P's for 2009:
#21 Nick Tucker* (has Denny Hamlin foundation on the truck and ran over 40 laps in both practices, a maybe)
#38 Mike Garvey
#41 Dan Brode
#47 Richard Harriman
#93 Shane Sieg* (Has the #38 as the S&P team, ran 32 laps in both practices, another maybe)
Dan Brode? Lordy....
Okay, as the only person who has done any kind of background on our anthem singer tonight, her name is Jessica, but for the "image" they went with Jessie.
She's been at a few races this year, I believe the All-Star and Chicago she sung the Cup anthems and did okay. It wasn't overly great but by far not the worst this year.
Can't really classify her under any specific genre either as she mixes several sounds into her music. Kinda got a Christina Agulerria (sp) voice to her...thats all I got for now.
I like her...then again a gorgeous brunette who is my age...I think that figures...
Anyways, been a solid pre-race tonight. Really loved the Roush and 2003 revisit segments.
Don't like how they say Ron "gave it away" last year since Johnny had equally as many throw away races...
Note of interest, Tucker did NOT have a pit crew at all last week, I actually have a picture of him leaving his empty pit stall...found it amusing.
Wonder how SPEED got into that mix?
@ David, I think it was the same pit crew the 47 NW team used last week too.
Thanks for telling is about your girl.
This is what I love about the SPEED gang!
OK, this is why we LOVE the truck series on SPEED. Thank you Keith & CO.
I LOVED those bloopers! What a fun pre-race.
Yes Dot it was. He parked on lap 1. Got a picture of that too. I actually think MSRP hauls the 47, 90, and 91 all together in the same hauler too. I got the 90/91 hauler leaving, never saw the 47 tho...
@Buschseries61 - Good job on the S&P report, as you said, there are a few maybes because of sponsors on the trucks that are usually S&P.
I think #50 Wheeler Boys might be a S&P tonight. The #50 and #05 were late entries and Wheeler, in his 2 starts this season, parked at Martinsville where he was a late entry and ran the whole race at Phoenix where he wasn't a late entry. My money is on him parking early.
Jessie's on Island Def Jam records ... which means she is definitely NOT "country" ... She's toured with the Jonas Brothers ...
She's attempted the anthem and was not good ...
She's even claimed she was related to THE "Jesse James" ... bandit, not bike guy ...
That was way tooo nasally ... and why was she screaming ?!?!?
Harvick's reaction was too funny ...
ok, too much of that hiccup -partial yodel deal style singing...she hit one weird word or note towards the end...otherwise,a good job.
I don't remember miltary stuff after dark.
ugh-that anthem wasn't good..pseudo-country does NOT get it.
You guys are a tough bunch on the late shift!
@David - Can these haulers carry 3 cars? I didn't think they could, the front 1/3 is a full-height "lounge" area and the back 2/3 is storage at the bottom and car storage at the top.
Then again, maybe the MSRP trailer is special and doesn't have a regular "lounge" area at the front.
Ouch! My ears!...
She's gotten better in her attempts...
She is a loud lil one tho.
man that booth has quite a height difference!
BS61 - Harriman's not gonna be a typical S&P ... Remember, he's trying to get laps under his belt to get "approved" for bigger tracks ... The kid's from out here and wants to race ...
David - SPEED should've pointed out that Grampa was blocked by Team Toyota on that last restart and several laps afterwards so that JohnnyB could get away ... I like JohnnyB, but thought it was low that Toyota would pull the blocking move ...
JD-that's what we get pd the big bucks for...no, wait..that's something else..;)pretty but vapid does nothing for me.
@Seattle--I was like what? Sybil how'd you know my friend Sybil and what was I missing about having issues. Then I scrolled up :p. I forgot I had a different email up when I posted. Too many email addys hehehehehehe
MV, I am only speculating that was the case. I never saw JTG's hauler leave so I may have missed it. I know MSRP is working that whole 47 effort though in terms of setting and prepping the car as well
David - I feel better I'm not the only one that noticed the height differences. Phil needs a stepladder for Christmas.
JD - I'm a classically trained singer with sensitive ears ...
So, I call them like I see / hear them ... ;-)
During truck qualifying, a couple of the trucks actually had additional sponsors so maybe that's a sign for better times for the series. Good pre-race show. Don't know if we'll be able to stand 2 Waltrips in the booth . . . .
My mom made me join the Glee Club...but that is a whole different story!
Tia, its nothing new, but if you think Johnny had anything to do with that then your nuts. That may have been an exec move, it may have been teammates helping JB. Hard to say. Not the first time someone's done it and it won't be the last...
perfect weather tonight, would love to see Chad break through since Jason White is probably a long shot
Sophia - Not military helos ... but Miami-Dade Policia ... LOL
The saving grace for the truck series may be the Internet.
Sites are learning that NASCAR fans are online. Tire Monkey got blown out of the water after Mario G's little kids in their Halloween costumes that day.
6p0105...: Harriman ran just 3 laps total in 2 practice sessions combined and spun around in qualifying as well. I have a feeling he will have a short night.
On Nascar.com they have Pit Command free for the truck race.
C'mon Darrell, KB will pass half the field in the first lap?
Glad they dropped those flashing lights on the split screen background...
Charlie, where is the link? Right on the main page?
Garvey off/out.
David - I didn't say JohnnyB was the one who called for the team blocking ... I know it was an executive decision ...
Harriman and Garvey are already off the track.
It's just the radio call JD
wow! i came home from dinner @ lap 10 & you guys are up to 65 comments already!
love our camping world trucks on speed!!
tia, Harvick v. Crafton this year...
one could argue...
JD, I got an e-mail about it. I just forwarded that e-mail to you.
I'm already tired of listening to DW lap 22. His Kyle Busch lovefest is bringing back some bad memories.
Did Cook not have a ride or did he not qual? I wasn't paying attn earlier. Sad for him :(
@ B61, I'm thinking the same thing.
Thank you Bobby Allison! DW can take a very long break now.
it may just ne me but . . . dw is not appreciated tonight. i want our regular truck guys on the last broadcast. please, guys, don't do this next year.
oh my god! bobby allison in the booth tonight! how incredibly exciting! for once, i'll be glad to listen to the booth while i just watch the green flag racing.
quite a score, truck gang!
We need a caution to prevent 6 trucks on the lead lap. Bad enough with the S&Ps.
And to be the anti-DW, here's Bobby Allison! Hurrah...don't need them to really call the race, cuz the camera shots are showing the story!
@Dot - Cook did not have a ride. The 02 never enterred.
Dot - I don't think Terry had a ride for this race. He was practicing a NW car today though.
Thank goodness this is the last race for the ridiculous pit road rule.
Thanks guys about Cook. If I was an Odd Wad I would've given up my ride for him. The last race of the season, he should have at least started the race to keep his streak.
@ Robyn, ditto.
nothing personal, fellow planeteers, but i'm thinking i'm just gonna watch the race and maybe toss a comment in on commercials. this is such a solid broadcast that i can actually follow the action by watching the tv!
Think Rick is having a bit of a tough time directing traffic in the booth. Wonder if DW will stay for the entire race?
Yeah surely one of the guys racing towards the back (not David Starr) could have put together a truck for Terry to keep his streak going.
Red, whaaaaaaaaat? Watch NASCAR on TV? What a concept!
@red--DW in the booth at Homestead is a yearly tradition. Ms. Stevie lets him come play the last race. You should talk to her about that :)
Yes it was great to have Mr. Allison in the booth tonight. I have his book still need to read it along with Schrader's and Hermans :). Very sad that he lost both of his boys :(
JD, maybe DW will have to take a rest before long. Too many Waltrips in the booth.
jd, strangely enough, i'm feeling slightly guilty about actually WATCHNG a race and putting twitter and TDP on the back burner!
but it is soooo worth it tonight!
well clearly DW is looking out the window,
One positive thing about DW - he is always looking out the window. Nice catch.
Shane Sieg is off the track.
and DW calls the spin first! as much as I hate his bromance w/Kyrlie, he knows how to call a race!
No comments = good TV. How many times have we said that?
Here's something very interesting....
40 laps into this truck race and the crew in the booth has at least gave a mention to every driver / team in tonights race.
I'll repeat... EVERY driver has been mentioned !!
Good job SPEED !
@ Pamm, agreed.
Rough night for Lance Hooper and the #73 team.
Old DW is working hard tonight. Think he is overshadowing MW.
@ Ken - Thanks for reporting that info! If Speed can mention all 36 trucks in 40 laps, ESPN should have no problem covering 43 cars Saturday and Sunday. Well, it is a nice thought.
DW has a good PXP style, I guess I never notice it on FOX cuz i'm listening for Joy on that
I guess Rick has read our ESPN complaints...very interesting.
Rick! That was hilarious. "As they run" rofl.
you can say that Rick, its almost half way through the race and this is the fist time. Mention it too many MORE times and we may have a problem ;)
Ken - plus when Phil mentions the truck he always mentions the sponsor too.
How about having fun watching NASCAR on TV?
ya know, jd, this is so much fun that i may just skip the rest of the weekend so i can finish this season feeling good about our sport.
Love DW, interloper.
Hey! Give Marty another chance on Saturday. He has NOTHING to lose and I bet he will hang it out.
Sure is good to hear DW's vioce tonight. Can't wait for next spring.
Wish he could fill in for JP tomorrow! dream-dream....
they just gotta fix these truck starts for earlier next yr for East Coasters. I'm to be a workin' gal & I'm kinda beat by this hr of the evening-course, I'm old, so that may account for it too...;)
@ JD, Marty's cool. It's the other stuff.
Agreed JD. The NW B team in the truck did a solid race last weekend, and I like Marty, if DJ would just relax it would be all good.
JD- I will probrably skip the Nationwide race. The series is a mess. A Cup driver will win the championship and race. S&P teams will take out cars that will race in qualifying. The series needs some changes before I will watch again.
@jd: hmmmm: "he has NOTHING to lose . . ."
verrrry interesting, sgt schultz. verrrry interesting.
It is astounding how much a pit reporter of calibar can tell you so much information relevent not to just the driver being covered but also about conditions etc. Why can ESPN not grasp this. That is the one major flaw I see in NW coverage as it stands
and THIS is why we don't pay any attention to the "points as they race now" comments: black flag to the 51.
Mikey & Phil are playing the "Throw a caution" game ... ;-)
Again, sorry for the moderation tonight, still having some problems. Just a short delay.
ok, they're trying way too hard to explain all the cautions and lap down moments that are necessary to get the 51 back into contention. not that he can't do it but it's just feeling espn-ish in re: overkill.
let's just watch and see how it plays out, 'k?
If what happened to KB happened to any other driver, you'd not hear another word about him the rest of the night. But him being Kyle, it will be talked about all the way to the end.
bobpockrass: Kyle Busch said he bets that Adam Alexander is saying that Kyle isn't happy on the radio.
red-sooo agree w/your comment about VK. Steve, yep, I totally agree w/you also. Would never hear another word..
@ JD, That's an understatement. Hee hee.
JD - is there some technical TV reason we have to see the pit stop in the big box? We can see what we need to see on a pit stop if they shoot from the number to the ground can't we? Just woundering.
That was a bad time to go to commerical.
Not at all, that is just a call the Producer and Director decide in advance of the race.
Noo!!! We missed Timothy Peters stop and a few others.
Wow DW REALLY Looks out the window!! Just like BSPN.
Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Been working on stuff but still enjoying voices in the booth.:)
Congrats Kevin!!! YAY
Great race and a great broadcast.
And Sophia, more to the point, the truck found the right camera ASAP no replayitis there!
dang! way too much smoke...lawdy
What a Great telecast! I really enjoyed this one!
Man ESPN, learn something from this one, please?
Please we don't need to see KB stomping off.
Great race SPEED. Thank you.
ri
No replayitis, indeed! No gizmo/bumpercam/Incar itis either.
Those SPEED guys have to be so tired...isn't Steve B sounding a bit hoarse?
Take care of yourself, Steve..double vitamins, hydrate & SLEEP!
Kyle B playing his sullen, spoiled school girl part to a T. Or a B as in, er, never mind
:-D
thank you to everyone involved in the speed production of the truck races this season. to a person, you have made this the most consistent, professional and enjoyable series to watch yet again.
and again, thanks to camping world for sticking with the pick 'em ups!
Wow, fab shout out to speed from Happy. nice to see the drivers recognize how important good tv is to the sport
Congrats to KH, Ron and great year of Camping World truck racing to Speed for their great broadcasts.
I enjoy DW in the booth ...
He picks up things on the track that the other guys miss ... Plus all of his years of experience gives him insight to predict "what" might happen ...
What red said.
You know, good NASCAR TV is just not that hard.
Maybe it's time Keith and his gang took over another series.
Nationwide ring a bell?
OK JD enough messing with our heads! Tell us ESPU is giving up the NW for next year and Keith and the gang are going to do it on SPEED! Please, that would be a stupendus Christmas gift?!?
Mike H 'put that bottle down'
Too bad Kyle B didn't win so he could SMASH the trophy!!
Who is VK ???
Nice broadcast Speed !!!
My only idea is that once the Cup coverage begins on ESPN it is tough for ESPN to fit it in the schedule.
If N'wide went to SPEED once the college football season begins, it would be an entirely different level of exposure for the series.
Just sayin....
Thanks Speed for another great broadcast.
WHAT? They went off 10 minutes early for part of NSMARTS?
BIG FAIL :(
Only problems with tonight's broadcast was DW trying way too hard to 'will' Timothy Peters to the win (he does that every race he calls) and the over coverage of the 51. Like others said the coverage on him was way too much considering he wasn't running for anything other than a long shot for the owners title.
One other thing I thought was cheesy was DW and others making a big deal about the 51 passing people during the start of the race. It's pretty easy to pass snp trucks.
Sophia-VK is Vile Kyle.
Going to hang around a bit and try to figure out what just happened there....
JD how about the four laps that went poof? Not the first time this has happened this year, it happend in NW and Cup too.
Pam
Tx on VK..I was flummoxed.
Great broadcast tonight! I am a huge fan of DW calling races. He does a great job - just missed Boogity Boogity Boogity! Guess we'll have to wait til Daytona for that.
Also, saw this on the main page, and was wondering if JD or anyone else could share what some of the rumors may be:
"From @PPistone interesting news floating around Miami-area today about potential NASCAR media personnel changes in 2010 including radio and TV."
I know there has been some talk of Jerry Punch getting replaced. That would certainly be a solid start! Any other ideas?
Andrew, I think it got you to say PP's name. That's about it.
jd, this "computer glitch" explanation is truly puzzling to me. you start with a fixed number of laps and deduct one each time the lead truck crosses the start/finish line. pretty simple and i'm not seeing how a "computer glitch" messes that up.
in each pit box, there's someone recording lap times and, presumably, actual laps. these folks would certainly know which lap the race is on at any one time, right? ri8girl contends "disappearing laps" has happened before this season in NW and cup. can anyone add to this?
i'm more interested in this than i am in speed's horrible decision to go off the trucks w/8 minutes to spare. i have to believe someone suffered a bad case of the "unexpected stupids" at speed. but then again? maybe not. with the exception of the stellar truck broadcasts, speed pretty much disses nascar (and nascar smarts doesn't contradict that statement!)
Really enjoyed this gang tonight. As much as DW can be a corporate shill at times, he still brings alot to the table when he is just calling the race!
I was pulling for Peters but good to see Aric finish the year with some good runs even if the finishes weren't great. Hope he gets a full schedule next year!
Thank you Rick Allen, Krista Voda, Phil Parsons, Adam Alexander, Ray Dunlap, and Mikey! Also thanks to the production truck and team for the Trucks on SPEED!!! You guys rocked it this year and I am extremely stoked for Daytona!!!
red,
Its all electronic now. Was fine for NASCAR with no problems. Still waiting for official info, but feed from NASCAR to TV was interrupted.
Squirrels?
Trackside is recorded, as was the tease from Steve. Still, a very bad decision from someone to leave the only top level series that SPEED has and throw eight minutes of garbage on the air that made no sense.
Funny how Pistone was complaining about our "complaining" now he hears a "rumor" about changes on TV and radio next year?! WTH is this guy on?!
Publicity tour?
jd, just asked this on twitter: so scoring tower wasn't effected? guess booth is understandably so used to using telemetry provided that by the time they realized the discrepancy, it was down to 7 versus 4 laps remaining.
i'm asking b/c it sounded as if harvick and his crew chief knew how few laps remained when they went for tires. says to me that it was clearly just the feed to the tv compound and not to the tower or pits.
also makes that call a bit gutsier to me.
Nothing but that one stat on one graphic on TV. Everything else was fine for data...
thanks for the explanation, jd.
given they're at homestead, maybe it wasn't squirrels: that seems almost too 'northern' for that area to me . don't they have lizards or geckos or iguanas or some other curious tropical reptile kind of "thing" down your way?!? something smaller than an alligator that likes cable?
wait! i got it! (wait for it . . . )
DIGGER!
One year at PIR a food delivery truck pulled down half the camera cables and shredded the connections.
We had about an hour until live race. You just never know...
Oh man am I dreading Sunday already.
I watched Cup qualifying today, and I cannot tell you how many times Jerry Punch told us Mark Martin was 50 years old.
Punch kept framing it as: What will we see: the crowning of a four-time champion, or a 50-year-old win?
Why not frame it: What will we see: the crowning of a four-time champion or Mark Martin finally win one after 27 years of trying?
The second option is so much more dignified. And to make it worse, have you noticed that every time Jerry Punch tells us Mark Martin is 50 (which he does a LOT), he does so with a tone in his voice like "Hey, here's something I bet you didn't know?" like he is telling us for the very first time.
During qualifying, I think Punch told us Martin was 50 like it was a stat maybe 50 times. No joke. NO exaggeration. I think he said it 50 times. He will easily do that in the first half of the Cup race. ESPN - are you reading this?!
I was time shifting as usual so I didn't post during the race. Speed did a great job as always. They found things to hold our attention like the battle for 5th in standing or just a spot on the track. They watched Kyle's race from the back but didn't drown us with it. They documented Kyles bad luck and then moved on. We all know how this all would have been handles by ESPN if it had been a cup race. Speed should replay the truck races every weekend to help us deal with the NASCAR withdrawl and maybe ESPN will watch and learn. A girl can hope right?
Didn't get to say this last night, but thanks SPEED. Thanks for all the stellar telecasts you guys have done for the Truck Series all season long. Thanks to Krista for the Setup. Thanks to Rick Allen, Phil Parsons, Mikey, Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander for the big pit stops and exciting commentary we've heard this year. Thanks to the camera crews and lead director for all the exciting racing that you guys have provided; and kudos to Marcus Lemonis & Camping World for filling the series sponsor void that was left by Craftsman last year. Would also like to send a big congrats to Ron Hornaday, because after the bitterness of last year, I was one of those guys who, at the start of the season, picked him to win the championship, and I'm very happy to see him holding that trophy again. To KHI, to Rick Ren, Rick Carelli, and everyone at the team who worked their guts out all year long. I will give credit to Matt Crafton, although I was boiling mad from that incident at Gateway, he went after Ron for that championship. Congrats to first-time winners Brian Scott, Colin Braun, Johnny Sauter, and Timothy Peters, and I am going to miss Brian and Colin racing with the CWTS, but I think Johnny Sauter has found his place in NASCAR with this Series. And a big congrats to all Chevy drivers, for brining the Truck Series Manufacturer's Championship back home to Chevy! And last but not least, I never got to say get well soon to Johnny Benson, but I do hope to see him racing with the boys again next year. Overall, and with the exception those ridiculous pit stops, its been a great year for the CWTS, and a great year for the NASCAR on SPEED team, who worked themselves out to bring us these great races all year long, and I thank them for that. Looking forward to 2010. Thanks SPEED.
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