Let's start the day with SPEED trying to step around the Danica issue and present live news and interview shows built around the early sessions of Sprint Cup Series practice.
John Roberts kicks things off at 11AM with NASCAR Live. It is cold in Daytona and going to be very cold tonight. Thankfully, the forecast is not for rain. Dave Despain is also on the program along with Ken Squier, Kyle Petty and Jeff Hammond.
This is SPEED's hybrid Daytona crew and while it is interesting to hear Despain, Squier and Hammond talk about topics, it will be Roberts and Petty working for the network at every Sprint Cup Series race all season long.
The NASCAR on Fox crew steps in to handle both sessions of Sprint Cup Series practice at 12PM and 2PM. Mike Joy returns to SPEED after calling the Bud Shoot Out for Fox Sports. He brings Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds along with him.
These practice sessions are going to be key to teams seeing how their cars do in the draft with the new restrictor plates and higher speeds. The big concern after the Shoot Out was the faster closing rates and the resulting problems.
SPEED will have a ton of reporters in the garage area for both NASCAR Live and the Cup practice sessions. There should be lots of good information for the fans as the new season starts.
We will start a new live blog for the 3PM Nationwide Series featuring Danica Patrick in the field driving the #7 for JR Motorsports. That two hour telecast will be on ESPN with Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.
To add your comments as the SPEED coverage rolls along, just click on the comments button below. This is not a fan site, we are talking about the TV coverage and the media issues that go along with it. We are family-friendly please keep that in mind when posting.
Thanks for handing with us today! You can get TDP updates on Twitter at twitter.com/TheDalyPlanet (click here for the link) or on Facebook by clicking here.
105 comments:
This should be an interesting day...
@DalyPlanetEditor:
Who was this Twitter comment referring to?
Not on the air yet. No schedule released. Gone from RaceDay and Victory Lane. Basically, gone from the tracks.
Cold in Daytona today. the last time I was there I had flown down from Philadelphia and essentially wore the same cold weather gear all weekend that I had on when I left Philly.
I was very disappointed that I didn't get a nice warm sunny Florida deal for the race that weekend. It sounds like the folks are in for the same this year, but at least it's NOT snowing where they are.
Hope the coverage is wide ranging, rather than focused on one or two players in all this. I'm not really sure why they bother with the duels any more, it seems like they no longer serve any real purpose with the top 35 rule in place.
I believe JD was responding to me, because I read on the Frontstretch that Spenser's show started last Monday. He's saying no.
Thanks PammmmmmmmmH!
Well, here we go!!!
Windy, cold, sunny....nice!
With that hat on and those glasses, that doesn't look like Jeff Hammond!
Also with that wind blowing like it is, and the high speed practice.....this should be interesting.
Jeff has been wearing those glasses on all the TV shows, very different.
David Hill of Fox has said in a new conference today:
No pre-race Digger cartoon this season, which we already knew.
No RaceBuddy, unable to come to an agreement with Turner. (Dollars)
No online video streaming of any kind for the races. Hill says that protects the local stations. Fox is not a cable net, it is the old style broadcast network.
More to come from ESPN after noon.
Turner seems to want it to be a one-way street. They want the networks (Fox, ESPN, etc.) to make their races available to nascar.com, but in turn won't allow RaceBuddy to be used, or Sirius to stream NASCAR Radio online.
How about Kenny Wallace as a reporter for NASCAR Live today?
There is some Twitter buzz about modifying the GWC finish rules...anyone have anything official on that?
Michael Waltrip had a storied career?? Who knew?
Pamm...storied because he tells lots of them?
The GWC rule is fine as is. What NEEDS to be addressed by SPEED is why we were so horribly misinformed Saturday night. THEY billed the Shootout as a must finish under green race, then it changed. Answers?
Other than that, I have to say good job Goodyear and Hoosier. So far no tire issues. I think that is a first in over 3 years here for this weekend.
Gina, I know. They could make those races matter incredibly much more by going back to the old provisional system
By using Kenny as a reporter, get the sense guys like Dillner and Pemberton aren't in Daytona yet?
Got a snow day from school today, so I'm hunkered in to watch all the coverage from Daytona today. also a good excuse to not do anything too constructive on a bonus off day! Glad I can join eveeryone.
I am wondering how many of the media are delayed in getting to Daytona b/c of the weather around the country...@ppistone was concerned yesterday about getting out of Chicago
snow day here too!
Yes, the Duels have certainly lost their excitement. It used to be fun who would make it into a top 14 finish in their qualifier to make the 500. And then seeing where cut-off would be for drivers to fall back on qualifying speed and then where the cut-off would be for provisional spots. No with only 4 spots up for grabs, it's a lot different.
Looking at the NNW entry list, this is interesting. MSRP has no cars on it. The 90 and 91 are noticeably absent.
Nate Ryan and Bob Podckrass have driver quotes from JGordan, MMartin and others saying that they think it will be changed. Just wondering where that came from. Who in NASCAR is giving this impression to the drivers?
So far, SPEED's coverage has been mediocre.
Hopefully things will pick up through the day.
snow day here in MI too! @Sally, I LOL'd at your response. veri word "cownita" as in don't have a cownita, man!
Haus,
Ramsey Poston from NASCAR has already confirmed that the single G/W/C rule might be changed by Thurs in time for the Daytona 500.
Would probably either add a second try or make it unlimited.
Poston now saying that the rule might be changed BEFORE the Gatorade Twins.
Wow!
John Roberts, Kyle Petty and Hammond as well as Kenny and Wendy are carrying this hour. Despain always acts as if he'd rather be somewhere else. However, I like Ken S.'s passion, you can tell he loves being at Daytona. You wouldn't know Sprint Cup practice starts in 15 minutes.....everything seems so quiet around the speedway.
I could go for like 3 attempts at a GWC....don't want it to be unlimited....at these plate tracks, the Daytona 500 might turn into the Daytona 550! LOL
Thanks, John. I just saw the post by Ramsey. Has this been something they have been thinking about for a while? Seems out of character for them to make a change so quickly.
Who is this new entity Nascar & what did they do w/the one that "doesn't react for the sake of reacting?" I'm impressed-people grumbled about last Sat nite & they are REACTING!!
I think Kenny is doing better as a garage reporter than as co-host of RaceDay
Love him or hate him, Michael Waltrip knows how to get a sponsor on camera! LOL
Kenny Wallace is doing pretty good today. He's not the usual corny self. Season starts in one minute!! I can't wait
In the Truck Series I was all for unlimited GWC's because THAT series when it was FOUNDED was founded upon the principle of "No race will finish under caution" When GWC came to Cup, the idea was to run the advertised distance.
1 attempt is fine with me. Unlimited or multiple takes away from some of the purity. But then again I'm a purist. Talk about screwing a few teams down the road on fuel mileage though. You know multi-car teams will exploit it at some point I'm sure...
Or as we call it pushing the gray area...
That is DEFINITELY reacting for the sake of reacting.
On the ESPN media conference call:
DJ talking about Danica, the spoiler change in Cup and ESPN's new approach to coverage.
More coming...
"If I'm not excited about it, why should the TV viewer be excited?"
Marty Reid on ESPN's NASCAR coverage this season.
@ David, I totally agree. If there were multiple or unlimited GWC's used a lot of the cars would run out of gas at the end of the race on a lot of tracks creating more cautioins. And more GWC's. One is enough.
Interesting quotes. Marty Reid is going to be a huge part of if ESPN sinks or swims this year. Production will have an equal hand in that.
oh boy, I think GWC finishes are scary enough, especially at RP tracks, I'm not sure multiple attempts would do more than result in multiple, multi-car wrecks.
I remember a race at Darlington where the leader quite obviously tried to wreck the field to make sure he won the race. I was ticked off at him that night since my favorite was trying to race for the win and it completely freaked me out.
I was really hoping to have racebuddy, that was a great thing during the TNT races.
Hooray for no digger cartoon!
The other thing with the duels is that by starting them so late in the day, I can't sneak out for a late lunch and see the first one at least. I used to have a 50/50 chance that my driver would be in that one and I could catch that race, if not the late one.
As much as announcers can add or detract from a race, it's ultimately how they show the action on the track that determines the experience of the fan watching on TV. No amount of false hype from the booth can make a dull race exciting. It's up to the director to find close racing, no matter for what position, or find stories other than the top 10 or so drivers. That's what keeps viewers engaged. How many times have we enjoyed the interviews during rain delays? they go out and find the stories.
DJ and Andy talking about everything from drafting to Danica.
"She just graduated high school, now she is about to go to college."
DJ on Danica.
With that quote from Marty Speed, maybe ESPN realizes finally that their race coverage is horrible. The last time I watched that channel was the Homestead race. Will watch it again today at 3pm for Nationwide practice. Almost 3mths of no eyeballs on them in this house. Then in an hour, click, back to Speed.
So, ya think Brad K is still in Denny's head?
Carl talking about the tire...
Told ya. excellent tire.
Sally, I hope Denny's not thinking about Brad K, because Brad K does not seem to give a darn what other drivers think. I like that from Brad, just do your own thing.
Has anyone noticed what I have on Speed today? Darryl Waltrip, Kenny Wallace and Larry Mac are not their usual selves. Not always cutting up, mouthing off and telling jokes.
I like this from these three, hope it carrys over to Fox.
Always nice to be reminded that all these guys can give us excellent information when they concentrate on calling the action' rather than trying to BE the entertainment.
Calling the village....your idiot is loose again.
WOOO I LOVE NASCAR
I see the children are back
Demonstrating the prototypical Kyle Busch fan?
Sally...im a Kyle Busch fan....
not prototypical. This person makes me want to find an old Aint's bag...
shame people like this that can't be respectful and mature ruin it for everyone else. we really need a forum.
@David...obviously there are exceptions, as you demonstrate.
Gotta go dig my car out when this practice is over. If I don't get buried in an avalanche, I'll be back. If you don't hear from me, send the Saint Bernard!
he's probably 10 and off from school on a snow day.
Did anyone mention this yet? "SPEED coverage of the ARCA Racing Series season opener from Daytona scored a Nielsen Rating of 2.30 ...and positioned SPEED as the No. 1 network in basic cable during the time slot, the highest ever for an ARCA race and rank only behind SPEED's exclusive coverage of the All-Star Race as the highest ratings ever for the network."
Holy crap...just saying...apparently THIS got the attention of the casual fan, even if it was annoying for the rest of us...
Actually, I kind of feel sorry for that guy. Ya know?
That was a great practice session. These guys are flying. Nice to see Ray Dunlap getting some Sprint Cup Series time as a reporter. He is doing a very good job.
@annon 1:36,
I just read the same numbers over to the Courant site. That's a 59% increase over 2009. I can read that three ways. 1) Danika Patrick really helped those numbers. 2) People like me are checking out Arca due to Nascars horrible Chase appearance on ESPN in 2009. 3) A combination of both above. If Nationwides race Saturdy jump in ratings a lot, that will prove to this fan it was Danika. If they don't, then race fans are searching for a new series to watch. Least that's my one cent one it. Very interesting and thanks for the info.
So far, this has been a very professional broadcast. Minimal shuck and jive.
I'm glad that they are talking about so many different things today, that's great.
I agree, too, that it is the coverage - camera shots and the people calling the race who make it a good or bad experience for the fans watching on TV. Fake enthusiasm is not what I'm looking for -- broadcast the race, show me the action on the track and tell me what's going on. I can make up my own darn mind whether or not the action is exciting - just let me see all of it, not what someone thinks I want to see. I do like Marty Reid's enthusiasm though.
@David -- I'm not of fan of Kyle B's personality, but he sure can wheel a race car.
who were the idiots whoooooing in the background? abit early for alcohol, I'm thinkin..but maybe not. it's 5 o'clock somewhere.
This final hour is going to be wild.
I guess Denny wants to make sure it's an exciting practice.
I think Hamlin will be getting a "calm it down" warning soon.
JD called it!
Great replay and the kind of emotion we have come to expect from Fox.
No testing has made these sessions a mess.
Oh man!! That took some cars out..
KyBu!!!!!
Wow!!! Gibbs about had an even more expensive wreck right there. Will make for an interesting final episode of Countdown....
who was in it (stuck at work...)?
Who was it the other day who said that they'd be more careful if it wasn't so easy for them to take out a back up? I'm starting to think it's true....
Think the wrecking is over? Mike Joy is handling this well.
We've had all these wrecked cars between races and practices so far, but it's just been the Cup & ARCA cars. We've yet to see the Nationwide and Trucks hit the track!
Blaney bliss and Hornish were 3 wide, with a pack of very fast cars coming. Bliss moves lower on the track gets loose, comes across the track and kills Joey Logano's car. Johnson runs into the back of Hamlin and spins out and kills the commit cone. Johnson relatively unscaved. 20 and 36 toasted.
Jimmie has said the car is going to a backup. Probably means they didn't like the car all that much. Will send back to Concord and send back to be 500 back-up
Kyle BARELY missed Joey and darted around his spinning car. inches, literally inches away from disaster.
JD, they will probably tell the drivers to tone it down a bit. another half hour or hour left?
Maybe I spoke too soon about the tire?
Or are they getting cut?
This practice ends at 2:50p.m. If this is any indication, it might take a combined 4 to 5 hours to run tomorrow's Duel races.
Making the 500 among the non top 35 teams tomorrow might come down to survival. We might see teams go with the hang back until the end strategy tomorrow.
Not a tire issue, driving issue so far
JohnP I'm talking about the 33, 83 and 51....
They said "let em race', maybe goes for practice too. Trying to use psychology on them?...LOL!
Enjoying coverage. Actually watching live, a first for me. In MH...warm and cozy...listening to scanner while watching Speed and reading this blog.
Life is good :-)
oh, ok, not sure then..
Right there is a difference between Fox & ESPN...The Fox guys aren't afraid to say something....like Larry Mac saying "After Mike Bliss sees the replay, he'll see he got loose on his own." If that would've been ESPN, they'd have just sat there silently. It's like they're afraid of ruffling someone's feathers if they say something.
Man, this is going to be nuts for the race. These cars move around a lot and close soooo fast.
Mike, we will see how Marty Reid handles it at 3PM. I will have a new post up shortly for a live blog of the Nationwide Series practice.
I was all for putting it in the hands of the drivers, because all the rules weren't stopping the wrecking. Well...apparently putting it in the drivers hands didn't work either.
Seriously, though, the not-testing probably is a part of it. In Shootout practice Johnson said the cars drove terrible, but he thought it was a good thing. Sounded like there's more man-handling involved and they're not used to it. Hopefully they'll start being more careful...
Wonder what Danica thinks of all the cars getting wrecked.
I have to say, this is the best coverage I've seen since TNT was doing the actual races in the summer. Speed is broadcasting this Cup practice 10x better then Espn broadcast actual Cup races. Unreal. Congrats Speed for a wonderful show today as I sit at home in another blizzard. Guess we will see how Espn directly compairs in 18 minutes.
Compared to the ARCA race, it's just business as usual for her, I'd guess. Indy cars aren't exactly free from lots of crashes. Of course, that tends to cut the field down in a hurry.
sheesh, yeah, that closing rate is scary to watch between the cars already up to speed and those trying to "blend" in as they come onto the track -- and this is practice. I wonder how many more wadded up race cars we'll have before the 500 actually starts.
I still don't think it's a good idea to have unlimited GWC restarts. I can see them never getting a clean restart to be able to get to the white flag even.
OK, folks! New post is up for the Nationwide Series practice on ESPN2 with Danica Patrick on the track.
Thanks for your comments, please go back to the main page and then the new post!
JD
I'm way behind here between those pesky people from work and the emergency broadcast system halting everything to tell me another major road in the Phila to Allentown are are closed is interfering with my viewing pleasure. Glad I'm home because I sure woudn't be able to get back now. It's bad out there. But I am enjoying myself greatly the coverage it fantastic.
Marty Reid great answer on the Miccosukee question. Thank you. Was wondering that myself.
Wow. Bayne in an old old car.
Are we still going to use this post for Truck practice, or will there be another post up for that one?
When the announcers make a statemnt
They presume that all of us have the same level of understanding..
as they do.
Yesterday DW said " Well in that
case they want more down force "
I actually understand it ..but there are a ton of folks who dont.
Another time...I might not know
what the announcer meant.
So there you go .. anybody think
I am crazy? U R RITE
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