They are calling it FOX NASCAR Sunday. Basically, it's still Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip from the Hollywood Hotel in Daytona.
FOX starts the Sprint Cup Series season on a cold and clear day in Florida. NASCAR has undergone several months of changes that have resulted in a solid increase in fan interest. Now, the action on the track has to live up to the hype.
The Hollywood Hotel is going to be the place for FOX to rise to the occasion. Myers has been both the best and worst of what NASCAR needs on TV. On this day, he cannot act as the "California outsider" who does not know a lugnut from a fuel cell. TV viewers need the informed and well-spoken Myers seen on other programs.
The NASCAR on FOX pit reporters are Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren. This team has been together for a long time and each has worked very hard to be accepted in the sport. FOX continues to be the standard in this area.
Mike Joy has been calling the action in Daytona for a long time. His challenge this February is to help the sport get back on solid footing after a tough 2009. There is little doubt he is the right man for the job. Having already handled the Bud Shoot Out and the Gatorade Duels, the big race is in good hands.
Larry McReynolds has been keeping a low profile and limiting his comments so far this season. After a big bump in the road last year that caused hard feelings all around, McReynold is looking to have a smooth telecast. Still the most detail oriented analyst on NASCAR TV, he should be able to get himself back on track before the checkered flag.
Fan comments have been flying about Darrell Waltrip this season. He was called out by Jack Roush for negative comments about the sport. Then, Denny Hamlin said DW was always telling the drivers how to drive. The bottom line is that Waltrip has been the most high-profile analyst in the sport for a decade. Criticism comes with the territory.
DW will be clearly in the spotlight once the action begins as the story of bump-drafting begins to unfold. NASCAR is turning the drivers loose and has changed many rules since last season. From contact in the corners to the green/white/checkered finish, things are going to be very different in this race.
FOX Sports executive David Hill admitted he was wrong about the later start times. The race today will be underway by 1:20PM ET. Hill admitted he would back off with the Digger character after negative reactions from fans. Finally, Hill said there would be no online streaming of this race because that protected the FOX local stations. That really does not help fans without TV access.
This is the fourth season of offering a live TV race blog. We are looking for your comments on the FOX coverage of this event. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Just click on the comments button below to add your opinion. Thanks and let's go racing!
878 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 878 Newer› Newest»My goodness, could Fox ever be more behind? This is just sad. I wouldn't know anything that was going on w/out Twitter.
I wonder how many folks have switched to the Olympics? I think next weekend I will be watching the Olympics. Figure skating is on and the Fontana race is always a snoozer anyway.
No Mike they didn't have epic rains in Daytona the past week and a half - didn't you hear DW repeatedly say the oil and grease buildup from the 24 was causing drivers to slide through their pits?
Didn't the 2004 Martinsville red flag last an hour or so? Mike Joy said 10-12 minutes?
Someone was asleep at the switch when Mike Joy called for that montage promo.
ha! they tried cement to fix the hole at martinsville when it jumped up and bit the 24 car, that took over an hour and they don't do the speed they do here. Of course the good news is this hole is on the apron, not on the racing surface, but I'll bet a car hitting it would have some good damage
They are still not reporting the real stories, just blowing smoke up our skirts.
In all the years I've been following racing, never go by what any of the announcers say for how long it'll be in regards to time. They embellish in order to hold the audience.
Switching over to a hockey game. Not going to get anything worthwhile out of Fox during this red flag.
Hey folks, just got back in and my TV audio is still slow with stutters. Is it me? help?
WHY are we getting fluff and not commericals? Seriously, guys, this is insane. We're not going anywhere. It's the Daytona 500. Dump the commericals now and give us more green-flag racing. Please.
Yeah, the martinsville red flag was over an hour. It was getting dark and felt like forever!!
Perfect opprtunity to empty the commercial inventory of the broadcast while nothing is going on and they've been on the air for like 15-20 straight minutes. Wow.
We have the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing" at the world's most famous track and drivers are napping?
And NASCAR wonders why the fan decline in attendence and TV viewers? They should be very embarrassed.
We complained in the past about ESPN having a script and not deviating from it. Fox seems today as if they don't have a script at all. As if they didn't have a production meeting this morning.
Gina, this hole IS on the track, not on the apron
Amazing how they can't go this long when the cars are actually racing, but have all the ad free time in the world shile they sit still.
Bad glare from in car camera - HA HA
Lots of drivers take advantage of red flags to nap...or 'rest their eyes'. Schrader and Earnhardt, Sr. were famous for it.
MRN is saying that it was probably caused by frost heave since the heavy rains and freezing temps.
Even the drivers are talking about that nothing is being shown on TV about the problem (at least nothing close) LOL -- the radio guys are giving more info.
Drivers talking about whether it could be because the cars are bottoming out so much and is tearing up the tracks.
Ditto, the blowing smoke comment.
HAHAHA, Brian Pattie: "I'm curious, when they do fix this patch what's going to stop the tires from yanking a little out at a time?"
LOL Kyle Busch!
JG thinks the track damage may be caused by all the cars bottoming out--including his car. Spotters can't see what's happening on the track because the work trucks are blocking their view.
geez, Fox just go to commercials and get them out of the way.
I'm over to the olympics at this point. I can tell from the radio whenever they get back to racing.
I wonder if the contracts for the commercials says they must be shown during racing, not red flags.
Fox has race breaks from commercials. It's always been that way. Usually the race breaks we get to see have great camera work.
The race recaps are non existent. If you are going to 'recap' it would be neat if you talked about the race and cautions etc. Missed the first few laps so had to go to nascar.com to find out what happened during the first round of accidents.
The commentary has been decent. Not sure why they are behind on catching incidents. Coverage isn't storyline driven which is great to see.
When ESPN gets red flags they empty their commercial inventory and we get like an hour or two straight with only local breaks after that. Is Fox different?
Plan B guys, the patch is not working per Ganassi 42 radio
Thousands of TV sets across the country are clicking over to Olympic coverage.
Jr. is doing baseball trivia. Had me LOL!
Bad Fox coverage + extended red flag = ratings disaster.
@Anon 3:48 - LMAO
Wow, so will the 500 end early because the track won't hold up? Who's leading?
Pattie: You know how we print out everyone's conversation? Well so far no one has mentioned the 42 at all. So that's good I guess
NASCAR getting a heater out of garage
Just get some yellow spray paint, and move the yellow lines up the track.
@David -- sorry, I guess that was what I heard that it was on the apron -- that definitely is a different story, thx for the clarification.
Well, I'm catching up on my soap opera for the week - far more interesting than listening to DW & Co yack.
OH MY GOD A COMMERCIAL.
I never thought I'd be happy to see one.
Nice to hear Junior sound like he's havfing fun again.
Drivers are getting out...this could b a while.
Thank goodness for the Olympics. I can flip over to that while this repair is ongoing.
Anon - they could put a cone next to it and tell the drivers NOT to hit it - penalize whoever does. LOL
Drivers can get out of the car, JJ needs food and a bathroom break. I'm breaking out the alcohol, how about you?
Last year it was rain, this year the track is crumbling. Nascar can't buy a break for the 500, can they?
Gina, don't feel bad. I saw several sources that said it was the apron, but the drivers as well as the camera shots clearly show it is about 10-12 ft. above the yellow line....
oh boy, they are letting the drivers get out of the car, well, that's NOT good news since that means a longer delay but I'll bet they are happy to get out and stretch their legs.
its like halftime of the 500 lol
this sure has been a long 6 minutes.
See Fox could have shown all those stupid extended length trailers now and we would have miss NOTHING.
thanks, Haus, I know I dozed off there and thought maybe I just missed it!
I'm for breaking out alcohol myself - it's 5 o clock somewhere
Montoya > Twitter > NASCAR > FOX
Just heard LeTarte say he was coming down too and the 24 spotter is taking a break -- going to be a while is what they said.
Just think of the people that watched the ARCA race and the Nationwide race to see Danica for the first time and decided since they enjoyed those races they would tune to the biggest race of the year here on Sunday and get this.
I bet they are gone.
okay
this is now, officially embarrassing
Hockey in 1st Intermission now.
@Sally- it's called maintenance, the first thing a company does when they stop making obscene profits is cut back on the maintenance.
I remember JD making a comment to me when I joked that Brian France didn't have a private elevator there that they were lucky they had a working elevator. Said the place was a mess.
Well, NASCAR tried keeping it quiet, per the 42 radio. They tore their patch up and going to try and blend it in from the surface into the hole and hope it holds up. Plan B. Teams shut off the radios though to conserve battery.
they are talking about the temps -- well I was there 2 years ago and it was pretty darn cold then. My brother bought the LAST hooded sweatshirt they had in stock in his driver's number and I never took my parka off, so I'm not buying this "it's never been this cold since ..."
let them race for crissake!
gang
luge is on the olympics
at least they're racing
The problem is not the TV ratings of the drivers. The problem is 200K restless fans in the stands.
Doesn't the FCC have an actual limit of how many commercials a station can show in an hour? Maybe Fox had already hit that limit before the red flag came out. It's now a new hour, so maybe they can go back to playing commercials and when can see racing when it resumes.
Of course, racing could very well not resume for another hour!!!
What's showing on the Olympics? Last time I looked they was two sportscasters yakking about biathalon with no action. Sorry, but I will take DW and Myers yakity yak over that!!!
I have the TV on mute. I've finished listening to my podcast of the Bugle and I'm now on to the podcast of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
JD
problem IS the ratings
fox ain't selling guarantees to people in the stands (which, by the way< isnt anywhere near 200,000today
JD fans in the stands are all in line for beer. I'll let you know a friend goes every year.
Hockey game back on.
So which is the bigger embarrassment - this or the Olympic cauldron malfunction then the flame going out when they moved it outdoors?
Well im going to dairy queen to get a blizzard....I will return
and....i have just clicked onto the olympics. the luge comment got me.
That reminds me...with the tight camera shots, I haven't noticed any that included the stands other than the front stretch. I thought they said this race was a sellout.?
Hockey fight!
Vancouver-Minnesota
Said there was over 150K in the stands and the infield was full.
David - bring one back for me!! Oh wait, blizzard, no thanks, we already have enough snow.
Okay. That Toyota commercial about designing the cars is too funny! Have to say I love it. I'll probably get sick of it soon, but for now it's funny!
LMAO - @bobpockrass: No truth to the rumor that they found Jimmy Hoffa's body underneath the Daytona surface. #nascar
FOX is off in fluffy la la land. Completely ignoring the track problems that were supposed to last 10 minutes. It is like an overprotective parent.
From Paul Tracy on Twitter:
"Dw should go down to the start Finish line and sing pants on the ground with digger :-) "
I like the new consistant start times.
What really impresses me is it lasted one whole week.
Next weeks race starts at 2:00 pm.
the frontstretch was sold out. they closed the backstretch for the July race, I wonder if they did the same for the 500, if they couldn't sell enough tickets?
DW is officially on another planet.
OMG, DW has officially lost it! He thinks this isn't such a bad thing to have the track falling apart underneath the cars-drivers like the break!!
LOL - Anon - I would stick around to see DW do that!
I agree. This entire thing has been strange from the start.
Where's Tim Brewer when we DO need him. I bet the Craftsman tech garage can show us how to fix asphalt.
Glenn-where did you hear that?
Mike Joy spent four terms on the town council in Windsor, Connecticut.
Town councils in New England spend a lot of time talking about potholes. Probably never thought that experience would come in handy at the Daytona 500.
Anyone listening to the officials channel?
going on an hour for this red flag.
Glenn, the prerace is at 2pm next week. Green flag is a little after 3pm ET.
Another fight in the hockey game.
BTW you can watch on Yahoo sports under NHL heading
Brian France just said they are on their 3rd different solution...
wow
brian france looks like he's only had 4 or 5 vodkas
Can anyone appreciate Chris Myers a little bit for what he really does? An announcer and the glue that keeps the show together.
No, I'm waiting to hear my driver come back on - then I'll know they are getting ready to go again.
DW really said this is a good thing? Is he off his nut?
geez DW
wanna have sex with him too??
geez
oops, my bad, forgot about pre-race.
The officials channel is very quiet.
Welp, that was an absolutely worthless appearance by BF. Thanks for the update, dipwad.
Brian looked like he just hit a Palm tree leaving the Chart House!
He always looks as if he slept in his clothes. and sounds as if he's half in the bag. What a difference from his Daddy and Granddaddy.
If the number of leaders and lead changes is such an important stat, why not tell us that for all races. So if JJ dominates at Track X, then say there were 3 leaders and 4 lead changes.
It's really a meaningless stat at a plate race but they love to throw it out there. No other races have that many leaders and lead changes during green flag racing.
JD the officials are dead quiet
I pity the poor paying fans in the stands. If they think attendance is down for this race, wait til the next one. They'll never be able to hide the empty seats.
I'm here sitting next to a warm wood stove and looking out at the snow. Haven't started my motorcycles in months but the snowblower is running great. Isn't supposed to snow til 1:00 AM.
Uh-oh. Drivers are hinting that we may not finish this thing.
Kahne just brought up the elephant in the room. What if Clint Bowyer has won the race?
I assume that's not going to happen, but they may have to turn the lights on.
Who cares if Brian France is having a few drinks? He's a billionaire enjoying the spectacle of the sport... why shouldn't he enjoy it like everyone else?
Like to see some recaps of the Bud Shoot Out and Duels right now.
They had better not call this race on a track with lights.
officials channel -- move along now, nothing to see here!
(my interpretation of the total silence)
boy am I glad that I am here in my living room comfy and not in the stands today.
Wow. Both Kahne and Truex said they hoped they would get the race in. Can you imagine if they announced that they were unable to fix the track today? Haha. Too funny.
Ok they are talking again, came in to the room mid convo
Brian France getting drunk? Say it ain't so! He's just like 95% of the 21+ fans in the stands right now!
show one of the OLD races from before the COT and the Chase -- maybe we'd actually see something fun.
Gina-soemone on twitter said the fans are leaving in droves. This is embarrassing..
I don't think they can end the race here, all the positive momentum they have built all speedweeks will come to a crashing end and who knows if they can recover it this season.
Let's hope the fans in the stands have left their seats and are standing in the concession/ restroom line.
DW is overanalyzing that spin by Danica. She said she let it go because she was worried her wrists would get snapped. Then when she caught it, it was lucky it pointed straight. There was fortune in that it wasnt worse than it was
OK, great, now we get to hear about Danica again. There are two things I am sick of hearing about. Danica and snow.
now they've gone over the edge...gotta talk bout Danica...I'm turning to the Olys.
Did FOX just mention the Nationwide series!? For real?
But you lost a lot of new viewers with the race today.
For what it's worth, the live blog of the America's Cup coverage was no more happy about their coverage than this one is. At least bmworacle's monster trimaran brought the cup back to the USA.
Branden, I don't think they could recover this DECADE if this race is called.
and now they are talking about Danica...back to the olympics
Drivers to your cars?
Please remember. The Tracks didn't install lights just for night racing. It coasts a lot to come back on Mondays. This one would be over soon if the lights were not there. Prime Time hear we come. Simpsons move over!
This is a real DEBACLE. Not a good start to try to regain fans.
42 Team Communications: "They said they were going to send a jet over there to super-heat it. Tried a cold patch then were going to try bondo."
Pattie: "Bondo? Hell send Rick over there with a bondo kit. Let him have at it!"
Send the drivers to the fence on the frontstretch for an autograph session.
Anon 4:43...now THAT would be a brilliant idea! Talk about a way to keep the fans at the track happy. But I bet ISC would charge fans to get to the fence for them!
:-)
I was just asked why Nascar can't just blame the track operator if this track can't be repaired.
That led me to an explanation of International Speedway Corporation's management structure.
If this happened at the Coca-Cola 600, they'd just blame Bruton Smith.
Better hurry up, Access Hollywood is up in 16 minutes on my local Fox channel. :)
1 word. Levigate
Hammond "everybody loves dick", quote of the day
Have we heard from John Andretti yet? Didn't he wreck coming off the same turn where the track came apart?
Sea gulls - Fans cover your heads.
Lesa France Kennedy was present with Brian but would not go on TV to comment about her track. This will be a huge story in the next few days - it is really an embarrassment at the most famous race.
fox must be asking for rights money back!!
this so screws them for their entire olympics competitive schedule
@PammmH, I don't blame them. It's not a nice warm day that will go into a balmy night. It was already cool and it will be downright cold tonight.
I can hear Steve on the 24 radio calling the pits, but he's not getting any answer.
This could be the end of Nascar if this race get's canceled. I understand rain canceling the race but this is ridiculous. It's be like the super bowl getting canceled due to a hole in the field.
Drivers to your cars now
drivers to their cars
OK, drivers to their cars. This should be interesting.
Does Chris Myers really have to play dumb? (Or is he just plain dumb?) He's been covering the sport for 9 years and he still doesn't know how a race car works!
Well at least I've got dinner cooking and brownies in the oven, so there was a plus. Um well maybe not but I'm trying to look at the bright side.
Can't they find a bigger torch? Where's the nearest Home Depot?
Is it time to start a pool on how many laps before the patch fails?
Well they wanted another finish under the lights - so much for the early start time.
So, according to Fox, no one has left?
LOL DW obviously hasn't seen the twitter pictures of fans leaving the track in droves "I don't think a soul has left"
...what roads has DW been watching? "Not a soul has left." What a liar!
Hey here is an idea. Why don't they by-pass the hole and use the infield road course for the rest of the race? LOL
Sure DW - nobody left. You are a NASCAR pawn.
ROTFL!! DW just said that he had been watching and he didn't think anybody had left!! I guess they all did just go get beer and a potty break!!
never thought i would need the 3hr cushion on the DVR for this. I may have to catch the end later.
Now DW is lying on TV, saying no one has left. Do they not realize we have other eyes at the race besides them, due to twitter?
Firing up the cars?
I'd get in that pool -- 25 laps?
AHA!!! That's what happened! Nascar wanted the race to end under the lights, sabotaged the track, and botched the repair until they could turn on the lights!
Spider, wouldn't work. Even on the road course you still run 1-2
@spider
I seem to remember they once ran an IROC race on the infield road course.
@PammmH, remember this is NASCAR world where everything is beautiful and nothing is ever wrong. LOL
They don't recognize Twitter as a source -- funny since the rest of us sure do.
My hubby says 20 laps.
so what will happen if this patch does not hold? could be a bad day for NASCAR
They run 3 & 4. Turn on the road course at the end of pit road. Yeah. Let's show how versatile the COT is.
DW- better to not say anything than tell a lie.
Really embarrassing, not like he had a lot of integrity in the bank to draw on either. Guess he took the NASCAR warning to heart.
Cool! At least this conspiracy theory has fun value.
that was the IROC race they ran in the rain, wasn't it?
So, we have 20 laps and 25 laps, any other guesses? Place your bets.
Sally the road course still uses all 4 corners. they turn into the RC out of the trioval, run the infield then come back on the track at the entry of turn 1. Which is why they have corner numbers then for the banked turns its NASCAR 1, NASCAR 2, NASCAR 3, NASCAR 4
Well, Jack Roush was speaking out how he didn't like the TV broadcasters to say anything negative about NASCAR. DW is just following his advice.
Let's hope this ends well....just sayin...
I'm in the pool. I bet 15 laps. Too many cars still running and then when the Golden Boy JJ gets his car damaged, "it's all she wrote" and we all go home:)
according the nascar.com the red flag lasted one hour and 43 minutes.
1 to go
That's some of that embellishment the TV guys like to use.....as if the viewer is dumb enough to believe it.
This is about like a rain-shortened Daytona 500....just totally makes the race feel incomplete. About the only thing that can save today is if the final 20 laps are exciting.
I say the patch holds! take all ya'll's money!
From Twitter: Is it at all ironic that they've been paving International Speedway Blvd all week and the one spot that really needs it is inside the track?
I'll guess patch fail at 45 laps. It may take a couple full-tank restarts to break it up.
I'd still rather have honesty than this nonsense that DW speaks, no matter what Jack Roush or Robin Pemberton say.
I need to believe that they will tell us the truth, not as JD said, blow smoke up our skirts.
Going Green! 75 to go
Pitcommand is ahead of TV...
can they bury digger in the hole and then patch it?
Maybe the camera work will be better now, since they had a break.
accident coming...
I just hope that patch doesn't cause a big wreck, that would be awful.
Still listening to the radio
@PammmmH, we can always hope
I am surprised "Crank It Up" doesn't have a sponsor.
OK, they just put the camera on the patched area of the track. I guess if you're out there driving, you just have to put it out of your mind and race.
You do know why ISC didn't know about the pothole earlier don't you?
'Cause it doesn't have a phone - 'cause it's a pothole.
/you've been Geico'd
:)
It appears that the booth has run out of gas and are bored.
I've gotta say, I absolutely love FOX's Crank it Up segments, and I don't even have surround sound!
someone needs to tell Larry that Kasey is in a Ford now
they all need to pit again, right? DW is actually saying the racing is better because it cooled off. Sorry, I don't believe it.
I think the reason they are not in single file is because it is not the start of the race with many laps to go.
What ever happened to the boom camera in the infield that did a wideshot of the whole turn. that is by far my most favorite camera angle ever
LOL, Ok I actually like that commercial
Gotta give a shoutout to the TV crew for hanging in position during the delay and now getting back at it.
Unbelievable! They've already gone to comml...:(
Maybe my coverage is lagging some. Pit command and such are ahead of TV now.
Kyle complaining car getting warm
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