Saturday, April 17, 2010

Live Blogging Nationwide Series in Texas (3PM - ESPN2)


Update: NNS race postponed by rain. Rescheduled for Sunday night at 9PM ET, 8PM Central. Details to follow on the TV schedule.

The picture above is Nicole Briscoe's view out of the ESPN Infield Pit Studio. Briscoe is filling-in this weekend for the vacationing Allen Bestwick. She may be in for a very long day. Rain has already cancelled the Sprint Cup Series practice and the track is still wet.

Briscoe will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty for the NNS pre-race show. With Dale Jarrett also on vacation, Wallace is scheduled to move up and call the race if it ever gets underway. He will be joined by Marty Reid and Andy Petree.

Luckily, Jerry Punch is back on pit road along with Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch. Rainy days like this really work the pit reporters and Punch is one of the best at conducting live interviews in these situations.

NASCAR tries to stick to the schedule and announces changes only when they are about to be put into place. Rumors today from the on-site media suggest that NASCAR is considering running this race on Sunday night after the Cup Series if rain forces a postponement today. Monday would be tough with a short week for many teams.

We will use this post to keep updated on the rain developments and possible track drying. We invite your comments as we all watch what ESPN2 decides to air during this timeslot. Just click on the comments button below to add your opinion. Thanks!

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, ESPN will be leaving a live event (women's tennis) for NASCAR coverage.

51 yr. fan said...

ESPN just announced that they will
take the Swat & Grunt to #3 at the
end of this set.

PammH said...

Wow-only a couple mins late for Nascar.

Martin Vincent said...

TSN in Canada is showing NBA Playoffs originating from ABC. No scroll on screen (from ABC or TSN) to indicate what will happen with the race broadcast.

Hotaru1787 said...

I'm a bit suprised they left on time! Big plus! :)

Big minus- Looks icky over there.

Martin Vincent said...

Race somehow switched to TSN2, for anybody watching in Canada.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Thanks MV, I will pass that along.

Anonymous said...

Jet dryers not going. When its not raining, its cloudy and very humid. It'll take several hours to dry the track. Just call the race.

Hotaru1787 said...

At least they're trying. You can't blame them for trying to get things started.

Anonymous said...

If I were a women's tennis fan, I'd be hacked off over what ESPN did cutting away to a race delayed by rain anyway. Probably should have done just a quick update, and gone back.

I also would be very lonely being a women's tennis fan.

PammH said...

anon-word is Nascar is willing to start race as late as 10pm. Not sure who would air it...BSPN is pretty full up.

Daly Planet Editor said...

I am monitoring all the info I can about scheduling. NASCAR always waits.

One rumor says 4:30PM and another says Sunday night. We will see!

Anonymous said...

The most recent post on the Facebook page for Texas Motor Speedway is ...


Texas Motor Speedway

All signs point to intros at 4:30 and start at 5. Will have an official announcement shortly.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Are you watching Rusty go off on Kyle? This should be good.

Battle of the egos in a rain delay!

Martin Vincent said...

4:30pm local or Eastern?...

Anonymous said...

Eddie Gossage is such a liar. No way there will be racing by 5pm. Another band is about to hit the track, and another one will be forming. This has the characteristics of a tropical system of bands of rain always forming.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, blame ESPN Kyle.

bozo said...

why not show kyle the video, they showed us, supposedly showing he didn't go... no guts, if you are going to say it when he's not there, at least do it in front of his face too...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Love to know what Kyle said to Rusty before they got on the air.

Rusty never said a word during the segment and then Kyle slammed him going out the door.

Wow!

Ann_Ominous said...

Sam Ard passed away? Was it during the off season?

bozo said...

wouldn't the obvious question be, kyle weren't you really trying to get brad to go before you so he would get black flagged?

bozo said...

Was kyle's jab to rusty about his kid always wrecking cars?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Yes, because Kyle heard Rusty calling him out about crashing the field at PIR.

Rusty did not say a word or ask a question while Kyle was in the studio.

What the heck was that about?

bozo said...

Had to be someone telling rusty in his ear, you can't ask a question..unless rusty in the end is a chicken#### and can only be critical when the person is not there. Wonder if kyle said he wouldn't go on if rusty asked a question... very odd

Ann_Ominous said...

Well, apparently Sam is still alive despite Kyle refering to him as his "late friend"

Daly Planet Editor said...

It was "great," I rewound it.

That Kyle interview was just wild.

bozo said...

kyle interview was a great missed opportunity..you have a rain delay, you have mouth rusty and mouth kyle..you have a video, show it to him.. If you are going to bring up his radio comments about crew, play some of those, ask kyle how he thinks it is constructive...just don't get it..

Martin Vincent said...

"... besides another one of my good friends, which is the late Sam Ard" was what Kyle said.

Daly Planet Editor said...

bozo, they sure could have filled some time and answered some questions for the fans about the PIR stuff.

bozo said...

i guess it's better to be delayed by rain vice volcanic ash..they say it may go on another 4 to 5 days.. supposed to fly to switzerland next saturday, could be in jeopardy.

Gluck tweeted that nascar announced in drivers mtg they would be willing to start races as late as 10:00 over the next 3 nights.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Looks like late tonight at the earliest. Keep you posted.

Anonymous said...

@Ann---Kyle misspoke he tweeted that he meant to say "great" but JD says it sounded like "great" to him. Kyle apologized for any confusion

Daly Planet Editor said...

That's the least worry from that segment.

I got a lot of emails saying Rusty was told to shut up by the ESPN producers. Why?

He never said a word during the KB segment.

Are we missing something here?

Ann_Ominous said...

I heard "late" not "great", but with sinuses having my head and ears clogged up, I'm definitely an impeachable witness!!

Daly Planet Editor said...

No big deal. Word slip is a word slop. Kyle cleared it right up.

Rusty has to be fuming right now.

Kylie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hotaru1787 said...

Whole lotta talking (aka nothing) going on 'bout now.

But on the plus side, I got to finish the hockey game I was watching. (the Bruins beat the Sabres to tie their playoff series)

bozo said...

from your days at espn jd, what would happen if a guest says, I won't go on if he asks a question? would they have let the guest go and tell the audience what happened or not have that guy ask any questions?

Daly Planet Editor said...

bozo,

That is exactly what I was trying to find out. What happened?

Lou said...

JD, ref: your comment 17Apr101606.
it sort of reminds me of when DW did his disappering act when Denny Hamlin was on trackside. No courage by either. too bad Mr R.Wallace just sat there. but as a fan i know better on both instances. just another nail in the coffin for both of them. what a shame to do that to true racing fans. i can see though that. too bad they can not.

Anonymous said...

Definitely agree since it's nothing that was "ran" with like some stories that go across the wire. I remember years ago a local radio station said an actor had passed. What happened was that since he was a million years old they figured he'd die any day so they did the bio to have ready and the wrong button was hit and it went to the wire. So everyone had reported it and then had to back track

There definitely was some tension in there. Rusty ran his mouth and then as soon as Kyle came in he hushed up until Kyle mentioned the body hanging "assistance".

But Kyle was right if you're going to throw him under the bus show everything and analyze it from every position while he's there!

Anonymous said...

Rusty needs to teach his son how to lie about the weather. Obviously he hasn't had that lesson.

Martin Vincent said...

Thanks to Steve Wallace for telling it like it is about the rain. Jamie can "think positive" all she wants, just don't tell me it's not raining when it is.

Anonymous said...

Really enjoying this interview with Jr. Dr. Jerry is doing a great job IMO :)

Daly Planet Editor said...

Fantastic interview with JR from Jerry Punch.

bozo said...

would they really wait until 10:00 pm eastern time to start the race?

J.D., in twitter world i'm under littlepigs99, tried to follow you but get that i am blocked..

Sally said...

JP sure knows how to do an interview. He always makes it feel as if he's just sitting there, talking to a buddy and we get to listen. Boy, am I glad he's back where he belongs!

PammH said...

Jr's looking abit shaggy, but the interview was terrific! Doc is someone Jr. feels comfortable with.

Anonymous said...

@Sally--agreed! that's the feeling I felt as well. Like buddies having a chat and we were able to eavesdrop :)

Karen said...

PammH, agree with your assessment of Jr.'s look. Like Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson role with the reddish beard. Way too mountainman for my taste.

First interview in ages that Jr. wasn't mumbling, fumbling for words, spoke up, didn't keep his head down. Seems he was really into it with JP.

PammH said...

Nice that they are interviewing some of the guys we never see. However, they won't have a THING to show us Sunday on NN.

Sally said...

Does anyone else find the irony of the piece on the 'primitive' first race live telecasts? How the precedent was set to interview drivers as soon as they get out of their cars? Let's see...how many drivers have NOT been interviewed after a wreck in the past few years? Or drivers that dro out of a race with barely a passing mention? Yes, those were primitive alright...when they had to keep focus on the action on the track instead of bells and whistles.

Martin Vincent said...

Has everybody tuned out? I've refreshed my page and no new comments for 40 minutes...

Anonymous said...

awesome segment on the tv history.

The Loose Wheel said...

I just woke up MV. I knew it would be delayed and sure enough....

Palmetto said...

MV, I'm just monitoring for announcements. No way they'll start before 7:30 EST. I wish my lawn was as green as that radar.

Karen said...

Tim Brewer saying last night's show "on that other network." Must be told universally at ESPN not to mention Speed's name. Childish!

Charlie said...

I like watching this rain delay show.
If anyone has set their recorder to record the race and gets home and sees the race was not run, the show that was recorded is worth watching. A little added treat.

Martin Vincent said...

I understand if everybody tuned out anyway, when all the reporters are saying "think positive" and all the drivers are in dress shirts saying they're going to race on Monday.

Martin Vincent said...

I just wasn't sure if JD had fallen asleep and wasn't approving the comments...

ESPN reporters are in "weather denial" just like the Fox people.

boyd said...

I really enjoyed the infield studio being used for interviews and features.
It was nice to see the drivers, old and new, getting to talk at length.
I was a little worried about Nicole would handle it, but she did a great job.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Got Twitter, Facebook and this blog running. Trying to find out what the TV is going to do and not getting a lot of answers.

Running the NNS race tomorrow night at 8PM ET could be an interesting scenario.

JD

The Loose Wheel said...

JD, looks like some rain tomorrow too though. could we see a doubleheader Monday?

Martin Vincent said...

@JD - Just teasing!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Well, kudos to ESPN for filling the entire three hours with interviews and features.

Nice job by Nicole Briscoe hosting from the infield for the first time this season.

JD

Martin Vincent said...

Did Nicole just say Townley wasn't going to be in the car next weekend? I thought Childress had previously said he was going to be back behind the wheel at Talladega. If Townley is still employed at RCR, sounds like he's sweeping the shop floors because he sure isn't driving the car anytime soon.

Martin Vincent said...

I think the reason TSN decided to switch the race to TSN2 in Canada is because TSN had a live hockey game coming tonight. TSN2 is currently in what would have been a boxing match that was fought last night and had an encore of this race scheduled from 7pm to 10pm. Whatever ESPN does, TSN2 should be able to stay with it all day.

Martin Vincent said...

Now that ESPN has gone to NHRA, TSN2 has started showing the Friday Night Fights from last night. Don't know what they'll be doing when the scheduled encore starts at 7pm.

Martin Vincent said...

Have to agree Nicole did excellently in the Infield Pit Studio and also great interviews by Jerry Punch, like the Dr. Punch we remember from the '80s and '90s.

Anonymous said...

I too, really enjoyed the entire rain delay show. To use a MM word Nicole was awesome. The interviews were really great to see with the younger less known Nwide drivers. And Dr J Punch was really good, just a really relaxed interview with Jr. & no stupid questions, he asked questions that made Jr think & then just let him answer. Now thats the Doc we oldies remember so fondly!

Now if espn would watch the old films of how they used to cover racing & put it in place now it would be great! PxP calling the race, interviews with drivers, less is more.

Really a good job today, heck cRusty didn't get to me too bad even. Tho' his silence with Kyle was deafening ;)

Daly Planet Editor said...

NNS race will be run on Sunday night at 9PM Eastern, 8PM Central time on ESPN2.

51 said...

Thanks for the update JD.

Glenn said...

Just getting around to watching today's rain delay coverage.
IMHO This was the BEST rain delay coverage I have seen in many years, probably the best ever. Nicole did an excellent job as the host and "traffic director".

The Loose Wheel said...

Still worried with such a strong chance of rain tomorrow that we could be looking at a doubleheader on Monday. I'm actually hoping for it now but should the Cup race get delayed that NW race will get bumped in a hurry.

Nicole did a great job from the bit I saw today I would say she is a competent replacement for AB when he is not available for sure.

mshjamh said...

If anyone from ESPN reads this I just want to agree with something that was said earlier.

THIS WAS THE BEST RAIN DELAY COVERAGE IN YEARS!!!! Nicole was absolutely awesome. The interviews and features were GREAT!

Great job by everyone at ESPN!!!!