The weather is great, the gopher is gone and the lights are on. The Sprint Cup Series is running at night on a short track that lends itself to great racing.
Chris Myers leads the Emmy Award winning NASCAR on FOX team on the air at 7PM ET. Myers will be joined by Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond from the Hollywood Hotel for a thirty minute pre-race show. The green flag flies at 7:44PM.
Mike Joy calls the action with Waltrip and Larry McReynolds from the TV booth. On pit road are Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren. Voda will not be at the truck race Sunday in Kansas. Instead, she will head back to Charlotte and host The Speed Report.
Richmond is a short track with lots of action. It's tough to go in-car live for fear of missing action on the track. The aerial shot of the facility is beautiful and it also works to show a fantastic perspective on restarts.
The RIR pit road is great for the famous triple-split effect used on the caution flag pitstops. With the incredible importance on pit road tonight, it will be important to clearly document the stops. ESPN made a big blunder on the final stops in the Nationwide Series race and never recovered.
It's going to be important for the TV team to keep the intensity level high. Unlike the relaxed style that FOX brought to Talladega, the short track in Richmond deserves excitement from the TV booth. That means Darrell Waltrip may have to scale back his extended comments and stories this week.
This post is going to serve to host your comments on the TV coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from Richmond, VA. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by!
448 comments:
1 – 200 of 448 Newer› Newest»THe Gopher is GONE. Best news of the year in NASCAR. LOL It can only go uphill now.
I think they must have traded him for the DirecTV head to head thingy. When it comes to anything FOX, it's all about the money.
Digger is gone? For real? Just for the week or really, honest-to-Boogity, retired like Rusty, GONE?
And AB back in the booth last night. This may be the best broadcast news since the 2000 contract.
Just watched the Kenducky derby and saw the interview with the winner and the person doing the first interview rode a horse out on the track to do it.
Why not have Hermie Sadler drive out on the track after the race and have his passenger Dr. Jerry Punch do the first interview.
Kentucky - gee
Gone as in not in the pre-race, no cartoon and not a presence the last two weeks.
I really do think DirecTV got the Digger time.
Yes, Digger has probably lost his marketing value. Once the t-shirt sales disappeared it was time for Digger to go into retirement.
At least the 'horse power' at Churchill Downs can run in the rain! Go fast, turn left!
charlie, i was kinda enjoying "kenducky"!
Charlie, considering the rain, that was really funny...
wonder why JR is letting the hair go gray?
It seems everyone but DW has given up the Grecian Formula.
JD you ever hear why Trackpass scanners didn't start until the green flag last week.
Oh good, they did a little bit w/Heath Calhoun. Should have been longer tho.
Who is doing the truck race then since Krista won't be there?
David, it will be Rick Allen handling the pre-race. Krista is flying back to host The SPEED Report Sunday night.
No update on the trackpass scanners. Keep me up to date on what happens tonight please!
What is the over/under on commercials ? At least 50 I would think !!! After all it is FOX.
RE: Trackpass Scanners ... I'm hearing the officials right now. Last week was the first time they waited 'til the green flag to turn 'em on (and I've subscribed to them for the past 3 years I believe).
"It's tough to go in-car live for fear of missing action on the track. The aerial shot of the facility is beautiful and it also works to show a fantastic perspective on restarts."
Any bets?
Well, after last week it should be easy to get better. That's my positive spin on it.
Are you all so hypersensitive that Digger got under your skin? TDP Gang is getting more corporate by the week... anyone with a "personality" like Jimmy Spencer or DW becomes the enemy. Soon, when everything is all corporate and sanitized and delivered as telemetry, you'll finally have your wish and the sport will be as boring as ESPN's NASCAR Now. When Spencer was on TWIN, you hammered him for being reserved. Then you hammered him weekly for being not reserved on Raceday. I mean really, TDP is getting more and more about hating people in the industry than giving constructive reviews of broadcasting. Gee.
Allison, that is the biggest bunch of BS you have ever tried to slip on this blog and you know it.
Nothing in what you wrote has anything to do with anything we have ever posted.
What is your problem?
Dear FOX:
We don't give a damn about your make believe foxsports.com fantasy game matchups.
Sincerely,
NASCAR fans
well here in the philly area, I am seeing the senate debate on Fox. Hope they get that done in time for the race
Funny Allison...funny.
Spencer on RaceDay was playing a role! That was what rubbed people the wrong way! Much like Wallace does now.
Have you bothered reading any of the ESPN Nationwide race threads? We have actually been quite positive.
I'm not wanting the sport to become MORE corporate....Less if anything.
Wasn't digger proof of that, or did you miss something? Stupid, cheap marketing ploys for the sole reason of generating money on something that has nothing to do with the sport at hand bothers me. I.E. Digger. That being said, I could have cared less because I don't watch pre-race shows anymore really. They all equally suck regardless the network.
I am already boycotting the pre-race. It just does nothing for me and if the telecast is as bad as last week, I will turn the MRN feed on the radio on because I know it will definitely be exciting to listen to.
Gina, that debate is going to run until 8PM. Fans in the Philly area will be joining the live race in progress.
The green flag is at 7:44PM.
@gina: nope. fox won't go to the race until 7:55, 10 minutes after green flag.
AND it's also being carried live by wpvi-abc6 in philly.
newracefan & i are already furious: care to join us? drop an email to fox: they won't answer but we HAVE to complain.
jd: still no crawl information for fans. only mention was at 6:59 with two anchors doing a stand-up. since then, nothing.
Nashville area has been hard hit by heavy rain (13in. in places) today and still have local breaking news. Totally missed the Indycar race today due to that. Fingers are crossed for Fox coverage tonight.
Huh?
Just saw Fox race (no pun intended) through the DirectTV fantasy matchups with little if any explanation.
Perhaps they've already figured out the fans just don't care.
Of course, I also believe in Santa Claus
I think I'll take my dinneer break until the green flag.
JD, do you know if there will be a re-air of the Indycar race? Can't find any mention of it on ABC or Espn or Versus websites
I did not see any re-air of the IndyCar race. ABC/ESPN only has five, which they kept because of the Indy500.
I have a feeling they see no need to re-air what is primarily a VERSUS product.
The stuff between the 24 and 48 is just all media hype. At least that is what I think.
Charlie, they worked it to perfection so far!
JD & Red, thanks for the info -- at least I'll know when to switch back over -- like I care what Arlen Specter has to say - since he can't make up his mind - and I'm in NJ anyway so I can't even vote! LOL -- OK, done with the political rant.
Yes, I will also send the Fox affiliate an e-mail -- I know they won't answer me but that never stopped me with NASCAR either!
Anyone in TN? You guys having rough weather?
Well, if it is all media hype between the 24 and 48, then it is JJ's turn to get his car wrecked and Jeff to win the race! LOL
At least that's how it would work in MY perfect world.
In reference to Rich's question . . .
Watching the Kentucky Derby, I was thinking, Bob Costas hosting the Indy 500 is pretty much inevitable now.
I'm glad at least I have trackpass -- I'm listening to MRN now. They are doing the invocation and pledge of allegiance.
I think this is the best opening ceremony of the season.
A wonderful National Anthem.
Thank you, RIR!
RIR is awesome. They also used to have a Henrico County cop who could sing an awesome anthem!
Thanks Gina forgot I can stream radio and scanner while I wait for those morons at fox
A Fox pre-race show that just talked about NASCAR? No cartoons, Pizzi, or other goofy segments? Did that really just happen!? Maybe it isn't so hard afterall huh?
That was well done.
@Anon, 7:34 ---
Shhhhh, don't remind them that all the silliness was missing.
In the 30 minute version, there is less junk in the trunk.
so what's an online station streaming msn?
JD, I just sneezed tea out my nose.
I haven't heard "junk in the trunk" in years.
ROTFL
HD is definitely a disadvantage in heavy rain. Regular directv comes in great but HD is iffy.
NRF -- glad that you have it too. I hate watching a race without it! At least its something until the politicians quit yacking.
@bryan:try wnpv1440.com
my local radio station that covers nascar live.
Per the usual scanning Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Sleeper pick: JoLoGo
@bryan:try wnpv1440.com
--------
Thank you.
This could be a fun start with drivers like Biffle, Hamlin and Edwards trying to make their way up from the back.
Now DW is using Rusty's hot rod reference.
Good evening folks!
Hey DW Don Cherry called, he wants his tie back
Best opening ceremonies that we've seen in a long time !!
bevo, only you with a hockey reference!
Very disappointed nothing on Heath :(
@glenc1--gray is sexeh <3
Almost forgot to mute the tV to miss DW's obnoxious start! Whew. That was close.
They have cars racing 3 wide and they junp to the leader single file? Does not bode well.
Mexican jumping beans!
the police officer went away after the ISC bought the track...along with a lot of other good things.
FOX -- the in-ground cam does NOTHING for the racing.
Mike talks about 3-wide ... and the dingus director cuts to Mark passing Vickers ... Then to the doublemint twins ...
Ugh!!
They will show us the racing in the back in replay but live.
Show us the RACE --- PLEASE!
In car camera overload...and just 14 laps in!
Overkill on Denny coverage ... Ugh!! He's NOT the only one in the race from Virginia ...
Wow, my earlier comment got deleted??
Suffering the same old issues tonight. Got race on DVR & off to listen on MRN to "see" the race better in my mind.
That DIRECT TV head to head stuff another new in car cam. Not worth it. Now Fed ex.
Just like the race earlier today in OW. :-(
We're already experiencing in-car camera overload. Not good.
@tiamat - No kidding, though I don't think FOX has mentioned Jeff Burton half a dozen times all year.
That was sure a weird start. Like they used all the cameras and just jumped around.
The video did not match what the announcers were talking about.
Love to hear the behind the scenes chatter in the commercial break.
The booth is talking about 3 wide, and we get in-ground or in-car cameras.
Balderdash.
On the Fox MLB game today they did half innings with team's radio pxp guys. When they did it with the Rangers Eric Nadel he had some fun with the Fox director calling different things to see if he followed with the correct camera shots.
Artie apparently does not roll that way :)
Gymmie, Nascar Now had a great bit on Heath this morning. Very inspirational.
New Truex NAPA commerical
@JD - You jinxed it! Dumb rodent.
We're not 25 laps into this race and we're already getting the ad stuff. Yikes.
so based on the comments, I haven't missed much by not being able to see this on tv?
Hi all, the camera crew is listening to the radio broadcast. Radio would call a pass and that's what was on tv. Radio just called Jamie passing Jimmie, and what was on tv you ask? Jamie passing Jimmie.
This is pretty good stuff.
Hey, let's zoom in on Smoke, who's running single-file in front of the side-by-side racing!
Oh, now they've caught up to him. Too many cars in the shot. Let's go to a single shot of Jimmie Johnson!
OH ya 6th place is a much better race to follow.
7:59 and the local fox affiliate in Phila just went to the race.
and of course, fox just went to commercial! Ahhh!
@Anon 7:55pm - The NAPA guy with the deep eye sockets and protruding cheeks and chin is still creepy!
Glenn, you are right. I am listening to Red's radio station tonight. Ready for when my TV craps out
MV, he looks like he's on drugs er something LOL
I had forgotten how many fewer ads are on the radio. WOW. I like this.
jd, welcome to our world.
i hate fox.
The return of the in-race sponsored video packages???? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
S&P teams are going to be hard to call tonight.
#87, #09 and #64 are almost certain.
Maybes are:
#36 New driver and great qualifying run
#32 No sponsor, but not usually a S&P
#26 Never know with this one
#46 Has a sponsor
Kyle: increasingly tight in the center, increasingly loose off as run progresses. Crew will adjust.
Should be interesting to see who goes behind the wall now. Looking like we might have right front troubles tonight whether that is due to brakes or camber we shall see.
Told the 88 scanner is down because the team had to go to a backup channel due to audio problems.
ha, JD. You must be dreaming. We can't even get a full field rundown or a reset after a caution, why on earth would Fox fill the viewers just joining them in on what happened?
If Kyle Busch's pit crew can keep that up - he will be tough to beat from the #1 stall. They killed em.
MV, I brought that up last night. I expect Casey Mears to give it a go, they brought on an associate late
26 will probably run but be slow as will 46. 32 is slow, will probably park as will the 09, 87 and 64
Rich
& the radio guys on MRN are such "Comfort food" especially if you do not watch the tv to aggravate yourself with the A.D.D. camera direction.
Barney Hall & folks = warm & fuzzy. :)
I like the tv guys too but bad camera work butchers the race so, it takes away ANY enjoyment of the FOX tv guys voices..ya know.
And enthusiasm on MRN can't be beat.
Montoya really talking about tires chattering, might FOX bring it up?
Rich, radio is so much better than TV broadcast that I pretty much always mute the tv and listen to scanner of driver and the radio feed.
then I actually know what's going on -- pretty pathetic that TV can't do as good a job with pictures as the radio guys do with words.
JD, 88 scanner is working
32, 64, 87 all off the track
Celtics-Cavs on TNT, Hawks-Canucks on Vs, and NHRA on ESPN2 in a bit...
Step it up Fox.
Sophia, I agree. As others have noticed, this year it seems the Fox booth has decided to change directions a little bit and not give much PxP. Lots of good chat but I like pxp.
Stumped - who's MV ?
Yep, 88 scanner is back.
Is this impossible to watch tonight or is it just me?
GinaV24, I agree. That 10 sec shot from the Bud car was useless
It is hard for them to follow a pack with smooth camera work.
Lucky Dog? Wave arounds? Start and parks? Any information out there at all Fox??
Yes JD, sad but true. And I freaking love this place too! It's just so disjointed and hoppity around style.
OMG now an all-star plug? really?!
It's been worse - but then FOX has had a perty bad 2010
This is really getting wierd.
Radio is REALLY calling what I'm seeing on tv.
Amazing
Amazing how the MRN audio seems to just smooth out watching TV
Is it wrong that I'm following the race on Twitter & MRN & reading a book?
Glenn, could MRN radio be calling the race from watching the moniters. Noooo, say it ain't so
and the love affair with the 48 car continues
we CAN'T see the rotors glowing on that 99 car because we were stuck with an in-car shot!
i don't think i'm gonna make it.
What is with the damn ground cam!? That's the WORST possible angle and they're using it more than any other!
Bliss behind the wall. Cook has fallen 3 laps down
I'm totally nauseous at this constant camera changing.
Does anyone have a seasick pill?
There's just no flow.
On the radio side, MRN has some great talent, MUCH better than PRN.
I wish the guys in the booth had watched AB call the Nationwide race last nite. They could have learned a thing or 2 about how to call a race.
Or better yet ... get AB to the booth NOW.
Do you almost get the feeling that they are doing it on purpose?
In a word JD?
YES!
@JD - Why would they do that? They have the contract locked up until 2015.
Raines back on track as is Sorenson
15 and 22 laps down respectively
A story right now has to be the fact Tony is about to be lapped.
Close-up of a brake rotor and rim/tire during green flag?... Is Hammond going to explain the whole process of how a tire is made too?...
and why can't we have Hammond in a small box showing us the brakes with the race in the big split? Idiots are running this broadcast
OK Jeff Hammond or Tim Brewer ?
I would rather see a bead on a tire then the race under green.
BREWER
what's up with full screen Hammond!
Hey Fox, there's racing on the track!
JD here's the emai response I just got from Foxsports. Still nothing for the local affiliate
Hello,
Sorry for the inconvenience and frustration. Your local FOX affiliate decided to go with the debate from 7pm - 8pm ET and should be joining the race shortly.
Best,
FOX Sports Customer Service
Hey MikeC -- someone is reading!
@Gina & Charlie - Or, better yet, why can't we see this stuff in the pre-race, and the racing during the race?
is Hammond taking lessons from Brewer or what!?!
sheeshe!
Guys, can you give me a good online link for MRN local station?
Fans on Twitter are begging for something other than FOX.
damn, they are doing a thru the field.
@JD- I get the feeling that the environment there is so toxic everyone just shows up because their contracts force them to.
Hammond stuttered through that segment a little.
The start and park race has begun. Raines and Sorenson have gone back behind the wall, Bliss coming back out
Every time I think Fox can't get any worse....they have a race from one of the best, most competitive tracks left on the circuit, and totally blow it.
JD, yes, I do think they are doing it on purpose, but I really wonder why?
I much prefer MRN to PRN.
Bummer, Terry Cook has gone behind the wall
TRLady
Tried watching again a few minutes ago & truly triggered up my vertigo a bit. listening to MRN :-)
The &^%$ up camera work is total lunacy. I saw about 15 secs on a PIECE of maroon car roof on my house mate's 52 inch tv. WHY? *Click*
I love MRN but we foolishly thought we could enjoy the races on the big tv. Nope.
Hope to God TNT still has good camera work or we are screwed.
Caws & Jaws needs to count IN CAR CAMS commercials...how much "actual race" does one see on tv?
SOMEBODY needs to TOTAL the in car/roof cam/bumper cam/ground cam/one or two car shot cam. THAT would give us an honest answer.
That S&P race crap is a joke. Get me one more lap.
jd, i use www.wnpv1440.com every week.
I would take Hammond over Brewer any day. Just like him better for some reason.
My local radio station isn't carrying the race tonight. Otherwise, I'd listen.
Guess I'll just have to plug my ears and watch the pretty pictures.
JD I think the production truck is indeed doing this badly on purpose... not in a spiteful way though, just because they are truly this out to lunch.
what a cluster!
Do many / most of the FOX camera crew go to work for TNT ?
Tight single car shots does not show you the race. They could talk about a car and have more then just that car in the shot. Its ok to do this.
http://www.wnpv1440.com/
http://107countrypsk.com/
two sites to listen to MRN ONLINE
by the way, wnpv1440.com carries both prn and mrn so you don't have to figure out which track carries which station.
http://107countrypsk.com/
this is working for me
OK, can I say that I hate the Dover commercial? every time I see Joey's car flip like that it makes my stomach jump. I hate that NASCAR uses wrecks to try and draw crowds. That's NOT what racing is about.
FOX is doing pretty poorly tonight. All the usual problems, compounded by the fact that there is a DARN GOOD RACE going on according to MRN and the few pictures of multiple cars we can see.
Also, MRN is currently interviewing the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Something FOX probably wouldn't even think of doing. Yes, it's under green, which is annoying, but I'm just sayin...
Jr about to get lapped, this is about when the tire failures show up...
Boy, Jr. is going backward. He used to be so good at short tracks.
Hammond has too big an ego for my taste and he thinks he's one of the reasons NASCAR on Fox exists. Brewer should have just stayed retired as he never was that popular a crew chief with the fans.
If they had to have a crew chief on the TV crew, I would have gone for somebody like Buddy Parrott or Frank Stoddard. Someone with somewhat of a character, but not to the point that it's gone to their head.
Kahne complaining his driver's suit is too tight. Sorenson coming back out
Rich, the monitors must have went out. MRN hasn't called a lap in about 10 minutes.
They've started their babbling and interview portion of the broadcast.
Just depressing.
OH wow, MRN just told us Stewart got lapped, that happened 10 laps ago.
MRN is better than most but they got issues too.
Stoddard would be hilarious
Glenn, sadly true
gina, thank you for bringing that dover commercial up. i also dislike it intensely. i understand that nascar markets the wrecks but having been there when that particular wreck happened, it's just so wrong.
by the way, radio reports that kahne's firesuit is "a one-off" and doesn't fit right so he can't fully extend his arms. boy, i'd love to hear THAT radio conversation!
@Andrew- you are so right. And that is the kind of thing that Fox used to talk about in pre-race, now we get silliness like Pizzi and brackets instead of something that is useful to the fans.
sorry, JD, I can't help since i listen to the radio via trackpass.
I do not like the explanations and talk that treats us like we know nothing. But I guess they do have to condescend and simplify stuff for possible first time viewers.
My bubble is burst. A radio ad spot while TV keeps showing racing.
Not one single car racing another. If you didn't know better you would think - why go to see a race at this track, it is boring.
Kahne has a weggie?
09 off, 46 on
lots and lots of commercials
Terry Cook back on track.
how can a FIRESUIT not fit? KK must be going nuts saying it's too tight? how does that happen?
Thanks for the online radio links. Made a lot of people happy who are turning this off.
Red, Thanks for the MRN link. I'm
ready to throw up from the morons
at Fox. Where is Stevie Wonder?
We need a director. Does anyone
know how the brakes work on these
race cars?
NASCAR should be ashamed of the start and park clown show.
@Sophia - I'm with you, Oakley made his suit to look like Darrell's '85 suit, but it should have been made to the exact same measurements as his usual suit. Gotta wonder what went wrong.
who else is loving the Danica GoDADDY commercials? kidding, of course
It's a one race only deal on KK firesuit. Somebody goofed or he went to the buffet too much.
@David -- LOL -- Kasey's suit is too tight? What did he do, have a big dinner?
So when do you think they will start showing the race?
Well....depending on who did what and if it was in a hurry it's possible. This should have been something Kasey noticed yesterday though...
@Anon 8:37pm - We already know Raines' car will go through teardown, so Cook, Bliss and Sorenson are just racing for 3 extra points. They're all so far from 35th place, it's pointless (no pun intended).
I really feel bad for FOX. They have good pit reporters and a great play by play guy.
But, the Director is literally pounding us with random camera shots and making this unwatchable.
Sorry JD but I gotta ask.
Anonymous said...
Kahne has a weggie?
Did you happen to hear that?
Well, if you heard it or said it yourself,
"That's funny right there"
18 cars on lead lap ? May be a snoozer
@Glenn, I know what you mean, I hate when MRN is doing interviews and promos during green flag racing. It seems weird to me, but as you said, they are better than TV.
I even use them when I'm at the track on the scanner. It's easy to get lost in the muddle at the track when they start lapping cars.
Yeah, Red, it just makes me so annoyed. Heck we were at Dover when that happened and were close enough that it made my heart skip a beat until I knew he was OK. I'm not a big fan of watching wrecks and I hate it when fans cheer one, especially when they don't know if the driver is OK or not.
has this been an especially LONG commercial break? Or is it just me?
You and me both Junior
After this firesuits-too-tight mess, before each race, KK might want to do arm raises and sit on floor cross legged style, to make sure there are no snuggy sections :)
What's wrong here, everybody on Twitter and this blog knows about the firesuit but TV has made no mention of it?
Could get fun....the #48 is about to be lapped.
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