The ESPN "B team" is ready for action from O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indy. The big boys are over at IMS with the Sprint Cup Series coverage. This gives some other folks a time to shine.
Vince Welch is calling his second Nationwide Series race of the season. He will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Ricky Craven in the TV booth. Down on pit road will be Shannon Spake, Rick DeBruhl and Mike Massaro.
DeBruhl is a veteran who has been a utility player for ESPN for a long time. He is a fulltime local TV station reporter in Arizona during the week. Spake has been a field reporter and host for NASCAR Now as well as filling-in on pit road this season after returning from the birth of her twins.
Massaro has been doing his own Allen Bestwick impression this season. The fulltime NASCAR Now host has also been working as a pit road reporter and also hosted NNS pre-race shows, which he will probably do tonight. Talk about busy.
ESPN has to deal with the Edwards and Keselowski incident and fines, but if they make it the theme of the race it may just backfire. ORP is a tough track to pass and things normally heat-up just fine without hype.
As SPEED learned on Friday night, wideshots are mandatory of action will be missed at this short track. TV viewers need to see the entire frontstretch every lap or passing will be missed. Shooting the cars coming into the camera rather than going away means some work for the director but it makes a big difference.
This post will serve to host your comments on the NNS race from ORP on ESPN. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.
128 comments:
Driver intros moved up 5 min due to approaching rain.
Really looking forward to Ricky Craven tonight!! Pay attention folks. Think you'll like him a lot!
Oh no, within seconds of the start of the pre-race show and we have a mom sighting! I can't believe they are showing the wreck again and again and again and again. I want to see some other stuff!
Now we know the story line for this evening's race...:(. And I'm sooo hoping RC will override my dislike of Crusty.
and JD, what is moving up the start 5 minutes that's a joke!!!!
Is that new? Keeping Massaro outside with the majority of commentary. Very cool.
Not so annoyed with the constant talk of the Gateway wreck since Edwards has really just been ducking the question. Also several people do not tune in during the week so this is their first update on the situation possibly.
Looks like ESPN is starting to get back to its hype form though rather then what they've been doing so well all season. Hope Vince does well tonight, this has been one of their best production truck races over the last few years.
I can't remember for sure but wasn't last years race here a super telecast and we were all surprised.
The pit reporters normally host the pre-race for stand-alone NNS races.
Happy Race Night Planeteers <3
I know Vicky they beat it to death and won't let go! We can recite their history to prove we know everything to prove it if it'll make 'em move on to something else!
And sure Eric *may* get inadvertent TV time but I bet the camera will be focused TIGHTLY on BraKes and Carl's pits so I doubt his "lucky" position will be all that lucky.
Our DJC's Pit School is paying off several of his guys have been doing well! I enjoy his tweets about that! Says he's only had the school about 2 years IIRC!
Sorry for the moderation, we have our troubled individual with us tonight. Hope he gets some help soon.
Putting my tinfoil hat on... tonight's director just MIGHT want to keep an eye on the 26/92 JUST in case there's a super secret double blind bounty out on Carl (by Bob K of course)
Since the 92 will park before lap 2, they won't have to watch him too long :)
I know, I know, very unlikely. But if it WERE to happen, do you want ESPN missing it? (ESPN sure wouldn't - that'd be at least two weeks of mileage for this "story" right there!)
can i just say: she is NOT gonna make it thru this anthem in a pretty way.
not at all.
Rain looking likely. Hope Vince Welch is ready to chat!
Looks like a great crowd! These poor drivers/crews have to listen to the anthem singers, I think tonight's singer started off flat. Get these cars fired up and let's go!
What the heck was with the audio there?
Terribly HOT/MUGGY for the drivers. Hope all stay safe & clear headed during the race tonight.
mic cutting in and out w singer. needed this last night....and tonight.
Who PICKS these singers.
They finally found a decent singer and the P.A. system is acting up.
I didn't refer to the overall job of the pit-reporter, I was talking about the whole high-camera-angle-intro-walking-down-pit-lane that Massaro did. That was pretty cool. Usually the pre-race is talked about in the booth first.
S&P prediction: 43, 26, 09, 36, 90, 89, 91, 92, 49 and 52.
21 is a maybe.
Coming back from commercial, did somebody in the booth say "That's depressing"..were they talking about the weather or did I miss something in pre-race.
Looking for a radio station for car to run short errand.
Looking forward to good changes for NW next year to help the middle guys. They deserve it.
I think my ears are bleeding after that attempt at the anthem ...
Great color scheme on the #88 car. Terrible "command". Let's go racing before this rain gets here.
For the love of biscuits ...
Psycho Carl is the in-race reporter ?!?!?!
It only takes a couple of minutes to get a Blogger blue nick name so we can know how is speaking.
We (I) don't mind the moderating, so long as you don't disappear for 2 hours like earlier today ***wink***
Starting tomorrow, Carl Edwards is a driver/analyst for ESPN and will be appearing in every single post race SportsCenter show to offer his analysis of the races.
I kid you not.
With as fast as the # 21 was in practice, I don't think Richard's gonna have Morgan S&P ...
It's going to be storyline time. You put Carl as your in-race reporter? I really stopped caring about anything about him or out of his mouth with his actions over the past year.
ORP is usually a good race. Let see if they cover it. Truck race was great last night. But vehicles did touch and drive without spinning. We'll see if the bigger boys can act as mature.
I really like Mike Massaro. He's nice on Twitter, too.
Has he ever been IN the booth during a race this year & I missed it?
a real bright spot at ESPN! :)
Vicky D
I missed the mom sighting. Something i've not heard enough of is the wreck last week between C & B.
Ha.
That Hollywood helmet looks like a cartoon character..is it that little guy from Flintstones?
Rusty is an idiot. "Clean start there, OH LOOK AT THAT 38 CAR!"
Really?! Idiot.
How did the camera miss Leffler's wreck & HOW is he seeing? no cuation
LOL rustyfail *cars scattering everywhere*-- rusty: "pretty clean start here guys, look at the damage on the 38 car! he's all torn up!"
Leffler has had good runs in the #10, but it seems he's cursed whenever he drives the #38.
"Before lap 1 is even complete and these guys are going to be any tighter at any other time tonight, Let's go to the tape again and again. Let's show you what we obviously have the inability of showing LIVE"
Wow. Rusty needs to be fired ASAP. Ricky is doing well, Welch too but Rusty just seems to be on a different planet repeating what the others have already said/shown
Rusty: "Pretty clean start so far."
What race is he watching?
The cars are scrambling all over the place towards the middle of the starting line up and Rusty says clean start!
Lap 1 was clearly a fail for the production truck, Vince Welch & Rusty Wallace.
Also, typical ESPN stirring the pot between Edwards & Keselowski. Rusty, please don't fabricate storylines.
Welp, that was a productive start. i missed the truck race last night..anything exciting happen
Ok, ok I went and got a Blogger account. Don't plan to use it except here...
Thanks Matt!
Dammit! Don't make me start counting laps between commercials!!
So, who was the brain trust that decided to hire Crazy Carl for Sports Center??
Shouldn't they have hired someone who's not Public Enemy # 1 ??
According to Weather Channel's Weather in Motion map, rain could be 45 minutes away.
Wider camera shots would really help. Every time a camera zooms in on a short track TV gets burned.
My sister is at the race tonight. Says the crowd is ok. I don't know if I will be able to handle Rusty all night...
first time i saw something like the beging of a race at Lacrosse Interstate speed way thay were coming to the green flag and the the Flagger did not like the way the field looked and pulled the flag back and when thay entered turn 1 CRASH 30 min latter the race was started.
Since they are talking about the damage to some of the cars, they could show the start again I think.
Is it me or does this have a feeling of last nights camera work? So far I think I've had about 4 cars fill the screen at a time and they were 2x2.
Live Leaderboard seems to be working now.
I hate promos coming out of a commercial break...
Am I listening to DW? All Rusty wants to talk about is Steven. Je must be the only one racing.
Can't stand CE as the in-car reporter.
LOVE this track. Saw Leffler win there for the first time for Toyota in the series. TV makes it look much bigger than it really is.
104 degrees here. Just horrid.
Rusty has no biz being put in this spot--no winner any way...
Ricky Craven is really good at this.
The commentary and pictures do not match the racing on the track. I am really losing my patience.
Live leaderboard finally loaded.
The rain is on the way. Will make for a long night of Rusty's sophmoric drivel.
This is great they are mentioning some series regulars that were the biggest movers, but what about all the passes Annett & Nemechek made that we missed?
Back to commercial :(
I take it back. Commercials are fine if you're not going to show us the race!
Leffler's back in the race 62 laps later. Hello? Booth? Anyone?
Thw word of the weekend: ZOOM.
Why would anyone watch this? Just tight shots of two cars at a time.
Same as last night. What a shame.
one car or two car camera shots don't get it.
Can they keep the shot on an attempted pass to see if it actually happens please?
I'm sorry, but I don't get the fuss over Ricky Craven. He gives good information, but his delivery is horrible. His comments sounds like he's reading them from a script.
And this race coverage was outstanding last yr! What a friggin' shame. And makes me dread Sunday's coverage even more...:( And is it just me, or hasn't the booth mentioned the rain coming in at ALL?
The "off pit road" order was messed up ... I didn't see Brad listed ...
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The rain is trying to die out. Not sure if it will before it hits the track or not. Fingers crossed.
I think VW & RC are doing pretty good. RW can be replaced. I wish they would show us the guys towards the back.
Our motto is that TV viewers deserve to be seeing what the fans in the stands are watching.
Poor Mr. Jesus and David :(
Our poor David! Darn! He had a top 10 finish last night there.
Great plug for your sponsor there Rusty. Too much of a conflict for Rusty to be announcing.
I can't believe he threw that in.
I wish someone would explain the economics of S&P'ing. I read the particulars of the Armando Fitz law suit, so I don't understand how it's possible to make any money by s&p'ing.Unless you have a piece of junk car, don't do any work on it, and just drive it long enough to make the race. Why would a driver do this, since the money is the pits? Or is it?
RW analysis only like he can give: stand on the wall to fake out your 'components'. he couldn't decide between competitors and opponents.
It's very profitable in Sprint Cup. Last place gets a minimun of 60k in any given cup event. In Nationwide I don't get it either.
Am I the only one that thinks Hornaday ran over the #31 when the 31 made an abrupt turn to pit road and that Hornaday didn't blow a tire?
The track's only 0.686 mile and they keep missing stuff ...
Are all the cameras at IMS??
That was the only replay angle? Lord help us.
Same crappy camera shots as last nite. Looks like the same director is doing the calls. I went back & looked at 1988-92 ESPN Thunder on Youtube: only 3 main cameras: High frontstretch catches them from entrance to T3 all the way around to the exit of T2, alternately there is an end of frontstretch (outside T1) cam for frontal views coming down into T1.
Third main cam is on infield catching from exit of T2 thru T3. This cam catches all the slide jobs going into 3. And then there's the Carquest CageCam, which let you see the drivers up on the wheel while you could see the track ahead too!
Last night I counted at least 4 camera views going around the track, accounting for the short time on each camera view. I bet the camera-person's union had something to do with that;-P
Yeah Rusty, I'll just knock em all outta the way to get to the front.
I think they've ruined their clean slate :( I have very little hope for tomorrow if they can't properly cover this small track :(
I am out Sunday if this is a preview what is to come. I HATE that TV coverage has ruined the sport I love...:(
MRN had Hornaday long before TV got to him.
They sent all the "good" camera/camera people to the big track.
2nd place car wrecks and they do know why but they were wrong on why.
Not a tire like Rusty wanted us to believe but another car hit him.
How can you miss that. Is this track that big you can't see the guy in 2nd from the booth or from a camera angle and see him get hit.
Gee
Start with used cars built by big teams which have become surplus due to improved models - limited market, low cost. S&P'ers only need 2 or 3 cars and minimal staff if the cars only run a few laps. Phil Parsons' N-wide team's car driven by J. Chapman in 2009 ran a total of 194 laps, for the season, in 28 races and took in about $495,000 in prize money.
PammH, I know what you mean.
Tracy - The best way to get a sponsor is to be at the track, not at home. By Starting & Parking, the team breaks even, and can continue to stroll along, hoping for a sponsor. Drivers are the same way. The best way to move up in NASCAR is to be at the track in a car. Brad Keselowski was driving junk just 3 years ago and look where he is.
Can't believe the empty seats. When we were there 3 years ago, the place was packed to the rafters.
Will someone tell Race Control that Crazy Carl CANNOT win this race ???
Vince has said more then once that there is racing all over the place, while we watch a single car go around the track.
Buschseries, I don't see how they can break even in NW. The engine rentals are $50,000 minimum. I can't see how it works in Cup either, unless there's more money than for just starting - some sort of revenue sharing with Nascar? I'm going to ask Nate Ryan - he seems to know how money works in Nascar. Hmmm...
Nemechek has a sponsor?Whoopee! Good job, Joe.
Empty seats ? Just wait until tomorrow !
OK it was good that when Kes, Sorenson et al were going 3 wide with 7 to go they went to ana erial shot which let the viewer see the whole group. Kudos for that, but 4 main camera views around each lap is still too much.
Never thought I'd be rooting for Kyle Busch - til now.
Please, let KyBu win. Just so CE doesn't.
That is where the probation comes into play.
Great finish! (As long as you don't mind Kyle & Carl going 1-2 again ;-)
1 & 2 finishers are cup drivers - wow they must be really proud of themselves tonight!
My understanding is that many engine rental deals involve a sliding scale for rent, and can be as little as $10,000 in Cup for an engine run less than 20 or 30 laps in a race. More laps, higher rent. It would appear that N-wide S&P'ing can be reasonably profitable since Phil Parsons has moved his S&P'ing up to Cup this year.
Guess Kylie won't be wishing the Toyota name off the car tonight :)
Tracy - An engine can last several races if you run less than 50 miles a race. You don't have to pay for a crew, teams can get tire rebates from GoodYear for unused tires. The purse money makes up for entry list fees and travel expenses.
Great burnout, LOL.
I appreciate you guys hanging with us for this horrible coverage.
Missed every incident, did not have replays for most.
Please let tomorrow be better!
JD
Shannon
People will continue to talk about Gateway ...
Esp since Carl tried to rough up Kyle ...
Indy is going to be the final straw for me. ORP was ruined this weekend by SPEED and ESPN. I can't see the value of wasting hours in front of a television watching a race through a telescope. I am amazed how people behind the scenes can be happy with their product.
JD, would you have some estimate of how many extra people might have been needed by L'EESPN due to being at 2 tracks in Indy? Could it be that too many corners might have been cut?
Richard, this TV compound was shared by ESPN and SPEED. It is run by the NASCAR Media Group.
It looked to me like only four or five race cams in addition to pit road, the aerial shot and two speed shots low angle.
Even if there were only three cams used for race coverage, keeping the cams wide and showing the fans at home the racing on the track should have been done.
This was embarrassing no matter how many cams were in place.
"That is where the probation comes into play."
Yes, Carl could have driven harder for the win, but he can't. How Rowdy won on those very, very worn tires combined with the above ... well, I will let the bloggers go to town on all that.
No matter. Great race, great win!!
I loved the coverage tonight. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing to get anyone's panties in such a dang outcry. Per usual.
So who will be in the booth at Iowa when Reid and the A team are in Pocono? Same trio?
It will be Vince, but the rest of the line-up has not been emailed.
Thanks JD.
Wonder what happened to the replay that would show us "why" Nemechek spun???
Same thing that happened to all the other replays. They didn't have it because they were shooting the cars so tight.
It was rhetorical, JD ... ;-)
Or as we call it elsewhere ... "the tighten up the field for more drama" caution ... LOL
Reading through the comments, I'm glad I didn't watch the race.
Too bad, and kinda sad.
The Busch/Nationwide races used to be cool. Not so much anymore.
Finished up watching. It's amazing that SOOOO much got missed on such a short track.
How do you not catch incidents?
How do you only have an incar facing back as your only video of one of the leaders?
Zero film on other incidents. Really? On a short track? The race was fast. Went by quick but really that was downright pathetic.
At least Rusty now fits his name. Comments are Rusty Slow and incorrect. Carl on probation didn't impact the finish. Only way he would have won was if he just blasted into the side of Kyle because he was getting whooped by Kyle. A few cars got out of shape and made contact yet no one took out the other. Funny how that works. Guess some understand what racing is.
I am getting close to just giving up. What is it with the zooming in and showing only 1 or 2 cars?
No excuse on a short track...really no excuse at any track.
Racing all over the track says Vince Welch. Why bother mentioning it if you aren't showing it.
Replays were atrocious. You only have a rear view of Hornaday's wreck when he is running second!
Commentary rarely matched pictures and some commentary made no sense. Amirola had a long pit stop due to fixing the fenders from lap 1 fiasco. Vince even mentioned it.
Several laps later commment is made that Aric is where he is due to "problems" at his last pit top.
Yikes!!
Was David Hill producing this junk tonight, too??
Are they just tormenting us?
Oh...be prepared...read the article about how Nascar has lost the 18-34 yr old males. Heaven help us all as they go after that demo.
I turned the race off when Kyle took the lead and knew it was going to be one of those nights where the Nationwide regulars did not have a prayer and I could not stomach Rusty's yelling all night, too much like DW for me, give me a break, and he definitely has a conflict of interest so please God keep him out of the booth and I pray that the coverage from Indy is a 1000 times better than what i saw tonight at ORP.
I had to record this race and watched it this morning.
Ricky Craven continues to impress me. He's bringing a whole new, intelligent, articulate point of view to the booth. I'd love to hear him work a Cup race.
This was a great telecast. My father was visiting me this weekend and I convinced him to watch the race at ORP. He has been somewhat disappointed in NASCAR the last five years or so. But I got him to watch, and he just loved ESPN's work and the race itself. I thought it was a pretty great night, too.
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