Here we go with the start of ESPN's fourth season of covering the final seventeen Sprint Cup Series races. Today's telecast will be one hour of pre-race, the race itself and then extended post-race on SportsCenter.
Allen Bestwick will host the coverage from the Infield Pit Studio. He will be joined by Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and Brad Daugherty. Bestwick will host the post-race report as well from this location.
Marty Reid begins his first season as the play-by-play announcer for one of the most high-profile motorsports packages in the world. Reid will have veterans Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. This duo has been working together for several seasons and is quite comfortable on the air.
Reid is a utility player. He has been used by ESPN on IndyCars, NHRA and off-road coverage. Many fans were surprised that ESPN did not simply promote Bestwick back to the PXP role and use a studio host like Nicole Briscoe to host the infield coverage.
Reid is facing a tough task. He must follow the direction of the ESPN producer and the pictures provided by the ESPN director. For the past couple of years, ESPN has selected a script that was offered in the pre-race show and then attempted to follow it during the race. It rarely made sense.
Jimmie Johnson and his team were the focus of the ESPN telecasts last season. That did not really allow a balanced look at the rest of the teams and fans got upset rather quickly. The season ended with a lot of fan anger, low ratings and tempers short.
This is an opportunity for ESPN to open a new chapter in its NASCAR TV history. Simply by following the action, letting the stories play out and showing fans the best racing on the track things will change in a hurry. Let's see if that happens.
This post will host your comments about the ESPN coverage from The Brickyard. 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 and chatting with us today!
391 comments:
1 – 200 of 391 Newer› Newest»IIRC, MRN does not carry the IMS races.
Is there a link online to listen to this someplace? I figured this would be the place to ask. Thanks, JD & others.
I sure hope that ESPN gets rid of the bottom ticker. It is very distracting during race coverage and together with the race ticker on the top of the screen, it takes up about a quarter of the screen.
Here we go. This is going to be the most interesting telecast of the season to date!
The best thing RaceDay could do, is let Wendy work somewhere else. She's so much better than that show is.
Good morning! It's a beautiful 58 degrees at 9am in California, but I see it is hotter than the sun out at Indy. Whew!!
Strong test of endurance today for our drivers.
Gonna get settled for some Countdown show now. Glad to be here. :)
.... and then the bubble burst by watching ice water in the veins again....ugh
Hope today is better than last night, 20 minutes in and I'm already sick of Rusty, hopefully I can find a radio broadcast to listen to
Ray Evernham and Ricky Craven are just leaping off the screen this weekend. Future stars.
Jeff if you find radio for race, do share with the rest of the class or email! :)
Regarding RaceDay: More Wendy,less Kenny. Let Kenny do the walk around the tracks, much better for him than trying to sit and talk.
Lot of pre-packaged stuff today.
So lame to use the same features over and over and over again on every show they do from Indy this weekend. Why is it such a radical idea to save these features for Countdown and use practice coverage to show nothing but practice and use qualifying coverage to show nothing but qualifying?
I wonder what unique features we'll see next - Allmendinger reliving Gordon's '94 win? Martin reliving Sullivan's '85 win? Sports science telling us a bunch of college football fields can fit inside this track?
Terrible.
Wow! no tie on AB...
I've not seen this Penske interview. FINALLY something I'm interested in.
Wish they'd do more LIVE stuff tho.
Will do Sophia!
Hearing from media types at the track that the crowd is sparse right now. Hope for some late arriving folks.
This is going to be the 2nd time for this Hamlin knee story in 1 hour! ???
Missing RaceBuddy already!
I must confess I DO enjoy Ray E on tv. Though I held his private stuff against him, I have since learned that life is more complicated than we know & try not to judge a person's life by bits & pieces we hear.
Erin in a car was not good idea ...but I digress.
That said I LOVE RAY on tv. He adds so much, the camera loves him, he has great facial expressions...
and most of all...My neighbor that died last year, ran into Ray at a car show..and did not want to bother him. Ray came up to him & they spoke several minutes. Said Ray was the nicest guy in person. No pretense..that left an impression.
Oh, no the Denny surgery thing AGAIN.
Is there nothing on the track now?
No hydration issues with the SUFFOCATING dewpoings/heat ?
We also chat on Twitter at twitter.com/thedalyplanet and on your Facebook fan page. Just type "The Daly Planet" into search.
Jeff Others
http://www.wnpv1440.com
:-D
Thanks to regular on Twitter. Hurry before this gets deleted! :)
For those of you looking for radio, look here:
http://radiotime.com/affiliate/a_38365/station/IMS_Radio_Network_Radio_Stations.aspx
Also on SIRIUS 128.
I am a big NFL Fan... and Nascar Countdown, with all these pre-packaged clips has the identical feel as NFL Sunday Countdown (with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson). I feel Nascar deserves something different and something original.
Great analogy to NASCAR Countdown. I feel the same way about this show so far. Packaged.
Anybody else notice how much more money and time they put into JJ's segment than the rest? That "ice" theme was no simple thing to do with all the special effects.
Sophia: Do you mean Erin in any car was a bad idea, or Erin in one of Ray's cars was a bad idea?
I kind of thought she could have been something, but when she drove for him I thought is was a bad idea. Then her career went downhill.
But I like what Ray brings to the Infield Pit Studio. He is light years ahead of RW and Brad.
Hence my boycott of pre-race shows. NFL Network sets the standard for pre-game formula.
Check in with yall at Green Flag!
I live in the indy area, for online radio try :
www.1070thefan.com/listen
I hope this helps, it is working on my computer.
Here we go. This is going to be the most interesting telecast of the season to date!
July 25, 2010 12:11 PM
Also the most important. Reading the various comments indicates that a poor telecast (images, commentary, etc,) will have a pronounced nrgative affect on viewership for the entire rest of the schedule.
Watching 'Two Guys Garage' was far better than listening to Rusty's blather on the prerace show. Rusty should go focus on his race team and then Ray E could more than adequately fill that void.
I always feel like I can learn something when Ray speaks, with Rusty I don't feel that way, most of the time.
Ray thinks before he speaks just like Ricky Craven. I much prefer that over babble and loud.
That was the cable cam, which is back this year. Hope they use it on all the restarts.
Actually, I've enjoyed all the driver segments for this reason. It shows what you can do when you don't devote the majority of your time to a circus act like FOX does.
Chadderbox
Erin deserved a car...just under the extenuating circumstance, should not have driven for Ray while the drama was ongoing & they were not more discreet..many feelings got hurt. Made both look bad... but I think she has TALENT for sure. :)
Thanks for radio links everybody.
I can ALWAYS count on this place for helpful people.
Thanks JD & others.
Nice Anthem!
i have no problem with pre-race rehashing stories, segments used earlier in the week for 2 reasons:
1. i don't watch pre-race
2. i really believe there are folks who ONLY tune in race day with the pre-race shows so it's all new to them. this is one time when i think it's OK to handle it this way. die hard fans take a back seat on pre-race shows & that's one reason i don't tune in until the invocation.
interesting invocation: the Lord's Prayer. for this episcopalian, the perfect prayer any day. side note: it was also the Gospel reading today. sweet.
Great job on the anthem. 10 seconds early on the flyover.
Wow! The times they are a changin! Rick Hendrick is sporting a beard. Never thought I'd see that.
i agree on Erin. Him losing his objectivity was probably not a help. She had potential.
Best anthem in a while. Not into Chapman's kind of music but I knew he'd do it well. Best in a while
I hate that ESPN split screen with the fancy colored graphics that take up 1/3 of the screen.
robbiejr: I agree. I will take tasteful pre-packaged driver segments over the Fox pre race insanity.
robbiejr: according to various twitter sources, it was done on a bet from dale jr. still waiting for the photo of mr h w/beard AND cap on backwards! then we'll really appreciate the full "dale earnhardt jr effect" on the boss!
Red when a HMS car wins we'll get that picture they always do one with them backwards for Ricky
Jr's influence on the sport has no bounds ;-)
Happy Race Day Planeteers...
Hope they do better than they did last night otherwise have lots of stuff to do instead
<3 Steven Curtis Chapman my heart still breaks over the loss of their little girl. Such a sweet angel!
Enough with how big the speedway is already!! It gets old.
And there's the stupid IMS size video that pre-empted Dave Blaney's qualifying run on ESPN2 on Saturday. Ouch.
JJ said something this morning about it being hard to pass. I hope he is wrong. I want to see a great race!
Ready for Green1
If I had my way I would take away the in car reporter, the pit crew reporter, bumper cams, in car cams, hood cams and get back to basics and see if they can get that right.
Isn't there a comp caution on lap 15? Did the ESPN guys mention that?
race hard, be safe and have fun, boys.
I would like to see an aerial camera shot every lap that shows most of the field.
yes on competition caution on lap 15. i'm on radio today so can't answer second 1/2.
IMS annoncer is louder than Marty and the rest of the booth in HD
Wow! Lap 1 caution!
Wow, that did not take long
They just mentioned Comp Caution on Lap 15.
Indy is always hard to pass. Good job catching the wreck in progress I thought
Welp...seem like the Indy weekend is going to start with wrecking on first lap :(
The IMS broadcast is basically a PRN broadcast branded as an IMS broadcast. The only thing negative I'm noticing with the IMS broadcast is the track mics might be a little too loud. Kind of hard to hear the announcers.
ok, decided to plug my headphones directly into the tv since radio was still setting the field coming to the green when the wreck occured. delay just too long & no way to synch tv with radio here.
this will be fun. . .
Missing Race Buddy too! No cable, no Dish.
Oh well maybe we will meet the future next year and stream the race live!
Airways Broadcast is becoming the past, as TV's now come equipped with internet connections.
It is the way to go!
Maybe NASCAR will figure it out soon.
Turner did!
I hope they keep using that overhead track camera shot throughout the race. It's awesome.
I love Marty Reid leading this charge
LOVED that direct over-the-car camera angle while leaving pit road. Highly cool.
Slick race track, what can you say? Those guys in the booth were right on it in a heartbeat! Good job.
Love that Marty said "start and park" on the air. First time on an ESPN Cup telecast I can remember.
how many cameras have they got? And not a single one caught what happens. Oops, finally the overhead gets it. Guess we'll have to call that racing deal, slick track & all.
Can I just say, the bit about the superbowls is totally irrelavant? I mean, you can't build a football stadium that big; it would make no sense; more comparing apples to oranges.
ESPN should've put this race on network TV. They moved this race for it could be ESPN's debut telecast of the season, but yet it's not big enough to put it on network TV.. Doesn't make much sense to me.
KB's fiance said the team thought it was a slick spot on the track.
Severe THUNDERSTORM watch near track until 7pm radio says.
What a mess in that wreck
I agree this should be on NETWORK. All races should be and the TNT should have network options since their camera work is the best :)
@glenc1- Jerry Jones takes that as a challenge to his manhood :)
I agree with the Marty Reid props. I'm enjoying him in there.
that is one sweet overhead camera shot!
The races were changed to ESPN after the many problems with the small network sports window on Sundays.
There were many fan complaints about the lack of post-race and also problems with rain delay shows where local TV stations left for the news.
This kind of sports property is best suited for cable TV, it just took ESPN and NASCAR several years to figure that out.
ABC stations were also not happy about losing their weekend local news on a regular basis.
We will see how it works out when the college and NFL seasons start.
Note to Vince - the saying is "A tough row to hoe". A road would indeed be tough to hoe, some would even go so far as to say impossible
They never learn. Green flag racing and we watch a car going into the pits getting tires.
I date back to cable the first time around, we had better quality from the pre-2001 package that I dont care if it is network or cable.
bevo...my favorite moment of last season was my Giants spoiling Jerry's party! Ya don't want to know my opinion of him, lol.
Is the audio balance really bad for anyone else?
Wow, this is about to be a mess.
What a cluster!
@glenc1- It can't be any worse than my own. Life-long Cowboys fan and can't stand the man.
so much happening all over the track. this is certainly a challenge for the broadcast team.
I think we're going to experience a blown tire and blown engine day. What a mess.
WOW, so many problems..and now Max Papis car on fire under neath. Poor Max :(
Is the heat messing up the track? This is depressing.
Poor Robby.
There is stuff happening everywhere right now!
Is anybody's head spinning yet? I think they have done a pretty good job at covering everything that has happened in these last few laps.
Thanks TB for showing us how to clean off the grill.
I enjoyed the few laps of coverage we had before this mess started. I have a bad feeling we might get a repeat of the race a few years ago. Interesting to see how this team would cover something like that.
Good grief, can't remember anything quite like this debacle with the grass.
Just when you thought it could not get weirder.
ok. deep breath, regroup and let's have a strong field reset back from commercial.
we can get thru this!
I'm just going to say this. Marty is much more equipped to handle this than Doc would be.
Only JJ could get away with something like that.
That's about as crazy as it gets. I've been to many 500's and a few 400's at IMS and I've never seen anything like that.. Wow!!
I think they are handling it well so far. I had low expectations are they are exceeding them for me.
Better than Fox for sure at the end.
We haven't even completed 50 miles and there's 11 cars off the lead lap already.
I think the broadcast team has done a good job rolling with this mess.
My son watches JJ pull out directly onto the track: "Hey, he cheated!"
Mom: "No son, that's Jimmie Johnson, they will allow it."
**No need to chastise here. The announcement came that it was allowed.
Big old swing and miss on TV covering that round of stops! On the ABC topic - they got exactly what they deserved. They screwed this sport and its fans over time and time since 2007 and now it's been justifiably thrown back in their face.
Lets keeps it positive. The drivers need to stop running through the grass.....its that simple.
It would seem they didn't take enough time to clean off the track...what is it with Indy & the weird stuff. You'd think they were the ones on an Indian burial ground...
bevo, nothing worse than how he treated Landry.
I think I should've stayed in bed ... asleep ...
This is a debacle ... Seems like when there's a good opening ceremonies, the race stinks ...
wow, an empty grandstand statement--I'm impressed!
Nice move by Marty to acknowledge the empty seats. I'm impressed with ESPN so far.
So if your racing and a car is coming up on you it looks like you could go down into the turn, hit the grass and the car behind you will need to pit.
wow and wow! acknowledging that there are empty seats AND that "we're not going to talk about the reasons; we're going to focus on the racing."
just . . . WOW.
WOW! marty talking about more empty seats!
But honestly the weather has STUNK for weeks..I wonder if that was any influence...on top of the costs & outrageous hotel rates.
I think they had a problem with cars going through the grass in either 95 or 96. The next year the track put down rumple strips. Looks like they aren't there anymore.
Marty just mentioned the empty seats. Thank the Lord! Finally some honesty.
Charlie- you just beat me to it.
Love Marty so far. Like the cable cam view. Booth has done ok considering all that has happened so far
I'm surprised Marty acknowledged the empty seats. A contrast from how FOX handled the Daytona 500 during the lengthy red flag.
What a wild 23 laps!
What a call by Marty on the Montoya pass!!!
"Holy smokes! What a great move!"
That's what I want to hear.
They had to mention the empty seats. You can't show the race and not show the hugh number of empty seats.
Marty Reid is my hero. Mentions start and parks and empty seats. I bet NASCAR big wigs hate that !
Seems like Montoya also has ice water in his veins. Passing on the outside in the corners at Indy is tough.
Nice looking broadcast so far.
Quite a few large empty spaces in the grandstands today!
Marty will probably get called in the hauler for mentioning the empty seats!
Marty seems to be setting his own agenda in terms of comments. Now he just needs to get busy talking about the racing for position and not just the leaders. Long way to go.
Does anybody else love the Edward's and Brad K hauler commercial as much as I do?
@OSBORNK- you must not have watched Fox this and last year. They never acknowledged empty seats and even famously talked about nobody leaving the track during a race when people were Tweeting pictures of columns of fans heading to their cars.
First two times on the commercial were ok. Be prepared to see it 3-4 more times today.
I just tried to search for a radio feed on the internet to at least listen to the race and NASCAR has that all blocked too. Unless you pay to listen on their site.
They really are missing the boat by not having joined the internet world completely where everyone is at these days.
Anybody know what I can do to follow the race?
Props to Marty Reid for his honesty. No BS, no Fox/Speed positive Nascar PR spin on anything (i.e. "Stop criticizing the start and parks. They would race the full race if they had a sponsor").
Marty is doing great today. I love to hear the enthusiasm for the action on the track!
I attend 5 races a year and I do not have problem paying for the tickets...but what goes on with the Hotel rates around these tracks is criminal. These Hotels in proximity to the tracks take a room that regularly goes for $79-$89 and jack them to $250-$300 a night for nascar fans. Those kinds of things affect attendance. It happens in the Daytona area.
They did miss Newman's first flat tire with the camera focusing on his car and the booth off on some tangent.
bevo---This is the most obvious case I have seen of empty seats. They didn't try to paint the seats to hide the obvious. I don't consider anything Fox says or does to be credible.
That is a great ESPN commercial with 99 & 12 haulers. Glad this race has settled down for a bit.
If the director was told to focus on single car camera shots, would the camera work be any different?
Even with all the empty seats, there are more there than I expected. In the Indy area, it was nothing but doom and gloom talk of ticket sales. I expected a lot less.
Kinda disappointed they didn't show a replay of Mark getting by JJ, but that's on the camera crew. Otherwise, I've got no problem with the booth right now.
Racing Fool: www.wnpv1440.com
have fun
Racing fan--Google wpsk if you want to listen to the race.
Okay. Didn't pay much attention to the pre-race shows. Preoccupied by the Tour de France and the Hockenheim F1 race. Now that they're over, Cup has my undivided attention.
Officially, only one car (#13 Papis) is OUT (Engine, duh)
#83 Sorenson is back on the track.
#19, #7, #66, #55 in the garage.
Six lap leaders: #42, #71, #34, #87, #48 and now #5
#55 OUT Overheating
pretty quick to clear tires as a problem
Wow, 42 tire looked really bad. Hope others don't have that blistering problem.
#66 back in the race
So doing laundry does the trick now,eh? BTW I don't think that's a good place to build a house in the long term...
I'm surprised they didn't make a bigger story of Goodyear bringing a different tire to Indy again this year. After the debacle of a couple of years ago, it should've been bigger news that it has been.
#87 Nemechek to the garage. Don't know if this is a "pit stop" or if he's parking.
ESPN needs to find some stories now.
#66 back to the garage, after passing #55.
ya know, I didn't remember the IMS radio network issue, but my local station is playing the race, I just checked. Must be they just contract separately as they would with PRN, presumably. Or some go-between sells as a package....
Chadderbox, that's part of why I stopped going to Richmond. I refuse to pay 'special event' rates. Usually you can drive a ways and still get a good rate, but Richmond just got out of hand; even the outlying areas.
#66 OUT Electrical. Dang, that was a quick diagnosis ***wink***
Marty Reid has brought back the excitement of Barney Hall, the knowledge of Alan Bestwick, the eloquence of Ken Squier, and added it to the fun and folksiness of Marty Reid.
Good Job, ESPN!!
JD, you got your cable cam shot at the end of Stewart's pit-stop.
Marty's confused that the #71 is actually racing.
"Out of Sequence" or Out of the Race?
#71 to the garage.
friends & i are taking tour bus to richmond. leaving here outside philly early saturday morning, getting to track, tailgating at the bus and wandering about, watching the race then back on the bus. will sleep back up to philly, getting home around 6AM or so. sunday all for $148, seats included.
otherwise, richmond would be a no-go for me this time around.
The coolest part is, can you even remember hearing someone saying "I" today, let alone being able to make a drinking game out of it that has you passed out by lap 30?
#71 OUT Overheating.
I'm glad JP got back on pit road and ESPN did not fire him. Smart decision and he is making the best of it.
#87 OUT Vibration
For the radio fans, am I allowed to point out that the IMS radio feed is available at NASCAR.com?
Did NASCAR scare the drivers out of the grass, stay out of it or we will park you???
can't imagine all the drivers just listening to there crew chiefs....
ya know, if espn had someone reading twitter right now, the booth would have known why the 88 isn't killing it right now:
from Newton: Dale Jr. "I'm just wrecking in 4 everytime I go through there.''
juts sayin': if you want to be worldwide leader, you probably should use all the resources available to you.
"Marty's confused that the #71 is actually racing."
Pretty sure that once there was a wreck on the opening lap, the start-and-park drivers just tried to stay out and finish a few spots higher than normal to get a bigger paycheck.
That's the reason Cassill didn't pit until the end of the cycle, rode as many laps as he would, and now has parked.
You see the announcement about Bobby Labonte returning to that #71 for several races?
He's going to drive the car when they actually have funds to run the advertised distance.
Marty is doing a good job but honestly this is a boring race to watch on TV.
New leader #16
#64 to the garage.
RED: Remeber the competion, the bar is set pretty low. So far today they are number 1 :) and FOX is a distant 4th (yes I know there are 3 :) )
IS it just me or is it just weird watching the car go sideways down the straight away. As in, if I was a casual fan I would say...this is just weird, what else is on.
NASCAR needs to close up the field to at least get some intersting racing going
Where is Stewart? He was leading until he came in to the pits!
Didn't see him on the crawler. Wah.
Red
twitter comments on Jr's radio are PRICELESS! poor guy...what a handful he's having
The 16 car was getting close to passing the leader and they go to commercial. Good broadcast if you into watching commercials.
red, a friend of mine used to work in the bus biz...that's a pretty good deal. We are just too far for that to be a good option.
Dover had a neat deal where you park in Christiana and bus down. Haven't had to do it yet but it may be an option someday.
Does everyone hate the moderation today, not watching the race, or why are so few posting?
Indy racing is usually like this. I don't think that makes the racing boring. Just different things to cover (if they do it well.)
We ask the Anons to get a blue nick so we can open the floor.
Was the caution for debris? I messed why and did they show the debris or was this just one of those fake cautions to get the cars all bunched together again.
Don't have much to say when the coverage is decent..:)
It used to be quiet for the trucks. Not after Friday night.
What a total cluster.
Look at the pretty manicure. Can't .... squeeze .... shock .... absorber. Grrrrr.
Amen, JD. That broadcast Friday night was terrible.
Both TV and Radio coverage stepping up their game today. Why, even the blogs are intelligent and heartfelt...
If you just said i have to register to post, I will bid you farewell......
This years coverage is much better than last year. Maybe all the pieces of the puzzle are in place for ESPN.
I hate that the scanner is so far off from the TV broadcast. Heck they were saying a car was inside and I could see that it was clear on tv.
I didn't know #7-Gordon was back in the race. Did they mention it?
apparently there was a bottle on the track, which they didn't pick up until long after the pit stops
Not a bad update from Brewer. Finally something that is not totally fundamental.
Anon, there is no way to tell who is saying what when you don't have a nick, it's just random comments to us.
We have been doing this for every race since 2007.
So far so good by ESPN for me. Not too many in-car shots, good camera work, booth nice and solid. Only complaint is the audio mix, hard to hear AP especially.
WHy can't they SPLIT screen in car replays & are they suddenly using more in car cam bits..or am I just noticing since switching to the bigger HD tv.
:(
oh look, a JJ sighting, single car shot, in car shot and once more a single car shot!
Wow, be still my heart
Patrick, I didn't hear them say anything about the 7 coming back but maybe I missed it.
Much to ESPN's dismay...the Iceman is melting.
robbiejr -- I hope so, I really hope so. Watching the 48 dominate every race has turned me off as much as the bad coverage along with watching the overkill of the cup drivers in nationwide.
Alright fine, JD, if you wish .. .
This is really going well, but did miss the debris on that one?
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