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:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 391 of 391Anyone listening to Junior's scanner? Is he melting down? Told he was upset.
Robby Gordon is back on track.
#64 OUT Rear Gear
I have been commenting here all year including the season opening 500. I've enjoyed it and appreciated what you do but I don't register with any board, it's a personal decision.
Enjoy, keep up the good work but I am outa here.
This has been leaps and bounds better than Fox so far. If only the actual racing was better.
JD,
I think the ice man is melting, Jr. is just Jr.
JD, I'm listening. He's just being himself. Not too bad. Currently, tight on entry.
jd, apparently dale's cooling unit isn't . . . cooling, that is. so yes, he may actually be literally melting down.
bad pit stop earlier but mcgrew agreed with his assessment so im thinking it's just too efin hot in the car for that pale, pasty southener!
The shot from the cable cam while the cars were going full speed down the frontstretch was cool.
You can tell how bad things are when people start accepting this telecast as a good one. If you do a bad job over and over again people start to think that this is how a good broadcast should be.
Tight shots, pit stops under green, missing passes for 1st.
Anons do not have to register and I never suggested you have to leave. Just so we are on the same page. There is just no way to reference mutiple comments to the same person.
Sorry to hear Jr is in a hotbox :( Extra ordinarily muggy but a tad better than yesterday...but in a hot car I worry about Jr staying clear headed/hydrated.
all the guys are a concern.
Let us not forget the carbon monoxide issues . . .
John, I think something's gone wrong with the cooling system inside Junior's car. That's why he's hot...literally.
I tell ya, its a shame they didn't move Bob Jenkins over to NASCAR and left Motor Mouth Marty over with the Indy cars.
Bob would have been great with Andy and DJ...
And I much perfer AB in his current role...
Anon 2:52 Please do not leave. I understand the not registering with ANY board...many feel that way.
It's just easier if multiple Anons to know to whom one is speaking. Be nice if one could be posted by blogger as anon1, anon2 or something.
Not to mention a word FILTER like my hosting board has. That would make things much easier for JD.
They say wordpress has it but I don't know CSS language!
the "trifecta" is just an ESPN invention, right?
In Nascar-speak, I would think the trifecta would have been winning three of the races that comprised the Winston Million.
Bestwick: "Ugly right front tire"
Crusty: "Yea, he had a problem with his right front tire"
You can't get that fantastic color commentary just anywhere.
Don't leave, Anon -- you don't appear to be a crazy! LOL and we do get'em.
I have said several times that I do not enjoy Marty Reid. His voice cadence sounds like he should be calling a baseball game. :)
I appreciate the fact that Reid mentions the S&P cars and the empty seats. He just makes a lot of mistakes while doing PXP. He misses who is passing who and which driver is in which car, etc.
Lisa, did you want AB in the booth?
Patrick, LOL, yeah, they are having to work hard to find any words.
Lisa
I am on the same page as you in your last post. Agreed. :)
Why hide behind anonymity? Afraid someone will talk about what you do with that pink tutu on Thursday nights? Just kidding. Stay with us, as long as you don't attack the club or its leader.
Alright commercial. When we get back we will show you the pass for 1st.
Anon, you can still have an unregistered identifier; just tick the name button and enter a name of your choosing. Untracked, only issue would be anyone else could use the same name (not that this is the sort of place that routinely happens).
It's the half-way mark. Just sent a message to a friend how the #48 is not doing well and that I am FINALLY excited for a new winner at this race!!
Coverage has been great so far. Very impressed with juggling all six commentators at different intervals. Everyone has made a contribution.
Ready to grill out here in California for lunch. Woot!
I prefer AB, yes.
I happen to like the "talent try-outs" more than Reid. Just my personal choice.
Everyone makes mistakes. Reid has done this long enough to be better with his calls.
42 pit stop. Tires are new and full of air. good.
Debris caution after this round of pit stops?
I must protest this "Iceman" nonsense. Terry Labonte is the only Iceman in NASCAR.
Thank you.
(old Terry Labonte fan)
LOL! That is so not going to stick for JJ.
Charlie, I remember once when JP was PXP, he mentioned a car with a flat tire, and actually admitted "but it's only flat on the bottom"!
Bevo,
Agree wholeheartedly. JJ can be called an ice melter.
bevo,
as much as I dislike your nickname, I agree with Terry as THE iceman. Whoop!
bevo-
I agree. Terry is the one and only.
ESPN=HYPE
@Vicky ha ha good one.
How about that video bumper under green??
If Tony didn't already have 'Smoke' as a nickname, ESPN could've tried to use 'The Whopper'
Of course, there IS a more recent, relevant ICEMAN. Kimi Raikkonen, anyone?
Folks monitoring multiple feeds should not expect any sort of synchronization amongst them as they all are taking different paths to you.
I'm watching race video on ESPN via Comcast, listening to IMS & watching RaceView via the internet.
Audio is furthest behind so I pause the Tivo during the National Anthem and sync them up. Then RaceView will about 4-5 sec ahead. Jugging the Pause there can get it closer.
'Course then I'm way behind this blog, but that's entertaining too...
I'm with you folks, Terry Labonte is THE iceman. JJ isn't even a pretender for that name.
Wow this is terrible coverage. How many commercials have they gone through already. Too much if you ask me, especially repeating commercials over and over again(Carl/Brad Trailer) and idk if it's just me but I haven't seen any good racing at all, if I have it's been like a minute or so and they go to commercial.
Pocono countdown on the deuce? what's the deal there?
And, Sadler's finally out of the garage and on the track
Seriously ...
WHY do they insist on using Brad Daugherty ??
He just does NOT add a bloody thing to any of the telecasts ...
Pretty interesting discussion there between Rusty, DJ and Andy.
Bestwick still stronger than Reid right now. But, what is...is...
commercial then tight shots of the leader, then show the 99 pass a car, then commercial.
Kind of wish I had racebuddy now. I could watch during commercial breaks.
Ok is it me or are there suddenly an influx of commercials and more bumper/in car junk.
Please, do not let the wheels fall off this deal.
I just made a Long Island Iced Tea! (no rum but used TEASPOONS) of various stuff.
Thus less whining if this bumper etc keeps up.
tried pausing tv so I can go back to radio & be in sync w tv. I paused about 30 seconds...
We need to hear from Chad Knaus. Somebody climb that pitbox!
Where in the h*** on the track did Montoya hit 207 mph???
I'm using the Hotpass provided by DirecTV to get away from all the commercials. This is just terrible, too many commercials during the races, why can't they just get rid of some of the commercials during the pre-race show, especially when it comes to showing the same segments we seen we already seen.
This debris caution was not brought to you by Jacques Debris
c43: i heard that, too and actually checked the leaderboard to check lap times! maybe they were confusing his cup car with his open wheeler?
Nice series of replays on that debris.
Sophia,
15-30 sec or more delay is not unusual for Internet audio feeds.
We seen the ESPN pit cam guy or is his car out?
I sense another caution in about 20 laps.
Poor Chad. You could tell he knows their day is done. Gotta tip my ballcap to ESPN for the coverage showing that.
cp43
i know..just wondered if I had stuff SYNCHED together yet. busy making a snack.
Where is 14. Tony???? I NEVER heard.
Nice coverage of Chad & Scruffy's pit woes. Gutsy to keep the team radio live...
Love the wideshots on the straights.
k
Them Ganassi boys be racin . . .
&^%$@#!$
A gorgeous VIEW of cars coming at us, and they went to an in car cam.
YES, the wide shots. Gorgeous.
Please keep this up.
SO happy tony is doing better.
JD,
Really liked the series of shots on the debris there...especially the side shot that showed Montoya hadn't gotten caught up in that...
So out of all the coverage of JJ that ESPN shows, they still missed the fact of splitter damage and whatever else was wrong with the front end. Nice Work!!
Thank you ESPN! Finding the racing for us.
Thank you ESPN! Finding the racing for us.
What do you know, ESPN is showing a lot of racing going on way back in the pack.
Nice work guys.
WOW...another commercial...really ESPN...REALLY?
#7 back to the garage after moving all the way up to 36th
I've come to the conclusion JD that i'm better served to just "watch/observe" the race from social networking....twitter anyone? much more info on there...lol
Wow, a Terry Labonte mention...awesomeness!
This hasn't been a bad effort for ESPN, I think their fluff garbage is over-produced but other then that Reid has made a pretty big difference in the booth.
Was that last caution for debris? I was laying down since last night ended at 7 am this morning LOL
Yes, great job of ESPN of showing and talking about guys like Jacque and Bill Elliott.
I think in the end Stewart will be a factor in who wins this race.
#24 on pit road
#34 drive through penalty (pitting out of the box)
#78 back in the race
Now Gordon is having a problem. Daggone it!
The way NASCAR throws cautions, I'm surprised they didn't throw one for the tire on the access road.
This could play out in the 24's favor if this race would stay green the rest of the way....he probably wouldn't have to pit again.
Think we will have a caution before the end?
sorry to hear Jeff Gordon's splitter broke.
I've detested that design since I first laid eyes on the COT..and I am no 'engineer'. It was a common sense nonsense design. Grass should be BANNED from all tracks, too. *sigh*
Go Tony & Juan xoxo
Of course we will JD, Why waste potential GWC finish.
It wouldn't surprise me if there's a "time-killer" caution or 2. At the rate we're going, if the race stays green, this race is done at 4:10p.m., leaving them with 50 minutes to kill before the end of the broadcast window.
MikeC, ESPN has so much stuff to fit in I'm sure they can find something to do with 50 minutes of air time.
Sports Center mentions Yoopers, cool and they knew where they lived.
Great racing between JPM and Biffle for the lead...so let's go to a commercial break.
#83 to the garage. Don't think they can make up any more positions.
Caution. debris.
long commercial break!!!!
Well, that kills the 24 chances right there. Since everyone will pit, even if they stay out.
camera trying to find any kind of debris.
I'm genuinely surprised. A late debris caution that seems like it wasn't generated for TV.
MikeC, if they finish race early ESPN will just re-broadcast tiddlywinks championship from 3 years ago!
agree Sophia on the stupid splitter!
Impecable ESPN commercial timing. Leave and a caution.
Cameras found 2 possibilities for debris.
1. Looked like a canteen of some kind...
2. Possibly another small crush panel.
Looks like the debris was John Darby's hard card. Hmmmm.
Take that, debris conspiracy theorists...
That was the race!
Well, that was good pit stop coverage and made it interesting.
Sophia, soooo with you on the ugly splitter. that needs to go away just like the idiotic wing did
Boy we have some smart cats in the booth.
commercial load is killing the flow right now.
that water bottle had been on the track for 20 laps or so ....
Oh my...after the tire strategies, I have a feeling this is gonna turn into a demolition derby.
what are we gonna see, 5 laps to go after all the adds & caution.
This race is far from over.
Boy,Cp43, I'd love to stick Darby's hard card somewhere! LOL
I have a serious dislike for pretty much all the NASCAR management currently in place. I think they ALL speak out of both sides of their mouths and unfortunately usually without engaging any of their brain cells. It makes them look stupid and ruins my enjoyment in the racing.
This is the first race I've watched LIVE except for 5 out of 6 TNT races this year...
They call that "cold debris"
Agree with the commercials.
However, I think I'm going to watch a couple of the old Brickyard 400s from the late 90's just to have an appropriate comparison. If I find anything interesting, I may post it later.
Ugh, as much as I hate listening to Rusty, this is going to be a real mess.
How many times can a guy drive his brains out before he has none?
Eh, Rusty?
Arghhh! Most ANNOYING phrase to me: "Driving their brains out!" Just stupid.
Cute commercial with Jamie Mac. Good broadcast so far.
I've finally figured out what I don't like about Marty Reid:
He's too much of a cheerleader.
-Danicamania in the IRL.
-Ganassi's Chase for this "Trifecta" today.
...and he hasn't had the chance to start the JJ love yet for ESPN.
I think Rusty drove his brains out one too many times.. He's out that's for sure. LOL
boyd, maybe that's what happened to Rusty?
NASCAR is trying to breed an exciting finish, since this race is one of NASCAR's biggest of the year. That way, afterwards, the hosts on Sirius NASCAR radio can say "and the entire race was like that!"
Good observation by DJ re putting 2 tires vs. 4 tires. Hope it stays green til the end.
GinaV24,
I just posted that one twitter. Great minds, right?
holy crap, what was that with the 42?
Why pull off the track? What the heck?
Montoya has had the worst luck this season. Can't wait to see the replays.
They misssed that accident totally.
well, that just stinks big time. montoya says it was all his fault but that doesn't help dale's car.
Has any one shown a wreck live on tv this entire year?
Man, this is going to make a good story for the media on Monday.
Boyd, yeah, I agree with you and I love it that you have a great mind just like me!
MikeC -- yeah, I agree. It isn't fair for them to say that a race was exciting just because the end winds up as mayhem.
SteveL, no I don't think so. Seems like everything has been replay -- "while we were away".
Man, I'm not a JPM fan or a Jr fan but that does really stink.
wah!!!!! JPM & Jr
&^$%#!%
Time filler time? Is is ever possible to run out of commercials during a race?
Yes Steve, I have seen a couple of wrecks live at one race when the camera was doing a wide shot of a group of cars racing.
Doesn't happen enough but that was then and now we have tight shots. Makes the cars look prettier.
Were they in an IN CAR CAM WHN wreck happened??
geez louise.
Hey, Radio even missed Montoya & Jr.
Everybody was watching that great battle for the lead!
hmmmm, thundering outside, so if I disappear it is because either the power went off or I don't want to chance the computer being screwed in a lightening strike
ESPN has a very long post-race show after this. Brand new deal combining Bestwick at Indy with the ESPN ahchors in CT.
Yeah, I don't get how you could be upset with missing that when there was a battle for the lead. If they showed the wreck live we'd be upset they weren't showing the battle for the lead.
JD
what station is post race?
This one?
OK, I know this is a personal thing for me, but darn it, Jeff is going to restart next to Truex. Of course that means they are both in the back, but I'm sure that MT hasn't forgotten his promise of payback.
Nailbiting time for me personally
Yes, it will all be on ESPN.
Strange isn't it, that McMurray had such a tough time with Roush (where he thought he really wanted to be) and has done so much better after coming back to Ganassi.
Funny how life works. I'm happy for him since he seems to be such a nice guy
Have to appreciate the Wood Brothers and Bill Elliott. They show up when they have money to race, and don't use the past champions provisional to S&P.
oldnewenglander -- that is true. One of the last of the independents and they are still doing it the right way.
Very nice of them to give us a big break before the IRL race!
REPLAY w/o split screen with 5 laps to go.
Good grief
STOP the CC cam...5 laps
Should be interesting to see how they organize the post-race show.
They have to Carl in place for postrace don't they?
Carl is working for ESPN on the post-race shows for the rest of the season. Grooming him for the future?
Hopefully the near future, JD. He and Rusty could bump each other.
They show one car cross the finish line. UNFORGIVEABLE!
Guess none of the other cars bothered finishing the race...
Don't agree with only showing the winner and no finishing order.
Big mistake in my book. Fans of teams do not change during the race. People want to see their driver finish.
Shades of FOX.
Bravo for Jamie...adds to a list of really cool wins this year!
Late major mistake by not showing all cars finish the race. There are lots of folks who want to see their guy finish even if McMurray winning was the script.
Poor Jamie......his big win will be all about the HYPE invented milestone for Chip.
This Trifecta crap is such media hype and garbage.
Yes, it's impressive that Ganassi won the Daytona 500, Indy 500 & Brickyard 400 in the same year, but...how many car owners compete in both series?
Ganassi. Penske. No Hendrick, No JGR, No RCR, No Roush. It's comparing apples to apple-shaped oranges.
Shut up, Marty.
well, that finish shot was a BIG swing and a miss. showing all cars crossing the finish line should be a no-brainer for race broadcasts. want to show me the reaction on top of the pit box? go right ahead: in the SMALL SCREEN.
what a big, big miss. disappointing,
Nice finish. Let's see how ESPN does with all the post race stuff. Sure wish Montoya would show up in Victory Lane.
I've been watching the coverage from Indy nonstop since 10 AM and this is how I get rewarded 6 1/2 hours later???? By not getting to see a damn thing at the finish but the winner????
Same crap different year. I tried to give ESPN a fair chance but they definitely still don't give a damn about Nascar.
Great to see Jamie win and Chip win the Trifecta.
Sad to see JPM & JR crash though. :-(
That's why I think NASCAR didn't throw any more debris cautions to help kill time. They're happy with the story of a driver winning the season's 2 biggest races.
Very happy for Jamie and Floyd! Wish it were Monty though :( Poor kid!
Got to hand it to ESPN though - I've often wondered "Is the winning owner and pit crew happy when they win a race?" I find it absolutely fascinating that they do indeed seem to be genuinely excited when they do. Amazing! Thank you so much ESPN for answering this life-long question. I can now rest easy with this knowledge.
Thanks for the laugh, bevo!
Bevo,
What insight you have shown today. lol.
Ready for Edmonton?
Cool of Dave to let the celebration w/Chip & Jamie happen.
Good job, everyone! Thanx for all the fun!
Bevo, the satire is dripping off your last comment. Yeah.
Yes the LACK of SEEING cars at Finish line. STINKS.
They do it in INDY as well.....
Sick of getting shafted at the end.
Fox is NOT the only one tho their cam work is el STINKO.
Scripted storyline trumps the competition on the track. Same ESPN as 2007. Some of the parts have changed but the whole is still a steaming pile of .......
Man, I bet Harvick and Biffle fans are not too happy right about now.
Sorry, I can't stand that Sprint chick having to constantly sticking herself in the camera. Jamie's team and friends can't get close to him because she's always gotta be in the picture
I figure Nascar racing is something that the Tv people don't understand.
When a fan watches a race they are watching their favorite driver and that isn't necessarily the leader.
just saying...no one needs to feel bad for Jamie about the Ganassi hype. Chip has been good to him and he really wanted it for him. Anyone who saw Jamie & Dario & Chip at Indy could see that. Dario better pack cause I think more photos are in order.
I have no issue with the Sprint ladies in VL either. Sprint is
paying a lot of money for that privilige, and it's no different than the old Winston days.
It was wrong not to show all the cars. I wasn't really paying attention though...
And NASCAR is CLULESS on the bad TV coverage KILLIN the sport.
Decent cam work with wideshots but they misse a lot LIVE.
And the ending..same old song & dance.
Ground hog day.
Later, rinse, repeat, nothing changes except for TNT's good camera work (around all the commercials!)
Will not be watching anymore races LIVE...only did this one cause its so freaking hot outside & it's INDY
Thanks NASCAR for being so cluelss to the broadcast problem.
TRUCK bringing the pics means everything or kills everything.
well, sinced the race wasn't exciting, I had to get it by having to go answer the burgalar alarm at my brother's house in a thunderstorm.
Officer -- I'm his sister - please don't shoot me!
Gee, did that come off as sarcastic? ;)
Thanks had a great time today!
thanks for the reminder about Carl being on the post race. I won't be watching.
so, edwards does post-race so we can all hear about HIS day? somehow, this isn't starting out as i had hoped.
NOT enjoying Eddie Haskell aka Carl E on my tv.....
Gina
WOW, that sounds scary with the police!
AWESOME RACING!!
That #20 car Top 10 finish after starting last? Cmon, that deserves big time kudos!! Not to mention the #18 car in a Top 10 finish after that first lap spin out. Those RCR cars all having great finishes and even Edwards.
Loved it from beginning to end.
Cheers :)
I am sick of hearing about clean air. Carl is not racing the competitors he's racing the air?
Where are the rest of the interviews??
Ray Evernham IS a handsome man.
Just saying.
I can understand, er, neva mind!
This super wide angle lense looks weird on the 52 in tv.
I used to complain that NASCAR.com never had their link up to the post-race news conference until the 2nd and 3rd place were already done.
Today, link is there, but no stream. What a waste. Why bother if they can't be timely?
congrats to Jamie. Its nice to see a nice guy win once in a while.
Bevo and Sophia -- you guys crack me up. I am soooo in agreement with you.
16 more races of this? I said that ESPN had a short window to impress me and isn't PocOHNO next weekend.
there's a good enough reason to find something else to do next Sunday.
Chadderbox?
Rest of the interviews?
Nobody else crossed the finish line did they?
;-o
sigh
Sorry, HYPE
Don't care what Carl has to say!
Was nice to be able to be here today to join everyone!
As always, thanks to JD.
I have DVR and recorded the last couple of races. Decided to watch this one live because it was Indy.
It is frustrating the way the broadcasts have become so complicated and the real racing takes a back seat to the telecast "producing" that occurs from the director (or whoever it may be).
This year I have been fine with watching the DVR version of the race.
LOL - Sophia I knew they were coming because the alarm company told them. I just am never sure these days and I approach them with as much caution as they approach me.
He rolled in just as I was pulling down the driveway (my brother had gotten home) so i pulled over and he pulled in behind me. He was very nice but I realized that it probably gave him a start when I popped out of the car. It was raining, I should probably have been a little more cautious.
For those who may be leaving, we have the post-race Your Turn post up for your race wrap-up comments.
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