The Nationwide Series is on the road course in Montreal. A very diverse field of drivers is taking the green as usual. Road course specialists are mixed with Nationwide Regulars and some Sprint Cup Series drivers.
This year there is no rain in the forecast and that should dramatically change the telecast. The pre-race duties will be shared among the pit road reporters Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch.
Allen Bestwick will call the race with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree alongside. ESPN offered practice and qualifying coverage which showed the wide range of road course experience in the field.
Road course racing has been good for the ESPN crew. Watkins Glen was a fantastic presentation and this should offer a solid showcase for the series before it begins to be sandwiched between college football games on ESPN2.
This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN2 coverage of the Nationwide Series from Montreal. To add your opinion on the telecast, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
161 comments:
Good afternoon all. only watching the race today because Allen Bestwick is calling the race. I like the way he calls them.
Happy Sunday Planeteers! Hope all those cute Marmottes are safe today :)
Very happy AB is calling the race, he knows how to drum up the excitement.
I won't be watching the NASCAR Now pre-emption ticked me off to the point where I WILL NOT WATCH ESPN EVER AGAIN. JD if you ever come in contact with those sociopaths forward that message for me.
P.S. I never knew why NASCAR now was pre-empted on monday.
That's been something ESPN has been wrestling with for years. The same channels that carry the preview and review shows also carry the live events.
I always thought NASCAR Now should be simulcast on ESPNEWS.
JD
Nonetheless John, I will not be watching E$PN until they get their acts together.
Have you seen Sports Nation? I think more and more of ESPN is going to be mindless chatter.
We need a NASCAR TV network very soon.
Allen Bestwick calling the race and NO Kyle Busch! The best of both worlds!
This has to be the most beautiful race track NASCAR races at. It's too bad ISC or SMI don't own it - I doubt it will ever get a Cup race as an "independent" race track.
Great to have Bestwick back !!!
Wishing everyone a great race. :)
I know this is a bit off topic. I was watching the Indy race yesterday at Chicagoland and the wide camera shots were great. You could really see the action. What I don't understand is why they would use the in-car cams so much. The in-car cams took so much away from the flow of the race. I can see using the in-car cams once in awhile and in replays but Versus went way to far with their use of the in-car cams.
Charlie,
The VERSUS coverage yesterday is still being talked about. They followed the lead of NASCAR on FOX and did the best they could to use in-car cams and only follow the lead cars.
Time and time again they missed the two and three wide racing action. It was awful.
Several open wheel writers asked me about it. The online IndyCar feed was much better than the VERSUS telecast and that is not a good sign.
Even our old buddy Jack Arute is out to lunch.
weird stuff always seems to happen at Circuit GV...it only dawned on me yesterday that that's the same place my parents took us when we were kids (the former World's fair.) Hopefully Bestwick & crew can follow this one without dwelling on any one thing...there are lots of good stories here.
glen, I was there too! The big key for this year is NO RAIN!
Rusty Wallace, psychic...*knows* what Marcos is thinking....
hmmmmmmmmm........
Only thing I really remember is the big round building. Pretty impressive when you're 10. One of the few things still left. It was a good use of the land though, kinda cool to put a track on it.
Hey kids. Looking forward to cheering for the 6, yes count 'em 6 Canadians in the race. And for those of you who missed it, y'all missed a great finish to the Canadian Tire Series race this morning. Think Carl and Kez at Gateway :)
Rusty doesn't irritate me as much as he does others, but I really do miss Randy Lajoie right now.
I just like Randy on these telecasts because he and AB bust on Rusty and make it fun.
Plus, he is a 2 time NNS champ.
AB just referenced Randy as an ESPN analyst. Perhaps that means he will someday return.
How many times are they gonna show that exact same camera view of the river? We get it espn the track is on the river. Other than that thank goodness AB is calling this one. Marty gets on my nerves. Kinda awkward that Randys reinstatement would be on the news and notes, espically since espn has failed to reinstate him.
I'm just gonna keep whomping them on the head until they do.
This race has the potential to be a blast.
I agree, JD.
I like those three in the NNS booth.
I could do without the faky French music. They listen to the same variety of stuff we do.
Roland, I am wondering how much of this is ESPN and how much is the Canadian feed? Kind of like F-1 on SPEED.
Like you said, some of the camera shots are a lile strange.
there's just something so wrong when Canadians sing our anthem so much better than the Americans they've been picking....She's good.
She's got some pipes! Wow!
US Anthem Score: B-
Canadian Anthem Score: B
The Canadian feed would (presumably) come from TSN, right?
ESPN works with them all the time and even has an ownership stake in, one would think this can be done smoothly.
So she can perform 2 different national anthems back-to-back without a problem, but our pathetic "professionals" in the US can't get one right? Unbelievable.
ONEnglander, good theory. Reality of TV egos not quite the same.
Decided to record the golf and watch this race. Because of the bottom line ticker I have had to take a scrip of paper and run it across the bottom of the screen on my new HD Tv to block this ticker and not see the golf results.
Yeah, point taken.
Charlie, I used to do that for the Olympics. You can't help seeing it even if you're trying not to.
The singer for both National Anthems was just terrific! Enjoying the pre-race, now boogity boogity boogity, boys!!!
I feel that ESPN is putting so much pressure on MA to win today. Also, where's Marty today? Having a weekend off although I am enjoying AB's enthusiasm.
Boris is driving the chicken car, but its a Ford, not the RCR #21?
Lots of one-timers out today.
Marty is off, this is one of the races that AB does.
....apparently John Wes is in attendance to *learn* from Boris.
Not sure John is cut out for this racing deal though....
never mind...that was a story from last year. Gotta remember to look for the date first....but Boris drove for them last year too, hence my confusion.
It's good to have Alan Bestwick back at the track. I just love his voice. Wish he would join Nascar on FOX!!
Getting the paybacks out of the way early.
Wow, I thought our troll had gotten himself a girlfriend!
Now it seems he got a sex change! Nice....
The MotoGP is on SPEED is you can rock the PIP. Wild stuff from Indy.
Finally some good NASCAR TV coverage. Andy is really taking the lead without DJ there.
I heard about the kid who got hurt. Dangerous sport. They said even Rossi had fallen a few times, you do wonder why they'd put a young division on that track.
Good grief...caution again. Typical NW at a road course though.
Track is just a tad too narrow in a couple of places. OK, a lot of places.
I think they'll be a lot of yellows today. It's almost like hte ARCA race the other day.
Since 2:55pm et we have seen 3 laps of racing and the rest commercials. That in 30 minutes. No run through the field under caution. Just commercials.
Why waste your time with this when there are sooo many good sports on TV right now?
Go find another blog and have some fun. Negative actions early in life carry a lot of weight in adulthood.
PS- try using different swear words that 13 years olds do not use next time you stop by.
Charlie, this race should be over by dark hopefully.
It's not surprising, usually the lower series are the worst, the NW is a little better, and the top series are the only ones where you get long runs going. Most drivers just don't get a lot of road racing experience. Gotta learn someplace though. I'm glad they added one in NW, wish they would to Cup too. In the Chase.
glen, no love lost between the NASCAR guys and the road course "ringers."
I think it depends on the guy though. Ron Fellows doesn't seem to make a lot of enemies. Likewise he & others have signed on to a *lot* of teams over the years in exchange for 'lessons' for their young drivers. I do think the Cup teams have figured out how to make road course cars better over the years though. Playing field is more even.
Good news for many viewers from Sports Business Journal:
Sources: Almost no chance Time Warner Cable will drop ABC/ESPN this week. Agreement in priniciple is close.
Well I am off to watch golf and record the road race. Looks like fast forward will be the way to go with this race.
Charlie,
Make sure to put like two extra hours on the recorder!
AB used the word 'rugged' to describe the race so far. I'd used the word brutal. Wow, it's been rough
Will there be a roundtable show on Monday or is that cancelled because of the Cup off week?
CANCELLED! Another bad week for NN on ESPN2.
Does anybody know if this race is going to be replayed? I am stuck at work today and road courses are my favourite races.
dover,
3AMET/Midnight Pacific time. Only a two hour timeslot, so it will he heavily edited.
And then BSPN wants us to chase NN all over time-wise again this wk. Not me, I'm done.
TV coverage is OK at Montreal.
But all the CAUTION LAPS are BRUTAL !
Hey John
I saw your recent posting of NASCAR Now being cancelled again
Give ESPN a message for me
I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My hubby just commented that Tim Brewer's hair is scary looking. I hadn't noticed before since I've always been focused on his manicure.
Wait until you see the NN schedule for the week. Yech...
Have we seen 2 consecutive laps of racing, yet?
This is just brutal.
A moment like this is when Randy is missed.
Lets face facts John
ESPN DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS, ERR.. VIEWERS. THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY
MONEY
Little has changed before and i have no faith that ESPN will change it's ways
THE END
Dear Lord, please make Rusty disappear or at the least, quit contradicting Petree. Amen
Randy would be cracking jokes about Steven and Rusty right now.
Lots of middle fingers on TV this season.
Thank you for the prayer, RWar24. Now I don't feel guilty for missing church this morning :)
It took about 45 seconds to find the #66.
I'm really missing Randy, Andy is a serious person. His vibe with Rusty didn't work in 2007. It still doesn't work.
Im really tired of espn commentators being so opinionated. Theres a lot of "I think" and "I believe" and "In my opinion" in their broadcasts. and it mainly comes from Rusty. I cant believe petree has put up with this for so long.
BTW im timing how long this caution will last. It felt like the last one lasted 40 minutes.
Andy was giving it right back to him there. Rusty has no clue to road course strategy!
Marcus Ambrose wins the award for most overrated, overexposed, disproportionately talked about driver for ESPN. Sure he's leading this race, but what about the rest of the year.... .... Im looking at you ESPN.
Be interesting to see how he does next season.
Roland - I just counted. Rusty has used the word "I" 3 times in 1 minute.
If you miss the NASCAR NOW because it is cancelled this week, you may want to check out NASCAR RACE HUB on SPEEDTV. Steve Byrnes is back hosting and the last week's shows have been excellent (interview with the KING, old school segments, Jeff Hammond talking REAL BIG BOY TRANSMISSION STUFF,etc). Check your listings but it's advertised as being on Mon-Thurs from 7pm-8pm EST. GIVE IT A TRY. Since Steve Byrnes took over, it's really worth watching IMHO!!!
Yes, I am all for getting Randy back.
See Ya ESPN & NASCAR.....
It's 4:14PM and I'm leaving your Canada race.
I'll find more excitement watching the 12 year olds in the Little League World Series.
What a bunch of BS !!
Anon @ 4:12 - ESPN loves planned storylines and posterboys. Just as I type, ESPN has their storylines on the screen. Memories of "The Script"
Caution took 14 minutes and 47 seconds. Totally unacceptable
Buschseries61 - see what I mean, lol.
But i do have to give rusty some credit. He could have said something when Steven got wrecked, and he could have said something when Steven flipped Ron the bird. but he maintained his composure. Hes usually very good handling his conflict of interest.
We really need a live split screen of Rusty and #66 while #66 is doing any interviews. It could be an incredible study in body language and non-verbal communcications.
Andy Petree is doing a great job today - really on top of things.
It would be no suprise if the #32 has brake issues at the end of this marathon of a race.
I agree. Andy is staying calm but not taking any crap from Rusty.
Well, that didn't take long
Does anyone know if there were any S&Ps today?
#36 Jeff Green
IDK about #43, I joined the coverage late.
#43 was not an S&P.. He had trouble lap 1.
Thanks. I don't believe AB ever mentioned them.
Rusty not listening again!
One good thing today, no comments on the actual telecast....only the quality of the racing.
Thru the field would be good, but they seem to be following the script instead!
Roland, I agree with that on Rusty. I keep reading Planeteers saying otherwise, but I don't find Rusty to be cheerleading. Usually if there's a 66 story, he lets one of the others take the lead.
His stock phrases have taken a bit of a rest today, thankfully.
what the heck just happened? did they leave the race as #2 was passing #3??
Horrible pit reporting on the Ambrose issue. If he's your focus of the telecast, you need to see it through and gather the information to pass on to the viewers. Bad reporting.
With this trouble with Ambrose, you know come next year it's going to be part of the same clips and story lines we've seen today about him loosing the race.
Where is Jerry Punch when we need him?
He'd be all over the Ambrose problem like a duck on a junebug.
AB is working hard, but Rusty and Andy together are just not working out.
I imagine this issue has been discusssed before b/c it seems so obvious but you never know. Fox and ESPN both interject radio chatter into the narrative in a fashion that is amazingly annoying. Constantly cutting the announcers off to give little boring tidbits of inane stuff.
I love hearing drivers on the radio, but they only give us the cliched little bits of chatter - and, most importantly, at really bad times that interupt everything and are frustrating.
NASCAR team 47: Day is over, broken heim joint causing the car to roll severely to the right when cornering.
I feel bad for Ambrose. He's a good guy and had a good car. Nascar is like life. You're all caught up on the rent and got a little $$ left over for a dinner/movie and BANG...your car battery dies...just sayin'
@TexasRaceLady...you funnie! Thanks for the smile!
Now its getting interesting!
this is sorta feeding into the TV script...sometimes that happens though...I would love to see Jacques win...for the crowd reaction alone.
Go Robby
Talk about a sudden change of events.
How about AB calling that restart, that's why he needs to stay in the booth!
Mad Max was awesome there....Allen does bring so much enthusiasm.
I like Marty Reid better then Allen
I don't know if this race could get any crazier.
Love AB in the booth --- he gets so excited and I appreciate it.
epci finish...robby driving crazy as usual
"These I-Talians get pretty mad!" really Rusty? REALLY??? This Italian American Calabrese thinks Uncle Guido may need to know who made dis here quote..LOL..I just wouldn't laugh at all if Rusty wasn't doing his "color" commentary today...ROTFLMAO
AB much better at play by play than marty reid although that isnt saying much
Hope the pace car doesn't run out of gas!
Rusty: "Now you've got me thinking."
There really is a first for everything.
Did Rusty really just say this caution helped Robby?
Rusty Wallace is just clueless in the booth. His "music to Robby Gordon's ears" comment followed by Petree and Bestwick both having to correct him...which they did not hesitate to do.
Now let's hear a story from his racing days. Bleh.
Why would Wallace insist a caution would be good for the leader who with two laps to go was showing no signs of losing the lead? Clueless.
and I thought it was just tire smoke, but it was Rusty starting to think...
This is a full Rusty meltdown.
Rusty needs to forget about his broadcasting career....
Makes me wonder what Robin Pemberton went through all those years with Rusty as his driver.
Maybe on Rusty's return trip home they'll stop him at the border and not let him back into the USA
Rusty as commentator and Rusty as driver need to be separated...the guy won a lot of races, and in the days when he had a lot of input into changing the car. Just saying he's not stupid. Just not good at this.
at least the fence is high enough that no one can jump over & ask for an autograph...
Tim does have weird hair today.
Tim was on Memorex. They taped him last weekend.
then he had weird hair last week...
Nice job of ESPN putting protracted close up of Jaques Villeneauve having either a heart attack or panic attack in his car.
AB got so excited his hair almost moved....
Have they told the story of how Villeneuve won the Indy 500? Or does Scott Goodyear have a clause in his ESPN contract that prevents such talk?
That would have to be a Category 3 hurricane! Been teasing him about that for years.
did AB really just whine about getting paid to be on pit road, he should be thankful he isn't still doing radio!!
If Rusty thinks that the heat has caused problems for Jacques, how about the problems Rusty has caused to many of the viewers because of all of his hot air?
actually Tim's hair was weird in the Glen, those were shot at the last road course....
Max Papis and Boris Said . . . .what is this, a road race?
Great job with the sounds and video today ESPN. I feel like I'm right there at the race!
SEXY FINISH, Y'ALL! I feel bad for Robby Gordon. Isn't that the first sign of ARMAGEDDON? Seriously, this year if that guy didn't have bad luck he wouldn't have any luck.
WOW, what a finish but it took 4 hours to get there!
Well, that made for a long afternoon. Have mixed feelings on this course, but the fans are great.
New columns all this week, thanks for stopping by our live blog.
JD
I hope Zaxby's sticks around, even if it's not with JWT.
I enjoyed the ESPN Broadcast. Now that must be the second sign of ARMAGEDDON! Thanks, TDP for keeping me company during the race today. It's a great place to hang out!
think how mad the people must be who tuned into FIBA Basketball.
Allen...Boris won a NASCAR truck race at Sonoma.
So there's no-one in Victory Lane and poor ole Boris just has to sit on the wall - duh
Great coverage with AB and Andy.
Rusty was so stupid that he was
dragging down the presentation.
To be leading the points, they
sure ignored Brad K.; of course
his car is not owned by an ESPN
announcer who gets lengthy coverage
even when they are out of contention.
Great win for Boris. Good broadcast. Seems this race deserves more post-race coverage, and it was a little quiet in victory lane.
51--perhaps you missed it, but it was *Rusty* who brought up Brad's name, at least a couple times (even if he mispronounces it.) And I didn't hear them mention the 66 after it was out.
boris wins the 24 hours of montreal. this race has to be shortened.
The road course races in Nationwide and Sprint have been some of the best all year. It was a shame that Boris and Max both couldn't have won. Perhaps if Robby didn't act like a complete idiot three years ago, he might have won today. It's a bit painful to listen to the TV folks butcher the first name of the #32 car. Rusty calls him 'Jock', AB says 'Jack', and others correctly say Jacque as the French pronounce it. Those aerial shots certainly do take the excuses away, don't they?
It was quiet in victory lane because both Boris and Max were on the edge of collapse. Note how not a single person gave Boris water after he emerged from the car. Complete separation of driver from crew. Scary.
SO great to hear Allen Bestwick doing what he does so well. Could even stand Rusty since Allen and Andy were doing such a good job and there weren't 5 other voices in the way.
I too was amazed about how NO ONE came over to hug Boris, bring him some water, clap him on the back, etc. Complete disconnect with crew, including new crew chief Scott Zipadelli. Would love to know the story behind that.
Good race, esp. with the 4 final contenders (Said, Papis, Villaneuve, R. Gordon) being less well known names who all deserve to win. I liked the late finish because I had to be away from all broadcast media from 3:30-5:30. Would have hated to miss that ending.
Great comment about the lack of celebration from Boris and the crew from RAB Racing. I didn't pick-up on that, so thanks for a poster bringing that one to our attention. I am sure this was a "quicky" deal and maybe Boris did not get to meet the crew other than a seat-fitting. He is surely not a regular over there at RAB. So glad to see his was back in a.....Blue-Oval!
I found it a little interesting that Alan Bestwick and the broadcast crew were expecting everyone, except Boris to win this race, while filling time during the red-flag. They seemed to fall all over themselves talking about Mad Max, Jacques and Robby, with little mention of Boris. As a..."Said-Head"...I had a very strong feeling Boris was going to sneak-in and win this race.
I think we kind of got an over-kill on Marcos, at times.
Over-all, this has always been a difficult race to cover, especially with all of the dead-time (cautions, rain delays, and red-flags); and, I thought Alan Bestwick was very good, today. Too bad he doesn't do more of the races, in the booth!
Post a Comment