There is a new buzz in the air when it comes to NASCAR on ESPN. Saturday afternoon, the ESPN TV team put together a dynamite Nationwide Series telecast.
Now, it's Sunday and the Sprint Cup Series awaits. It will be Allen Bestwick anchoring the telecast from the Infield Pit Studio. He will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. This is a one hour pre-race show and hopefully ESPN will use this opportunity to touch on a wide variety of stories within the sport.
Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will be in the TV booth. These three had a blast on the Nationwide Series race Saturday and Jarrett took the lead in speaking his mind and offering opinions.
Dr. Jerry Punch is off this weekend. Mike Massaro, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch are covering pit road. This is the first race back for Welch since being involved in a car accident in the Indy area. He is still playing hurt with some broken ribs.
The best thing about ESPN on Saturday was that the telecast followed the closest racing on the track, regardless of the position in the race. It completely changed the tone of the telecast from the boring follow the leader coverage that fans have suffered through for years.
Watkins Glen has made safety changes that have eliminated the gravel traps and ended the extended caution or red flags of the past. No longer is there a need to take fifteen minutes to tow a car out of the gravel. This resulted in even better racing, especially in the bus stop chicane area.
The pictures from The Glen are always spectacular and this is an opportunity for ESPN to pick up some momentum as the fuel mileage race at MIS looms as the next Sprint Cup Series event. This should be a fun telecast to watch.
This post will serve to host your comments on the Sprint Cup Series race from Watkins Glen on ESPN. To add your TV-related comment, 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.
178 comments:
Hey folks, hope this is fun today!
I agree with your comments about the booth personalities and their commentary on the race, but it is still hard to beat the MRN coverage. Steve Post, Dave Moody et al just keep the race entertaining while giving a vivid description of ALL the racing. I still watch the tv, mute the sound and turn up my sirius radio.
Hi all. Heres hoping its a good day today, like yesterday. Good race then football. Love this time of year ( till races start bouncing around, of course that won't happen this year! Right?)
Looking forward to a great race. The new paved runoff areas & SAFER barriers look to be great for safety.
Looks like ESPN Bristol is having some problems getting the initial breaks right.
How cool to hear Dr. Jerry calling Elliot last week to give advice.
Hi everyone. Back from 2 1/2 weeks enjoying Florida's gulf coast with no internet access. Was sooo nice. Lol.
I'm hoping for another great race today. Indy was really good, Pocono was fair. I'm excited to see that AB is the anchor today. He is a total class act.
In the big Nationwide wreck yesterday, any idea who the track photographer was on the right of the low camera shot, that had to dive behind the fence to keep from getting hit?
You know, Gordon just made a good point. The Chase is Always the same 10 tracks. Never thought about that before but he's correct.
I liked it when he said the #24 team has never had it all together since Ray E. left.
In watching this interview with Gordon and Marty asking about the chase.....it seems like we're hearing more and more drumbeats from the media that the Chase is messed up....Something I've never noticed until the last few weeks. Used to be nothing but positive things said about the chase.
After Jeff mentioned the 24 team not having it together, guess Rick Hendrick learned so he's got Chad locked up for life ; ) Not a bad pre race show today
I'm surprised the posting is not open today during a race. I guess the trolls are out :( And yea, Jeff and Ray had that same chemistry that Jimmy and Chad have currently. Hard to reproduce and also hard to keep going. I have some catching up to do, just read about Hamlin's fine lol.
John, it's just one poor soul who has been chasing us around saying dirty words for a couple of months now. I just am determined to keep things clean and civil.
Got some things planned that will eliminate all this, but the dollars are not working for me right now.
I really did not think of this as a ad-driven blog, but I may have to go that way to fund some improvements.
We will see...
Good Morning, everyone, or to those on the East Coast, Good Afternoon.
Here's something that struck me with Jeff Gordon's interview. For the past few weeks, I've been reading a lot of articles by the regular Nascar media and hearing a lot of fans taking on the Nascar Shill Show, aka Sirius Nascar, on how the drivers have become so out of touch with the common fan. Guys like Mike Mulhern and others have pointed out that these guys are spoiled beyond belief by hiding in their million dollar buses and sprinting (maybe that's why the series is called Sprint)out of their cars at the end of the race to their private jets to get away from the tracks in record speed. Now, to hear Jeff, when asked how long he's going to continue racing, answers "I've got a kid on the way, I need to pay the bills" nearly knocked me off my feet. That comment is a prime example of being out of sync with reality. Jeff Gordon makes millions of dollars a year, he lives in a multimillion dollar apartment in NYC. He most likely has more money to live 10 lives but says he needs to race to pay the bills? Sorry, that doesn't cut it. How about trying to raise a family on the wages of a guy who sells light fixtures at Home Depot, who has a mortgage, car payments and gets two weeks of vacation a year? That's the guy who NEEDS to work, and not these Nascar drivers who seem to have forgotten what it's like to really have to work hard for a living, and are living paycheck to paycheck.
OK, I'm off my soapbox for the entire race.
That Hawaiian set for JG's interview with Marty Smith is different. Two questions from me, what happened with Boris being called into the Nascar trailer and what was it for, plus did everyone else see Robby Gordon talking to Matt (in background) whle Jamie was interviewing JJ. Robby looks kinda heavy to me.
Vicky,
Apparently Boris pulled away from the NNS wreck very late and NASCAR wanted to know why. That's all.
Robby is having a tough time with finances. See how it goes.
One person. Well that's all it takes. And thank you, because I see enough dirt on other sites and have always enjoyed the civil and intelligent conversations that take place here. Maybe some day the people with actual accounts can be seperated from the anon's. Actual accounts can post freely, anon's need approval. And this reader would not mind some advertising to help offset the costs either. Especially if there Nascar related.
So nobody found another angle of Elliot's crash last week?
Guess the camera guy that got the few frames that we did see should be congratulated!
Amen Darcie!
Preach on sister!
cp43, there is one fan cam on You Tube but it is shakey. Just search Elliott Sadler.
After being in radio for many years, I personally have little problem with the ads on TV. They sure beat having to pay some exorbitant fee for each race like boxing fans have to.
And JD, if you can get some bucks for ads on this site, go for it. They won't be in the way. You work hard enough to bring us the info and chats: take a little cash for yourself!
For the quiz later you should know -
"Making a mistake is the biggest mistake you can make during a race"
and
Engines have lots of moving parts.
You know ESPN must be looking at Rusty and Brewer with Craven and Evernham waiting in the wings.
Craven was added to NASCAR Now this morning and will be on the review show tonight at 11PM.
I got one eye on the Indy Lights race online at IndyCar.com
These dudes haul the mail at Mid-Ohio!
If the pattern holds, ESPN does not make changes mid-season, but is totally unafraid to do so during the winter.
I could see Craven and Evernham hanging out in the tech center and actually telling us things we don't know, with Bestwick and either Rusty or Brad manning the update desk.
Yea, they told Jerry right after Homestead. Nice to have those annual contracts!
Hope the booth stops with the verbal typos, they drove me crazy with it yesterday
The nationwide telecast was far from dynamite. I expect the same today. Its been a very messy start to espn's coverage this year.
I find it weird that Ray and Doc got the week off, I would figure they would rest up there team before the stretch run to the end. It should be all hands on deck. But Doc has worked extremely hard this year and if anyones deserving of a week off its him.
Hopefully Marty can contain himself today. He struggled yesterday with grammar and there were several instances where he had to correct himself.
Espn is a lot closer to getting it right than theyve ever been. Today could be big
18 has a lose lead weight in the right frame rail
It may just be me but lately Marty Reid is a chatter box. He doesn't have to be talking all the time. He could take a breath now and again.
You didn't like that yesterday Steve?
Oy. Already we are focussing on 'the chase'. This isn't encouraging.
Sally, they focus on the Chase during Daytona in February!
Im with Steve. Yesterday was rough. I actually felt like the broadcast sucked. The use of Brad D. again proved a conflict. I thought AB struggled too and was off his game.
Hope today goes better.
Nothing can be as bad as what Punch did last season with Jimmie. That was just awful!
Yesterday I noticed how much better DJ is when he doesn't have to worry about play-by-play.
Hi, Planeteers, happy race day!
Love the high view as the cars come snaking up the esses toward the camera. Still one of the prettiest shots in all of motorsports.
Lost soul, such a shame. Oh well, back to racing.
All the new paving doesn't seem to have kept cars out of the dirt. They just have more new areas to drive. Fun!!
Ho hum. The same announcers from
yesterday ?? TORTURE ..and THEY
HAVE NOT ShUT UP SINCE the start of
the race. Beyond all belief ...
Q@%W%^#&$*&$*T$%WE^W$ ugh horrid
hideous No Respect at all for the
viewers. Stink up the show.
When will it stop ??? Mr Helton
are you reading this ?????
Poor earl, I am surprised he has not had a stroke by now.
Imagine if you could get the race online with just natural sound and no announcers.
Slightly off subject, but I wonder why you never see a photo of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in any of those tiring Nationwide Insurance commercials. In one ad, both Kelley and Dale speak of their Dad, and in all the ads, you see photos of Ralph Earnhardt, Sr.'s children, Kelley's kids, etc, but no Dale Senior despite the fact that his decision to choose Nationwide is the focus of many of these commercials!
So far I am liking this coverage. Nice wide camera shots. The booth is NOT boring me. I hope it continues!!
Bill, I have a feeling that a certain someone owns the rights to the use of his pics in anything that generates revenue.
A certain someone....
I didn't get to watch the race yesterday so I have no opinion either way but it is amazing how a telecast is viewed so differently by so many people. I guess that's what makes Nascar fans so great atleast everyone has an opinion and they don't mind sharing!
Its amazing how far ESPN's NASCAR coverage has come since 2007. I saw Erik Kuselias on one of ESPN's studio shows the other day and thought I was having a nightmare.
JD said . . .
"Imagine if you could get the race online with just natural sound and no announcers."
You mean, like MLB.TV?
"subscribers now can choose to overlay alternate audio feeds over the live video, including only the ballpark's natural sounds with the "Park" option."
@ Bill - read an article that Teresa has rights & will not allow it. Don't know for sure, it was a real news site like USA or 1 of the newspapers.
I recall a time when Hot Pass was useful. Oh the memories . . .
A certain someone. Hmmm... Yeah. Hadn't thought of that. Well, that's her prerogative, I suppose...
RE: the Nationwide Earnhardt spots.
I figured it was a rights issue that Dale Sr.'s image wasn't in those spots. But oddly enough, in that series of 4 or 5 different spots, there is one that has one photograph of Sr. Did they find the one shot that Teresa didn't have rights to?
I actually almost miss dr punch
Any thing would be better than mr
marty reed... anything. And when
he tries to get cute or funny ....
DONT GET ME STARTED. SIMPLY
NO RESPECT FOR THE VIEWERS NONE
So is twitter verse just a way Nascar is letting us know they are watching what the drivers tweet and we can see fines happening in real time.
Charlie, LOL! The Turner Sports guys that run NASCAR.com really get it and they have tons of stuff they could offer if allowed.
Got to get NASCAR.com totally revamped for next season.
I see Jr. is up to 29th, just passed Mark martin. Hmmm.
I wondered what happened to scott Speed. Nice of them to finally mention it.
My second, and probably final, random post about what we're missing out on in the online video world with Nascar.
Remember ESPN Game Plan and Full Court for the out-of-market college football and basketball games? Well, all those games will be free if you have access to ESPN3.com.
But no Nascar there today, just our friend, Cliff Drysdale.
bulletin :: we know that marcos
ambrose is a good road course driver .. we know that.. the world
knows it.
But the folks in the booth are
telling us all race long all day.
Showing once again they should not
be on tv. Oh by the way did you
know that Ambrose was a good driver
on the ROAD COURSE ????????
lots of testy folks today!
It's summer!
Pretty good race so far. Also pretty decent coverage, imo.
So far, I'm not seeing as many overhead shots as yesterday. I miss them.
Wow! It appears that the changes made to the Glen have changed the racing dramatically! Could we possibly see a caution-free race? Watch me jinx it.
Way to go, Bill :)
a little disjointed on pit stops but i think they got most of them. Not bad telecast so far.
Better keep my mouth shut. :(
JD, I second the emotion that if you can get ad money to help run this site, go for it. I know I love having this place to talk with you and other fans, so whatever works for you, is good for me.
I've made it pretty clear that I'm not a fan of Rusty or Brad. From my perspective having Craven & Evernham would work for me.
They really need to work harder to keep up on the stories.
Scott Speed, Kyle has trouble, other cars pitting.
It's like they are getting overwhelmed.
Why on earth did he park it there? Totally needless caution!
The agencies that want to sell my site can't figure out how to keep it NASCAR friendly.
The computer just rotates ads and I am not having any of that.
Apparently, I could have made some pretty good coin in 2009! DOH!
Any idea what the weird tube is sticking out the lower front of Marcos' helmet is? Never saw anything like it...
JD, I agree we aren't hearing all the stories so that means the pit reporters aren't keeping up with all the stories, or they need more of them. Guess they miss JP today!
I agree, JD. The booth seems to be playing catch up as far as information.
Whatever it takes to keep this site going is fine by me! Not too many places where you can get intelligent input and ideas, and disagree without getting nasty.
I miss Jerry too. Jamie has really been off her game today.
We need some aggressive updates from the pit reporters.
The booth can only do so much on a road course.
Well i must say espn has done real well today. Marty has contained himself and is on his game. So is DJ. Vast improvement over yesterday.
I give up. Now reed is asking
questions on live air ..
" Can he make it ? "
" Will he try again "
There is no hope none.zero. And
there are 15 races MORE ???
U TALK ABOUT TORTURE
What a great shot off the nose of Marcos's car as he follows JPM thru the BusStop! Let's you see how they do their exact lines thru the corners...
Hard to know who to cheer for. What a Race!!!
Agree with you, JD, about Jamie, but it's just not today. Marty is enthusiastic doing the PXP. DJ is giving us some good input too.
I'd like to see more of the overhead shots that they just showed going into break.
earl/real is going to stroke out before this race is over!
Marcos gets by JPM!
Kudos to ESPN for staying with the battle for the lead, but then Marty tells us the reason is because it's the best racing on the track.
Marty, the battle for the LEAD is always the most important racing on the track! If there isn't a battle for the lead, THEN you can show other racing! Unless it's time for a commercial.
Nate Ryan just posted this a bit ago on twitter -
Brian Barnhart just ordered @jpmontoya to give up the lead to Marcos Ambrose.
Well 2 cars on track for the last 10 mins. 2 stinkin cars only....
Well thats an improvement over only the 48 car of last year!
And mark my word we will not see a pass for the lead - it will happen during commercial!
Wide angle shots & show the entire race please ( see last years comments - they are the same requests)
Jojaye you were correct and so was hubby he said the same thing!
No graphics on the screen and no pit reporters. Wonder if they lost power?
There were no graphics at all into that commercial break.
I think the wheels have officially come off the bus! Hope they get it back together soon.
Under braking Ambrose's car seemd to slow down? Hello? anyone home?
Now that was a power move by Montoya. lets see if the booth can get caught up on some of the stories. starting to doubt it.
Hope he didn't hurt the transmission or part of the car?!? Yo Dude, tranny is part of the car!
@brad- Hope they didn't drive the bus over the the Bog and set it on fire!
Where are the pit reporters???
Pit reporters are @ lunch
Finally! How long did that take? Come on guys.
Well since the pit reporters dont want to update you on drivers, here is your Kyle Busch update:
Kyle feels like he can't outbrake anyone into the corners. Car is fast but when he gets to someone he doesn't feel like he can outbrake them to pass. Crew telling him he is pretty fast just has to pass cars.
Race tracker? for freaking real?!
This race is really going by quickly. Guess the inprovements have really helped.
What do you think? Time for a race recap and a review of who is where and why?
Instead of the JJ show it is the Ambrose show.
I wonder if Ambrose is a good road racer.
JD, you seeing more headlights today than taillights? Looks good to me.
They do seem to have a penchant for belaboring the obvious, don't they?
Bobby Labonte is having to change batteries during pit stops.
Just an update the booth may have missed.
I wonder if Juan is a good road racer too.
And where are the road course ringers?
Are there more than 3 cars on the lead lap?
Where JJ & JR. And Hendricks pretty boy Mark Martin? hmmmm
Karen, it's amazing how different a race looks on TV when the cars are coming at you.
Pretty fundamental TV rule.
As Sally said, this race is really flying by with the absence of cautions. Perhaps NASCAR should lengthen this race (while shortening Pocono)?
Tony is loose off the corners - Darrien will pit him in 5 laps
That prediction tracker is stupid.
This is one of the quickest races of the season. I've always been of the belief, take a few laps away from Pocono to shorten that race and give them to Watkins Glen to lengthen this race a litte.
So the prediction tracker said Ambrose would pass on lap 58 and it never happened.
Instead of this new toy, prediction tracker why not show other cars in the race.
That was awfully nice of the official to stop that tire for Tony's crew...
@ Charlie - cuz they paid for prediction tracker. Remember draft tracker a few years ago?
Say it with me....Draft Tracker!
These days it's almost only on the road courses where attrition is an issue. I rmember when a 500 mile race was as much about whose equipment could last the entire race. I think it adds another level of tension. I like it.
Now that Marcos got 4 seconds behind on the pit stop, now is the time to let the RaceTracker show us if he catching up to JPM.
Nevermind, caution.
Wow, 2 of the best Road Racers in the world restart sidebyside in a NASCAR race. How far our sport has come!!
42 radio was saying everyone about to shut their engine off to save fuel, listen and it'll get real quiet lol
Prediction tracker? Next thing they'll show us a ouija board and crystal ball1
I figured the way that debris was laying on the track and they weren't throwing the yellow very quickly that they were waiting for all of the pit stops to get done first.
I think they should setup a deal where we know when a driver takes a drink. The more or less they drink could make a difference.
Good point Sally. That's why laps down cars add such a layer of uncertainty. Also why starting 43 cars makes for better racing than starting 17 cars in F1.
A phrase I absolutely despise.
If your new to NASCAR....
It would be really nice if they gave pit updates on those outside of the top 10 during this run...please.
See they gave us a race re cap, of the only 5 cars that count (to them) thanks for the update - not
Kyle said nose is killed
"Give Tony Stewart a high five, a pat on the back, a kiss on the cheek. Anything else you want to give him. He is awesome"
Kyle Busch.
He was not happy with Mr Said.
The big problem with ESPN last year was concentrating on only the front of the field, and their obsession with the crapshoot. I'm starting to see the same thing happening again. Rats.
I dare anyone to complain about having that shot of Boris up live.
3 great angles!
Great job ESPN!
Rut-roh!! Tony and Boris!!
Watkins Glen does need to replace some of those pretty blue barriers with safer barriers. They can paint them blue.
In car cameras, when used properly (usually on replay to see what happened more clearly) are valuable. Not so much when they are 'showing' a pass live from the in car.
SAFER would narrow that even more. That ARMCO does move...slightly but it does.
Biffle hit Said under caution because he did not slow. Wrecked left front of his car
What a race. Another restart and this one is going to be wild. Hope they continue to use the overhead aerial shot.
I like Boris but if you try to push Smoke around you will lose! the booth is trying to catch up some of the stories.
They have to fix the wall. Boris bent it.
Yesit would be a fun race ...
except for the announcer who just
cant be quiet for more than 10
seconds all day long.
IMHO- he has no class no respect
for the viewing audience. Or maybe
I could be wrong...
Maybe they all like the joker who
isnt funny...the non stop blather and banter .. and no sense of place
or pride.
Almost makes me yearn for the
doctor ( who should have told them
to shove it ) when he was relegated
to the pits.
Did the booth tell us Clint Bowyer is back out on the track?
David, how did KyBusch kill his nose?
they covered Bowyer coming back out and the repairs that were made and that he just got 1 of the 3 laps back on this yellow.
Karen I think on the restart ran into someone or someone checked up.
Charlie- yes, they did and they also mentioned that he got the lucky dog for this caution (still a couple of laps down, I believe)
Ok, thanks for the update.
GREAT overhead shot of that restart!!
I saw them three wide. Wonder why the camera guy did not.
Crowd's going nuts! I wonder if that has anything to do with the #48??
The pilot of the aerial camera chopper has gotten real creative with his flying today. Hovered it low for the restart then pulled straight up as they approached. Pretty Shot!!
MRN totally misses the Jimmy Johnson wreck.They also didn't see Boris' wreck until late. Corner reported at turn 1 seemed to have a problem keying his microphone.
Denny being honest! too bad Nascar brought out the twitter police. It was nice while it lasted!
18 already had that damage. it was not new
Kyle made it three wide, plain as day. How did they not see that?
Denny was really biting his tongue to keep from saying too much during that interview.
Brian Barnhart is penalizing Kyle for blocking.
I have notice that the booth personnel try everything they can not to be very critical of drivers in the cup races. they will call it like they see it in the other series though.
I was eating ribs & couldn't post - keyboard shorts if it gets to greasy.
TPTB really nuetered Denny good. He really parsed carefully, its a shame.
Beautiful overhead shot!
Such a great aerial view at the restart but why not keep showing that view a bit longer.
Shouldn't the predictor tracker show when Ambrose will pass the 42?
Last chance What am I Missing here?? Why do the boys in the
booth have to tell us ..
WHAT WE SEE ON THEE TEE VEE ?
Hey ..we can see it. We are watching the screen ????????
I give up ..gave up a long time
ago --- I will say a prayer Amen ::
Charlie, let me get my tarot cards out and see!
I rolled my dice predictor - keep gettin' 4s & 2s.
As good as predition tracker & cheaper too!
MRN reports Marcos says these tires not as good as before.
Did anyone else not know Juan is from Columbia, Marcos is from Austrailia & Kurt is from the US?
WOW what breaking news!
Did Robbie just totally oil down the Inner Loop? At least Regan was courteous enough to go straight there.
I wonder if, after today (If harvick keeps running well) the media will finally make him the favorite to win the crapshoot. He's only led the points for what, 11 weeks now?
Struggling to find a compeling story coming down the stretch. Were really hoping the Ambrose could have gotten back up to JPM.
Did we ever get a report why Logano is 2 laps down?
Jojaye you are killing me!
Really tired of the media spinning Juan and Pattie having problems. They are fine. Get over it
Congrats to Juan Pablo! and his fans, bout time!
Congrats Juan Pablo! A Great Drive!!
Way to go Marcos!! Better luck next time!
Thanks JD, for a nice job today. Looking forward to next week.
Congratulations to JPM. He's from Colombia, you know.
WOW! They stayed at the finish line and showed us the guys still racing to the line! A+ for that, ESPN!
There is an extended post race, but if you are heading out we have the "Your Turn" post up for your race wrap-up comments.
JD
Thanks for all the work you do here for us - have a great evening. May the storms from Tampa not reach you!
Thanks Jo, we had a humdinger T-storm this afternoon. Just that time of year.
Thanks JD for all you do here.
Ricky's stock is rising. On the SportsCenter set now at the mothership.
Going to move comments up to the "Your Turn" post.
Thanks everyone!
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