Saturday, September 18, 2010

Live Blogging "NASCAR RaceDay" From New Hampshire (SPEED - 10AM)


Well, things continue to change in the world of SPEED. That was apparent on Saturday during the all-day coverage from NHMS. Sunday morning brings RaceDay and perhaps even more changes in format, coverage or on-air presentation.

Darrell Waltrip and Rutledge Wood are not involved in the program this week. Update: Interesting to see Wood in a pre-recorded feature after being told he was not in the show. Perhaps, he is not physically there? Hmm....The regular cast of John Roberts, Kyle Petty, Kenny Wallace, Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler will handle the on-air duties.

A little birdie tipped us off that the opening might be a little different this week. That's saying a lot, as RaceDay over the years has presented some very interesting concepts for the show open. Some have been great and some not very memorable.

The late season NASCAR hype is in full swing. SPEED's truck series announcers told fans about the great race on Saturday even as two Sprint Cup Series stars stunk up the show. The pit road reporters gushed about the fantastic action even as they avoided asking the real questions in the post-race show. Yep, it's that time of year.

NASCAR Now precedes RaceDay on Sunday at 9AM on ESPN2. Nicole Briscoe is anchoring from the studio with Ricky Craven alongside. Reporters Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis will be reporting from New Hampshire.

ESPN might have some struggles in production of the races, but NASCAR Now has been a straight-shooting program all season long. Gone are the days of hype and confusion. The Sunday morning NASCAR Now show is tied to a post-race review show in the same way that SPEED's RaceDay is tied to Victory Lane.

While the presentations may be different, it's always interesting to see which stories make which network programs before and after the races. RaceDay has been hit and miss this season on the panel but solid in the reporting. Unlike the ESPN show, RaceDay relies mostly on live interviews and has played to that strength for years.

Every race weekend, fans email me asking why Kenny Wallace has to yell all the time. Specifically, they feel Wallace talks down to the fans and tells them what they should be thinking rather than just presenting his opinion. Wallace has been struggling this season with Kyle Petty in the next chair and it should be interesting to see how Wallace presents himself on this first Chase weekend.

NASCAR has been hammering home a philosophy to the radio and TV gang that you are either with us or against us. Trying to convince the broadcasters to play a role in shaping the image of the sport has been a bitter pill to swallow and may in fact be in the process of backfiring. The world is different now. Twitter, bloggers, Facebook and countless other instant communication options make "faking it" a losing proposition.

SPEED has always been the marshmallow in this mix before the weekday Race Hub show started. This year, Steve Byrnes has been exploring topics the network would never touch in the past. Now with Race Hub on the air, it puts John Roberts in a very different light as the RaceDay and Victory Lane host.

Ultimately, this Sunday's RaceDay comes down to Roberts' ability to handle all the different pressures that are being directed at him and simply focus on directing traffic. If Roberts continues his habit of trying to have the last word on every topic, it could be a long two hours of live TV.

This post will serve to host your comments on NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED. To add your TV-related opinion, 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.

21 comments:

Daly Planet Editor said...

Flashback Sunday!

PammH said...

That opening made me laff out loud! Could Matt have looked anymore uncomfortable?

Daly Planet Editor said...

One guy pointed out no Harvick.

PammH said...

yes, I noticed that now that it's been mentioned. hmmm. if they could get Tony to bang a tamborine, no Happy is a suprised.

Lisa Hogan said...

Good Morning to everyone!
Thanks for the heads-up, JD.

I thought the opening was surprising, clever, and funny.

Hope everyone has a great race today!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Hmmm, told no Rutledge this week. Hmm....

Daly Planet Editor said...

Nothing like a little good Ford product placement.

Anonymous said...

Harvick was in the open but very quick.

Anonymous said...

For me, Race Day is a complete waste of time with Kenny and Kyle. Wallace is a total embarrassment. I do miss Herme and Wendy though.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Wonder what this show will look like next year? SPEED is going through all kinds of changes right now.

Ann_Ominous said...

OK, I got up to see the opening and it was good. Now I'm bored....

Vicky D said...

Wendy tweeted that the opening would be different and go check it out but I was gone and missed it. Did it have all the Chase drivers?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Yep, lip syncing to an oldie.

Travis B said...

Hey everybody.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Pretty championship focused as expected. 45 min to go.

Travis B said...

JD, going back the changes for the SPEED gang, what kind of changes do you think may happen? More DW? New faces in new places?

I feel like SPEED and FOX are going to change quite a bit next year.

PammH said...

I was much happier when I didn't watch RD last wk. Opening was cute, but the rest is all the regular prattle. I really miss The Real Deal.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Travis, David Hill from FOX had taken over the day to day senior management of SPEED.

Hill is a huge NASCAR supporter and battled for more NASCAR show on SPEED over the years, often losing out to lifestyle shows.

It takes some time in TV to put budgets in place and get contracts done, but you have already seen one huge move.

Getting Steve Byrnes to give up calling Cup practice and qualifying as well as leave "Trackside" was amazing.

Byrnes as the fulltime host of "Race Hub" completely changed that show and made it worth watching.

There will be more of these big moves before 2011.

Travis B said...

Alright JD, thanks. It should be interesting.

Daly Planet Editor said...

The live race post is up! Join us.

JD

Anonymous said...

We don't watch RaceDay anymore because Kenny is just too tiresome.Also afraid DW might be on so we stay away.