Since the Chase races have moved to ESPN, this is another week where the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show will be on ESPN2 due to NFL programming. Then, the race coverage will remain on ESPN through the end of the event.
Allen Bestwick will host from the Infield Pit Studio with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside. These three will have an interesting hour to fill. The Harvick vs. Hamlin fireworks, the RCR penalties, the Dover race, the 2010 Chase and the race weather all have to be on the agenda. It should be interesting.
Marty Reid has been welcomed to NASCAR with some tough Sprint Cup Series races. These longer events have proven to be a challenge for this veteran motorsports play-by-play announcer. The fast and intense action of Dover with many caution periods and restarts should again be a challenge for Reid.
Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree have been a team on ESPN for several seasons. This year, they are again calling the practice, qualifying and races in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. We'll see today just how much energy they bring to the table after working both series this weekend.
The regular crew of Jamie Little, Dave Burns, Vince Welch and Dr. Jerry Punch will be on pit road. Punch is by far the best of this bunch. Burns and Welch fly below the radar, but Little still has the habit of pushing things just a little too far.
Dover is one of the toughest tracks to cover for the TV team. Two bridges must be cut out of every single lap by the camera operators and the director. The accidents, often caused by blown tires, happen so fast it's almost pure luck to catch them.
In-car camera views must be quick because passing on this track takes place at the end of the straights and is always tricky. Overhead shots work well to show the two grooves and how tough it is to complete the pass once alongside. In the past, cautions have bred cautions even after a race full of long runs.
This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Dover. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind while posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
231 comments:
1 – 200 of 231 Newer› Newest»Hey everyone, let's hope for no rain!
“You mess with one, you’ve got us all” – Harvick v. Hamlin (by Kenny Chesney-the boys of fall)We will see how that plays out today!
Oh, that's not over! Should be interesting to see how it plays out.
Man, the NFL is just crushing NASCAR right now. Geez...
Whew! Enough of NASCAR RaceDay already! That act is getting old.
Hi JD -
Line of showers currently stretch from Philly to Baltimore. But looks as if the precip should stay there for most of the afternoon. Very slow moving system.
Hoping it stays out there, because today could play out to be very memorable IF the 29 vs 11 continue this squabble.
Will Logano "stick up" for Hamlin ?
( 20 has no love lost for 29 either)
Will another Chevy team, NOT in the Chase, "stick up" for RCR / Bowyer, etc ?
It sure has my interest today, but its a fine line for ESPN today, the telecast should not be dominated with the 29 vs 11 feud....we'll see.
The Tow Trucks WILL be used today at Dover !
Enjoy the race !
wow surprised to see speed footage in that opening montage
Ken, they had some showers right around 10AM but they pushed through and moved on.
John did you see this article last week.. She brings up some interesting points.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Clint-Bowyer-NASCAR-Sprint-Cup-penalty-sets-new-precendent-092210
I did Tracy! Always a good read.
RC and Mike Helton at the top of the show. No fooling around.
I am officially confused. was the 33 cars quarter panel too high or was the body mount in the wrong spot.
Kudos to AB for asking the tough questions!
My dad always said, it doesn't rain on race day. He's been gone a year so I'm keeping his good vibes going! Do the non-rain dance, y'all!
And as for the shoddy ESPN broadcast we are about to cursed with, let's just hope and pray someone gets their head(s) out of their tailpipe(s) and actually shows the RACE, not the Chasers - unless the Chasers are really racing hard against each other.
There's still a small '3' on that 29car - and Mr. Hamlin might wanna throttle back a bit lest he wants to get put in the wall by the spirit of Big E through the hands of Happy Harvick.
Listening to both Childress and Helton just now I predict that NASCAR will back off the penalty a bit. RCR has instilled doubt and has done it effectively with the towtruck angle. Just my opinion
I thought the Brewer "explanation" about the infraction was one of the most useless things he has ever said.
awesome opening segmet. First 20 minutes commercial free, hope we dont pay for that later.
I'm not really a Clint fan and this penalty helps my driver (Tony) but I do think NASCAR shows some favoritism. I hope that RCR wins the appeal so Clint can toss that back in Denny's face.
It sure does make for some drama because there is a story behind it. Can't imagine having a meeting at the R&D Center on this topic, then taking an illegal car to the next race. Makes little racing sense at all. Should be fun to watch during the week.
I thought the meeting at the R&D Center regarding the Richmond car happened on Tuesday (after New Hampshire and before the penalties for the NH car).
Same issue Steve. Right on the tolerances, don't go any further. Both sides have good points, should be interesting to see what happens. In this case, the burden is on RCR to get out of it.
Sorry, it was before and they were warned. That is why RC is so bent out of shape.
Does anyone besides me think that NASCAR may have intentionally imposed a penalty as severe as they did in an attempt to get the attention of the media? They rightfully felt they were being ignored and felt they needed to stir the pot to get some attention. If they reduce the penalty based on "more information", they think they can be seen as a "good guy".
Thanks, the wording on the Jayski site had be confused for the last couple of days.
"Paraded around to some of the fans?"
Paraded around! That was awesome.
Frankly, I don't even like Denny; and I think he was wrong to spout off about it (I agree with Burton), but you finally get a guy speaking his mind and not being all corporate, and people complain! IMHO-- RCR may get their sentence reduced--but I wouldn't hold my breath on a complete appeal. NASCAR has made it very clear there are certain things that you absolutely do not mess with, and their biggest penalties are saved for those things. Darby sounded quite confident (I missed Helton's comments though.) But it wasn't just about the width of a quarter. I don't think Denny just made that stuff up off the top of his head; I'd be curious as to what's been talked about and for how long...but I don't think we're gonna know (and it wasn't really his place to repeat gossip). But Kenny sounded like an idiot on Raceday. And his constant references to Dale E are kind of pathetic, like he's trying to use his friendship with Dale to give his opinion credibility, when it ought to stand on its own (or not.)
Back to ratings here for a moment. JD should have the numbers to answer my question, I hope. Race is on ESPN2 today (that in itself says a lot) What are the raw households served numbers for ABC, ESPN, & ESPN2? The picture on the allegedly sucky numbers for NASCAR might change if one considers eyeballs available as opposed to eyeballs attracted.
Clarke
Oops, I meant to say the pre-race not race. I know that is in ESPN which, you know still does not match the households available for ABC.
Clarke
I've noticed one non-chase driver being interviewed so far (AJ) and the pre-race show is almost over.
Clarke,
ESPN is now almost in as many homes as ABC. The number the PR guys throw around is 100 million. ESPN2 is slightly behind at 90 million.
Literally, the NFL has brought NASCAR to it's knees.
The actual race is on ESPN. The numbers for ratings aren't allegedly bad. The networks and Nascar all admit they are horrible. The question is how to get them up. It seems that nobody has that answer or they are not ready to try yet.
Brad, if you scroll through the posts on my blog, you will see my answer to the TV ratings issue.
Should have started the changes this weekend. Did not happen.
Sorry JD. By that I meant the executives at the networks and Nascar. There have been great ideas suggested but the suits with the power don't seem to get it.
Happy Race Day Planeteers :)
@Osbornk--everything that Captain Obvious says is useless. I've given up on him. I gave him one last chance after Elliott's Pokeynose crash and that was the last one. He's hopeless.
I'm sure he's a nice guy and at least back in the day knew a thing or two since he has 2 rings but he does nothing for me now.
So when they go to him I tune him out.
did they just play "Riders on the Storm"...too funny.
You'd think they could persuade Evernham to do those tech segments. Or someone who at least worked in this last decade.
Back at last after a couple weeks of life being in the way.
Going to be shuffling between this and the NFL though to be honest. Compelling race I will stay more focused on it since I can not watch my team today.
I enjoyed the feature on Harvick and his life away from the track during the week, well done piece.
--David #1
Oh man, I have not laughed that hard in a NASCAR telecast in a long time.
Why is the flag flying from a crane?
Strong anthem. Crowd looks very sparse.
JD - Could you share what that creature hosting the fantasy football show said about NASCAR this morning? I wasn't watching.
hey, that gal kept her cool even with flags in her face. A little shouty but not bad. My team is not on tv here so I'll be on the race and watching the helmets go up & down the field.
Just more NASCAR bashing Steve. There are lots of guys up there who think it is nothing more than WWE and should not be on ESPN.
I had that problem back in the 1980's when I was there and it grew when NASCAR was off ESPN.
It's a real hatred.
@bevo; as i recall (& i may be way wrong), the flag actually drives down the frontstretch and then ends up in that position for the opening activities. i think it's actually a small-ish crane on a truck.
& again, may just be me but i thought miles the monster held a replica of the previous winner, not just a generic stock car? it may have only been duing miles' inaugural year, tho'.
It looks like a whole section empty today. Great anthem too. Let's go racing guys, there's a big football game today Texans vs Dallas so we'll see how many viewers the race will get from these two cities.
@red- thanks, never noticed that before
Given its about the 4th or 5th time she's done the anthem in the last 2 seasons, she's improved.
Tony Stewart has been a real class act when talking about last week. He's really changed through the years.
Wasn't she the little cutie on the back of the motorcycle for that weird SPEED promotion contest a while back?
Yep JD. Same person. Her label is trying to push her but so far it hasn't caught with the stations
Joining late, NASCAR Countdown wasn't on in Canada due to NFL Countdown and CFL taking up all our TSN channels.
S&P prediction today: 87, 81, 55, 46
Maybe: 13, 09, 71, 7
Hey MV!
The magical 8 lap mark = Commercial.
8 laps for commercial. It's getting worse.
ESPN goes to commercial on lap 8 and I go to the NFL broadcast and I plan only to check back during breaks. See how that works, gentlemen?
Strange weekend for pre-race shows, Nationwide cut short by football, Truck non-existent due to Barrett-Jackson and no Cup pre-race for us Canadians.
and here we go with commercials...
sigh... only 8 laps and off to commercials.. I think I'm going to McDonald's.....
Once I mute the TV when they go to comml, they don't come back on. Radio for me today!
Commercial on lap 8, and they miss a pass for the lead that was obviously developing before they left. Shocker.
5 non-chasers in the top 10 right now.
42 reports right front vibration
Got another 8 laps before commercial
Observations
Lot of empty seats
Allmendinger leading in a Ford the same color of a Roadrunner I had back about 1970. Not, to me a Ford color. But who cares? Since I cannot easily tell makes apart I can pretend it is a Mopar. The brilliance of Brian makes sense again. Not.
Clarke
10 minutes after green flag 2nd set of commercials
love football but i don't really like either TN or NY but it's better than watching commercials . . .
Hi all got here late -turned on TV & commercials....
"Boys aren't on TV here so I'm gonna try & watch the race. See how long I make it this week - if its too awful I'll switch to just radio & Trackpass
Good luck to your driver today - may he come in 2nd to Tony!
I only have 1 horrible NFL game to watch Titans/Giants but the fine folks at ESPN have just about convinced my to watch it. I will keep up with Nascar on the computer though. Just horrible what ESPN is doing to the viewing experience of race fans.
Remember yesterday, they ran a while until someone blew a tire then they all pitted. That was the pattern.
I'm pleased there showing a tad of racing between there commercials. Only reason I have the race on "in the background" is my Redskins don't play until 4. 8 laps into it they go to commercial and missed a lead change. What a joke.
Cover comes off caution light - bet no commercials till they fix it
Is fresh to see somebody like AJ leading the race.
Is there such a thing as a fake caution light caution? Just sayin...
was that light cover not broken 18 minutes ago when the race started? bogus caution (in my opinion)!
Actually the "big winner" was Tony Stewart. He came into the pits
24th and came out 12th. That is a +12 for those of you keeping score at home!
Nascar is coming up with unique ways to call cautions. Very smart so some of the drivers won't be calling them out for phantom debris cautions!
You can watch football and racing at the same time. I did it big time yesterday during the Nationwide race. The race was on and so were Alabama, FSU and Notre Dame at the same time and I had to be up on what they were doing since all have my money and one of my kids each.
It can be done.
BTW The race was primary for me and I checked the football during the commercials we here hate so much. Actually was easy since in football they seem to spend so much time just standing around == and when they are standing around the TV box shows the replays.
Clarke
Did anyone else the whole sections of seating unoccupied. For a Sprint Cup race that sure did seem like a lot. Is it because of the broadcast or rain in the area?
Wow! Thats a NNS size crowd, not the packed like sardines when we were going! A few sections just closed...
We noticed before the race, whole corner sections empty today. It's a sign of the times, I'm afraid.
A fully closed section at Dover is not due to possible rain, but simply a case of no tickets sold. 5 years ago there might be a few unsold tickets in the lower half of the turn 3 grandstand, but that's about all.
Having been there when the place was nearly sold out, that's a *lot* of empty seats.
Vicky, the NFL games are packed. I really think it's more a sign of the bad TV coverage and the convoluted Chase. Folks just don't get it.
Its only ironic because you fools refuse to talk about anyone who isn't a "chase contender."
Been to Dover many many times. It's just 60 miles from me. Tickets were hard to get in years past. Now the entire turn 3 seats from the track to upper stands are empty. Entire turn 3. And the stands coming out of turn 2 are empty also. And a lot of empty seats through out. That's horrible attendance. Ohhh, they just went green from tne caution with the light lens thing and we are back at commercial. This is discusting
JD, I think you are more correct about the tv coverage and chase instead of the economy being the reason for low race attendance. We have gone to one truck race this year too and we didn't attend any last year. I sure hope they don't make a chase for the trucks that's for sure.
Don't look at me, Diane. I talked about Allmendinger and his Mopar Ford. KB is not close enough to the front. Yet.
Clarke
9 laps in that segment.
@Clark, hope you know I was talking about the announcers.
I tried to suggest that in my column this morning, but it did not go over so well with the ESPN guys. Have script, will travel.
I see we've settled into the 10 minutes action/break/10 minutes action/break routine.
Over here in Europe this wouldn't be tolerated (I get the World Feed so I spend the ad-time atop the 47 this weekend).
Having this also makes it possible to see where the TV networks 'fake' the action by playing in missed passes / pit road action as live (something I have noticed a few times this year).
Surely it's time to have shorter races (say a max of 500mi or 3 hours, whichever comes first - a bit like F1) - with ad breaks ONLY allowed during caution time?
JD, I thought it was a good column this morning. Sometimes the truth hurts. ESPN needs to put their big boy pants on and look at themselves as part of the problem
If you were someone who had been going to a track for years, why would bad TV coverage influence your decision not to go back? Doesn't make sense.
well, atleast ESPN has the 48 train to latch onto. None of their other "story lines" are playing out just yet. Horrible! Horrible! Horribel! These non chasers are giving the truck fits. You know it is killing them to talk about the 43, 56 and 42.
Getting better, 12 laps
We didn't have trouble getting our first Dover tickets, as they were building new seats. And unlike Daytona, Dover permitted us to move our seats each year, so we gradually worked our way to ones we really liked, well up in turn 4 by the pit lane entrance. Turn 3 is usually last to sell, facing into the sun for much of the race.
Looking at the whole place, there have to be 25-30 thousand empty seats.
Anon - Unless you're going to every race in person, TV coverage affects fans tremendously. The reference to bad TV coverage is saying that they've turned Nascar off to the fans so why spend money to go see a race in person.
I'm getting really sick of the 48 this,48 that stuff. He'salmost 7 seconds back and they concentrate on him and to heck with the leader.
@Anon 1:59 pm -we went to the tracks for years -then when we retired we picked our Favorite tracks and went 3 times a year (the 500, Darlington& Dega) when we moved to Texas we went to those because track was 1 hour from us.
Then we had to watch TV only due to health issues, & the new car came in & the race coverage went to hello. Why would we spend our little extra cash to go to see bad racing in person? Thats whats on TV & we used to go. Imagine if this is your only exposure to NA$CAR? Why go? It doesn't look that good why waste what little availble $$ on it?
Dinger is not in the chase and the 48 is. makes him the top chaser. It's as simple as that.
Anon 1:59. If you were talking to me in ur comment I never said bad tv coverage influenced my decision not to go back in the last few years.
Harvick cant get to Hamlin fast enough for the booth. I've been trying to hang with this race but holy cow is it tough. By the way, what are the guys gonna do when Harvick doesn't go up and pile drive Hamlin? Harvick has a bigger picture to worry about today. The so called experts should know that things they do in practice probably wont happen in a race.
"Who's voice is that?...did he say fuel?.........Oh, look! AJ Allmendinger."
Good lord.
Maybe they will finally acknowlege Truex now that he's in the lead.
Too bad they did not keep the leader on the track in the second video box for these green flag pit stops.
Do they have any idea what is going on in the booth?
Never mind. They only mentioned him as an afterthought. Former winner at dover, home track, top 5 car...no coverage.
Tony had a pass thru penalty minutes ago! Now they decide to mention it???? He already did the pass thru!!! Get with it BoothBoy!
I can't speak for others, but we stopped going to cup races at Dover (and switched to Busch races instead) both because of the cost and the crowds/traffic (yeah, ironic). Busch seats with a race-long buffet/beer cost a lot less than cup seats only, and traffic didn't stop miles before the track. We stopped going to Busch only because we moved. We stopped going to Pocono after only one race because the entire experience was horrible(traffic, seats, bathrooms). We had tickets to the 1st night race at Daytona, gave them up after the 3rd because plate racing in person is even more unbearable than on tv.
What a mess.
well is kinda fun watching AJ spank the field.
I normally don't like the term "booth monkeys" but it's starting to grow on me.
Would love to see AJ win today. Wait, is he leading the race? No way to tell. How is ESPN NOT going to show Victory Lane?
LOL JD - you are coming to the dark side!
Jd, I got a new game show. "Who Wants To Produce Or Direct A Nascar Race? Any takers??
If a chase driver does not win, all of the concentration will be on the top chaser finish.
Tony's performance has really messed up today's script.
A Dinger victory would be so incredibly awesome.
By the way, the PGA's confusing-as-latin playoffs (inspired by NASCAR's Chase) wrap up today...something else for the NFL to overshadow.
Wow, watching Jimmie drive around and around and around -well you get the picture.
@FloridaMat. Been to Dover about 8 times. We stopped going to Cup at Dover because the crowds got so large we could not walk around. It was like a heard of cattle shoulder to shoulder. Plus the parking was horrific. That parking lot does not empty for hours after the race because there is only one way out onto Rt 13. Why they didn't put an exit onto Rt 1 amazes me to this day.
We also went to Charlotte once and had the worst experience possible for a night race. Race ended at 11pm and we didnt get out of the parking lot until 3am. Fights were breaking out. And there was zero security or cops to be seen. Was very scary situation. That is the last race I'll ever attend.
@Martin Vincent
Another commercial so I have time to ask a question. Is that fight over the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme still going on and if it is over who won.
See, I got it all typed out with one finger while the commercials continued...
Clarke
I like seeing long stretches of side-by-side green flag racing; reminds me of the old days.
Not to be a wet blanket - but am looking for a movie to watch on netflix
The bottom line here for me is simple. Brian France and his television partners have broken NASCAR and none of them are planning any actions to fix it. If they don't care, why should I?
Flipping back to football.
Why is TB on TV? during green flag racing? Give us a break!
This is brutal
My NFL game is at the half. I tuned in for the race and I get to see the Cutaway Closet troll in the bigger window of two. Same old same.
Tight shots, no flow to the broadcast and the story is Jimmy Johnson.
I am out of here. Have a good one.
We the folks at ESPN thank you for watching our pointless Tech Center segment. We appreciate your patience while we find somewhere to crowbar Tim Brewer into the broadcast. Now back to the aforementioned booth monkeys!
If you saw the truck race last night, you know how much a good director who understands your sport can shape a telecast.
The ESPN director is into tight shots of single cars, in-car cameras and serving the ESPN script rather than what is actually happening on the track.
It's impossible to watch.
What about all the other unnecessary features that are crowbarred into the broadcast? Who thinks this is a good concept?
Leader pits out of the blue - instead of getting in the pit to find out why - commercial - Jimmy leads
Unfortunately all of those useless segments like TB are just infomercials.
Dinger had a flat right rear. once again the booth was wrong in there assessment that he should have just slowed down.
The naked indifference in the production truck is killing me.
I think the booth monkeys were once pretty good at their jobs until they became indoctrinated into the ESPN way, and now they are, collectively, atrocious.
bspn 1 - Fans 0
I'll "watch" the rest of this with radio & Trackpass. Better picture & coverage
I refuse to get upset watching these booth monkeys,and NASCAR hating truck kids kill my sport.
Good luck all.
Man this screws up AJ
Here's an idea - get rid of 3 or so talking heads and hire about 50 people to gather pertinent race info and convey it to the booth instead of this mass confusion about what's going on during a race.
You think they would be telling us who is a lap down
Pleaes tell me again about "Danicamania at Gateway."
Poor MattMatt :(
DJ was great when he first started. Now he is a babbling fool! I can't believe the difference. You have to wonder what ESPN told him to be in the booth.
John
You said you had an idea for a morniong column but E$PN got ticked off so you had to scrap it. Just shows E$PN and NA$CAR for that matter does not like when you take away their hype, errrr.. Money.
Oh i hear that it's all JJ on the Egotistical Skinhead Perfect network. I'm watching the Steeler game, more exciting.
@Anon 2:27 - Pardon the OT post, JD. The old Hockey Night in Canada theme song's copyright owner wanted to charge $500 per play, so CBC stopped using it in 2008. A new theme was chosen as a result of a nationwide contest.
More information if you check "Hockey Night in Canada" in Wikipedia.
Just realized why nascar teams are having hard time getting sponsers - they companies are getting such good deals on commercials during the race there is no need to sponser a car
JD I do not believe they "told" DJ anything. I think it is the Stockholm Syndrome in action.
As for the truck you said it: "someone ... who understands the sport"
Clarke
The best one we had this week was ESPN: Every Sport Preempts NASCAR.
Bill H-They can pay for a commercial and get 30 seconds exposure. If the sponsor a nonchase car, they get zero exposure.
"Here's Kyle Bush going after Jeff Gordon for 3rd"
Uh, no, Jeff started 4th and was just getting past Kyle.
Sigh.
@JD-Saw on a tweet early this morning that ESPNStar (Europe) missed something because of continuing cricket coverage. Can you imagine how long that could be?
And Truex finally gets some airtime.
Sad it took a problem with the car for the TV to talk about the run Truex had been having.
The final straw for me was when ESPN did not show laps 9 to 11 at Richmond on 9-11. Money came before rememberance. I'll bet you there were many pissed off military veterans when that happened.
To me E$PN no longer exists. I hope E$PN chokes on the money they recieve from viewers and sponsors.
Chris
The track president @ Chicagoland is gone. ISC continues to shed personnel. He probably said something negative about going up against the NFL in the opening chase race in 2011.
Joey Logano is third. Have they even mentioned him yet today?
ESPN (and all the other NASCAR broadcasters) need to go back and look at the best coverage of the sport--the 90s by...ESPN!
Bob, Benny, Ned, and Jerry were the very best at what they did: constantly updating of the most relevant and exciting action on the track, while giving apt attention to also-rans who were making movies, all of it tightly coordinated with the guys in the truck. There was a minimum of crap on the screen, just the top 5 in the UR corner, sometimes the top 10. If you cared about the race, you knew where your guy was.
MLB and NFL have learned to shut off the crap on the screen unless you need it. NASCAR needs to re-learn this.
I just feel bad for Marty Reid today. I don't know how is giving him info, but he is out to lunch on everything not on the scoring monitor.
oops, "who is giving him info."
Slowly as we go the top 10 is being filled with chasers. The guys in the truck must be happy now. It took half the race but now they don't have to talk about nonchasers anymore.
Thank god for the remote and the NFL !
One thing that ESPN does that I really like is they continue to show live racing behind the "presented by" ads that they run going into commercial. FOX usually shows some prerecorded videos or still images.
It's something!
48 is leading, everyone can relax and not work so hard on stories about guys who rarely run up front.
"Just track the 48 car..."
Thye cut out of a commercial to show jimmy passing a start and park that hasnt realized its time to do it - wow
JD, my bama game drew the 5.4 yesterday. any word on what the race drew?
Man, this is just flat-out tough to watch.
Jimmie Johnson continues to lead, cut to commercial, return to 48 leading, talk about the 18 a bit, talk about the 29 a bit, back to the 48, then another commercial.
What about the rest of the race???
At least we get to see another car each time JJ laps someone.
Brad, not a 5.4 for sure! Have not seen any overnight rating info. Will have it all on Monday.
When did watching a race go from "Darn, it's over" to "Darn, will this thing never end?".
Out of commercial, on board the 18, cut to 48, back to the 18 and an incident we missed during commercial, replay another incident we missed, back to the 48, back to the 18, back to the 48, talk about Mark Martin a bit, back to the 48 and then a commercial.
Nothing but 48 and 18. WTH!!
2010 Chase leaves alot to be desired thus far. Next week boring a** cookie cutter Kansas.
@OSBORNK- exact opposite of last night's Truck race
bevo- I missed the truck race because I rode my motorcycle 420 miles yesterday to say goodby to a terminally ill riding friend.
FYI: Comcast just put a guy named Steve Burke in charge of NBC and cut Jeff Zucker loose.
This might put Burke as a major player in the 2014 NASCAR contract since they have VERSUS and NBC now.
I'm making a lot of comments. Must be my boredom, but anyway JD knows the directors so why not in a given race's intro article mention who will be directing and how s/he has performed in the past? Like is done for the booth & pit reporter crews.
I say this because I missed the trucks last night, but seems it was a good show with a good director and that makes a difference. Like, ya know, between me directing The Godfather and Coppola doing it...
Clarke
@OSBORNK- sorry to hear that. Guess we could all use some perspective.
Joey Logano has been in the top 3 for about 100 laps and was just updated for the first time.
JD Zucker was roadkill the moment the Comcast deal got to final stages. His "resignation" PRIOR to the conclusion of the deal was a condition of the final contract. It has been playing out over this weekend. BTW there is another shoe to fall at 30 Rock.
Clarke
Nice job showing the debris. This caution was legit.
Paul Menard has been in the top 15 all day and hasn't been mentioned. He's ninth right now, ahead of several Chase drivers.
Never mind. He's seventh and he finally got a mention.
OK E$PN EXECS, LISTEN UP
YOUR DIRECTORS ARE FOING A TERRIBLE JOB AT KEEEPING UP ON ON TRACK ACTION. JUST FIRE THEM AND GET DIRECTORS WHO ARE RACE FANS. IT IS DESTROYING YOUR TELECASTS QUICKER THAN YOU CAN REALIZE. OH WAIT YOU DON'T REALIZE THAT, BECAUSE YOUR HEADS ARE BURIED IN BIG CASH.
Clarke,
We tried that in 2007 and it did not work. More often than not, the prod and dir were being blamed for everything under the sun.
Lots of other TV management and agendas from sales to NASCAR at work on these telecasts.
So, unless the directing is a specific issue we avoid names.
JD
ESPN has finally learned that we don't have to see a pit reporter to hear their report. Now why is it so difficult for those guys to comprehend other positive changes that should be made?
sbtf,
Wait until the football guys from FOX come back to party on the NASCAR circuit. Hollywood Hotel, Pizzi, endless in-cars and one car finishing the race. Ah, the memories.
I am sooo inconstant. KB is leading now and as long as that situation obtains all they need do to make me happy is to concentrate on the leader. It is a matter of priorities.
Clarke
Fox is just as shameless.
David hill only cares about money as well.
I think he is corrupting SPEED as well.
Well John, at least we did not have any trolls.
It is impossible to identify the one person or the limited number of persons who are responsible for 'poisoning the well' in these broadcasts. There mere fact that some ESPN race broadcasts this year have been near excellent while others are terrible indicates there is a very small number of people involved that can tank a show. Ferret the person or persons out and sit them at home for your sake and ours. Please.
70 laps to go? Oh lord.
I am so bored! and I used to really look forward to Dover races...
Any ratings predictions? New Hampshire bombed terribly.
If Jimmie Johnson wins the 2010 title, NASCAR has even more of a problem going into 2011. The fan base is sick of it.
Who wants to watch this other than us hardcore fans? All my friends, relatives and co-workers who used to be casual fans are long gone.
We talked about that this week and they all said the product on the track coupled with the TV commercials drove them away.
None of them understand this stupid Chase deal.
Even the number of blog posts are down !
It may just be my imagination but it seems like the last 30 min. they have been trying to call the race.
Anyone else notice a change?
I don't understand the chase either, but I do understand the stupidity. Maybe after the ratings fall another 50% NASCAR may make the connection between what they and their television partners do and how many people travel and tune in to watch.
Or maybe not.
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