This week, it will be the Clemson and University of Miami football teams that decide the start time of ESPN2's Nationwide Series coverage. Their football game, which is the Clemson homecoming, will start shortly after noon ET.
It will be Allen Bestwick waiting to get on the air with the NASCAR Countdown show from the Infield Pit Center. Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace are alongside Bestwick this weekend.
Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are racing the Gibbs NNS entries, but the field also has Carl Edwards, Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski. Other names of note are Kevin Harvick, James Beuscher and Justin Allgaier.
In the TV booth will be Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Down on pit road are Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch. This team has been focused on the Sprint Cup Series races for several weeks now and the Nationwide Series coverage has been affected.
Kansas is an aero track that has been criticized many times for the lack of passing and the focus on quick work on pit road as being the primary opportunity for changing positions. If long runs happen, look for green flag pit stops to be the difference in the race.
Coverage on the track is aided by aerial views and low angle speed shots that help to keep the sensation of speed for the TV viewer. Tight shots of small groups of cars make it easy to lose perspective as to the overall race and location of cars on the track.
This is the fourth season of ESPN putting the NNS telecast in a timeslot that is too short for the pre-race show and designed to only allow for race coverage. After many months of treating this series as a feature presentation, the change in coverage has resulted in the Nationwide series slowly fading off the radar down the stretch.
ESPN is unable to telecast the pre-race show online due to rights issues and has no network that can provide an alternative viewing source. It should be interesting to see exactly what time the football game ends and NASCAR coverage begins.
This post will serve to host your comments on the Nationwide Series coverage from Kansas on ESPN2. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
142 comments:
Don't expect to see many Canadians here today. TSN2 is showing the race on tape delay at 6:00 according to my guide. (Ryder Cup Golf + TSN has CFL football).
Happy Maybe Eventually We'll See Some Racin' Today Planeteers
:sigh: that's all I can say because the other words aren't allowed on this blog :(
This is so sad.
ESPN only took the Nationwide series to get the last 17 cup races and it shows.
I enjoy the Nationwide second to the trucks, cup is my third choice.
Except for the domination of some cup drivers in Nationwide it's really a good series. Then again, if it wasn't for the cup drivers the aspiring Nationwide drivers would have no measuring stick to judge how good they are.
To bad the series suffers due to the lack of good tv. If a constant fan like me gets tired of guessing when the race will be on, the new fan will not even try to keep up.
Just off the phone with a friend, he does not see the second half ending before 4PM. Wow...
Thank you John. Saw your Twitter comment about Clemson game just at half time. So will follow you here and twitter so I can reset DVR.
On the other hand. Maybe I just won't do anything and not watch. We are at Sears Point. Husband is racing this weekend. More important things going on than chasing a NASCAR race on TV!!!
I didn't know your husband raced Diane :) Kewlbeans
I agree Glenn it is a good series and stars can emerge but treated like an "oh guess we *have* to show this whenever we have room"
Six and half minutes to go in the 3rd. quarter.
Makes you want to start flinging out expletives laced with the letters ESPN integrated into the frothing of frustrations... but I'll hold my tongue (keyboard.) Really... I'm trying... though sometimes my keyboard has a mind of its own...
Ya know, I just feel bad for the fulltime guys trying to make it in the NNS.
If that was my living and ESPN just totally took any opportunity to get on TV with pre-race exposure I would be upset.
The other thing it making the guys prepping for the Cup race call the NNS races. They have no freaking clue what is going on and are working hard to make the Cup races better.
If only Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie were out there with Allen Bestwick and no Infield Studio.
JD, a little OT, if ok.
@Gymmie....thanks. It is lots of fun...most of time. It is vintage racing. Cars in all classes. From pre-war to 1960's. Love my husband's cars, but the F1 and Can Am cars from back in the day are totally cool. Fun to see & hear cars I watched on TV or at Laguna running again. Oh...they run at the same speed as they did originally. Well depending on the driver...LOL!
ESPN is just trying to get as much on the air as possible. If they gave an additional 45 minutes to an hour of slack time then they would have to end up booting an event off the air entirely
Yep, ESPN is going to start the NNS telecast on Classic and pretend that nothing is wrong.
Nice...
That is not right in anyway shape or form, John. They have not figured out any solutions and the fans of NASCAR are getting the short end of the stick. I personally am not watching as my ESPN boycott continues.
Well that solves my problem. I don't get Classic!! Oh, did you see that the Air Force vs Navy game is on Versus just before final race for IndyCar!! Lovely.
Well, since I don't get Classic, I guess I'll just have to 'settle' for watching Petite LeMans on Speed. Maybe I'll try to remember to check and see if ESP2 ever bothers to get to the race. Or not.
Wish I still had Classic channel. ESPN or Dish Network decided I am more interested in college programming than classic stuff. They were wrong.
Well, well. As I said on the FB page recently, Jim Hunter and I graduated from Clemson's hated rival. (In fact, Hunter and Humpy Wheeler were football players.) And just 35 miles from an SEC school where I live, we don't get that school on local radio, but we do get Clemson, 170 miles away. What gives?
And this is the same arrogant radio people who took MRN and our local team away but not the Tigers. Go figure. Media blackout land.
Its not just NASCAR. The EPL game ran long prior to Miami / Clemson. Those fans missed out entirely. ESPN2 started shwoing the game with 10 minutes to go in the 1st quarter.
It just comes with the territory.
"ESPN Classic" often also refers to HBCU's (which call their big games "classics").
I will be recording the Nationwide race on Espn2. If it isn't there, oh well, not my fault.
I would watch it live but I also want to watch the Michigan football game. Because of the bottom ticker it will show the Michigan score so I have no choice but to record the race and skip the commercials when I watch it later.
Go away troll. You are just amazingly corrupt.
There is absolutely no comparison between four seasons of purposeful deception by ESPN on NNS races and one over-run of soccer.
Is that you Andy?
Can some one explain the mindset of not planning 3 1/2 hours for a football game?? They can't fill 10 minutes if...and it's a big if...the game runs short!
As I have been saying since 2007, NASCAR is the only program ESPN schedules three hours after the start of a college football game.
that does sound neat Diane!
I'm another fan who doesn't have "Classic" or ESPN3 website.
I think I'll run a couple of errands and check to see if the race is on when I get back.
It is hard to keep it "family friendly" sometimes, JD. ;)
John,
E$PN is so god damn arrogant they buy so many sports programming they overrun and they integrated ABC sports. If they want to win me back they should deintegrate ESPN on ABC and return to ABC sports and go back to the ESPN people once loved. But they wont, there is no real incentive for them to change. It's all about the almighty dollar.
Did you just see the ad they ran on Espn2 during a break at the football game. It said the Count down is on Espn2 at 3 pm.
Here we go again - every stinkin' weekend.
Originally, we thought they were going to turn ESPN Classic into ESPN3 and put all the NASCAR stuff there.
But, they never did and now only have two major cable networks for product.
It really is a disaster for NNS from Sept to Nov.
Let's look at the starting lineup: Wow! Cup drivers leading the field!
I can see it now, Cuppers flying away from all the Nationwide regulars except Turner Motorsports, Allgaier & Almirola. 6+ Start & Parks. Cupper wins in the end.
Good thing I'll be leaving for work soon, it's not even worth wasting space on the DVR.
Just dropping in to see the angst. At least you're going to see the race live. (most of it anyway).
In keeping with dumping on ESPN, they are a minority owner in TSN who aren't even trying to show it live.
No Nationwide race here in Canada until 6pm, even though the Ryder Cup coverage taking up TSN2 is also shown on NBC. Ridiculous!
I'll give my S&P prediction anyway: 91, 90, 36, 52, 26 and 21.
Maybe: 79.
Nationwide deserves about 12 minute pre-race show and start the race.
wayyyy too much nonsense information.
"Certain" races, MIGHT constitute 30 minute pre race.
a bunch of blabber.
I have Dish with top 250+ all HD. I didn't realize they put classic in an optional sports package until a couple of weeks ago. It could have been done a long time ago for all I know. I wouldn't pay an extra dime for it. All of ESPN has gone from "must see" to "I have to watch it because I have no other choice".
Thanks for letting me know to go over to Classic. I'm on Uverse, so I get Classic, only it is in SD, not HD. They have given the command to start the engines. Given how much time was still on the football clock, green flag will be missed.
Go lick my peniles
Hey, out tween troll is back! Peniles? Did you have to look that one up?
Come on, get a girlfriend dude.
Amazing that Nationwide series ratings have held steady or gone up slightly this season, considering that ESPN barely bothers to cover it.
So other ppl in the Nascar media don't care about this because is a NNS race or this is just something that is ok when it happens?
Awww. I'ts so cute that he wants to try to play with the grownups. so precocious.
None of the media really work the TV or radio stories. That is not their beat.
Once and a while they pipe up, but they are there for the sport itself.
That is one big reason I started this back in 2007. No one wanted to listen to my concerns about the new NASCAR TV contract.
No timeslots for NNS races in Sept, Oct and Nov was one of the big ones.
Isn't TV fun?
Sally, our little troll is growing up! *sniff*
You go get a girlfriend
"That is one big reason I started this back in 2007. No one wanted to listen to my concerns about the new NASCAR TV contract."
You deserve way more credit than you get, JD.
ROFLMAO. Oh lord. Mine has kids out of college. We are, um....adults!
You know, like your mommy and daddy.
Don't get me wrong, the media guys have been great to me and have been asking me about this today.
It's just a weird situation with the TV deal. Very weird.
LAP 8 AND THEY GO TO COMMERCIAL!!!
Around Lap 6 Kyle took over the lead from Joey, then Kevin passed him for 2nd.
Somebody scrapped the wall in one of the first laps. Not sure if it was Gaughn or Carmichael as Marty threw out both names. They showed the 62 for a while but I couldn't tell with sd pic.
back from commercial, maybe they are on espn2 now.
Lap 8 for commercial again? Wow.
Why does Rusty simply not say a work when Steven has trouble ??
it would add so much more if Rusty chimed in.
COME ON RUSTY !
I guess that's their standard for race 'coverage'...eight laps of racing and go to commercial.
If he can only get thru these 'terrible twos'....
Lap 18 and second commercial break..
OK, I am old Rusty Wallace fan (ducking tomatoes being thrown), but we did not need to see that green flag pit stop for the 66 in the big box and a close in single car shot of the leader in the small box.
Yes, do tell us that the 66 is having to make a pit stop for a tire problem, BUT SHOW US RACING ON THE SCREEN - AT LEAST IN THE BIG BOX!!
But on the bright side, most of us missed the commercials because they didn't show us the first 10 laps. We started on lap 11.
They have been giving Steven a lot of pub in this series. Kind of like their man-crush on Carl Edwards in Cup.
And 26 laps into the race (the green flag of which most of us missed) we go to yet another commercial and miss a pass for the lead. Boy, ESPN can really call em, can't they?
More than 13 cars a lap down 30 laps into the race? Oh yeah, this is going to be a real barnburner.
JD, I almost wish you didnt post during the races. Because you have 12 of the 54 posts so far and it's pretty obvious how viewers have been dropping off in the last two years. Without you, there would be 40 posys after the first 40 laps of this race. Sad.
I know everyone, myself included, wants ESPN to go back to the good old days and just show less graphics, less commercials and less hype but they won't. Why won't ESPN do the three things asked including going back to ABC sports and listening to viewers.
Anon 4:06PM,
How twisted do you have to be to think like that?
Man, you must have a very hard life. Sorry for ya dude.
Anon @ 4:06...more an indicator of how many people have just given up trying to watch the races. With no hope of any improvement of coverage, it has proved pretty fruitless so far. some of us are just too pig headed to give up hope.
He should be here for the Friday truck races when it's just me, Gymmie and our troll!
I typed this earlier but I think there was an error when I hit publish. This is looking more and more like the K & K show.
I can't believe ESPN went to commercial and we are missing pitstops!
Yep, what Sally said. I can think of many that no longer post, because they have just given up. Myself, I'm going to get a haircut during the race tomorrow. That tell ya anything?
Yea John, they did give Steve a lot of coverage when he first started. Really overdid it. Then they backed off. Now he is getting more, but he is often the in-race reporter and they often have one of his crew guys with the helmet cam. I think they gave that pit stop so much coverage because of the helmet cam. Truck just loves it. It gives me vertigo!
It's too bad because the racing has been pretty keen. Just can't see it.
You promised you were going to be more positive on ESPN this year - that has obviously not happened.
Negativity breeds negativity in all aspects of NASCAR.
Better watch out though - NASCAR may fine you for excessive criticism.
Take could take away your Citizen Journalist thingy.
JD you said...
How twisted do you have to be to think like that? Man, you must have a very hard life. Sorry for ya dude.
ARE YOU SERIOUS? I'm hoping you misunderstood. I was saying that it was obvious that viewership had dropped off just as the number of posts had decreased here on TDP over the past couple of years.
You do an amazing job of covering this sport mixed with the television side of things and I back you 100%.
Don't know where I went wrong with my original post but all I was saying was that without you posting, the number of posts would decrease sharply and things would not look positively.
If we were more positive on ESPN, we would be "mispeaking".
Let me tell ya, just like some other folks are saying. The fans are gone.
No words are going to help me to convey what has happened to this sport.
Last weekend's TV rating was the lowest Chase race in history.
The NNS ratings were laughable. The weekly ratings for the Showtime program is so tiny it does not even compute.
Talk about being at the end of your rope!
Once again, race 'coverage' by replay. Have they managed to show anything worth watching live yet?
Has ANYTHING happened on the track that they didn't miss?
Anon 4:23PM,
NASCAR Now is great and gets those reviews all the time.
Ricky Craven is the best studio analyst in the sport.
Allen Bestwick, Nicole Briscoe, Mike Massaro have been working like maniacs.
Jerry Punch back on pit road best thing since sliced bread.
How's that for ya?
You promised you were going to be more positive on ESPN this year - that has obviously not happened.
Check the ratings, dingbat! No one is watching and that's a big part of the ESPN problem.
The problem is a lot larger than TV. The daily newspapers I follow had pages of NASCAR coverage a few years ago and they now have a small article a couple of times a week.
Remember when they fired all those folks from scenedaily and NASCAR Illustrated?
There are probably less than ten fulltime non-TV reporters in NASCAR now.
And it shows, JD. Even the online 'Scene' is weak these days. They always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. Seldom anything worth reading even on line. Really sad, since it used to be a great mag.
They just had 20 wave arounds and now we have a "debris" caution when Steve Wallace just happens to be the lucky dog.
Hmmmmm
MR still a little off today. He just mentioned Denny Hamlin and I didn't think he was driving today, then I realized he meant Logano.
It's kind of a bummer that Marty has been having a tough time on NASCAR.
I really thought he was going to be great, but it's time to give AB a turn next season.
Marty does not have the history in the sport to be able to talk about it on this level.
DJ and Andy not helping much in that dept.
The way NASCAR is going I am reminded of my Grandmother's lament about stuff in the store, "Every time I find something I like they ruin it or stop making it."
Told there are tons of changes coming out for next season.
They have to pull out all the stops to get fans back to Cup and have the NNS even survive.
I thought Marty would be much better, too. He really seems over his head, unfortunately. I just don't understand why they don't let AB do the PXP. He has years of knowledge and experience, and knows how to call a a race.
Changes are needed because the quality of the product has dropped and the quality of their marketing at the same time. Better racing with better coverage is badly needed.
I actually think LaJoie would work better with MR than DJ or AP has done so far today. MR is just off maybe he has too much noise in his ear!
I've never seen anyone spin out and only lose 3 spots and remain in the top 5.
I don't think DJ and Andy are meshing with Marty very well.
You don't know until you try. Better than silent Jerry Punch in the booth for sure.
That was totally amazing. Totally.
Explain? What happened ya'll?
HEY! I got an idea since everyone fom the Beckerheads to Jon Stewart are having Marches in Washington why don't we March on Daytona? Brian may own NASCAR, but we own the sport.
Could even be a virtual march! We could all march by computer during commercials! Just shut down the NASCAR.com servers at a specific time during a race to show our displeasure.
Need a manifesto of sorts to endorse to make the message clear, but look Rush does it fairly regularly to causes/organizations/people he either likes or dislikes.
Just a thought. So many commercials gives me far too much time to think...
Here is the real reason NASCAR is in the toilet. It starts at the top. Brian France can't even run his own life, let alone NASCAR.
Maybe his sister Lesa France Kennedy should be in charge?
With his Dad gone to kick his butt, get used to more stupid NASCAR decisions....
NASCAR chair Brian France behind on divorce payments
By Christina Rexrode - crexrode@charlotteobserver.com
Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010
Brian France, CEO and chairman of NASCAR..John Raoux/Associated Press
RALEIGH - The fallout from the messy divorce of NASCAR chairman Brian France and his ex-wife continued in state appeals court Tuesday, with lawyers for Brian France arguing that the proceedings should largely be closed to the public and the couple's divorce agreement kept sealed.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/09/28/48190/filings-nascar-chair-brian-france.html#ixzz11Eli7ksQ
But court documents filed before the hearing already give some information about the divorce agreement, details of which are sealed in Mecklenburg courts. According to documents filed by Megan France, the agreement gives her at least $40,000 a month in child care and alimony, as well as a $9 million "distributive award." According to those documents, Brian France has refused to make at least some of the payments, "despite a clear ability to do so."
Megan France also accuses her ex-husband of "harassing her in multiple ways," including hiring private investigators to follow her, and violating their agreement "concerning the care of, and joint decision making for" their young twins, according to filings by her lawyers. Those and other documents concerning the Frances' divorce are publicly available online through the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Brian France's attorney, Johnny Stephenson, said the parties were precluded by court order from commenting on allegations in the case.
"As much as Mr. France wishes he could correct inaccurate media reporting, he cannot," Stephenson said in a statement Tuesday night. "Instead, these matters will be addressed in court, where they belong."
It's highly unusual for ordinary divorce proceedings to be completely closed to the public, which is basically what Brian France is requesting. Ray Owens, an attorney for the Observer, said allowing Brian France to close a public court could set a radical precedent.
"If anybody can close the courtroom just by signing a confidentiality agreement, then they can theoretically all be closed," Owens said. "That's what makes his request so extraordinary."
France is the prominent head of a sprawling motorsports enterprise that has a cluster of motorsports teams based in the Charlotte region and the NASCAR Hall of Fame uptown. He took over the NASCAR chairman role from his father, Bill France Jr., in 2003.
Between 2001 and 2008, Brian and Megan France got married, got divorced, got married again, and got divorced again. The divorce agreement that is currently under seal is what they signed after their second divorce. It stipulates not only the money owed to Megan France but also custody terms for their young twins and provisions about their upbringing, including that they be raised in Mecklenburg County, according to filings by Megan France's lawyers.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/09/28/48190/filings-nascar-chair-brian-france.html#ixzz11Eli7ksQ
I have a feeling there is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes right now than we will ever know.
It's just kind of a sad time to be a true fan.
NOT watching, going, buying or clicking--is the March on Daytona.
The internet killed Na$car. We got to see whats under the mask. Na$car cannot recover from that.
If Brian France were more of a race fan instead of an accountant, he might actually make some decisions that made Nascar better.
Anon @ 5:05...make that 'We have seen the man behind the curtain", since we're in Kansas.
Here is the real reason NASCAR is in the toilet. It starts at the top. Brian France can't even run his own life, let alone NASCAR.
Maybe his sister Lesa France Kennedy should be in charge?
With his Dad gone to kick his butt, get used to more stupid NASCAR decisions....
NASCAR chair Brian France behind on divorce payments
By Christina Rexrode - crexrode@charlotteobserver.com
Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010
Brian France, CEO and chairman of NASCAR..John Raoux/Associated Press
RALEIGH - The fallout from the messy divorce of NASCAR chairman Brian France and his ex-wife continued in state appeals court Tuesday, with lawyers for Brian France arguing that the proceedings should largely be closed to the public and the couple's divorce agreement kept sealed.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/09/28/48190/filings-nascar-chair-brian-france.html#ixzz11Eli7ksQ
But court documents filed before the hearing already give some information about the divorce agreement, details of which are sealed in Mecklenburg courts. According to documents filed by Megan France, the agreement gives her at least $40,000 a month in child care and alimony, as well as a $9 million "distributive award." According to those documents, Brian France has refused to make at least some of the payments, "despite a clear ability to do so."
Megan France also accuses her ex-husband of "harassing her in multiple ways," including hiring private investigators to follow her, and violating their agreement "concerning the care of, and joint decision making for" their young twins, according to filings by her lawyers. Those and other documents concerning the Frances' divorce are publicly available online through the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Brian France's attorney, Johnny Stephenson, said the parties were precluded by court order from commenting on allegations in the case.
"As much as Mr. France wishes he could correct inaccurate media reporting, he cannot," Stephenson said in a statement Tuesday night. "Instead, these matters will be addressed in court, where they belong."
It's highly unusual for ordinary divorce proceedings to be completely closed to the public, which is basically what Brian France is requesting. Ray Owens, an attorney for the Observer, said allowing Brian France to close a public court could set a radical precedent.
"If anybody can close the courtroom just by signing a confidentiality agreement, then they can theoretically all be closed," Owens said. "That's what makes his request so extraordinary."
France is the prominent head of a sprawling motorsports enterprise that has a cluster of motorsports teams based in the Charlotte region and the NASCAR Hall of Fame uptown. He took over the NASCAR chairman role from his father, Bill France Jr., in 2003.
Between 2001 and 2008, Brian and Megan France got married, got divorced, got married again, and got divorced again. The divorce agreement that is currently under seal is what they signed after their second divorce. It stipulates not only the money owed to Megan France but also custody terms for their young twins and provisions about their upbringing, including that they be raised in Mecklenburg County, according to filings by Megan France's lawyers.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/09/28/48190/filings-nascar-chair-brian-france.html#ixzz11Eli7ksQ
I met him a bunch of times. It's like other folks you meet who have always enjoyed being rich.
Just no real people skills, no way to talk to fans and just be real life Mike Helton and John Darby.
Helton can walk into any joint and have fun with the fans and talk racing, history and the future of the sport.
Brian is just a New York and LA kinda guy who wants the high life and has always had it. No pun intended.
I've been off cooking and have been halfway paying attention. Sadly not a lot of excitement going on out there :(.
Yup sometimes we'll get a visitor or two but usually just us & sadly short of a few hiccups they're consistent in their coverage and it's GOOD. Ray and Adam don't need a "cut away Pick 'em Up" to tell us what's going on. They explain it to us like we're adults and we can understand what they're saying.
I agree Marty tries hard but just not working with DJ and Mr. Petree. Much better than the *crickets* we had for 3 years.
Poor Mr. Jesus :(
oops..."being real like"
Boy, ESPN's lovefest with Kyle & Kevin today. Oh, wow, they just showed Aric for a nanosecond.
NASCAR Now is great - when it's on and not preempted by tennis.
Its not just Brian France, its the whole regime from top to bottom--owners, drivers---EVERYONE !
for the record...I keep track of the race on twitter and follow coverage by following this blog.
No reason to watch the TV "coverage" of the race.
I don't comment much, but i'm always here.
Daly Planet Editor said...
"Brian is just a New York and LA kinda guy who wants the high life and has always had it. No pun intended."
Jeremy Mayfield can't even compete with Brian France at "being high."
Oh, please, JD. Don't go defending Helton, et al. If they are so good then why have none of them gone to Brian and told him like Dean did Nixon that "there is a cancer growing on [NASCAR}"?
MH is a sho'nuff nice guy to hang with in a bar, etc., but he is still a bootlick -- and I have told him that to his face. A wealthy bootlick to be sure, but one nevertheless.
Hope this is not too harsh.
That's how I've always heard Mr. Helton being. A real people person and you wouldn't know whether he had $1 or $1 million more than you by how he is. Everyone who has met him has said he's been kind to fans & stops to chat for a spell.
Not surprised Brian is like that. When he's on TV he can't be bothered to dress properly. Always looks like he just rolled out of bed in those clothes and has no clue what's going on. Like he's being forced to do something that he feels someone should be hired to do.
Do you really think BF is going to listen to ANYONE who tries to tell him he is making stupid decisions that are killing the sport? get real. He's still blaming the attendance and ratings drops on the economy, not the fact that fans have given up caring.
Well, you have to remember that we all work for someone.
Sometimes the person we work for is not the best, the smartest or the nicest.
We have to make the choice to continue or walk away when it's clear we are never going to run the show.
Tough box to be in on that level.
Did they really need a caution for that spin? Not much different than Kyle's escept going into the grass.
Anon @5:03 pm
Truer words could not have been spoken.
Brian France can't run his own life let alone NA$CAR.
I hope what you posted from an artic;e about king Brian stalking his ex-wife is true.
I hope it's true about King Brian not paying his court ordered alimony.
Of course Brian can't handle the heat so he has requested this divorce preceedings to secrecy.
Point taken, JD, but Dean walked, and the rest is history.
I have had to make such choice a couple of times. I suffered short term each time but I was proved right and I recovered.
All it takes is [expletive deleted].
Have a feeling Mike thought Brian would sell it or let Jim run it.
The up and comer is Lesa's son, but so far he just wants to race.
Basically, they are out of Frances!
Are you speaking of JC France JD?
Jim is JC's dad.
It's not too late for Lesa to take over. She's had a lot going on in her life, but so has Brian, apparently. I wonder *what* the wife has on him, but I think we all suspect the same thing.
I saw Helton in a restaurant once--not a fancy place, I don't think they have a menu item over $10. It surprised me that he stood in line and didn't have minions do his bidding. I just couldn't think of a thing to say to him (plus I didn't want to interrupt someone's dinner.) This was before the current TV package or I might have gone off on it, lol.
Lesa cannot take over because she is the prez of ISC. She is out of the mix.
Back in the 1980's when I was on the road for ESPN it was totally different.
NASCAR was a group that traveled together, stayed in the same hotels and shared resources in order to put the best show on the track for the fans.
The "Benny's buffet" feature came from the fact that we all knew where the best buffett deals were in the NASCAR towns.
The NASCAR execs, including Bill Jr. were always approachable away from the track and loved to talk racing.
It was not uncommon for Dale Sr. and RC to be hijacking the hotel bar and tearing it up with fans on Friday nights.
This impersonal millionaire deal and perfect drivers with model wives just stinks.
Canadian coverage just started... on lap 11! TSN usually picks up the coverage regardless of what station is starts on (ESPN / ESPN2 / Classic), but today they didn't and we're seeing only what ESPN2 viewers did.
JD, I agree completely. While I'm glad that drivers can make a good living racing, all the big corporate money and squeaky clean PC drivers have sure taken the fun out of it.
Did you notice Trevor's spin. His rear wheels wanted to lift badly. If there had been a wing on his car Trevor would have gone airborne.
Geez......lets try to build a little excitement !!!
BORING IN THE BOOTH !!
I don't think you can blame the drivers for wanting model wives, lol. Trouble for NASCAR is that they travel, and they can't easily be going to 'regular' places where they'd be mobbed. So it's not just money, it's the logistics. But I don't think it's any different with other sports. The money just gets them further from the fans. They'd rather go clubbing and what not and flaunt their celebrity & wealth. That's why guys like Drew Brees end up being so beloved; instead of that crap he invested in his new community and showed them he cared.
But they could put someone else in charge of the ISC. But I'm guessing there's big money there, you wouldn't trust Brian with it. Too bad JC is such a loser like his cousin. But it wouldn't have to be a family member. 'Course, that's true with NASCAR too.
I guess Kyle feels Joey should pull over for him, right? HE can race hard for the win, but everyone else should get out of the way. Typical.
I rememeber those days, JD. I tell kids that now and they just kinda look at me like I'm from Mars. lol
Does anyone doubt that if it had been Brad K racing Kyle that hard Kyle would have put BK in the fence?
Ways to bring excitement back:
Raise Pit Road Speeds
Shorten Debris Cautions considerably
Race back to the caution or checkered flag.
Brad K passes Kyle for second? Wow.
Cutting a wrong camera with 2 laps left and missing the finish. Come on man.
JD, you should be used to that from ESPN by now. Typical.
ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Brad K pays Kyle back and he doesn't have to wreck him or even touch him to do it!!!!
At least Kyle didn't stomp off in a huff. Good for him.
well, it was such a nice day here in Jersey. I came in about an hour ago and tuned in for the race -- good thing I checked here to find out where it might be found!
Diane, that's cool about your husband racing vintage cars.
Not sure what that weird camera change was?
Just saw the end of the race -- that was pretty good -- except that it was all cup drivers moonlighting again.
Glad I didn't spend my whole afternoon - just the last part watching the race.
ESPN continues to disappoint.
@GinaV24
Someone told me the sun was coming out in Jersey since Christie got to be Gov. Maybe if it can happen in Jersey it can happen to NASCAR.
JD, just wanted to say thanks for your efforts in continuing to try and get the TV people to pay attention to the issues the fans continue to have with the broadcasts.
And for putting up with your "little friend", who apparently only has 2 brain cells to rub together.
And for the anon who said you shouldn't post -- please, please don't stop posting -- I sometimes come in late for the race and need to catch up by reading all the posts here -- even the really strange ones from the anons and trolls.
I have been asking SPEED if they are going to keep Race Hub going during the off-season.
I think that is going to be very important with no Jan testing and few NASCAR TV programs.
Otherwise, I just don't think the Daytona 500 and the goofy FOX guys are going to get viewers and fans to return.
Thanks for hanging with us today.
See you tomorrow for the Cup race live blog. There will be a new column up a bit later.
Have a great Saturday night.
JD
Anon - LOL -- that's a good one. I like Christie. Heck at least its something better than the same old same old.
that's what we have in NASCAR and in the TV broadcasts.
JD, Helton may be able to talk to the fans and has the history, but I don't trust anything that any of them say, that includes Helton, Darby, Pemberton and Poston. The credibility is gone. Too many lies and dictatorial edicts.
You mentioned that they will pull out all the stops. Unless that means that they drop the chase, dropkick that darned ugly worthless car to the curb and quit putting the IROC series on every week, I am going to be a casual fan from here on out.
Change for the sake of change is NOT the answer for me. They need to get it right, don't just throw gimmicks at it.
I don't know if I mentioned that last week at Dover, my brother and I were "interviewed" by 2 people - a cameraman and a lady with NASCAR credentials. They were asking questions about what we liked about the track, what we thought about things. Essentially they were roaming around in the crowd and sitting down and talking to various fans. kind of interesting - I assume they won't broadcast it since we didn't sign any waivers - it took me a minute to realize the guy was filming us because he had the camera pointed at the track when he started, then I realized he had flipped the lens the other way.
Didn't watch the race. No longer interested. Scanned some comments here and it's same old thing.
If changes ARE coming next year they won't mean a damn thing if 'we don't have better camera work to SHOW US the race. The end.
I listened mostly to my fave Reds broadcaster as it was another up and down then tied game & Reds won. Falling in love with baseball.
Feels like I'm waiting for final divorce papers for NASCAR. Just don't care. Makes me sad in a way but I'm tired of griping so just avoid.
Watching IRL finale in Miami.
Milka Duno crashes...sigh.
Sophia
p.s. No offense but I don't like Marty in the booth. Tries to be overly enthusiastic & it gets old. Happens when he does IRL as well. Probably a nice guy but chemistry in the booth isn't working. Still its all about the pictures on the tv.
Gina24
I had the same experience at Atlanta a few weeks ago. A woman and a couple of guys were her film crew and they talked to us while we were tailgating in the turn one camper area. We talked to her for about 20 minutes. She told us it would never be on TV but Nascar would watch it.
We pretty much told them how we felt about nearly everything. Was she a blonde? If so I bet it was the same lady.
Sam
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