Here we go with the official "big one" TV coverage. These were the buzzwords repeated endlessly by Dr. Jerry Punch when he was in the play-by-play role for three years at ESPN.
The pre-race show from Talladega will be on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick is hosting from the Infield Pit Studio with Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and Brad Daugherty. It should be interesting to see if they use this hour to acknowledge the controversial finish of the truck series race and discuss the danger the yellow line rule poses today with cars now running 200mph once again.
Marty Reid is going to call the race. This might be his biggest challenge yet as he makes his way through the ESPN Sprint Cup Series races for the first time. Reid is going to have to balance the action on the track with the pictures that ESPN chooses to show.
Time and time again since the Chase began, Reid has been caught working only off the monitors in the TV booth. Incidents and key passes on the track have often been acknowledged by Dale Jarrett and then caught after a delay by the ESPN TV truck.
Jarrett and Andy Petree are going to be front and center at a track where NASCAR looks very closely at what the TV personalities say on the air about the racing. Teams dropping to the back, accidents getting to pit road and last lap incidents have been hot buttons for the sanctioning body.
On pit road will be Punch, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Dave Burns. This is the race where tempers overflow like no other. Short-track beating and banging pales in comparison to the high-speed danger of this superspeedway. It should be interesting to see the pit reporters interact with drivers out of the race and after the event is over. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage.
SPEED televised the truck series race on Saturday and it was a pleasure to watch. Overhead shots and wide angles let viewers see the racing through the pack as it played-out. Pit road reporters updated the key teams and the pit stops in detail.
This race has potential to boost NASCAR TV ratings for the rest of the season. A compelling and exciting telecast will go a long way toward erasing some of the blunders from ESPN this season, including the poor coverage at Martinsville.
This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN2/ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Talladega. 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 stopping by.
230 comments:
1 – 200 of 230 Newer› Newest»Speed set the standard yesterday for coverage at this track. Anything less will be a disappointment. The camera work and choice of camera shots will make or break the coverage. I hope ESPN was paying attention yesterday.
Little nervous about these speeds. Hope ESPN shows us the entire field.
Happy Halloween everyone!
Wishing all a good race!
I have all the required safety equipment and snacks at the ready. :)
Speeds are really high with 2 cars... Most of the time they'll all be bunched up. Should be fun!
The sucking up to Aarons is unsufferable on the SPEED show.
That was pretty strange, especially for Hermie.
NFL on FOX Terry Bradshaw just took a moment to send condolences to Jim Hunter's family on their loss. I thought that was very respectful of him to mention Hunter on the FOX NFL preshow.
Nice touch.
Happy Race Day & Halloween Planeteers <3
Pray that everyone is safe today! That was such a scary wreck with Grampa glad he's OK!
yes I just saw a tweet about that. Very nice of Terry to do that!
Brad said JJ has a metrosexual beard. Classic.
Enough of Rusty already - off to do chores until race begins....
This getting you guys pumped up for the race??
Somewhat
Good ole Mikey is racing today as well.
I'm not worried about the yellow
line. It obviously disappeared
yesterday at the checkered flag.
I was hoping that they would show yesterday's race and discuss that topic.
51---I watched the finish yesterday and Busch was slightly in front before he touched the yellow line. The rules say you can't go below the yellow line to advance your position. If you're in front, you cannot advance your position. Also, I just watched the last Harvick win and he was on the yellow line when he crossed the finish line.
Ahhh Craftman Tech Garage Ahhhh
Usual explanation by Nascar of the yellow line rule. If they want to enforce it, they will (ala Regan Smith), or not, yesterday.
I couldn't tell TB from the pumpkin first of all, then I realized that the pumpkin didn't have any jewelry on! So many segments I had seen this week I don't normally watch this but hubby wanted to watch it.
Here's something to make one shake one's head in disbelief. In Canada, TSN is showing the NFL pre-game show _followed_ by the car race. Meanwhile TSN2 is doing the reverse - showing the pre-race show followed by an NFL game (Miami -Cincinnati).
One wonders what medication the programmers were on.
This is the first time in months I've been home to watch any of the pre race shows, so I decided to try it today. How many times can they rehas everything the already went over with a microscope esrlier in the week? The countdown show is more professional, but I hope they don't think fans are going to tune in to both shows regularly to get beaten over the head with the same ol' same ol'.
OSBORNK,
I am going to disagree. After the Regan Smith episode, NASCAR said it did not make any difference what the reason was for going below the line.
On the last lap, if you went below the line, you got a penalty. No issue of who was first or advancing a postion on the final lap.
That was the reason for the Carl crash with Brad. The yellow line on the final lap is a wall that cannot be crossed.
No big deal, just think it's a very different ruling in this instance. Caught me by surprise that they gave it to Kyle.
bryan, that is hilarious.
JD--During the race, someone went below the line and the booth monkeys said it was OK as long as they didn't adance their position. I have heard that several times before but since noting is written down for anyone to see, they can change the rules anytime they wish. Selective enforcement is the rule and not the exception when it comes to NA$CAR.
Waiting for the channel switch here in Canada. It's also snowing here in Ontario today.
S&P prediction today: 87, 36, 97 and 46.
Osbornk--after the Regan/Smoke incident Mr. Helton said no going below the yellow line on the last lap near the S/F line PERIOD! NO EXCEPTIONS!
and that was for all the wiseguys who complain that Idol contestants can't sing the anthem...
According to TV, Nemechek said if the 97 made the race, the 87 would run the entire race today.
Have a good race all. I am recording the race and watching the Green Bay Packers.
Hope Espn does not over do the in-car camera stuff and tight shots.
I remember watching TWIN last year with Greg Biffle and him saying there would only be one thing to do if someone comes down in front of you and knowing you can't go below the yellow line. The answer was - you wreck them.
From what I can tell so far, it appears the coverage will be on only the top three in the Chase and Jr.
Agree. All Chasers it seems. Thought we would have a long tribute to Jim Hunter too. I really did.
Nemechek is racing today thanks to Jeff Fuller, the founder of the modern S&P's. Today marks the return of the famous Fuller-lympics!
I like the clips at Daytona for a Talladega teaser....
I swear...
Buschseries - Fuller Lympics is soooooooooo funny years ago we used to guess what lap he would retire on and what the reason was. The scary part is he's fairly close up front so hope he doesn't cause any problems going backwards.
I still love Dr. Jerry Punch on pit road. He's maintained energy all season long.
Punch has come alive this season and raised the level of pit road reporting.
Radio went to commercial on lap two?? Wow
Dr. J is perfect on pit road. Don't know why they ever moved him. Knowledge and integrity, plus the respect of the drivers. Can't beat it.
Not liking the camera work early in this race. This could be a long long race.
As Jeff Fuller pulls behind the wall, Travis Kvapil groans.
I have to say, theis 'strategy' of falling back and coasting for most of the race doesn't inspire a lot of respect for the drivers that do so.
to rwar, what about the camera shots do you not like, and what would you want to see
Wasn't the bumper cam shot of the Toyota emblem useful?
Anon 1:28PM,
Did you watch the truck race yesterday?
Happy Halloween John
Hope you don't have trolls today for trick or treat.
The only reason to watch the first 90% of the race is to see if there is a wreck or mechanical failure. Actual racing that counts will only be at the very end. They're just playing until then.
They are doing better with wide shots now. Hope it continues. I guess having the 'chasers' in the back is a blessing...we won't have to hear just about them for most of the race.
A race like this does not need commercials.
Off topic, but John is it possible to add an auto refresh for comments?
That was some awesome racing!!!!
I give them credit for showing the wide shots. But they've already had 3 or 4 sequences of going from a wide shot, to a real tight shot, to a bumper cam and only staying with the shot for 2 seconds each. Quit bouncing shot to shot. What's the point of switching shots if you're only going to use it for 2 seconds.
mudflap,
Tried the other live chat programs and got over-run by trolls.
Looking at what we can do for next season to keep the chats going.
Welcome suggestions at editor@thedalyplanet.tv
Has to be on the low-end of cost, my income has remained the same for four years now......
Still a big NO for side by side commercials next season for Cup races. Blah.
Did I hear right? Did Marty say that Jeff Gordon had taken his car behind the wall instead of Jeff Fuller?
ESPN says no to side by side commercials. Now that whomps but why am i not surprised
Smoke flat tire. No caution yet.
SPEED did not need split screens to show this track or the racing.
Tight shots have no place in Dega coverage. Just running viewers off to football.
This is the time it gets difficult for tv. Everyone just rides around clicking off laps.
I seems strange that ESPN won't use side by side commercials when they constantly use side by side racing with meaningless racing in at least one.
Does ESPN know you don't need to have the camera on the guy that you're talking about? I don't need to see Denny riding around in 30th.
Honestly I don't like this two car breakaway. It throws out the intensity of the race out of the window.
Impressed I can watch the ESPN HD TV feed on NASCAR.com. How long have they been doing that?
- RA Eckart -
This race should be easy for ESPN. Show the top 10 cars in one screen and call the damn race.
Talladega ought to be an 88 lap race.. That's all you need to have a green flag pitstop, some lead changes and a big wreck at the end. The other 100 laps are just pointless.
Seems like they are showing 10 laps of racing then off to commercial. Dega is so big that I think it makes them pull back the camera's to some extent.
Split screens, tight shots, in car cams :(
VERY few shots of the cars coming AT US....Paging Mike Wells!
So much for enjoying a super speedway...but I knew this would happen. I watched Truck race & enjoyed the camera work there thank Goodness.
Off to check out football..and I am not a huge fan of football. Depressing. Will check back in an hour or so..Camera work on this sport is a CRIME.
Camera work on other sports=GOOD.
Might listen to radio & read twitter instead. :( SHAME
Lather, rinse, repeat & no improvement.
Now will they stay with it till all the green flag stops cycle through?
JD,Just wanted to thank you for giving us a place to gather and talk about the race.
Hey, just some kids being kids. I am not having good vibes right now. AB and the infield guys are sooo much better than the booth.
Marty is freaking lost!
I agree.
I hate the infield studio commentating. They should not be used during the race. More is not better.
JD, if the play by play people are doing a lousy job, then they need new personnel assigned to those jobs. I don't like 7 people giving commentary.
Bestwick is so much better at play-by-play than Marty or anyone else on this network. How long are they going to waste him? Don't know if you caught it, but Marty didn't even know where the start-finish line was at the beginning of the race. Called the wrong leader and then tried to correct it.
Mr. Daly
I feel bad for you all you time and efforts and ESPN still not getting the message. SPEED knows how to do it, why can't ESPN. This place give viewers WHO ARE TRUE FANS vent. Fox does not get it either, The Three Stooges in the "Hollywood Hotel", DW and the dreaded digger cam. I had a gut feeling that TV coverage would sink to a new low and lo and behold, i was right.
I always thank you JD for giving us fans a place to vent and though i have only been here for over a year this is like my second home. You say ESPN people reads this blog frequently well if that is so why is nothing getting done.
ESPN and Fox has only 3 years left in this contract and if they wnat to get viewers back they need to start cleaning house AND SOON.
Lather, rinse, repeat
Really interesting (and a good sign) that Turner and ESPN figured out the online streaming. I wonder if anything else could be coming.
We DONT need Reed .. he proves it almost minute to minute ..
Changes inflection changes this
and changes that. No human talks
like he does.
Then his shtick How many lats
did they lead .. how many lead
changes.. and that oh so cutesy
little laff.
yeah right..He is easily thee worst in a long time. Of course
worstwick and /or jerry punch drunk
could be in that slot.
not pretty at all ...
Marty has no idea-he is just droning on about who is in what place=BORING.Use to love the way Ken Squire would call a race,he would have you on the edge of your seat--Can hear him now-"Down goes Earhardt".
Call the race Marty!
Hey the last two posters and JD
I second your post, Although i like him he is lost in this type of racing.
BRING BACK BOB JENKINS
He doesn't know how. Beyond his understanding or capability.
I'm starting to feel sorry for Marty...he is so obviously over his head trying to do PXP!
Great save my AJ! Won't have to pay for a new car....yet.
ESPN's pictures are nice and the race is great. But Listening to Marty Reid makes me miss Jerry Punch.
They totally missed the context of the J. Gordon radio chatter.. Either broadcast it a few seconds later, or don't broadcast it at all.
It's weird. He did fine on the shorter NNS races. These longer Cup races have thrown him for a loop.
And were, baaaaack! (just in time)
By the way Marty, "strategical" isn't a word.
Robby Gordan is getting that hood of his on TV a lot today, I mean for getting his personal truck towed for haveing his sponsor on the side, (Energy Drink)
Yea I also notice that Marty doesn't call the racee like he did with the NNS last year.
I just love that camera shot from the ground, NOT!!!
The NASCAR.com deal is that since ESPN began streaming directly to Time Warner cable subs, NASCAR.com then has the right to stream online as well.
Will update Monday if we are going to have the remaining races also online for free.
It's about time.
If tuner has all the online rights how come I'm able to see the race on ESPN's new espnnetworks.com
That time of the race. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. In-car. Repeat.
Because ESPN has the right to stream to existing cable subs that already pay for ESPN.
Two different contracts, same pipe for delivery. Going to be fun.
The guys sez "they go four wide again" and they pull the camera off that. The head is not connected to the body, totally unreal!!
I am truly amazed at how clueless ESPN about their coverage. They really don't care about the fans, do they?
Kudz
You just said Marty said strategical
That's a new vocab word
LMFAO
It's just a stuggle to get the pieces in place. They over-produce these things.
Just AB, DJ and Andy in the booth with 4 pit reporters would rock this race.
Not one moment of Marty calling PXP and getting excitement across.
Hamlin needs about 5 cars to drop back and help him...
JD
WE WANT BOB
WE WANT BOB
BRING BACK JENKINS
BRING BACK JENKINS
Here comes the commercial-fest. We're not going to see much from this point on till 20 to go.
The drama of Hamlin possibly going down a lap really needs to die down considering that one caution would put him on the lead lap anyways.
Then you have Rusty Wallace openly rooting for Hamlin.
Really stung out now,so I think to myself, what will ESPN do to keep my interest in this race, Oh jerk the camera around and cut to commercial. Yeah thats not going to work. Lions game blacked out today so I'm sure the Detroit market will give NASCAR an unexpected bump in ratings. NOT!!!
So if Waltrip were to drop back to help Hamlin and they both go a lap down...the lucky dog could end up going to Waltrip which would keep Hamlin a lap back. Now that would be funny. But keep suggesting that Wallace and the booth.
It's about time for a Miss Terry debris caution.
Wait on it.
Even if Hamlin goes down a lap. At this point, it's not that big a deal.. there's still at least 3 more cautions in this race. So at some point he'll get the lucky dog. Even if it's late in the race, how many times have you seen one restart in the back late in the race and still get a top 10.
My god! No wonder the ratings are so bad. You get 5 minutes of racing and commercials.
What a commercial fest! This better pay off at the end of the race
Miss Terry
That's so stupid
It's mystery
What a commercial fest! This better pay off at the end of the race
I can't believe ESPN preempted the anthem and invocation in favor of some special report on the passing of a MLB Hall of Famer.
Unplug about 5 of the microphones and pull back the camera,jeezzz
John
A little off topic but ESPN related
I am on the net and also watching on YouTube some old IMSA races on ESPN. I watch and i see major differences from like 1985 to today. All they show is racing and the announcing of the races are exciting at times and they let the storylines build during the races.
Fast forward to today. The announcers are bland and they precontrive the storylines
You know the reasons i avoid ESPN,
This is one of them
Once again, ESPN out does itself with commercial mania. Just when you think they can't, they do.
What is up with the same commercials running?
Boy they are serving up the commercials now, WOW
So, do we get a chance to see 'the big one' that didn't happen?
He said we justed missed "The Big One" Did he mean the race? :)
Notice they haven't talk about Jeff Gordon.
Marty called an accident that never happened.
ESPN gotta stop playing radio conversations that happened 10 laps ago.
WE dont need Reed Oh soo cutesy ..
And he is just in love with laps
led and different leaders..nobody
cares.
And then he was giving a re cap
of the race ..when he said ...
.. and WE HAVENT SEEN THE BIG ONE .........YET ( WITH THE SMIRK )
gOD He is sooo horrid hideous
insulting .. disaster worse than
scary....arrtrttrrrrrrggggg
Commercial as soon as the intensity picks up.
we just had a "crank it up" on BSPN!!
The Cup series simply needs Mike Joy calling every single race.
NASCAR needs to make that happen, regardless of network.
Marty Reid might be able to handle cliff diving in Acapulco.
AMP IT UP !!! finally after 2
years of the worst ocverage ever ..
they finally got it partly right...
my oh my ..no talking just the
sounds of the engines.
revolutionary dont you think. I
say do it the whole ..then marty
never has to be there.
I stopped commenting on Mr. Reid's performance when the needle on the meter moved into the sad zone.
There are some noticeably bare spots in the grandstands. Do we have any live telemetry from the track today?
Who gets the Junior interview?
that looked just like Dale Sr's wreck
Yeah Junior was running really good
1. Marty didn't realize that more than Burton were involved. What was he looking at?
2. Before the wreck, Newman had already fallen off the end of the lead lap and into the wave around position, but Marty either didn't notice or ignored it and kept talking about Hamlin being where he needed to be.
3. They never spent enough time on the wreck to determine who actually was involved (including Harvick and McMurray).
4. ESPN is sucking the life out of NASCAR.
Looks like this was the "small one"
If Junior didn't have bad luck he'd have no luck at all. Back to football.
Roland
I thought the same thing about that wreck & the way it looked...my brother was visiting in 2001 (He got me into NASCAR) and that fateful race was on as we visited (race on mute)
Tough break for JR & JB.
The explanation of the booth that "someone" from behind hit him with no mention that it was obviously the 88.
Hey JD -- weren't you running over 400 comments per race previously? Have you also seen a huge drop in interest?
Unless I missed it, radio took too long to say Jr was behind the wall along with JB. I only turned on TV for the replay & now waiting for interview with Jr.
Half listening to race online & have on DVR
And Robby Gordan sneaks his hood in the shot yet again, for his new energy drink, good for him, (not a Robby fan)
I finally get to be online during at least part of a race for the first time in ages and now it's time for the caution-fest to begin...go figure. :-s :-)
Carl, down 50% on Sundays since NFL. Still over ten thousand page views a day during the week. I feel the fans are out there.
Denny finally gets back on the lead lap and Harvick is in trouble. Looks like it will be a 2 man race at the most.
oh sheesh! contrive drama about would Denny get the lucky dog!!!
Kharma just bit Kevin in the butt for trying to keep JJ from leading a lap.....
They were showing work being done on the 48 and nobody in the booth knew anything about it. Are they really at the race or in a studio away from the track?
Well at least we're back for the green flag sigh
They aren't talking about anyone but DH, KH & JJ on TV. Boring..
Ahh the old moon landing theory very good.
Pit studio talks through the whole great run that 33 and 29 put on.
Useless yakking while there's great action on the track..ugh.
really glad I have trackpass, so at least I know what the heck is going on with my driver.
I was listening to MRN when I was driving and they were at least calling the entire race through the field.
I'm going to mute this mess since they aren't going to talk about what is actually going on ON the track.
At least they are using wider shots so we can see the racing.
AJ is your lucky dog
Yeah the racing looks pretty good, the cars are fast, but they miss so much of it, shame
"Useless yakking" -- perfect description.
Who's the lucky dog? You talked about Stewart, a chaser, being in that position on the restart, yet they haven't said anything about it after this debris caution. Follow up please....
OsbornK, I think they are really broadcasting from Bristol, CT! They just have the blimp up so they get the shots and call it from the TV monitors.
LOL - they couldn't do ANY worse if they did.
The blather we hear has nothing at all to do with what is happening on the track.
Wow Harvic stays out again, wow.
KoHoSo -- perfect description of what the booth does. "useless yakking" indeed.
I am going to offer a post-race wrap-up column when the race is done. We need to make our opinions known on this one.
Hey Robbie, Trick or Truck?
Robbie Gordon shows up proud at the race track and becomes what I think may be the first NASCAR driver to create his own product that will also sponsor his car.
That is an interesteing innovation and probally one that is too cutting edge for the NASCAR executives. So, they tow his personal truck to make their point.
This brings to mind even more of the reason that NASCAR has sunk to it's lowest form since concept.
The Ship of Fools began to sink when Fox took over and booted ESPN from the tracks limiting the coverage that we all had been weened on. Then Fox decided not to mention sponsors of race car's names on TV and limit their logos from any air time..
That practice flowed over to the other networks and sponsors learned quickly that their oportunitie to be seen had diminished dramatically. So sponsors started going away, then teams started struggling to find sponsors. But wait! (as seen on TV) It gets better. The way it works is : If you get a sponsor interested in your team, the first one to offer them a better deal is NASCAR. As soon as New York hears about it they will call the sponsor and try to get their dollars spent on their "great exposure " deals.
These days you have networks and Nascar making sure that anyone that does not spend money with them will be removed from any visibility either on the track or on the tube.
This also remind me of some other "great moments" in the recent past for sponsors with the winner being:
The Bruton Smith, "It's Lowes Motorspeedway or you cannot be here" TV debacle. Now that was a man that was ready to tow some trucks. LOL
Televison and Nascar have done a horrible job in their efforts to improve this sport. It is a shame. but they know no better.
It's just all about the money, not about the fans and teams.
JD - troll alert
cutawayguy...two thumbs up for that post!
You need something requires registration, and the ability for JD to lock out or suspend posting rights
So if JP can do a tech segment on pit road, doesn't that make TB rather redundant?
JD, I would be very happy to register if you decide to change it.
I love the site and the folks on here, but obviously your little friend is just an idiot who can't figure out how to be an adult
Great point. Brewer is useless at Dega and so is the in-car reporter.
Lots of email about Brad today. He is out of place with Rusty and Ray.
Be interesting to see who survives for next season.
ESPN is here until 2014.
I think the booth boys will cry if there ISN'T a big one.
They're just itching for it to happen.
So they can go to the end without anymore pit stops?
Mike, yes, they should all be good on fuel to the end.
Dale Jarrett did a great job through this most recent green flag run. Took over and did what Marty can't.
Andy Petree is a smart dude! Fill it with fuel to get the spoiler a little lower.
Rick Allen
KudzuCarl...good observation. Unfortunately, DJ got far too much practice taking over the call during the sadly failed experiment with Dr. Punch in the PxP role.
Carl, it's been Dale that helped when Jerry Punch was the problem. Now, he is living that nightmare again as Marty Reid fades down the stretch.
Listening to this race on the radio vs. TV is absolutely amazing. The pictures come alive and the excitement is out of control.
The fact that ESPN had no clue to who caused the caution, had no replay and no info is a great way to end the event.
It did not concern Chasers, so they just blew it off.
here we go
Seeing JJ get swallowed alive...priceless
Man that is freaky looking and I am scared!!
Missed it.
Brutal hope he's ok.
What does Kyle Petty call that? A cluster?
Tacky and heartless comment by cheatin Chad. When responding about Mr Hunter, he says "that's life". Nasty
JD, yeah, a cluster sure describes it. Plus that was an absolute awful call of the race.
Yeah everyone is confused!
Can't ESPN show the replay?
Did thay say if he was ok?
Espn can we get a word from AJ Allmendinger
They don't have a replay?
Epic failure by ESPN by not showing replays of anything there at the end. WTH??
Hearing on radio CB doing donuts?
Why did they not show the wreck? Missed it completely.
So Clint did win. But who was in the big wreck all the idiots in the booth WERE WAITING FOR (sick)
Why no replay ?????
WHY DID I TURN ON THE TV AGAIN??
At the Indy 500, ABC has access to the freeze frames at the moment the caution lights are triggered. Do they not have that technology for Nascar?
AJ really got jerked around in that wreck, I could see it through the window net
Geez, Chad is all heart! Glad that I had it muted so I didn't throw up
they are finally getting to it now -- its about time
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