Over the past several years, there have been many changes to the Sprint Cup Series post-season awards show. Now taking place at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, there is a still a substantial buzz that in order to support the struggling NASCAR Hall of Fame, the festivities may be shifting to Charlotte, NC in the future.
On the TV front, NASCAR finally relieved ESPN from the task of trying to slip "the banquet" into a December line-up of college and pro sports. Fans may remember that the awards show had actually been bumped to the infamous ESPN Classic Network.
Last year, SPEED had the rights to televise the banquet fall into the network's lap at the last minute. The scramble that ensued resulted in some off-balance coverage and some hard feelings among fans and the media. SPEED had promoted the coverage as live, but thanks to social media like Twitter and Facebook, fans quickly learned most of the coverage was not.
This year, things are going to be a bit different. The challenge for television is that the post-season banquet consists of parts that don't lend themselves to TV. Take a room full of people eating dinner, for instance. SPEED has to take the start of the festivities and somehow connect it to the awards and performance parts that come later.
SPEED will be recording interviews with those attending as they walk down the hallway into the gala. It's always fun to see NASCAR personalities out of their comfort zone and speaking without a Teleprompter. It's also nice to feature some wives and girlfriends on this special night.
Those red carpet interviews from Krista Voda and Kenny Wallace will be mixed with some edited features helping to recap the season and highlight some memorable moments. Steve Byrnes and Jeff Hammond will be hosting this part of the program. Hopefully, the interviews will be a new and exciting part of the telecast.
Once TV goes inside the room, it will once again be Voda and Mike Joy hosting the on-stage portion and directing traffic during the awards ceremony. This year, SPEED will carry Martina McBride singing the national anthem to open the banquet. That will be quite a change from the anthems viewers had to endure this season.
The other artists appearing on SPEED will be Rascal Flatts, Colbie Caillat, Eric Lewis and the Las Vegas version of Cirque de Soleil in a show appropriately called Viva Elvis. Comedian Frank Caliendo will once again be appearing in a comedy and hosting role.
During the season, SPEED covers qualifying by using what we have come to call the "TiVo" method. To make sure every car is seen on TV, SPEED continues recording and calling the action while viewers are away in commercial. After the break, the TV crew just hits play on the DVR and the coverage picks up right where it left off.
In terms of the banquet, SPEED has the same challenge. Just like qualifying, the awards presentations and speeches do not pause for TV timeouts. It's up to SPEED to break away to commercial, continue recording the live action and then just press play out of the commercial break.
The good thing is that NASCAR fans will get to see everything that happens. The thing that may upset some folks is that this format pushes the live action slowly back until there is a delay between what is actually happening live and the TV coverage. It's a no-win for TV. Show it live and miss the action in the commercials or show everything and get slightly delayed.
Since we know the finishing order of the top ten, there are going to be few surprises along the way. I would rather get to see all the content and wind-up later than the live action as opposed to missing two or three minutes of content during every single commercial.
No matter what the arguments of the past have been, NASCAR needs to design portions of this evening with live TV, radio and online video streaming in mind. It's an interactive social media world and this event could be huge if done correctly.
If you have ever wanted to try Twitter, which is free by the way, Friday would be a great day to sign-up. It's fast, easy and the program can appear on your phone, iPad, laptop or desktop. There will be a ton of reporters, team reps, relatives and fans sending all kinds of unique pictures before, during and after the event.
We will use this post to offer comments on the prerecorded Nationwide and Camping World Truck series banquet show at 7PM as well as the 9PM Sprint Cup Series program. To add your comment on this topic, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, it's been a long season and we appreciate your participation.
156 comments:
I'll pass. I've always found the banquet terrible. Drivers reading off a teleprompter and thanking their team/sponsors for the 39th time this year.
Cant wait for tomorrows coverage on Speed should be a fun one!
One thing I just saw from Championship Week the "After The Lap" on Nascar.com all 12 chase drivers up on stage roasting each other from the Hard Rock Hotel it was funny stuff! Got a little wild at times
Carrot Top said the F word twice at the end!!! Like we dont know your F****** Jimmie Johnson HA
Kenny Wallace = will not watch. MC
OMG, I laffed more tonite watching the guys from Vegas than I have at ANY sitcom all year! It was great-unfortunately, it won't be as loose Fri nite...:( But tonite was big time fun!
Now the Awards banquet is another prime example of NASCAR trying to be like the NFL and it is turning off fans. I will not watch NASCAR again until NASCAR stops being like other sports. I like when NASCAR was not like other sports and they had excitement and no PC bull. But until fans stop showing up, stop watching on TV and King Brian is dethroned, no chages that fans truly want on the horizon.
The best banquet to me was when Bobby Labonte won the title and took his diecast car up with him and thanked all the sponsors on it. I actually think that was the last non teleprompter moment.
Or maybe the last time I watched it. :)
Sam
Yes, I could do without Monster Walmouth also.
EOY banquets on SPEED=Boring.No matter what racing venue.
I think that as part of the evenings entertainment, they should have added in Frank Marino's Vegas Female Impersonator Extravaganza so that Michael Waltrip could arrive on the scene as he did on Halloween dressed as Mrs Howell from Gilligan's Island!
Agree Jonathan! The After the Lap was awesome! So glad they streamed all the events for us today. Hope they continue to do it in the future. I was DYING tonight!
I do like some parts of the banquets but most of the speeches are a snooze-fest. I'll most likely be watching and seeing what Twitterville has to say :).
I am really disgusted to learn that Kenny Wallace will be part of Speed's coverage of THe Banquet tonight. The last thing I want to hear is his mouth talking down to the viewers. Hammond is also a poor fit, in my opinion. One thing that has always bothered me about the Banquet is that the Championship crew chief doesn't get to make a speech. I don't want to hear that the crew chief speaks at the Myers Brothers luncheon. The winning crew chief should at least be able to say a few words. We have time for the hosts to run on, not to mention speeches from everyone and his brother. Hopefully, Chad will get a chance to talk tonight. Here's hoping.
Glad that its on speed at least. Kenny Wallace on the red carpet - ugh! Sounds as bad as the year Mikey & Melissa Rivers did it. I'll have to watch with the mute key depressed to get through his shtick.
I'll probably watch up to the point where my favorite does his speech (of course this year, I won't have to wait long since he finished 9th (ugh again).
Who really cares if it's actually live or shown a few minutes behind due to buffering the action for commercial breaks? It's an awards banquet. It's not like watching a race or ball game, having it run 10 minutes behind on TV and see the end result on another channel. We know the results and can pretty much guess what they everyone will say. Just be thankful it's not hidden away somewhere like on ESPN Classic.
MRM4,
The issue was that SPEED heavily promoted the show as being live at 9PM and the entire first hour was a recap show of race highlights. This year it shou look very different.
I glad to know that Kenny Wallace is going to be part of the telecast. Since I know, I won't turn it on and will find other things to do. Will the networks ever figure out that both the Wallace and Waltrip clans drive people away? If they can't figure it out, they deserve the lower ratings.
Can't get the least bit excited about the end of the season. When the racing is over, it's time for the NFL and NHL. See ya next yr. NASCAR, and please ask the TV networks to get rid of everyone named Waltrip.
That's right! I forgot what happened last year. They didn't start the actual Awards process until roughly an hour and twenty minutes after they came on the air. Talk about getting a stick in the eye! I just hope it moves along tonight,but I'll bet they screw it up! Hopefully,everyone took "Reading A Teleprompter 101."
I will be DVRing both telecasts as I have other things going on tonite. Not interested in any of the entertainment anyway, and driver speeches, well... !!! I will look at them this weekend, and expect to be FF thru 90% of it.
Just want to add that the online streaming at NASCAR.com of Myers Bros luncheon, Victory Lap & After the Lap was a GREAT idea!!! Too bad there isn't a full replay of them to review as things moved quickly, next year I hope to see better video quality too these events deserve it, in the end I think I will have enjoyed them more than the banquets.
Sorry, Speed; it's an awards banquet. I don't care what sport it's for. I'd rather watch a red flag rain delay.
most of the time these things are boring as heck. I'll probably be flipping back & forth for the interesting bits. Of which there will probably be very few. Like Sam said...Bobby Labonte was a highlight. Tony Stewart & his Hans. A few other good moments, like Kyle calling his girlfriend by his SIL's name. But in between those is a lot of boredom. Just the nature of these things.
Even without KW, it's an awards show, so I'll pass. (Canucks are playing the Blackhawks tonight, so that'll dominate my time)
Last year I ended up listening on MRN... yeah, that hour delay just KILLED everything.
I'll watch. I love to see the boys and girls all out of their regular attire all gussied up.
Nope, won't be watching tonight. I always find award shows so boring and seeing the comments from others, I'm not alone in those feelings!
Luv seeing all the guys & gals dressed up. Won't make it up thru the whole thing, but I'll be taping. Krista dress is beautiful!
Wow! I agree. Some lovely ladies on the CWTS and NNS show!
Wow, Krista's dress is beautiful. I'd be willing to bet her husband and mom and dad are really proud of her tonight. As for the same boring manufactured champions year after year, I didn't know Todd and Brad won last year.
batchief, she always looks great. Now we just have to get her some more TV time next year!
Hi JD! Long time, no talk/Twitter/FB!! Love the fact that MIke Joy will be involved as well as Krista. Can do without JH. I'll be the one in the dining room making Christmas Spiders listening and looking toward the TV when something catches my attention. Very disillusioned about NASCAR right now. A tacky dirt track race sounds good about now! Hurry spring!!
Should be a lot of anticipation waiting to here what she is going to be doing. Being someone from her hometown and who has known her almost her entire life, I'll be anxiously awaiting any news. Let all of us know if you hear anything please.
Well, Steve is back to host "RaceHub" so that leaves the door wide open once the Fox stuff if over. The truck thing is one day and done.
I think big things are happening because of the changes at both FOX and SPEED.
oops...the FOX stuff is over.
Sorry, new laptop....hate it!
Hi Planeteers :)
JD--*giggles* traded in the laptop for one that also doesn't know how to behave *giggles*
It's going to be a fun long night :)
agree everyone looks wonderful :). Glad Dad Bob was able to go
I've really enjoyed the Truck/Nationwide awards so far. Sam's dress was stunning. Kyle's a lucky guy. The speeches were short,light witty and sincere. I'm not hopeful the Sprint banquet will flow so crisply.
Great editing by the NASCAR Media Group guys on that show.
Well that's a shame :(. Ashley said that they cut out part of Mr. Penske sir's speech where he talked about Mr. Alligator & Verizon :(
a few years ago when they went to the 'couch' method, I thought it worked well. Todd & Mike Jr had nice speeches.
I like how they're skipping all the applause.
Like the fact that SPEED jumped in and is trying to make things work.
wow-Hollywood lost the racoon eyes! Good for him-we've teased about it enough!
Pammmmh, he looks good.
What kind of camera lens they using tonight? Kristy looks huge & Biffs look short in comparison and "further from camera".
Odd. I know KV is not an Amazon woman. Guess I need to be watching on the HD tv but not happening.
Is Katie Kenseth pregnant again? If not, that brown gown is very unflattering.
Does anybody besides me think Kenny Wallace is acting creepy around the women?
Darcie-someone on twitter-sorry, can't remember who-said Katie is indeed preggers again! Just passing it on...
supadre @ 9:20 pm. He's acting very weird I noticed dat too. Of course we're talking KW soooo...
Well, looks like the first hour is a throwaway. Really pathetic. Kenny Wallace is just totally obnoxious. Gonna be a l-o-n-g night. Will Speed ever learn?
Not too sure this is the right role for Kenny. Surprised we are not seeing Rutledge in this role.
Nothing happens inside until 10:30PM ET. They are trying to use the taped arrivals, red carpet and interviews to fill time until then.
Oh, well. I read JD's leader and decided to try the show. God knows how hard it can be to do live TV, but to do it with short notice and with no net? I was not a Planeteer last year, but watched the awards and thought it ....um,...poor.
So I had great hopes for this year, but I'm going now back to holidays and to my earnest prayers for better FOX broadcasts (& I'll work on the others later) next season.
This all because my take so far on all metrics for the 2010 awards has been: "Imagine if Jethro Bodine decided that when he was a Hollywood Movie Producer he would do him an awards show and put in as interviewers, presenters or winners his newest superstars, Bolt Upright and Rock Hard!"
JD, may have been a better thing to show people eating. That way to prove we, us, racy types know not to chew with our mouths open.
Back to Scroogin'
AR, we have pressure on NASCAR to make it work live for TV next season.
Rutledge would've been a much nicer fit for the role KW is in.just not working
Monster Walmouth is killing me.
AR Jethro Bodine! I laughed so hard. This place is cool.
KW......not good.
You know if your going to advertise the awards show starting at 9, START IT AT 9! This "Red Carpet" nonsense is annoying. Since they will start the ceremony at 10:30 ill tune back in then. Right now its time for some Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory. Id rather watch that then watch this awful cluster on Speed at the moment
This deal mirrors the 2010 season thus far - TERRIBLE.
Roland .... It's rolling cluster.
Go suck my pituitaries
Actually one only has ONE pituitary :-)
You have two adrenals & two kidneys.
Oh God I'm laughing so hard I got tears in my eye's.. Thankyou NASCAR Banquet organizer.
Uh oh - Hamlin riding solo.
If Speed keeps Kenny Wallace for next year, the least they can do is pay for him to go somewhere and learn to speak properly before the start of their 2011 season.
"I seen......." yikes
damn-can't believe 1 of the top ten would come solo...how sad is that?
Send him to the Larry Mac school of English.
Hey Kenny, what do you think Clint and his GF have been doing in Vegas?
What the heck kind of question is that?
Our troll also says "vaginals" a lot.
Some sort of body issues I think!
Kenny "The Creeper" Wallace
Remember DW and Danica? That was just hilarious.
Does Kenny have a Stalkbook page?
Hey JD this is a night show from Las Vegas - give the trolls some latitude.
Anonymous said...
Actually one only has ONE pituitary :-)
You have two adrenals & two kidneys.
And this blog has one hemorrhoid :)
this is bring chauvinism to a new level, Kenny. Apparently all these women do is spend money on their husband's credit cards. Never mind that they run the household and raise the kids while their husbands are off traveling. Geez.
Oh man - Speed struck out with KW on this one.
Kenny interviewing Rusty.
Can one guess what it was like growing up Mike Wallace?
is she a regular or did Chad go to 'rent a girl'?
Has Chad had a different date each year for all five championships?
Despite everything the Las Vegas deal is much better than NYC.
Who hates Jimmie Johnson and want him eliminated either by serious or fatal injury.
I DO
WHO's WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!
Dang! No Buster Poindexter! Jus'Elvis,Elvis,Elvis!
Well, reading the other comments makes me feel like the kid who doesn't fit in. I was prepared to TiVo and watch later, when I could FF as needed. So far, I've watched and enjoyed the whole thing. Loved the red carpet, and am enjoying the SPEED crew, every one of them. I like that they don't talk perfect. They're like family, all different personalities, some a little goofy, some more serious, and I love it. So you can tell the Nielsen folks I'll be the one watching all night.
C.H.A.D. = D.A.D.T.
This is at least the 2nd banquet for Lisa Rockelman. BTW, I am never impressed with Chandra's choice of banquet attire. IMO she dresses very dull and dowdy looking and not into sequins and sparkle like most of the other ladies, i.e. Ingrid.
Is there any way I can get back the 60 plus minutes of my life I just wasted with KW's drivel?
i am 100% with you ginny
saltsburg...
"over the top" = you. Consider therapy, because that is sick. And I can't stand JJ.
Is this the Sprint Cup awards or a music awards ceremony? Just observing.
@NorCalFan
This is Brian the Clueless as auteur, ya know, like Mr. DeMille, Like Ed Sullivan Like, Ted Mack
So far, IMO, the first 100 minutes can be eliminated from next year's broadcast (except I do like to see the wives and girlfriends in evening attire).
Yeah, why didn't Frank Caliente lampoon BF? You know, stumble around on stage or something.
Just catching up. This is year 2 and possibly 3 for Chad's girlfriend. Chandra always wears that type of gown she is just not into the glitz, I don't unsually like them eithre but hey it's her choice. I remember reading somewhere about her and Ingrid being friends with very different styles.
Kenny on the red carpet just wrong on so many levels but Krista did a great job. I like the red carpet part in general because I too want to see the wives and even the drivers all dressed up. Has anyone even heard of the singer KW was drooling over, I guess the interview was part of the gig but really Kenny she could be your daughter.
Yesterday, Chad got an award at the Myers brother luncheon and said to his date:
"Lisa, I love you."
You could hear the jaws hit the ground. Maybe our little boy is growing up!
nrf...that was Colbie Callait. Good grief, have you been living under a rock? Check youtube, honey, she's been nominated for several Grammy's (and rightfully so.)
Oh, JD, are you sayin'
I even got one of her CD's!
Been trying to watch this off and on while having conversation on twitter with locals on other stuff.
You know at one time I really like Kenny Wallace, but just lost seeing the humor in him or something..but gotta say his insipid questions about 'women going shopping & running up credit cards'...I think the wives have more value to add than being rich & shopping a lot.
Like somebody said, sure they may have money but it's NOT EASY traveling all the time or being home to raise the kids alone so much.
There could've been nice, thoughtful questions asked in a more gentle manner.
Next year Rutledge should get the red carpet gig. He's such a nice guy in person from what I read and on twitter is a sweetheart as well when I've interacted with him.
Nothing against KW as a human, just Red Carpet is not his thing.
Takes a certain knack and touch for insight.
Had to put the word on for a bit, getting spammed! Thanks.
oh, just an idle question. Why hire Caliendo to play Carrot Top when Carrot Top is available and in town (but not at the Wynn)?
Which brings me back to my original q. Why hire Caliendo? 'Cause he is as short, fat and as insipid and looks like BZF?
I was wondering the same about Carrot Top when FC started the site gag bits.
Show is improving now that they've gotten to the drivers..but don't see myself hanging in until 1am.
I need to unfollow about 4 or 5 reporters...tweeting spoilers about the show almost verbatim. I wish i could unfollow some for 4 hours & then have them appear in my stream again tomorrow :)
Confusing to watch & read...and if you use Twitter for other interaction, tought to avoid.... all the Tweets from LVegas are making me dizzy..and they say the exact same things.
Should take turns Tweeting from the Awards deal. It's not like they're watching a race. i'm down to like 4 reporters or so how it is. :)
Good to see Mike Joy again..and of course enjoyed Steve Byrnes & Jeff Hammond ealier :)
p.s. what does the "Z" stand for in the middle of BF initials? Been meaning to ask that for weeks..maybe months ;-/
Sophia beats me too sister
To the anon that responded to my comments, I hate JJ and he can't be stopped, so the only way he can be stopped is probably shooting him, he he he
Yup and the damn rock is heavy too but still think KW shouldn't have been drooling.
Anyway, Chad said he loved Bruna (might be off on the spelling) at championship banquet number 2, heard they got engaged and then poof she was gone. Don't get me wrong I love Chad but may women won't settle on being second all the time. Hope this one works out the guy needs a someting to go home to when he finally gets there
@anon 11:05--guess I've been under the same rock as NRF as I've never heard of her.
Caliendo is a fav of FOX Sports and they have a lot of influence over NASCAR on those type of entertainment issues.
Did you see Pizzi in the first Caliendo piece?
@Sophia
I have utterly no idea! What DOES the Z stand for. I just do not know. I use it because everybody else does. (yeah, yeah I KNOW the bit about jumping off a cliff and all) :)
from anon 11:05
didn't mean to sound sarcastic, but honestly...they played Bubbly to death, in stores, in elevators, on Amerian Idol...just saying....I bet you've heard it and don't even realize...
Tony lost some weight. Looks good.
Zachary
I prefer Zero or ZZZZZZZ
What are the odds of them ever getting a comedial that is actually funny? Sorry, but this guy is lame. Where is Jeff Foxworthy when you need him?
Thanks Anon. Now I know. How great the relief is U cannot know.
Did knot know though we were hot tonight. Aint JD thoughtful?
Zeke woulds been better, though
I thought this comedian guy was funny in bits. He DID hold his mouth just like Trump does..and caught his cadence well imo. but in honesty, I've NOT been paying full attention.
(SEE I MISSED the JJ joke..and why he and C are laughing)
Z is for Zachary..thanks for the answer :)
Sorry I FF through the comedian and didn't want to know bad enough to reverse it to see why JJ and Chad were laughing. It never made it to Twitter so I'm thinking it wasn't much
I think Frank Caliendo is funny...not 100%, but better than some other they've had. I know you guys are race fans...but really, you need to get out more! Does funny NFL stuff.
Isn't he a Vegas lounge act now? Seriously, I thought that was what he was doing.
Once George Bush and John Madden were gone, he had to revamp everything.
Seriously funny guy when he is not all caught up in trying to do impersonations.
Do you get the impression that someone told everyone to go heavy on the 'Our fans are the greatest' theme tonight? Maybe me cynicism has just kicked into high gear, but with the slumping ratings and attendance, it just seems a bit...forced?
Anon 12am
I've stumbled across the NFL show with him..those guys can be fun & I don't follow NFL :)
I think this guy is funnier than MANY other 'comedians' that have hosted.
Sorry I am not a fan of that old Foxworthy (he was funny 20 yrs ago) or Blue collar Group or blue color humor, whatever that bunch is w Larry the Cable guy (Oy vey, just not my deal)...too much, er, never mind. Let's say below the belt humor (in more ways than one) and leave it at that.
I think this guy have been decent. I missed the opening bit..did he embarrass anybody?
or say anything that made people wince? I saw him make a joke on Mike Helton...but not the entire segment.
I am VERY thankful that the worst MC is NOT there....Jay Mohr....Caliendo isn't a Down Home type of humorist...and tonight it shows.....again!!!!!
A Jay Mohr flashback!
How about Jewel playing with no audio on the TV feed?
Ah, I miss the good old days.
Who thinks this guy does good impressions?
actually I thought his Mike Helton was funny. nothing particularly embarrassing.
Too bad Mike H is not involved in this more, he's got a wicked sense of humor.
you know if theyd cut out the 2 hours of fluff they would have a nice, shorter, viewer friendly ceremony. Its only taken 2 hours to do all the driver speeches. yet there was a useless hour before the ceremony began and then musical and comedic fluff. Can that crap for next year. Please!
The ANNOYING BLUE lines dancing, behind Rick H are extremely irritating & DISTRACTING. Sheesh.
Clean up the screen SPEED.
Sigh
He's giving nice speech & the back ground is seizure inducing.
Personally, I think the very best MC would be Kinky Friedman.
And since I think that I must be correct.
Kinky Friedman. Cannot argue can you?
I havta wonder if Lowes will FINALLY have some sort of acknowledgment in their STORES, seeing that the car they sponsor has now won FIVE years in a row...every time I force myself to go to Lowes, are there ANY promos showing the 48 or CloneBoy??? Only thing I found ONCE in 5 years was a gift car with the 48 car on it..Go into Home Depot and they SHOW their pride at sponsoring a race team..
p,s, Roland
TRUTH! Edit & tighten up the show next year (along with get ridof the blue STROBE lights)
Sorry but the singers interrupted the flow (especially the duo??) But yes just show the drivers...they seemed at beter ease this year. Keep the show at 2 hrs.
I hardly paid attention during the 4 but did try to LISTEN more in the last 2 hrs.
I think ALL AWARD shows drag & never watch. NASCAR needs to learn many things...this show is too staged. I liked em better years ago when more informal..least one or two I saw on tape.
Oops, Frank C just introduced singer as Callie instead of Colbie. Guess he's never heard of her either.
Noticed again this year they haven't broadcasted the amount of winnings each driver earned. Good move in this economy.
Still awake here on the West Coast but on my third cocktail.
Oh, since show is ending I have to say the part after going live was not bad. Not bad at all. Much less Brian, and no mom, as in last year if that is acceptable to say. Maybe too many sponsor plugs, and undeft teleprompter reading, but smoothly and entertainingly produced for a chilly Friday night.
Hey, thanks for handing with us late! This was tough to watch. Again, something ONLY hardcore fans could watch.
12:52AM on the East Coast when we get JJ up to speak and get his check.
Just something fundamentally wrong with that.
Going to leave comments open!
Thanks again.
JD
Ancient Racer!
Some local reporter from Twitter just turned me on to Kinky Friedman's books! I've seen him on tv over the years on talk shows (recently on Joy Behar I think) He's a hoot. Just finished book "Elvis, Jesus & Coca Cola" & started his first book "Greenwich Killing Time" (I like to start at beginning of authors work & read in order)
Kinky does a LOT for dogs/cats & other animals too. He writes en Epilogue to cat Cuddles in "Elvis" book.
Can't say I've seen him enough to judge as TV host..though I know he started out a singer years ago.
p.s. This guy on tv praising Jimmy, seems to be losing his place or getting interrupted/spoken to in ear. Little awkward
In a closer look at Chandra's dress, I once owned a shower curtain with that same print. Just saying....
I guess Nascar had to announce the amount of the champion's check.
Tha', Tha', Tha's a-aa-aawlll, Folks!
Merry Christmas!
Sophia,
I became familiar with Kinky Friedman as a frequent guest singer on the Don Imus show and also as a candidate for Texas governor back in 2006. He and Don are old friends so he has him on his show now and then. I've never seen him host any type of show so I have no opinion.
To Rainy2228 @ 12:49
I was in a Lowes store about two weeks ago, and it had a single lifesize cardboard figure of JJ. I get into two different Lowes stores on occasion, and both have had much more JJ promotional matereial in years past. I have wondered if someone at Lowes thinks that JJ's domination in recent years has started to generate resentment and BAD publicity. Too much of a good thing, and all that. I don't blame JJ - he's just doing his job. Others resent him, and perhaps Lowes is sensitive to that.
I didn't watch the banquet. I tried watching one some years back on ESPN, and it was awful. I thought it couldn't be that bad again, so I watched the following year. I was wrong. It WAS just as bad. I haven't watched since.
I keep track of things by following TDP. Not enough has changed to get me to watch it. I love the racing, not an awards show.
Nah, didn't watch it. Watched most of the pre-banquet stuff with Krista and KW. Please, Nascar, lose him somewhere in Utah next year.
Banquet = boring. Wasn't going to waste my sleep time.
Quite honestly, the whole thing sucked hind tit. The theme was between "our fans are the greatest" and "we're a family sport". Think of how many families and fans BZF has alienated with his "inspired" leadership.
One thing about this year was BZF did very little talking (Thank God). He introduced Rascal Flats while saying something about family and that his wife Amny was there to which he received very little applause. Then when he gave Johnson the championship ring, BZF once again got very little applause. You could see tables full of people not applauding. I think there's a very telling message there.
They need a comedian who knows about the sport, it's personalities, and isn't afraid to make fun of BZF. He/She could do a half hour just on BZF's speeches this season not to mention his silver Lexus, the palm trees, and his "soda" consumption.
Between being deceived by Speed about the live coverage, the poor red carpet coverage, and the overall program, I couldn't give this higher than an F- for a grade.
Possible sponsor opportunities for next year:
During the Red Carpet segment- Hooters
The rest of the program - Pepto Bismal
I tried watching this but there was WAY too much Kenny Wallace for me. I wanted to see my driver make his speech, but I couldn't hang with it that long.
I did watch the cirque de soleil entertainment and that was really good.
I thought Steve Bryne, Jeff Hammond, Mike Joy and Krista Voda did a good job when they were on but I ran out of steam at 10 p.m, and went to bed. Especially because the guy they have on for comic relief leaves me completely cold. I'll catch Jeff's speech on youtube - I don't have to put up with the obnoxious timewasting then.
saltsburgtrojanfan -- I am with you on the begone Johnson theme. bored now
The more they try to fix it, the worse it gets. It is what it is: an awards banquet. Keep it simple, stupid.
NASCAR tries to make it entertaining and tries to make it an "event". The problem is, the fans only care about 2 things: 1) Watching their driver's speech, and waiting for that 'funny' moment that happens every year and 2) The wives/girlfriends. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
All the comedians, musical acts, and other "fluff" is unnecessary and ridiculous. It ends up coming across as forced and out of place.
The only ones watching the show are the hardcore fans anyway. If it's going to be on tv, it should cater to that audience. If not, then don't put it on tv at all.
If you ask me, this whole Awards show fits today's NASCAR perfectly.
I watched last nite...first time in a while...when did they stop handing out checks and boasting how much money the points fund paid out? I had to search hard on the internet to find out how much Jimmie was awarded but I could not find what the others were awarded
anon 3:59a--I guess I'm missing something. The only people who know who he is are race fans. I have no idea how many race fans shop at THD/Lowe's vs. non-race fans. I've never been in Lowe's & never plan on doing so. But not sure how Bad Publicity amongst race fans would keep them from having him in the stores since they're not the only ones who shop there?
I watched some of the red carpet but didn't finish all of it did my workout. Chatted on Twitter and visited some of my sites during the "show" & only listened to my drivers. Since I don't know how to take myself to bed I was up regardless.
I can do without Frank. But sadly any awards banquet that doesn't involve people hanging from curtains will still be good.
Did anyone else think Ingrid Vanderbosch(JG's wife) was really annoyed by KW's question: Where are you from? That was why she answered "Australia." KW was just awful.
Ingrid always looks marvelous. Only reason to watch the banquet.
The Top Ten Reasons why Denny Lost a la Letterman was tasteless. Denny handled it very well.
I watched the banquet and enjoyed it. I thought Speed did a better job of actually presenting it than any network I've ever seen do it (granted, its not easy to cover). As usual, the best speeches were the ones done on the fly (why don't the drivers get this?).
BTW, my expectations are never high for this event. Its designed more for the folks in the room than for the fans, and I think that is how it should be.
I watched and enjoyed it. I've been to this type of event before so it was about what I expected. I agree about the "on the fly" speeches being better, but wonder who decides. I seem to remember someone joking earlier in the week, maybe on Race Hub, about getting a copy of a driver speech and needing to work on it. Was that just a joke, or are the drivers asked to submit copies in advance? Carl had notes in his hand, Clint made the comment about the prompter lady, so it made me curious about how it's all set up.
If it's such a problem to pull off the live event, I see nothing wrong with doing it like they did the NW and Truck awards. Put the highlights in a show after the fact, maybe cutting it down to 2 hours (a special expanded Race Hub?), the first for red carpet, recap of the week's events, memories, etc and the second for the awards and speeches. Let those who earned the right to be there enjoy their night without having to accommodate a TV production, and let fans pick and choose to watch what they want in a condensed format. Use the SPEED guys as hosts to the clips. I mean, is it really all that important to manufacture what appears to be a live event? Certainly not to me.
I watched about 90 seconds of someone trying to sing "Life is a Highway" and the audio sucked so I watched a rerun of Restaurant Makeover on Food Network Canada. BTW, the word verification is "focked" which just about describes NASCAR LOL
Gymmie@3:35 - This is anon @3:59 again
I live in Michigan and visit five different home improvement stores periodically. One is a Menard's, two are Home Depots, and two are Lowes. I regularly see customers wearing NASCAR gear supporting their favorite driver. Most are wearing ballcaps or T-shirts, and a few are wearing more expensive jackets. The drivers are the ones you might expect.
The Menard's store has some advertising material featuring Paul Menard. It shows him driving a Chevy although he drove a Ford in 2010. There is also a small amount of material for sale featuring Paul Menard and other more prominent drivers.
The Home Depot stores are the only ones where I recall seeing employees wearing shirts or caps demonstrating their NASCAR sponsorship. It seems more generic Home Depot and not directed particularly toward Joey Logano.
The Lowes stores in the past have had a fair amount of material featuring JJ, and it seems less this year. I speculated that maybe Lowes cut back because of the ill will generated by JJ's championship domination. That animosity can be seen on TDP with Saltsburgtrojanfan at 10:22pm and 11:34pm, Anon @10:28 pm, and GinaV24 @ 1:26 a.m. My perception is that a lot of fans feel that way.
The way I see it, there are two types of customers at Lowes. One group of customers doesn't follow NASCAR. They don't know who JJ is and couldn't care less. Lowes scores no points with them by featuring JJ. The other type follows NASCAR and knows only too well who he is. My sense is that JJ long ago passed the tipping point. He generates negative response in more NASCAR fans than positive response. If I am a business trying to appeal to all NASCAR fans, would I want to stress my connection to JJ? If those fans who dislike JJ walked into a store swimming in JJ promotional material, would they be more or less likely to purchase something?
I think that those JJ fans who patronize Lowes because of his sponsorship are going to buy there anyway. Excessive JJ material is only going to antagonize the ones who already dislike him.
I am not a JJ fan, but I am not mad at him. I reserve my anger for ESPN and other media who concentrate on JJ to the point of hero worship while ignoring everyone else. If JJ is the best driver ever because he won five championships in a row in a contrived points system, then John Force is a far better driver. Force won 10 in a row, so he is at least twice as good as JJ. Force's total is 15 championships, so maybe he is three times as good as JJ.
I am no marketing expert and have no knowledge of Lowes policy. I am just a NASCAR fan trying to read the mind of Lowes management by looking through the wrong end of a telescope. It's only my opinion, and yours may vary and be equally valid.
Anon 1:40 a.m. -- really good points.
Didn't watch, have not last couple years. Boring, stuffed shirt, bad tv coverage, bad comedian hosts (they never fit well). My brother watched part and said Frank Caliendo was terrible. He's a great comedian but not a match for this crowd.
No interest in any awards banquet, no matter the sport.
Took me little over an hour to FFwd through Truck, NNS, Cup banquets on DVR. I'm starting to agree that SPEED is wasting their time trying to bring Cup banquet live. I had no interest whatsoever in the red carpet or "entertainment", host Caliendo was a joke himself, again. You know its bad when the comedian keeps saying "tough room"! So all I watched were my drivers' speeches.
Let NMG do a wiz bang on the Cup highlights after the fact to more resemble the NNS/Truck production. The only thing I don't like with the condensing, is that whole speeches aren't included. This was Roger Penske's 1st NASCAR title EVER, and I would have liked to have heard the entirety of his speech. Ditto Keselowski. Maybe those could be posted to web fully intact next year?
Want to thank Turner NASCAR.com again for streaming the Lap stuff on Thurs. THAT was fun!!!!!
I started to watch as I love anything to do with racing. But to have guys like Kenny Wallace and Hammond doing TV coverage has soured me on watching. As OSBORNK said above , when will the networks see that the Waltrips and others I've mentioned are driving many good fans away. When I see people like Mike Joy, Voda, Venturini, Craven, Evernham, who are excellent, perfect for TV, I can't figure out why they continue to use sub standard on air people? Why??
JD,
Not much to add to most of the above.
I never watch award shows of any kind and have found that to be an excellent habit.
After reading your hype of this banquet, I decided to give it a try. Big mistake. When I finally tuned in, there was some idiot on stage (I presume he was supposed to be a comedian) showing big-screen shots of Twitter and Facebook pages that did not strike me as being funny. Apparently the captive audience saw it the same way as there was not much laughter. Anyway, after two minutes of watching that tripe, I figured the humor was aimed at the Twittering early-teen crowd (and I can't believe that they are NASCAR fans) and turned it off.
Confirmed that I will keep my habit of avoiding awards shows.
If I were one of those picking up a nice awards check, it would be worth my while to participate. Since that's not likely, I see no reason to watch. And I sure as heck don't see any reason to watch a driver (or 12) read a speech naming and thanking all his sponsors (see too much of that during the season), his family, his friends, his co-workers, his team, his dog, NASCAR, etc. And, contrary to a few who have commented, I really couldn't care less about the wives/girl-friends or what dresses they're wearing. I'm interested in racing.
As I think about it, there may not be much reason to even watch the racing next year. Over the past years (and in 2010 especially) you and your fans have done all anyone could be reasonably expected to do from a fan perspective to get the coverage relevant. And it has come to naught.
I'll give the Daytona 500 a shot, and it had better be darned good, or I'm gone until I read here that the racing coverage is fantastic.
Thanks for all that you've tried to do. As you read the comments to your posts, you surely know that you are greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Nick
I accidentally stumbled across the show while eating dinner. I caught the driver speeches beginning with Jeff Gordon & watched the rest of the show thru to the end. Then I DVRd the re-air which I haven't watched yet.
What I did see was some pretty good speeches mixed in with some god-awful programming decisions. I happen to really appreciate and like Frank Caliendo's regular work; he is completely lost in NASCAR. I'm completely lost as to why he is still working this gig after he proved clueless last year.
And as for his introduction of Callie-Colby-Caillou or whatever her name is: I have worked in the music business most of my life and I never heard of her either.
The bottom line for me is that hearing the drivers speeches was actually enjoyable. My wife and I were truly entertained by most of that. Sadly, by the time we got to JJ, it was so late in the program it was clear everyone just wanted to go home. Too bad, as Jimmie was aa professional in his delivery as anyone would want, and his words were well chosen.
Hey Brian! Next year get a clue and take a hint from virtually EVERY OTHER awards show: FOUR HOURS IS WAAAAYYY TOO LONG!
I havent watched the banquet in years. When they started using teleprompters and using pre written speeches it got to boring to bear.
I used to enjoy the banquets. Hearing drivers speak from their heart and from the top of their head. Sure some might even pull out a few notes to ensure they didnt forget some things. Those were the days. You know PRE CHASE era!
Besides why watch a banquet that celebrates a FAUX championship!
Ditch the CHASE and COT and watch fans start coming back. Keep it and watch attendance and viewership continue to decline!
The challenge is it is an actually dinner. It's amazing they serve all those people in an hour, but it creates a one hour hole about 30 minutes into the show.
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