Monday, April 19, 2010

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Texas (5PM - ESPN2)


Here we go with the second half of the Monday NASCAR doubleheader. The Nationwide Series is on ESPN2 at 5PM from the Texas Motor Speedway.

Marty Reid will call the race with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree alongside. On pit road are Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch, Jamie Little and Dave Burns. Tim Brewer has packed the Tech Garage up and gone home.

This race is also in hurry-up mode, trying to get finished between 7 and 7:30PM when both SPEED and ESPN2 have TV shows scheduled to review the races.

The familiar scenario should be in place of Cup drivers vs. the Nationwide regulars. ESPN did a tremendous job of promoting the series during the rain delay on Saturday.

Hopefully, that momentum will translate into a telecast that chases the racing on the track and stays away from the bells and whistles. ESPN has been hit or miss with the directing lately, but very good with the commentary.

This post will serve to host your comments on the Nationwide Series coverage on ESPN2 from Texas. To add your TV-related comment, 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 live blog with us today.

Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series Monday From Texas (12PM ET - FOX)


Here we go again. Rain delayed the race until Monday and the good news is that there is no precipitation falling at the track. Jet dryers are working to get things dry for the race start shortly after Noon ET.

This is hurry-up mode for NASCAR, so expect things to be different. There will be no long pre-race show and possibly no invocation or anthem heard on TV. NASCAR is trying to get two races in today and that should be a challenge.

Mike Joy returns to call the Sprint Cup Series action with Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds in the booth. Waltrip had a long day on Sunday in the Hollywood Hotel working on the air during the hours of rain delay programming.

Down on pit road are Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren. Jeff Hammond and Chris Myers are in the Hollywood Hotel.

Texas should prove to be interesting on TV. The track is fast, but passing has been at a premium once the field gets stretched out. It should be the restarts and caution flag pitstops that provide the biggest scrambling of the field.

Staying wide enough to show the pack of cars jostling on the restarts has been a challenge for FOX this season. Cutting to tight shots and using in-car cameras long before things get strung out has resulted in many passes and incidents having to be seen on replays. Keeping it simple today is going to have big benefits.

Darrell Waltrip has once again has a long weekend. When he is tired, the result has been scattered commentary that often happens when he talks overtop of Joy and McReynolds. It's been a tough year for DW, it's almost like he is trying too hard.

Sometimes, these Monday races run very clean. This may be the case today as several of the Cup drivers are doing double-duty and racing in the Nationwide Series race that follows. If weather again threatens, all bets are off as the field may be racing hard to get to the halfway point.

This post will serve to host your comments on the Sprint Cup Series race from Texas on FOX. 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 hanging with us on this Monday for NASCAR racing.