It was an interesting time when Danica Patrick first began driving Nationwide Series cars for JR Motorsports. There was fan curiosity, media doubt and some incredible attention from the NASCAR TV partners.
Now, Patrick is back for another swing at racing the big cars. SPEED and ESPN both get to deal with this elephant in the room over the weekend. SPEED begins on Friday as Steve Byrnes, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond call Nationwide Series practice from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 10:30AM ET.
After a break for Sprint Cup Series practice at 11:30AM and then lunch, the Nationwide cars come back for final practice at 1:30PM ET. Once again, it will be Byrnes, Hammond and McReynolds.
The garage reporters for both Nationwide practice sessions on Friday will be Phil Parsons and Ralph Sheheen. These are the two guys who will be facing the task of dealing with the Danica marketing and PR machine at the track. Since SPEED is the live TV network, they get first crack at Patrick after she gets out of the car.
SPEED will also present a NASCAR Live show between sessions at 1PM ET. If you cannot watch the practice, this thirty minute program will be a good way to get updated on what is going on at NHMS. John Roberts is hosting with Randy Pemberton alongside. Hermie Sadler and Bob Dillner will handle the reporting.
Here are some other TV notes for the weekend:
Jimmy Spencer is back in New Hampshire for SPEED. He will be on the Sunday 10AM RaceDay panel and will then appear on Victory Lane at 8PM ET with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace. Kyle Petty is off working for TNT.
Speaking of TNT, the network announced that Time Warner, Bright House and Comcast have signed on to carry TNT's 3D coverage of the Coke 400 from Daytona. As we know, in order to see the 3D effect you must watch on a 3DTV and also wear the famous glasses. More details on this next week.
SPEED announced that Thursday, July 1 will be the day the network announces the nominees for the 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. That will be done at 8PM ET during a special presentation of Race Hub. Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Mike Joy and Ken Squier will all be hosting from various locations for this TV special. You may remember that SPEED is the official TV network of the Hall of Fame.
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