The NASCAR on FOX gang made no changes in the off-season and is bringing back the same on-air group of announcers. Some folks find that makes a lot of sense while others wonder why no changes if the sport is struggling on TV.
Darrell Waltrip is the leader of the pack and has the high-profile assignment of being on both the pre-race show and in the booth for the race. Waltrip is one of those love him or hate him kinda guys. There is no middle ground with DW.
Mike Joy had a tough year in 2011 for one reason. Waltrip was given the green light to talk over top of Joy anytime and he certainly used that right on a continual basis. Joy wound-up fading into the background for the first time in a long time.
Larry McReynolds is a lightning bolt for fans these days. Two years ago he gave an interview critical of NASCAR and then got rebuked by the powers that be in the sport. Since that time he has been nothing short of a public relations employee. During this season's media tour, McReynolds took the time to tell the assembled reporters to make sure and keep their message positive. It did not go over well.
Jeff Hammond has been great on SPEED in several different roles but on FOX he is shoved into the Hollywood Hotel and hung-out to dry when the race starts. Hammond has a lot of offer and it should be interesting to see how much he joins the telecast during the racing action.
FOX has a great group of pit reporters. Dr. Dick Berggren, Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes and Matt Yocum are all stars with the fans. It's a shame that FOX does not use them much because Waltrip is a constant source of conversation during green flag periods. FOX suffers without field recaps and regular updates from pit road on key stories.
The Shootout is a small taste of what NASCAR on FOX will be bringing to the table this season. Look for some new graphics, a new in-car camera angle and the continuing emphasis on dramatic storylines. After the rough ride of last year, it should be interesting to see how the fans react to the coverage tonight.
We invite your comments before, during and after the telecast. To add your opinion, just click the comments button below. This chat is geared toward the telecast, not the teams, drivers or racing action. TDP is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for joining us.
359 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 359 of 359Fox misses another one... Way to go.
JD, I wondered why practice was cut short. I had looked on nascar.com and there wasn't any information.
AR, oops!
When the race is green show the race.
You may miss a wreck.
Missed another.
Great. Miss the action on pit road, and barely get back to see the next wreck. Race by replay. And again, they wonder why ratings are down? To give Fox credit, they have barely mentioned JJ tonight. Thought we'd get a blow-by-blow about him coming thru the field.
wow, synchronized spinning!
I hate it when someone who is a bit of an ass is good at his job, but that describes Mike Joy. If you want to know how great he is or how much money he has or how many cars he has had, just ask him. Well, actually, he'll tell you without you asking. Well no, actually he won't tell you anything unless he thinks you're "somebody." It's amazing to me how some people think what they do is so important, and therefore they're important, and everyone wants to be near them.
Now in replays you see the problem -- the producer hsd the shots available, but didn't pull them up.
I can't hear anything out of the scanners.All the volumes are up on my computer.
Just like the end of last year. Miss a wreck but then show you the replay so many times you get tired of it.
Wow, this turned into bad TV decision making pretty quick.
Anon, reboot! They are working and free.
The new motto of Fox sports could be " Picking up where espn ended"
Charlie, you'd think it would be just that basic, wouldn't you?
Show the race, that's where the action is!
What the heck. Missed another wreck. Since when does the booth think they have time to revisit pit stops during a restrictor plate race? Unbelievable.
Hmmm, if they'd covered the pit stops live, then they would not have been replaying them when the wreck happened. Although, Kyle and Mark weren't leading, so there probably wouldn't have been on camera anyway...
based on this rather pathetic broadcast, I'm not sure if I will be able to handle 500 laps next weekend.
looked to me like kyle went up to get ready to go three wide about a qtr of a lane and mark didn't know he was going to do it so he was too far left.
I hope they paid Martin Truex a LOT of money for that commercial!!
JD thanks is working now.
A-R, you're boy made a BOLD move!
anon @9:26: another opinion. i met mike joy at dover and he was great. i enjoyed my conversation with him.
just got asked "where's his in-car fall-back camera?"
@GinaV24
He was born for adventure.
It is just me, or is it really dark off turn 2?
I'm all over the NASCAR.com stuff, I can hardly wait for TruckBuddy for every race this season!
Fox has Martin running a lap at 87mph while they are actually interviewing him in the pits.
The color for laps to go is tough on the eyes to read. bad contrast
A-R, yes, he certainly epitomizes the "no fear" idea.
Larry just got it wrong, that is the 16 car pushing the 48.
From jaybusbee at Yahoo! Sports: Kyle Busch got lost on the way to the garage and drove out into the infield. Was riding right behind a tram. That was hysterical.
What is this 0-4 with wrecks?
Missed that, too.
FinanceGuy, man, he's quick for an old guy! LOL
Sophia...glad to know it's not just me on that part of the graphics...was thinking I still needed to adjust my new TV.
Derrick Cope is going to win this!
Mikey cutting the grass.
This kind of buddy racing is going to further take the sports competitive level down a notch. Not was NASCAR wants. The 500 will be interesting. Fox is trying to glaze over it by pushing speeds. It ain't working.
Tony last his partner. One car less.
OK I'll give the producer a point. That was a real quick switch off to Mikey;s wreck.
Ol' Mikey just ran outta talent.....again...
If that is all it takes to upset these cars, the "big one" will not be a one time occurrence in the 500.
Yeah, Derri(ke)'s chances look pretty good right now!
From Twitter report, I just realized Fox broadcast is on significant delay - at least 20 seconds.
Someone will probably throw a chickenbone into someone's engine and Cope will win.
FG, I think it's about 13 total to your home. Profanity delay for broadcast (FCC) TV and 2 second for satellite turn a round.
Thursdays Duels will be highlighted on CNN, CNBC, etc.....a wreckfest to be certain...
Told you all! Go Derrick. He is my friend!
Remember the 1990 500?
@Finance Guy
If they have 20 seconds (That is nearly $3 mil on Superbowl time) then they have time to cover the wrecks.
Has anyone figured out a way to listen to the drivers scanners through your iphone?
Well that still leaves 7 secs to switch.
OK, Ifind this 2x2 stuff less than thrilling. Anyone else fetting bored?
From Pete Pistone: I haven't seen this many pairs in Daytona since we had lunch at Hooters.
Sally...DW thinks this is pretty good racing. Go figure.
Ink, Sprint has it on their NASCAR mobile app but that is it.
Welcome to Twitter by the way, you lurker you!
Sally, YES, I am so with you.
Gee, Pistone has got a new writer for his lines, that was actually funny.
And DW tells us this is great racing. As if you can hook up bumpers forever. No chance of doing anything on your own, even the old 'slingshot'. And I really don't care how fast they go if it looks like thisl
JD, did you see that? They just went to in car when they had a nice wide shot of 2 sets of 3 wide going into turn 1 after that tight squeeze. That was so lame!
DW would say the racing was good, if it was two tortoises side by side
I like where Gordon is right now. I've had a good feeling about him and speedweeks for a couple of weeks now
KoHoSo
The cameras & Graphics are all on VIVID for over saturation. ALmost glow in the dark crap.
Fox is so "PROUD" of their new ticker. How about ADJUSTING the colors so it's EASIER to read? If I can't read it on teh 52 in HD how lousy will that look in SD on a smaller TV :-(
PRIMARY colors or overly done colors like for babies.
Same as the overly used zoom cams.
Kenseth has fallen wayyy back . . . has no partner.
great overhead shot, the pairs merging together and then they go to the ground camera..don't get it
You guys smell a last lap mess coming on?
@Sophia...I agree! The day glo colors make it difficult to read the numbers...but they sure are BRIGHT. and PRETTY!
Looks like it's going to be a long long year. Fox better hope the weather is bad outside of Florida next weekend.
AR, I hope that good feeling continues through the season. I'd love for my favorite to have things to his way.
When I switch back and forth between std cable and HD I can see what you guys are having problems with (I think) because on HD it looks great. Standard, not so much
jd can't quite picture the end other than maybe 3 pairs coming off that final corner and if no one lifts not sure there is enough room off that corner
I predict Labonte will win.
JD, I foresee a smoking wreck of cars at the finish.
I'm going with Derrick Cope in his Prius.
that would fit in with NASCAR's "green" initiative
I'm going with Gordon in a drag race with Harvick whilst mayhem breaks put behind
Drivers are pulling the chips in their cars.
Again, 'racing by replay'.
I could be all over that scenario, AR
Good thing the booth is talking about the 'second six', since they won't show them on camera.
hmm, you're right, I just switched over the fox's HD channel and things aren't "blurry" any more.
Zoom out, maroons. Leave the tricks alone.
Instead of zooming out and showing the race they zoom in and put it in two screens.
ok so we need the draft tracker...it seems no one knows what they are talking about 2, 3, 4 cars whats faster
Hasn't DW spent all night telling us that more than 2 cars hooking up isn't faster than 2? And now they need to hook together?
Man, I hope no one gets hurt.
Ten or twelve cars on track and we get to see half of them. Others are invisible, or is Fox showing half the field?
WHAT? Below the yellow line deal again.
That was a weird angle.
Hamlin isn't going to be happy.
that was a waste of several hours of my life.
They show a slo mo replay...and leave before the cars cross the finish line? what was that?
so jr was right, you pull out from behind that lead car, it sinks like a rock.. problem is you have to have a lane to go to if you are that second car
That was snoozer of a finish...
Dear Fox,
Please tame down the EXAGGERATED colorson your ticker & Laps to go stuff. Our HD TV looks fine on every station except yours. WAY Too vivid, overly saturated, & HARD TO READ. Love, Sophia
DW is trying to make up the rules again. You can't go below the yellow line to advance your position -- not even on the last lap!
I'm still confused about the yellow line rules. It would be easier to say first one to the line wins instead of uhhhhhh....we don't know.
Not a weird angle JD, a creative angle.
well, that wasn't everything i'd hoped. doesn't bode well for next week when the booth can't figure out who won at the end when it was pretty straightforward.
hamlin needs to pay more attention at the next drivers' meeting . . .
think hamlin saved a big wreck there he had established position above the yellow line
Sophia, already dropped a note to FOX about the colors and the scroll.
I'm gonna have a serious rethink on wasting a day watching the Daytona 500, after this extravaganza tonight.
Good night all
Thanks JD!
Shell wins three in a tow.
OK, let's be positive. It was an interesting finish so the paired up racing could make it better come the 500.
pretty sure hamlin will tell you that he went below to avoid the wreck and he is absolutely correct we would have saw a repeat of whichever that race was when the guy didn't go below the line and had the major wreck
Your right Bozo, the guy in 2nd has the upper hand.
Flip side of it, next week, that would've only been for a 4 point difference.. Love this new scoring system... NOT!
It was a poor race with lousy camera work and bad booth monkeys. Why would anyone but us nuts watch such a mess?
I think Hamlin had enough room. He was alongside and still had room, then he crossed the line. At which point Newman cut him off.
I thought the finish was good. Close racing. Wondering if Hamlin would pull out and if Busch had enough to pull ahead.
Don't want to wait through 500 miles of mixed pairs skating to get to a finish like that though.
charlie..jr was right go see gluck's article at sb nation very informative on this...that 1st car loses 15 mph almost instantly
JD
Re: Colors, thanks. Seeing others comment on Twitter as well. Too.Much.
S
the follow up question to denny would be, if this was the 500, would you forced newman up..i'm guessing the answer is yes
Good thing I have the booth to tell me how exciting this race was, otherwise I wouldn't know it.
I do think that NASCAR should chuck that stupid yellow line rule out on the last lap.
Bud Shootout Comments:
The booth was pretty good tonight. I hope this keeps up. The production truck was terrible tonight, missing about every wreck. Bumper cams were used at the worst time.
As for the racing, it was interesting to watch. I am not a fan of the yellow line on the last lap. Denny's interview was very safe and politically correct. There will be a lot of reading between the lines this season.
Thank you Jeff for those intelligent words to close.
By the way Jeff.
Free tanning in Daytona Beach.
No need for the spray!
Seriously? Whining about the ticker color?
Ok.
ok Ryan's yellow suit & Kristas head phones are dayglo yellow as well on the Sony Bravia tv!
Mama Mia. Tone down a the colors, Fox.
Hey, my housemate thinks a Football game is coming on. He said they need to change the music. (He just got in for last few laps)
Look at Krista, looking great as she has that "girl next door" look.
Just a cute sweater and no flashy stuff. Gotta love her!
Did they ev tell me the finishing order? I must have missed it. I wish they'd leave it up longer.
Where did Cope finish? I made fun of him but he stayed out for the whole race and didn't cause any wrecks. Have to give him credit.
Alright. Derrick finished 14 the and picked up a nice pay check. Yea!
Sophia..I have same TV model and needed to tone down the brightness on the set itself. Every station was a neon nightmare. You might want to give that a try.
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 - 22 Kurt Busch Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 0 75 Running
2 - 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 0 75 Running
3 - 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Wix Filters 0 75 Running
4 - 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 0 75 Running
5 - 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 0 75 Running
6 - 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger 0 75 Running
7 - 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser 0 75 Running
8 - 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 0 75 Running
9 - 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 0 75 Running
10 - 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Reese Towpower / Highland 0 75 Running
11 - 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Mobil 1 / Office Depot 0 75 Running
12 - 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express 0 75 Running
13 - 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal Black 0 75 Running
14 - 64 Derrike Cope Toyota Sta-Bil 0 73 Running
15 - 115 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 0 47 In Pit
16 - 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 0 41 In Pit
17 - 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 0 36 In Pit
18 - 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 0 27 In Pit
19 - 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy 0 27 In Pit
20 - 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 0 27 In Pit
21 - 99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts EZ Seed 0 27 In Pit
22 - 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 0 27 In Pit
23 - 97 Kevin Conway Toyota Extenze 0 26 Running
24 - 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota Red Bull 0 7 Out of Race
wow all the complaints... I enjoyed the broadcast, the booth was great no one was talked over, DW was calmer and Larry Mac was himself and I like that, and Mike Joy looks to be back I hope! Camera shots were ok but look what they had to work with 2 packs all around sorta strange but I feel they did a good job! The graphics package is a bit toned down from last year and thats a great thing in my book! Listen everyone its the first race of the season aka pre season and I feel they gave it an event feel... I give this a B-
Well the racing was...different. I miss pack racing. They really gotta slow these cars down.
The coverage was pretty good. DW didnt dominate the broadcast like 2010. NFL theme music was weird but cool in a way. Graphics were good. My only issue was Digger. Nothing screams excitement like a dancing gopher. Come on David Hill Digger has got to go its embarrasing and adds absolutely nothing positive to the broadcast.
Anon -
Thanks for the rundown!
Just a few observations. First, Chris Myers seemed totally out of his element. No one asked Kyle Busch why he dropped out of the race. That was very odd. The drivers seemed to enjoy the racing,but as a TV viewer, I didn't see much "racing". We all know that Daytona and Dega involve picking partners at the very end of the race. But, it was a bit weird to see a bunch of 'pairs' of cars running around the track. Perhaps we should refer to such pairings as "Love Bugs"? I'm not sure what to expect next Sunday with twice as many cars on the track. Larry Mac was OK. DW wasn't as obnoxious as usual. Mike Joy goes a bit overboard with all his trivia. He wasn't a driver or crew chief so he's a bit disadvantaged when things start happening.
Used the DVR function that comes with Windows Media Center to watch every green-flag lap, restart, and crash replay in just under 1 hour. Enough said.
I wonder if Nascar told Ky. Busch to park it after his little restart stunt. Because it was the very next lap he took it to the garage.
@Anon 10:35
You are spot on about Kyle Busch. What did happen to him? I see (thanks Don) he only completed 41 laps
Veteran reporter Monte Dutton says he cannot wait to see which two cars will win the Daytona 500.
Now, that's funny!
Thanks for stopping by for the live race blog. Happy to take your comments post-race.
I liked the racing. The two car pairing was new to me and new to the drivers and that doesn't happen very often.
The booth was ok, about the same as last year.
The camera work has to realize they are racing in pairs and zooming out lets you see more pairs and more racing.
From Denny Hamlin on Twitter:
"Well I guess a rule is a rule but damn.. I just was trying to avoid a dega flip."
next sunday denny will stay above that line or he'll go high to pass could be a big wreck at the end next week..could be 2 pairs up front and a 3rd pair trying to thread the needle...or the back two cars pull out and try to make it 4 wide for the end
Booth was better than last year. Maybe they caught the replays that Speed did of some of their races from 2005/2006. Myers still needs to leave the buffoon at home and act like he does on the Showtime show.
Camera work/direction still needs a lot of work. Maybe not as bad as ESPN, but still not anywhere near good enough.
Racing in two's was just plain weird...
So...was that auto racing, or freight train racing?
Time to shrink the plates back again methinks - the result is awful nonstop bump drafting either way, but this was excessive. I expect that with speeds like this in the 500, if someone falls out of the draft at the wrong moment then they will pretty much get run over and start a Big One.
Another interesting thought: NASCAR's band-aid solution to make cars overheat faster didn't amount to a lot huh? Come back in the heat of July and tell me how that works again...
The coverage was OK, but the new graphics are a disaster for SDTV viewers like us - without a widescreen, good freaking luck reading anything on the ticker.
I'll cut FOX some slack. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. Either that or I'm just breaking out of Nascar withdrawal, but I simply loathe ESPN. Think they were caught off guard by all the 2 car stuff. You could have two mid pack groups of 2 overtaking one another and the speeds were as fast or faster than the leaders. Everybody seemed to be on their best behavior as far as comments. Guess the town hall meetings consisted of Nascar telling the teams not to be negative, that is if you believe they actually have town hall meetings.
I'd have to say this doesn't bode well for the 500, all this 2 car back and forth stuff. They'll lose half of the viewers by mid race.
Tune into SPEED for the trucks, then ESPN for the Nationwide race, muted, with MRN on the radio.
Based on the "excitement" of single dancing partners, I wonder if NA$CAR will "enhance" the rules before the 500?
Interesting how you can go to foxsports.com and watch the whole race over
I disagree with the Hate or Love of DW. I mean, I like the guy, but I am so tired of hearing him every race. He talks over everyone and he really takes away from the race experience. I like DW as a guy, but I with they would have brought in new talent. (and really..still with the boogity boogity boogity?)
I didn't watch the whole race just kept on going back and forth with other tv shows and I don't know whether Nascar will like this 2 car racing. My fav was the odd man out and got lapped. The booth wasn't too bad either.
Is it too early to be dis-interested in this year's season? I don't know if I can take FOX. Mike Joy is reduced to a babbling stat man. DW is DW, but getting more senile with age. Even Larry Mac isn't making much sense. This season is a lost cause.
I am kind of disappointed in the racing I saw last night. Sure didn't look like Daytona racing to me. Very bizarre in my opinion. The speeds of over 200 mph are getting pretty serious too.
Our local speedway has an event they call loose caboose racing one time every summer. What I saw last night reminded me of that type of racing.
I know that Daytona has become a race where you need a partner to push, but it's getting a little radical now. I am going to the race next week and I don't really know what I think of this current phenomenon of pairs of cars racing together for the entire race. Will we see 20 pairs of cars going around the track for 200 laps?
Seventh year attending and my comment usually after reading the posts is that TV is not showing the same race I'm watching. Not so this time. Both ARCA and Shootout were disappointing. The first 25 laps of SO were ok, everything else, not. In ARCA was apparent no one could pull out and pass.
I realize many don't like the "pack" racing, but that is what plate racing is/was. It is breathtaking to watch in person. Love the chess match aspect.
Watched practice on TV (DVR). Very apparent there was a meeting that said "tell the fans everyone is "excited" this year". Even KP said it, noting he is ususally a cynic :-).
Came back from SO and tried to watch VL. Stopped when Kenny started talking. Used to be a fan.
JD, confused by your comment of jet dryer catching fire and no mention. I specifically paid attention when it happened (on DVR remember). Mike Joy made a comment, then DW followed up. Maybe you had TV on mute....LOL.
I can't believe drivers are really happy with the 2 car tango. They must have been in same meeting with TV guys getting their "be positive and say excited" inocculation.
I find all the pre-race and the entire race with DW in the booth are really good if I make sure to mute the sound. Even the post race with Kenny is better muted.
I'll start out by saying I am not a fan of plate races. That said, the "racing" in the shootout absolutely bored me. Of course, that wasn't helped by some really poor camera work and bad decisions made in the production truck. They missed everything.
I didn't watch any of the pre-race stuff - except for what was on Fox (and I tuned in at 8:15 with the hope I'd miss most of it) since they don't give a real start time for the race, I'm stuck with having to watch if I don't want to miss the green flag.
Once again, Fox doesn't show us the finishing order and for some reason DW doesn't know the yellow line rule. Maybe NASCAR needed to simplify the rules rather than changing the points system.
Sorry but after that broadcast NASCAR had better hope it is raining or snowing in most of the country next Sunday because I will NOT sit through 500 laps of that nonsense next week.
Glad to see I'm not the only one already tired of DW's schtick. I have to say the best coverage all day yesterday was Speed's morning practice. Informative, but not condescending. The worst: ESPN's Nascar Now. Pretty sad when the season hasn't even started yet, and their entire broadcast is a compilation of interviews we've already seen.
I enjoyed the overall broadcast on FOX. Mike Joy needs to be in the booth for EVERY race, every week.
The colors and graphics were very good. To me, improvements were made by FOX to open up the screen a little more. Ticker & color coded elements are great.
The action on the track has me excited. Really enjoyed the 2x2 stuff AND enjoyed seeing 200mph once again. The cars were visibly faster to this NASCAR fan for 35 years. The sport "needs the speed" to create and bring back fans.
Worst thing NASCAR can do in the coming days is reduce the restrictor plate. The speeds are what will peak more interest. Just let this current plate package get through this 500 week. If changes are made, wait for the July race.
It's fast & I love it. As Ken Squire once said....
If you don't like going fast, there's always tennis !
And by the way, there should be NO Yellow Line on the last lap.
Only complaint about the new tickers is the fact that Labonte, Conway, Cope, etc. didnt have their real number styles and just had generic numbers. It looks lazy on FOX and Speed's part.
If anyone is reading comments on qualifying coverage, I was very impressed just now. Fox superimposed an image of Gordon's car on it's run over the top of Jr.'s. You could see the difference in their lines. I'm not big on gimmicks, but this one may be worthwhile.
I love the new graphics and the FOX sports music theme. Thought the broadcast in general was very good. Way too many complainers on this blog. NASCAR racing is the hardest sport to cover and I think FOX did a great job last night. If you don't like NASCAR or the way FOX does the race then go watch some stupid movie on TBS.
Thanks,
Eric in Las Vegas
Can't believe they were so proud of their dynamic ticker which included every gadget on earth...except a lap timer!
Agree with TheNewMVA about the lazy numbers, especially since it looked like they HAD them for use in some of their graphics, but couldn't be bothered for their ticker.
First off, I would like to apologize if anyone else here has the name of "Slick". I read this blog occasionally. Second, just checking in on a Sunday afternoon, I haven't had the time to go read all 346 comments (so far). But what I wanted to say, was that while watching one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s interviews yesterday, I was kinda surprised to hear him say (when he was asked about the fact that he was clean-shaven), that the "sponsors" (some or all) insisted that he not sport any facial hair.
And I believe that this is very on-topic on this site, where you all talk about the media. Sponsors obviously have a say as to how their driver is presented to the media. Nothing new here.
But my question is, where has all of the spirit and individuality and fun of NASCAR gone, when sponsors dictate facial hair?
I'm an original Dale Earnhardt fan, and sure I like and want his son to succeed, but I'm not all "ga-ga" over him. And yes, I cheer for him.
But what is happening here? Dale Earnhardt ("I'm not Dale Sr. --- my name is Dale Earnhardt") would never have stood for this. More cookie-cutter tracks, and cookie-cutter drivers (though I'm not calling Dale Jr. "cookie-cutter" by any means). Jr.'s father would have told them to "you know what"!
People ask about what's wrong with NASCAR.
I say "Momma let them boys, play some Rock'n'Roll". Let the drivers be themselves.
And Dale Jr., if you or any of your friends or associates are reading this, I say you grow a moustache just like your father had, for a while, or for as long as you want. Out of respect, for your Dad, and maybe as a a teensy-weensy bit of individuality.
To hell, with the sponsors' attempts to "de-masculinate" their drivers, and America.
It might even bring you some good luck.
Be your own man. And go get that Championship!
Keep 'er sunny side up!
Slick , from Suthun' Ontario, Canada.
***
@Slick
If u watched all of what Jr. said, it was his sister Kelley who wanted the beard gone -- and I have been told Pops Eury wanted it gone too.
During yesterdays qualifying Fox has a simple effect that I thought was very effective, the ghost car where they showed multiple cars qualifying and how rash car matched up.
I'm not a hamlin fan, but I think he should have stayed above the yellow lines and wrecked the entire field. That would have got NASCAR in the news.
I refuse to watch the 500 because NASCAR will choose the winner. Why waste the time watching when NASCAR chooses the winner, and it's not the first car across the line at the checkered flag?
The word verification is perfict. SCRUI!
Cheers, Larry
I meant to comment earlier on the broadcast, but just now got the time to do so.
I thought the broadcast was pretty good. Not a lot of gimmicks, just stick to the action and explain it. If I have only one complaint is they didn't tell who was shuffled to the back and why they weren't gaining any ground. But with all that was going on up front, I guess they didn't want to get away from that.
That shootout was good racing while the mute was on. Took me about 5 min. to get too much of DW. Waltrip was worse as worse can get, and I hope he knows what a total hindrance to Mike Joy he really is.
The race itself was alright, and the broadcast was average, but definitely had problems.
I tired of this last year and I am already tired of it again, is DW and Larry instantly assigning blame or telling us what happened in a wreck before we have had all, or even, half of the replays of the wreck. With the wreck involving Regan, Carl, and Jr. they must have had three different opinions of what happened within a matter of minutes.
We also had the problem of missing things live and seeing them on replays, and then missing other live things, such as crashes, during the replays. There were also some annoying in-car cameras at times.
Last, I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen it mentioned much that Denny Hamlin was almost completely beside Ryan Newman before he dipped below the yellow line. His actually 'pass' took place after he dipped below, but there is no way Ryan coming down would have spun Ryan completely sideways, Denny's nose was already at Ryan's front tire by that point. Denny could have stayed up I'm thinking without consequences, and he simply made a mistake dipping below.
Slick from suthin Ont... Yall don't sound like a suthener to we un's.
@Slick
If u watched all of what Jr. said, it was his sister Kelley who wanted the beard gone -- and I have been told Pops Eury wanted it gone too.
Hmmm, maybe I caught the tail-end of the interview, or watched another interview, but I definitely heard him say it was to please the sponsors.
Regardless, I still think he should go with the classic bushy moustache. And Jr. has had a moustache before, and other cool facial hair, but this this time he should keep the beard-trimmer away, and trim it with blunt scissors, or a sharp axe, like his old man probably did. A body-grinder would be even better. :)
And it would be an even cooler tribute, if several drivers decided to go with the "classic bushy". It would speak volumes. :)
Slick
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Last, I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen it mentioned much that Denny Hamlin was almost completely beside Ryan Newman before he dipped below the yellow line. His actually 'pass' took place after he dipped below, but there is no way Ryan coming down would have spun Ryan completely sideways, Denny's nose was already at Ryan's front tire by that point. Denny could have stayed up I'm thinking without consequences, and he simply made a mistake dipping below.
I've heard this discussed once or twice on one the post-race shows --- Victory Lane, I believe. But regardless, I respect Denny Hamlin for giving the benefit of the doubt, and for giving space, so as not to cause contact. Perhaps Newman slightly swerved down to "fake out" Hamlin. Apparently legal, but it could be called as forcing Hamlin out of bounds during a "real" race. Again, I respect Hamlin for not taking any chances here, but during the 500, he will hold his line. As he should.
Cheers !
Anonymous said...
Slick from suthin Ont... Yall don't sound like a suthener to we un's.
I know ... I'm just a race fan, but we tend to slurr our words on week-ends. :)
But rest assured, NASCAR is alive and well in Suthun' Ontario.
We have the same concerns as all y'all ; we want great racing, and want the drivers to not be turned into corporate cardboard cut-outs.
Cheers !
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