It's a tough time of the day with most of America at work. It's not available online from NASCAR or SPEED as a video stream. The rules are confusing and it's basically the NASCAR on FOX production team appearing on SPEED. Welcome to the Duels.
The twin qualifying races for the Daytona 500 are on SPEED. Krista Voda moves into the Hollywood Hotel in place of Chris Myers, as she has for several years. Myers is a FOX guy, not a SPEED guy. Other than that, it's Mike, DW, Larry and the FOX gang on TV.
RaceDay kicks off the coverage at 1PM with an hour special. John Roberts, Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace will be on the SPEED Stage with Hermie Sadler and Wendy Venturini reporting. RaceDay is supposed to have a new look this season, we will see.
FOX had a rough season last year and these races should be a sneak peek of what the Daytona 500 coverage will have in store. New in-car driver angles, more technology and additional team scanner traffic are what FOX said they would be delivering this season. Be interesting to see if they keep if for the 500 or use that approach here.
An edition of Victory Lane follows the second race on SPEED and is scheduled for 5:30PM ET. Roberts, Petty and Wallace are on the show.
This post will serve to host your comments on the SPEED coverage of the Gatorade Duels. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by. This is year five of TDP.
137 comments:
YOUPPI! Racin' All Day <3 it!
Watching SPEED right now... So terrific to hear and see Ken Squier. His perspective on Dale Jr. was spot on. He knows of which he speaks and I'm glad SPEED values his commentary.
Well. I guess I am stuck.
No cable, no stream, maybe the radio?
I wish NASCAR Media Group would join the Internet age and assist in getting the races streamed.
It's the modern way of living.
Does anyone nearby have a weather report for Daytona Beach?
Its in the 50s here...feels like summer!
Enjoy the races, everybody.
Disappointed to hear there's no live video streaming of todays Duels. No radio where I live either. Local station only carries the Sunday races. Guess I'll have to keep up on Twitterville.
Right. Isn't the Internet wonderful? No Duals on UK TV. No problem - the internet will provide.
So, I'm here and with you live for the Duals. Great picture too!
If Jr wins his duel, does he get the starting position back in the 500? Way I'm hearing it on radio is that the winner of the first duel will move up to P1 in the 500 since Jr has to move to the back. Have heard no mention of what happens if Jr wins.
Thanks.
Marsha - Iowa
Honestly, that Napa ad with Mikey and Truex is truely cringeworthy.
I thought track pass was free for the duels like it was for the shoot out. Went to Nascar.com and the button to select for the scanner is not highlighted. It is grayed out.
Jr. starts in the rear of the field regardless of where he finishes in the duals.
So tell me again why Myers is in the Hollywood Hotel on Fox rather than Krista?
I think Myers has comprimising pics of someone-that can be the ONLY reason I can think of. ;)
Gosh
Could Krita Voda be ANY WORSE? Tell us something we don't know!
Jeeeez, its gonna be a long day
NASCAR.com Trackpass is supposed to be free for Speedweeks. Can't get on it. Suggestions?
Who does a starting lineup from back to front?
just got in. Enjoyed the Anthem. Who was that guy that sang it? He was great.
Changed it a little towards the end but more like adding a harmony line as opposed to REWRITING the song. He should've sang at Super Bowl. Nice arrangement without being disrespectful imo.
No Directv Hotpass either. Drat.
I also thought the Anthem was great. Best I've heard in a long time.
@Al. Didn't Mike Joy last year say it was "short track style"?
The NAPA Lip-synching commercials are just creepy.
Found where to get the scanner.
Look at the main Nascar.com page and at the top over to the right it says - Track Pass in red. Above that is has 3 buttons. Track Pass, Watch now and Listen now. Click on of those buttons.
Stoppit with the novelty cameras already, guys. Dadgummit.
Do we have any team radio from that incident, TV guys? No, we are too busy with the gimmicky camera shots to do that.
Hello everyone! Throw back some Gatorade and lets go racing ;)
Say Jr is 23rd, ticker shows 17th
Marsha - Iowa
Well, already I can say this kind of racing is crap. And FOX hasn't learned or changed a thing.
This is supposed to be exciting?
Mike sounds much more energised this year.
There missing so much on the track. Did you see one of the two lead groups almost wrecked.
They missed Tony's car getting hot and the over flow was steaming out water.
This kind of racing is crap, imo!
I wish I knew why tight shots are used.
Camera work jumping around, no flow, just like last year.
No one in NASCAR television is as perceptive as Ned and Bennie were back in the day. Those two guys were on top of multiple stories that were playing out simultaneously. No one can do that now.
Of course, Larry Mac or any of these guys are going to say anything on the air, but this is totally NOT Nascar racing.
Hypothetical: If the front car ends up in the race in the transfer spot, and the guy behind is out because he's behind- how can you justify that? Since in this kind of racing, they're driving as one.
Totally BS.
Why do they insist on interrupting the commercial activities for what looks like some auto racing?
"I wish I knew why tight shots are used.
Camera work jumping around, no flow, just like last year."
The guys in the production truck do not understand the basics of a motor contest. Therefore they do not know what to highlight. They shoot the cars traveling around the speedway, but do not know why.
NASCAR has to unhook the cars. This Siamese racing is just too weird. They need to fix the aero - taking away the front air dam/ground effects would do it.
Interesting, huh gang?
Interesting is the word JD. Not sure it is exciting though.
I've dozed off once already.
Very interesting indeed. looks a little tricky.
It is different watching this. A whole new way to figure out how to win.
A lot of work on the spotters, too. They are having to "clear" two cars, not one.
This ain't going to fly on Sunday. I see a wreckfest.
" Anonymous said...
"I wish I knew why tight shots are used.
Camera work jumping around, no flow, just like last year."
The guys in the production truck do not understand the basics of a motor contest. Therefore they do not know what to highlight. They shoot the cars traveling around the speedway, but do not know why."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So true Anon.
May I add the tracker is HORRIBLE to read still. Colors are GARISH.
This HORRIBLE camera coverage ain't gonna cut it this season nor the 2 man tango is NOT fun.
If I wanted twosomes I'd watched paired figure skating.
Also if they NEVER show more wide shots & Don't stop with the in car &^%$#&!*! the ratings will PLUMMET more but nobody cares! They SAY they do but bottom line. TRUCK production is the issue.
I don't want to see elbow cams & more gimmicks
I do not care one WHIT about showing off new HD cameras.
Show us the freaking race Fox/ESPN/NASCAR
p.s. the gopher cam is also USELESS 3 seconds.
This blog has done NOTHING to help change things sadly.
When they do two screens why do they have the back ground moving. I saw this yesterday and it bothered me. Makes it harder to watch.
The changes to the car have not addressed NASCAR's concerns. NASCAR may have to resort to speed bumps on the racetrack. And concrete curbs to keep the drivers from looping around them like at the post office.
I'm reading a book I'm sooo bored..and MY guy is IN this race!
I hope the 500 isnt like this! Ill be honest im sorta sick of seeing 2 cars its been like this since testing started!!!!
anybody elese seeing terrible color chroma?
JD????
And the booth just gushing about the number of lead changes. But it's an artificial figure!
I can see this type of racing at Bowman-Gray Stadium...its called 109 U-Pull-It Chain Racing..
The booth monkeys have no idea what is happening on the track. They're so full of themselves telling stories that they don't pay attention. Pitiful!
No technical issues on my end.
I am at the race sitting in the sprint tower. I can't comment on the TV coverage but I will say that the racing live in person is exciting. Having said that, this caboose racing is not my favorite thing just yet. Its going to take a little while for this style of racing at Daytona to grow on me.
John Daly!
How does your picture look???
Mine is dark, bad chroma and soft
Just for the record, I'll have the island and business interests. Someone else can have the DirecTV subscription #dumbadverts
My system lost speed video about 4 times in pre race
you?
these guys should talk about fuel issues/tires with these extra laps
@ Chadderbox: It's always exciting at the track.
But this kind of racing hopefully will NEVER become the standard at Daytona.
@ anon @ 3:14....they've been saying the tires could go 100 laps.
Man, that was bad... If this is any indication for the 500, the viewers will be asleep by the first round of pitstops.
So much yakking from the booth on the telecast plus I don't know whether I want to see the 500 with cars 2 x 2 the entire race.
Well, this racing won't do anything to help Nascar's image problems. Any person new to Nascar would by saying WTH?
The cameras didn't show us what was going on in the race. The booth didn't tell us what was going on in the race. From the little we saw and heard, we don't know much more than when the race started. It's going to be hard to watch the 2nd race.
Looks like 2-man bobsledding, with sledders changing sleds.
I fear it will affect short attention-span fans on Sunday.
Let's hope we get tight shots/audio clips of driver's faces when that get Stephen W on their rear bumper.
I certainly hope they interview Regan Smith, we've had 2 drivers already who finished behind him.
Blocking is going to end up being a HUGE issue by the time we get to monday morning or possibly by tonight.
The booth stepping on each other is annoying. Let Mike Joy call the race.
Thought the booth did an horrible job of calling the race. Other than the leaders we never saw good shots of back in the pack ie 88 or 48 or 14. This is really a different kind of racing ummmm. Not sure if this will fly with the fans.
I'm listening to the Officials channel on NA$CAR.com Very Interesting, too bad it's got a pretty good delay, but the scanner function is working good for me. First time I've ever tried it. Kinda cool.
Now that one duel is done will the booth and the camera crew have a better idea how to do the telecast better for the 2nd one.
I won't say I like this 'Love Bugs' racing, but I don't dislike it as much as the large packs we're used to seeing at plate tracks. At least when there's an accident, it likely to affect a smaller number of cars because everyone isn't bunched up.
Face facts: the solution to plate racing is to knock down the banking. Since ISC didn't do that when they repaved, the only remaining non-plate way to hold down the speeds is to use the infield road course. Many NASCAR fans hate road courses, but I'll always prefer them to plate tracks.
Don't hold your breath Charlie
Hey back in time for the green flag Yeah!
could Krista PLEASE say "lay it all on the line" one more time please so we can break the record for most use of cliche's in a single telecast?
They must have given the camerawork to the backup team for the secpmd race.
Gotta hear the driver audio when he sees 77 on his rear bumper...
sorry Bat
I am not enamored of announcers based on looks........
If that seems childish to you, sorry
Poor Casey, boy that thing really popped big time
Interviewing Casey Mears at that moment was just uncool. His body language sitting on his window sill said it all. Leave the poor boy alone..
This two car draft thing, is by far the weirdest racing I've every seen.
Watch the track, not the monitors! Then you'd have seen Logano eat the wall.
Wow! Fox caught the Logano wreck! Very nice! Uh, not for Joey, however.
WHAT? J Logano was wrecking so they CHANGED camera angles ..that was weird.
Who the hello is making camera decisions. Sorry, I am repeating myself. I said I wouldn't watch but been off and on the tv. NOT compelling racing & cam work stinks.
Paging Mike Wells.. Come in please.
What is Mike Joy watching??!!! "Good Save"
I tuned in to watch a race, not to watch paint dry.
I turned the TV off and took a nap rather than watch the 2nd race.
This ain't racing.
Just can't get into the two car locked together deal. :-(
I am busy doing things around the house.
NOT into this racing. Horrible idea the hookups. It looks like a tow truck race. Just.Plain.Weird.
Heart breaks for Casey :( he looked & sounded so dejected
Poor JoLo
It' almost like a game with these camera shots, it's like hot potato, who can keep the shot the tightest, your turn, bang, zoom in, thats right nice and tight, make sure no one can figuar out what their lookin at.. WTH.. ugh!!
Not too sure this kind of racing is going to click with new fans, especially on TV.
I bet if your at the race that it is kinda exciting. You can watch your guy team up and go through the field.
Jeff Hammond .... Oh boy thanks for splaining to me why this is exciting racing.
The racing today has been more like the pre restrictor plate racing of the 1980's than any other superspeedway racing we have seen since. However, after two decades of forty-pack racing, I think the fans will reject this as 'not real superspeedway racing'.
Is anyone having trouble with Nascar.com RaceView? When I use the bird's eye view, it works fine. When I switch it to the virtual view. The view refuses to load.
I've been a Nascar fan for roughly 40 some years. Done a little racing myself. I've been watching the Duals. Just my opinion,but this isn't racing. I don't know what call it. You could have the most powerful car that's the best handling car driven by the most talented driver and by yourself, you'll be running mid-pack at best. Listening to the drivers and the guys in the booth leaves me shaking my head. Who's a better pusher? Can I get 2-3 other drivers to line up with me ? Sorry folks, this is pathetic!
Boy and they have that cool shot from the helicoptor or blimp, such a nice shot, At the restart the camera just kinda tilted down and zoomed in, Lord have mercy.
They should name co-winners with type of racing. No driver wins, he and his partner wins.
Imma thinkin' this Sunday I'll just go take a ride on my cycle and forget about the "Great American Race"...this is, as they say in Portugal, TOROS MERDE
Seems like the TV guys are knocking a little rust off.
Somebody tell Mike that Waltrip and Kvapil have already made this race, please?
Yeah they knew it was Greg Biffle's bumper cam they cut too,
zoom out, zoom out. do not use any cams. Use the blimp instead.
Got to hand it to them. This is the 2nd yellow flag we didn't miss.
Steve Wallace involved in a wreck. Who could have predicted it?
Osbornk, who could have predicted that Wallace would have an issue in this race?
Worst "racing" I have ever seen. But if you listen to the booth, you'd think it was the most exciting thing anyone has ever witnessed.
Brian K and Mikey too!
I.R.O.C. 2011
Poor camera work. Just think what it would be like if they didn't have replay.
That TV Show Dancing with the Stars?
This should be Dancing with the Cars Takes two to win just like human dancing.
Just weird.
Speaking of Weird, that mikey commercial shaking his booty like Elvis...ugh..and I like Mikey...sigh
Thos NAPA ads cause me to shop everywhere else. I don't want to contribute to their ad campaign in any way.
Yeah DW sez, "this ain't how their going to finish" Me: no this is how thier going to finish, like they were going to pull out or something, he who has the coolest running pusher win's
Good for Brian Kaslowski, being a Michigan boy and all.
Even MW last night on Twitter said he was sick of that spot! Thanks for stopping by everyone.
Congratulations to Kurtsie & Jeff on winning the Duels
Congratulations to BriKes on making the 500!
2nd race was much better than the first! For those who left your tv you missed out! Remember this fans you never leave Nascar cause the minute you do you miss somthing good! I wasnt into the first race but I still didnt give up on it!
I was disappointed that Speed failed to interview Regan Smith and I really don't believe this will be the most exciting Daytona 500 ever.
I lost interest in the first part of the second duel. Same as the first one. Had to make an effort to put down my distration with 9 to go.
Kyle Petty on Victory Lane said the racing wasn't great - I agree with him.
Racing not great. Camera not great. Expect rule changes tomorrow. Expect camerawork changes in 50 years time.
Speed missed the exciting finish to show a wreck and had very little overhead shots. I thought Speed knew how to cover a race?
A pathetic style of racing only
to be outdone by an even more
pathetic attempt at coverage.
They continue to ignore our
comments regarding the over used
bumper cams and low-level shots.
Thank goodness MLB is just around the corner!
52 yr. fan said...
A pathetic style of racing only
to be outdone by an even more
pathetic attempt at coverage.
They continue to ignore our
comments regarding the over used
bumper cams and low-level shots.
Thank goodness MLB is just around the corner!
Yep! once Cincinnati's pre season starts, I'll be listening on radio to them over NASCAR I'm afraid.
The camera work was ATROCIOUS..and this Car dancing stuff...odd.
Worst race ever!! And we were in the Sprint Tower, top row, can see every inch of the track. First race, total bore. Second race, little more excitement because the last 2 cautions tightened up the field.
Had 2 drivers, 1 in each race, on priorty on scanner. When there was no scanner conversation I had the audio for the TV on. We were not at the race they were calling.
The interesting part is listening during commercials as you don't hear the ads, you hear the chatter. Can't believe how they try so hard to script what they are going to say, follow when they come out of commericals. Trying to come up with clever ways to describe the debacle going on.
We drove 3000 miles for the 7th straight year to see exciting racing. This wasn't it.
The folks around us thought the same thing. We had a first time couple next to us. They were stunned.
Chadderbox said you could watch your guy go up through the field. Not what I saw. For the most part the "teams" that were up front stayed up front. Maybe jockeyed for position, but that was all. Seemed like an eternity.
I am so frustrated.
I can't imagine sitting through 500miles of this on Sunday. Maybe we will sell our tickets and go play golf.
Doesn't matter what time of day it is, auto racing is invisible.
As of 18:15, there are two sports stories on the front age of Google. Soccer & Hockey. Where do they rank in terms of TV viewers? Definitely lower than the top five.
We're four months into the hockey season and two months from the Stanley Cup. Hardly peak time in the sport. It's harder for me to tell what point the soccer season is at but the World Cup is in August.
Contrast those with NASCAR's position as being three days from their biggest event. If this were football or baseball there would be ten to twenty new stories on the main page every day for a week beforehand.
If you can't work the media, your sport has no chance to prosper.
Plus I'm having trouble on nascar.com finding the starting lineup of the 500 maybe they haven't posted it yet, but with all that stuff on there it's really crazy.
Listen,I'm happy for Brian Kesolowski, but you have to wonder when he finishes in the top five in the Duals. Might be a good omen though for Danica. She may finish on the lead lap and be up front in the Nationwide race. All kidding aside, the nastiest thing I've seen is that with the fast closing rates,you have the "pushing" car going 200 mph on the bumper of another car who can't see or judge the closing rate. Nascar has obviously lost all control of 'Cup' racing. They need to slow the cars down, get rid of the Go Cart suapensions with 3" sway bars, $6,000 radiators and turn the cars into RACE cars. Sunday's 500 has the makings of a total farce. The suggestions that the finnishing positions be awarded to 'pairs' of drivers was sadly,spot on! I groaned when I heard Marty Reids voice. Additionally, I refused to watch a minute of Race Day and Victory Lane. No way was I going to listen to that gang. Sorry, but I call them the way I see 'em.
Say what you will but Nascar still gets better ratings than any of those other sports besides football. Just cause its not covered dosent mean people dont follow and or watch! Go look at last years ratings Nascar still beat Hockey head to head last year and yes even during the NHL playoffs/finals... Baseball, basketball (up till the finals) and yes even Soccer! Let the media cover what they may thats just the norm now a days! Go pick up the latest ESPN the magazine and theres plenty Nascar
I was in the Sprint Tower today watching the races live in person. I was also listening to the TV telecast on my scanner. There is no question that during the commercials the booth talk about scripting what they are going to say. I could hear it on the scanner because the mics are live during the commercials and you can hear what the booth is saying. Do they do this on MRN? I don't know. But switching over to the MRN scanner channel is more exciting. They were calling the race on MRN that I was seeing live. The audio for the tv was awful compared to what I was seeing live. There were times the booth became fixated on certain things and missed all kinds of things. The wreck at the end of race #2 is a perfect example- Bayne and Ragan are wrecked in the infield and Waltrip is demanding the replay over and over and over again - no mention of what is going on with the wrecked cars and the drivers in the infield. I don't think Robby Gordon's name was mentioned, he was in race #2. The booth becomes fixated on one thing and it's like there is nothing else going on. I was at the race today and race #2 was really good. Lots of passing on the backstretch. Seeing the whole picture LIVE in person kept me from being stuck in the tunnel vision of the telecast. Race 2 was wild.
Just got done watching it on my DVR. Coverage wasnt up to par.
Im not a big DW hater, but he was awful today. I got so sick of him during race 2. He obviously didnt think before he spoke today. He was wrong about everything. Its sad the Larry Mac has become the forgotten man in the booth this year. But on the upside there was no boogidy and i did not miss it.
In race 1 the cameras only focused on the leaders and never really showed the guys trying to race in. In the past Speed has chosen to only show the go or go homers and not the leaders in this race. A split screen would have been appropriate.
The slow motion shots going to and returning from commercial were cool...at first. Kinda got old after the 50th time.
There should have been way more post race interviews after both races too, but I didnt record victory lane so I dont know if they did that then instead of during the actual broadcast.
This broadcast was nothing like the Bud Shootout at all. If this is a precursor to the 500 then were in for a rough ride.
can't believe I'm doing this, but...in some ways, I have to defend NASCAR here. They had to repave. No choice, you can't have potholes in the middle of a race. And all you have are a few tire tests to tell what's going to happen. What is it that they're supposed to do, exactly? I know there are some suggestions here, and maybe they should try. But I agree with Palmetto...I hate plate racing, but I can't say this was any worse. But as anon 4:50 said...people are used to that; it will be hard to please them. But with all that said--you guys are complaining because the booth is trying to make the race exciting? I thought they were as honest as they could be. It's just different. I personally will not miss it if they don't have 'the big one.' In fact, I'd love it if everything is all 1 or 2 car incidents. But I guess some people love seeing 20 cars in a crush of mangled parts. But I do agree, too much of 'in car' shots.
And can I just say, DW on the truck qualifying, way too much of the 'way back when' stuff. It's 2011.
Jonathan at 7:14 wrote:
"Say what you will but Nascar still gets better ratings than any of those other sports besides football."
You miss the point Jon. The fact is, those NASCAR ratings have been declining every year for the past 4 while NHL and NBA ratings are climbing. According to this weeks Sports Business Journal, fan interest in NASCAR is also declining, particulrly among "AVID FANS"!!!
The "tandem" nose to tail pairings yesterday were the worst thing on a NASCAR track I've ever seen. As bad as a wadded up pack of 43 "plate" cars has been, this is far, far worse.
What I fail to understand is why NASCAR doesn't adopt a rule that reduces engine size to a small block V8 that puts out 500 horsepower but can run with a 4 barrel carb, no plate, so that when it moves into clean air it generates more power, not less.
NASCAR is in enormous trouble. The NBC/Comcast merger is going to propel IndyCar to the top of their motorsport agenda, with a production staff ad production executive force who, unlike FOX, understand how to produce based on a sport's merit and not relying on rodents,annimated robots,Boogity-Schmoogity or the Hollywood 'Brothel"
I like plate racing, especially in person. I do NOT like the big one or even little ones. I like "racing"...all kinds.
Had our magarita party last night with group we attend with. We all understood the issue is because of the repave, which was totally necessary. Just thought NASCAR should of figured this out before Speed Weeks.
With that said, couldn't find anyone that enjoyed the race. Others also commented on some of the "manufactured" enthusiasm of the booth as they also listened to TV audio on scanner.
Also, there wasn't one time I could recall the crowd rising or cheering/booing/yelling as one as they have in the past. Basically everyone stayed stuck to their seat except for restarts. Even then not everyone stood.
I put up with Waltrip during the duals for around 5 min. He is just awful. Too bad you have to watch without sound, but it's better than nothing. (radio fades out too much)
What was just hilarious was hearing Kyle comment that Mikey made a "shameless plug" for his book during an interview. WELL done Kyle...
I watched the Duels off of my DVR last night (yes, I have a DVR again...hooray!). As my time was limited, I did not watch any of the pre-race or "halftime" coverage but did watch all of the race coverage itself.
As I said during the Shootout, in most cases, I would forgive any TV sports entity for mistakes made during its first few telecasts as they throw off the rust and get used to any new personnel. As an example, just watch any pre-season NFL telecast and see how many flubs and gaffes there are.
However, knowing the history of the Fox crew (even though they were on Speed), I am not inclined to be so generous as I think this is a big sign of what is to come. Very often, the commentary did not sync up with what was being shown on the screen. All three announcers (but especially Joy and Waltrip) seemed to be far behind on noticing action and trends that began as much as ten laps earlier.
Worst of all was the great shift in focus from the whole point of the Duels -- who is going to make the Daytona 500. They spent what I felt was an inordinate amount of time showing the leaders play swap while there was plenty of action in the trailing pack that was far more dramatic in who would make the show.
Is it wrong to follow the leaders? No, absolutely not. There was indeed action up there that was about as interesting as it's going to get with this "love bug" style of racing. It's just that, compared to past years' coverage, I was just highly disappointed at the change in focus as I found watching who was going to get into the big show much more interesting than who wins an important but still non-points-paying race.
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