The substantive changes in the NASCAR on FOX telecast of the Daytona 500 were apparent from the start of the pre-race show. Then, the green flag dropped.
FOX impressed for the entire hour before the race as the network unveiled a new infield set that allowed Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip to leave the sterile confines of the Hollywood Hotel and get out among the fans.
Myers dropped the act he has perfected over the years playing the fool and instead brought his professional TV presence to the program. It made all the difference. Waltrip was not in charge this time and Myers did a tremendously effective job of directing traffic before the race.
As this is the first race of the season, FOX again mixed some features designed to provide an update for casual fans with news and some entertainment. The entertainment is part of the Daytona TV deal. The features worked to remember the history of this race and the anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s passing.
This was the most effective and focused NASCAR on FOX pre-race show in four years. Not only for Daytona, but for any race covered by the network. The power of having happy fans shown on national TV at a NASCAR race cannot be underestimated.
Martina McBride delivered a tremendous version of the national anthem and the Thunderbirds on the flyover made it almost perfect. Then, FOX encountered the issue that many believed was going to deeply affect the race this season. Even after attempts by NASCAR, the only way to race was in teams of two and that was the order of the day.
Despite bringing super slo-mo and a thermal imaging cam, FOX was thoroughly handcuffed by the actual racing on the track from the drop of the green flag. The two car drafting partners completely changed the scoring, call of the race and the ability of TV to choose the pictures.
Darrell Waltrip continues to be a powerful presence, but his on-air comments are now often wrapped in personal emotion and contain opinions based on family, friends and politics. Waltrip had a very long week working for SPEED, but to his credit he stayed focused on the endless on-track issues as the saga unfolded.
Mike Joy continues to be a presence in the booth that brings a balance to this team. Once again this year, he allowed the comments of others to be heard in full while filling-in the details and providing the commentary that the sport has come to know so very well.
The FOX production team tried early on to repeat the pattern of in-car cameras and tight shots, but the racing on the track made that impossible. Wideshots were the order of the day, simply to be able to see the two-car groups gaining speed and then passing each other.
The pit reporters were muted, only because tires were not an issue and there were many chances for teams to get fuel. Updates on drivers out of the race were done in a timely fashion and the questions were on target. It was not an easy task to explain to the viewing public exactly what was going on.
As expected, the close of the race was a mess on the track. TV followed the chaos, it was explained as it happened and the final portions of the event were commercial free. We may never really know what FOX had in mind for this event, because the two-car drafting handcuffs were placed on them early and never removed.
After every race we take an opportunity to allow you to offer your comments on the Spint Cup Series telecasts. This is a rather unique post because of the nature of the racing, but here we go. Happy to have your comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Daytona 500.
To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
111 comments:
disappointing that dale jr is the second interview fox is doing.. come on fox...interview leonard wood..also dissapointing jr's interview is longer than Bayne's
Why are they not interviewing Glen or Leonard Wood. I'm sure the fans would love to hear from one of the two guys
RETARDED
The Jr. interview was totally inappropriate. At the end of the race he was a nonstory and there were a bunch of people who would have been a more appropriate interview. How about the crew chief? They always seem to get JJ's crew chief before the wheels stop turning.
What about a interview for David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte?!??!?!
They want the winners & consistent drivers Pure and simple
David Gilliland? Bobby Labonte?
Bobby Labonte top five finish....no interview??
David Gilliland....no interview?
Good God, FOX, you have ten minutes!
how about all 3 winners from this weekends race get 0 points due to the new rules...it is a different world
In almost five hours of coverage, you could count the mentions of David Gilliland on one hand. After finishing third, they still can't be bothered to at least give us an interview? BOO
Considering how post race coverage is, boy I wish SPEED would air Victory Lane live.
Is it necessary for a hour and a half pre race show but only a 15-20 minute post race show??!?!?!
Just a public service announcement. Ryan Burr is hosting SportsCenter, so it is safe to watch.
If Fox could somehow be similarly handcuffed for the remainder of their schedule, it might actually be as passable and somewhat decent as it was today. However, I have a bad feeling that the usual monkeyshines will return next week and were only held off today due to the combination of the style of racing and it being the 10th anniversary of NASCAR's darkest day.
Still, I found them to be slow to react to many situations and that DW was often cutting off good points that were on the way from Mike Joy. Larry McReynolds seemed almost invisible to me as DW held court.
To NASCARONFOX TBayne can't give Jimmie Johnson a run for the championship..he's a NW driver!!
Don't know why they bailed with less than 7 minutes to go until the top of the hour? Before 6 PM ET? Plenty of more people could have been interviewed. They left the cherry off the top of a very interesting Sunday today.
They should have interviewed the wood brothers before they went to Jr. Plus Jr's interview was just his usual ramble.
Plus - Chris Myers dropping his dummy act -- I like the professional much better. Plus, the interaction with the fans for the pre-race.
Plus: Mike Joy called the race.
When they used the aerial shots, the camera work was good. I'm not interested in bumper cams or in car shots -- they tell me nothing of what was going on during the race.
Negatives - Fox seemed to miss a lot of the action - why show us pit stops when there's a caution out before they tell us what happened to bring out the caution? That's the cart before the horse.
DW did OK at the beginning but fell back into his usual pattern of unprofessional broadcasting. Color doesn't require bias. I know he won't change - not at this point in this life -- I don't think he can. It's frustrating because he can be a good guy and has a lot to offer but I don't think the race broadcast is the place for some of his stuff.
Pit reporters - pretty good.
I was bored for a good part of the race - the 2 car tango, pairs racing, cars dancing, whatever you want to call it - wasn't exciting and gee they still managed to wreck big even without the big packs. Wiped out half the field before lap 35 -- wow, yeah, if I'd paid money to be at the race, I'd have been really upset.
all the garbage about # of lead changes, blah, blah, don't matter.
The saving grace for it all - Trevor Bayne and the Woods Brothers car in VL. Without that, this race would have been worthless.
So NASCAR and Fox come out smelling like a rose just by luck.
Now AB, Rusty and DJ are live in the ESPN Daytona studio. Maybe they will do a real post-race show.
Hey ESPN intervewing Leonard and Glen Wood!!!
Nevermind. ESPN had the wrong names
First of all - thrilled Trevor Bayne won - how exciting!! : )
Bobby Labonte was ran great - we didn't hear a word from him. David Gilliland - nothing. The Wood Brothers!!!! NOTHING??
Hell, they barely talked to Trevor...
I'm over on ESPN now, watching interviews...
I did notice the pre race difference and enjoyed the show. I think Darrell is who he is and his entire heart and soul is wrapped up in this sport and if that means we get the view through Waltrip eyes, well, those eyes have been through and seen a lot of NASCAR history. I'm willing to cut him some slack.
Well it wasn't that bad, its only the first race.
The thermal cam really needs temperatures -not dumb words like hot, & yikes. What an insult!
If they can't/won't change that & only use it under caution - my heartfelt prayer is please let it join the glowing hockey puck & draft trakker
Less tight shots, bumper cams & in car cams pointing at the driver. Those cam on the car pointing forward are fine, the rest need a rest.
Does anyone have Mike Joys address?
I want to send him duct tape for DW
who surpassed all known logic with his comment on the restarts
"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon."
What?!?
That was one of many, along with explaining for his family & friends.
Post race -such as it was- is still very lacking. JR wasn't even in the top 10, yet is interviwed.
I was ok with it - since I was able to get work done around the house during the commercials.
Not a great TV experience
A solid C
Everyone turn to ESPN. Carl Edwards describing 500 miles of terror.
WOW!
I agree with you that the racing forced FOX to keep their shots wide. The camera work was pretty good for that reason.
Mike Joy was a pro as usual, and his thrilling call of the final laps added to my anxiety watching the racing. Larry had a strong day as well, as a balance between DW and Joy.
I also agree DW has lost balance. He just talks over people to say whatever sounds right to him. I would not mind Kyle Petty as a replacement.
The Hollywood Hotel did not bother me today. The pit reporters did a fine job. It is obvious the drivers respect this team of reporters the most.
As FOX continues to push NASCAR as a legitamate sport, the childish Digger cartoon erases all his progress as FOX returns from commercial. The Heat-Cam (or whatever they call it) did little but show the obvious that a tire and car is hot.
I am disappointed the coverage left many stories untold until Victory Lane, hours away. Less Pre-Race, more Post-Race.
Overall, what a thrilling finish. This is the energy that NASCAR needed. Before the season started, I only planned on watching a few races this season due to a lackluster 2010 season. But now I plan to keep watching to see how this season will unfold.
* I must also add, isn't it sad that Bayne got his first win in Cup instead of Nationwide? This win really made a joke out of that series.
I'm in agreement with everyone else. Too much post-race time was spent with the talking heads and several people who should have been interviewed wee not.
I don't think Fox had a choice. The commentators expect to be able to deliver their summaries. Every sport does this. They expected the usual guys at the front that have been interviewed hundreds of times, so they didn't schedule time for them.
Junior has a lot of fans, he had to be interviewed. I wouldn't have done his before Edwards and the Busch brothers. I'm disappointed that they didn't put Leonard & Glen Wood on air.
The many cautions didn't leave Fox a lot of time at the end for extensive interviews. That's their fault. This close racing was expected to bring a lot of crashes and they should have added an extra half hour to the telecast when they booked it. The commentators could have been more brief in their summaries so that we could talk to more drivers.
I liked the two car drafts better than the parallel freight trains that we usually get at restrictor plate tracks. I knew it would be tight racing and anticipated that some favorites would crash out and shake things up. I expected that the finish would be a two car battle at the very least, rather than one car with a long lead.
I didn't like the camera work. They needed more wide shots and overhead views. Bumper cams are generally a waste of time. It was a difficult race to cover and I'll give Fox the benefit of the doubt. I hope they improve for the rest of the season.
I actually thought we had a great last 10 laps due to paired drafting. Didn't expect that.
Fox had a pretty solid broadcast with the exception of DW talking over everybody. Larry Mac was hardly heard from. The racing did force Fox to change the way that they presented the race but it was for the better IMO.
Camera work was great (if you don't think so go back and look at some old races in SD).
Pit reporters were not used enough.
Cautions and commercials just did not fall right for Fox but what can you do, the days of leaving commercials to go back to racing are way over.
Really happy to get the season started. Feels good.
Not much to add.
FOX: Please stop making us beg for what should be common sense in broadcasting a car race 101: More Wide Shots Please!
Let us see the race at home.
Bumper cams? useless & over used.
In car cams/fender cams, useless. For replays LET US SEE the entire accident and not just in XMo time.
In car cams are ONLY USEFUL for replays to let us see what a drive saw for wrecks. This continues to fall on deaf ears as Helen Keller is running the truck camera choices :(
I listened to MRN a lot as their voices are like comfort food to me..as is Mike Joy's. I do not dislike the Fox booth but honestly, I wish they could learn a bit of better grammar. DW is good when he can distance himself and not make it all about him. But he isn't going to change & has a good heart.
Give us pictures like we had from SPEED for the Camping World Series & I'd be glued to my tv every NASCAR race. Instead we had gimmick cams mentioned by me and others.
That said, the ending was the saving's grace. Loved that an underdog team won. Congrats to Trevor & the Woods brothers. Sweet ending on the emotional anniversary of 10 yrs ago at Daytona.
I guess Ill be the minority I thought the broadcast was ok. lightyears ahead of anything ESPN has broadcast during their tenure. Best pre race show ever. Yeah FOX coulda been better but it was pretty good. Congrats to Trevor Bayne thats the biggest upset in history.
Oh and the gopher has got to go.
The coverage of this race was just a continuation from last year - it is stale. Unless I read on JD's site that something new has happened, I will see you all when TNT takes over. MC
Well we missed the interviews on ESPN but leaving the FOX broadcast without interviewing the 3rd place finisher or Leonard Wood is terrible. Just shorten the pre-race 15 or 20 minutes and FOX would have much more time to do the post-race interviews.
I don't mind the Gopher.
I think NASCAR should award 5 points to any driver that drives him over.
As long as he or she doesn't advance their position, or course. ;)
***
I wish they could learn a bit of better grammar.
"Grammar? Hell, I hardly knew her.
Hope she don't mind." :)
***
Im wondering what happended to the Side-By-Side replays that FOX used last season. I loved those because you could show a replay and show the racing LIVE in another box. Couldnt believe how many times they went to full screen replay today in the middle of some intense action to show us some non-sense like a car getting loose. Overall not a bad broadcast. Pre-race sho was superb. Im glad they got rid of the tight shots.
They shouldn't just be handcuffed, they should be roundly proscecuted as an accessory to murder. FOX is killing this sport.
I hope the FOX producers and the announce booth take 30 seconds and listen to themselves during the last half of the last lap.
In broadcasting we call it an "air check". Listen to the tape and see how you sounded.
Out of Turn 4, the call "should be" ALL Mike Joy. Instead, DW and Larry Mac sounded as if they pushed Mike Joy into another county and they took over the stretch call.
Sounded flat out terrible !
I truly enjoyed the race and the broadcast. But the final 15 seconds from the booth ruined it.
If the FOX Thermal Cam would've been on Mike Joy after the finish, he would have been RED HOT / YIKES !
I'm willing to give credit to any station or network that at least gives a dang enough to broadcast the races.
They will get better with time.
Or not.
If not, then it will fall back to the original stations that did it. They're still around. Kinda. They now feature squirrel huntin' tips for hunters in May, to practise and get in shape for November.
Ok, just kiddin'.
But seriously, even if NASCAR can't match NFL or whatever ratings, who cares?
The serious fans aren't leaving. Whether we can go to races or watch on TV. We love this racing.
Maybe time to worry less about "expansion" and new fans, and concentrate on the original passion and fire of this sport.
Just my opinion. As a fan.
***
***
Loved the new pre-race.
Loved the new "toys" Fox brought to the broadcast.
Loved most of the camera work.
Hated Darrell Waltrip's constant, over-dramatic, outward CHEERING for "his favorite" drivers.
Darrell Waltrip, really and truly, is the anchor that sinks the FOX boat, every Sunday. It's a tired act. His opinions are no longer credible, or meaningful, to any NASCAR fan with any knowledge of the sport. He's nothing more than a cartoon character.
Pre-race was great! Ditch the HH-no place for it anymore. Then the race started...I lasted for awhile, but then DW just got on my last nerve & had to switch to MRN. Sorry to miss the in-car radio transmissions for that. And was LM even there??? I tape the end of the race & listen to radio. When I played it back, poor Mike Joy was robbed of a great call at the end. I think the camera work wasn't sooo good-too many bumper cams as usual. I give the race a C+.
But it was a storybook ending! What a great kid! Not enough driver interviews & leaving the air 6 or 7 mins early-criminal..:(
Golly. The comments. Um, eberybody. um EVERYBODY, I have seen since the end of the race has been smiling.
YuKno, what could be a better tribute to RDE,Jr?
Reallly. Really what could?
Everybody is smiling. 1998
kenny the klown backtracking on VL about nascar needing jr to win.
sounds like you had fun, amcient! LOL based on the typing
I enjoyed the race today and felt Fox did a good job in covering it.
Gina
Ancient Racer had fun? is that what they are calling it now :) ..having a few adult beverages or tough light to see tiny smartphone keyboard...but who is RDE? and I missed the 1998 reference. . .
Slick
I thought that joke was more about liquor :-0 but I wildly digress....speaking only of adult beverages, of course.
I had on MRN until the last few seconds of race so didn't notice any problems in the FOX booth like y'all seemed to. Just SWEET ending and AMAZED JPM made it in the top 10 after his two wrecks!!
It did STINK how they went off the air early w/o mo interviews. I forgot to mention that rant. Ongoing problem all year, all the time.
Lather, rinse, repeat there, too!
The pregame show actually was a nice step up from years past.
Sophia
RDE is Ralph Dale Earnhardt the full name of Dale Sr. winner of the 1998 Daytona 500
OK, our guests for the race just went home, so I can read the comments on TDP. If it weren't for Trevor and the Wood Bros,the race would have been a real snoozer regardless of the lead chabges. It aint raing! The booth was very slow to catch the accidents. DW talked WAY too much. 100 hours of broadcasting and predictably,the race was a flop. I'm glad its over. Fortunately, a star is born!!
Test.
Check ... one, two.
*
Great stuff, Ancient.
1998 is a part of our Soul.
***
Yes, Sophia. There is an RDE.
And an RDE, Jr. and an RDE, III.
It was fun to be there. Mayhaps not so much at home. But the end was good, the two weeks came off quite well even though it is really 3 1/2 weeks.
I think everyone here will leave happy except the eurotr**h who do not know if their next stop is in Bahrain or soemwhere else I cannot afford, but which I bet has bedbugs. ('Ugh!")
Yes, Sophia there was a RDE. There was, then another. And yet another still.
But I do not have any of their gear. :>{D)
Mr Editor -
Broadcast suffered by not adjusting for nature of race which had been known for more than week and reinforced in Duels ...absence of Digger references welcomed, just wish he had pulled DW in with him when he went back into his hole ...in retrospect, 4-car were tolerable but lacking info on cars just out of shot - where BLabonte and Bayne spent much of the race ...a real PXP pro - Barney Hall brought them home in style ...DW & LM should be reprimanded for having 'air-jacked' the finish from Mike Joy
Walter
Did DW not say a word for the entire 3rd lap or did they shut off his mike? That would be a long time for him saying nothing.
Salt & ARacer
Thank you. I wondered later if it had to do with Ralph. Thanks for clarification guys :)
p.s. Listening to WTunnel extra & Dave mention to a caller, ESPN based their entire NW race on the fact that Danica Patrick was in it. Ha! Calling it like he sees it. LOVE DAVE!::
Good job by FOX today but a couple things bothered me. DW not letting Mike Joy call the finish was not cool and Krista Voda needs help in Victory Lane. She totally botched the Michael Waltrip victory lane interview for the truck race and she really screwed up today by not interviewing Leonard Wood who was "right there".
The race ran long due to all the caution flags and here on the West coast FOX had to get to re-runs of COPS. SO that's why FOX couldn't interview more drivers at the end of the race.
I liked that Digger only showed up a couple times. Apparently Larry Mac is not allowed to say "reach up there and pull those belts tight one more time" but DW is still allowed to cram in "boogity boogity boogity".
I also like the new heat cam thingy, that was cool and the FOX Sports/NFL music was a good idea too.
Overall I'd give FOX a B grde for the broadcast.
I have been watching since races were shown on FILM weeks after the event. While I've never raced stock cars I am a trophy winning ex-racer and I know a lot about racing and am an expert mechanic and car builder. I for one enjoy FOX and DWs commentary. I do agree too many bumper and in car shots and WAY not enough wide shots.
Like many other racers (who were there) commented today, this was an exciting and entertaining race.
Anon
p.s.YES! you are so correct about Krista. I wish they'd have Steve Byrnes in VL. I think he would've backed off a crying Waltrip on friday..and he's just more in tune...A sense of decorum would've been nice at the moment.sigh.
It STANK Fox rushed off the air without a Wood brothers interview (among others, but the reporters can't control when they leave the air!)
Not to sound like a female chauvinist but i like a male reporter in VL + voice is easier to hear.
Steve seems to have more finesse than many...
My housemate & i both cringed friday night as KV pushed Mikey to speak as he hugged Macy & truly appeared to want a moment of PRIVACY.
I know Steve is worked a LOT being on Hub and all....but..
#FemaleChauvinstSophiaSorry
While reloading to check the comments, twice; I had the fortuitous pleasure of getting the "word verification" words of whalist and awasom.
I immediately thought about two of my favorite drivers :
Jimmy Spencer, and Dale Earnhardt. :)
***
Margaret--in response to something Dillner said on Speed Center I asked Steve about it. I forget his exact words, but Dillner said essentially that Trevor (or anyone) could switch which series they were running for. Steve said that yes they could but the points start from the time of the switch and aren't retroactive. So if he ran well & was in the Top 20, he could still have a chance at being a wild card if there aren't other drivers not already in don't have more than 2 wins. Happy was in the top 10 missing 2 races his Rookie year so it can be done if they get a sponsor to run the full schedule soon.
Have not been a fan of Fox NASCAR broadcasts in the past, but today was one of their better, if not best, efforts I've seen in years. Tried to focus on the action and not let the subjective stuff get in the way of enjoying a very compelling Daytona 500 race. I was not disappointed.
As far as FOX's coverage of the race - Daytona is its' own special beast, and they should be given a pass for the choices of camera action and pit reporter. Hopefully they will shine in Phoenix this week.
Well due to moving and not having a reliable source of internet, television and my computer on the verge of death, I manged to find a way to watch the race and in of all things: HD! That being said while the pictures were good, they weren't great. The "wideshots" they used were horrid in my opinion. Only being able to fit 8 cars where they could have had 16. The booth on several occasions missing cars get out of shape and never following up. They stayed in their story box and followed their typical "favorites" M.O.
Would have been nice to see them talk about Brian Kez before the race and before he wrecked. He got one blurb before he wrecked. That was it. Shame on them. Blaney only got love because he has too many fans to ignore and got pushed by Jr. Once he faded though, not another word was said of him.
No interviews of 3rd and 5th. None of 7th or even the guy that finished 10 from 3 laps down?
I guess since they figure they have Victory Lane, that they can use that as their post race show which is a crying shame. I think ESPN actually had a better post race show and they weren't even covering the race!
All in all though FOX was adequate today. I am picking at alot of little things here. The camera shots appear to be what they are and are that way for all 3 networks alike. Ah the HD age sucks in my opinion in that respect. Pre race show was pretty solid but did lack depth in the driver interview department. If only they took from Krista's cue from the truck pre-race. More drivers!!!!! Though that was the new focus for TV anyways?
Props to Trevor Bayne. Honestly anyone who was in that top 10 at the end would have been a great story in one way or another but it does seem fitting the most special story of all was that young 20 year old kid from Tennessee who 3/4ths of the way through last year was out of a ride due to sponsorship. Think OUT! is wishing they would have stuck with this guy? I'm sure MWR knew what they had.
I enjoyed the racing, enjoyed the event as it unfolded. Made for a heck of day. Excited about Phoenix before they screw this track up with a total makeover by November.
--David
After the euphoria of Bayne's victory dies down, the sadness of David Ragan's mistake is going to become a year-long story. He's likely in his last year on a strong team if he doesn't win a race, and he walked away from a very good chance of winning the Daytona 500. This could become a tragedy that haunts him for the rest of his life.
I didn't catch the infraction at the time. I got so used to the lead car really being two cars, that I didn't notice jumping ahead of Bayne qualified as a "pass". I have a feeling Ragan saw it the same way. This racing was very strange.
FOX showed commercials during 1st green flag pit stops of the season, with all the new changes we couldn't get a feel for the new pit times! Hard to follow some cars with blimp shots! Why did Smoke & Mark fade so far back at the end?
To put this all in perspective, in 1970, I bought a ticket to a closed circuit presentation of the Daytona 500 in a movie theatre in Memphis. Think the ticket was about $20. Screen was big but quality was very poor and then we lost picture for 30 minutes or so. No adult beverages to pass the time so just wait and grumble.
At the time thought that it was super to see it on the big screen, just like being there.
My how the times change.
Maybe what we have now just needs a little tweaking.
I thought overall Fox's coverage was pretty good considering what they were dealt. The negatives are the same things we've seen the previous 10 years. They were too slow to switch to a spin, ignoring anybody not in the top 10, not paying attention to a driver off the pace such as when McMurray suddenly slowed down. That was finally mentioned 10 minutes later. The choice of post-race interviews was poor.
Larry Mac was not as talkative as he usually is. Maybe the weekend had him down, not really sure. Mike Joy was really good except for a couple of small mistakes like when he thought Kasey Kahne was Brian Vickers.
The pre-race show was good. I normally don't watch those, but did yesterday with it being the first race in a few months. I doubt they'll do it, but they really need to have all remaining pre-race shows outside and in front of fans.
Had my driver not been in the mix most of the day, I'd have had to turn on MRN because they certainly didn't seem to be covering the whole field. I was just lazy and left them on--DW's boogity stuff is just embarrassing.
Has it ever occurred to anyone that the Woods declined to be interviewed (perhaps wanting to enjoy their moment)? Maybe they decided to let the younger set do the talking. I choose not to condemn the reporters without knowing.
Dannyboy--many of us remember watching film of the races on Wide World of Sports. Having raced and knowing about engines doesn't mean you know more about watching a race on TV than any of us. Just saying. Personally, I didn't mind it; it was just different. But I hate plate racing, and I recognize that many people enjoy it (for reasons I can't fathom. As far as I can see, the only 'excitement' is in waiting for the big wreck.) I'm sure come Talladega, those of you who love it can all get your fix of freight train pack racing.
dw. will you please shut up once in a while. it almost seems like he has a memo thar says"never let a second go by with talking". and the boogty boogty crap. its time to end it. its annoying.
and nascar its time to end the religious crap before every race. it makes nascar look like its only for uneducated hicks.
almost didn't watch I was so fed up and burned out my the announcing teams of the truck and nationwide cars. why can this sport's announcers make personal picks for favorites and cover those drivers ad nauseum. i want impartiality. add to junior missing his pits in the nationwide race and the idiots doing the race blaming everyone and everything but junior. don't have anything against junior, but he missed the pits. he was driving the car.
i want to watch nascar, but can not take another season of waltrips and boogity, boogity. wife and i nearly hurt ourselves lunging for the mute button
Didn't see the FOX broadcast as was driving on the road, so listened to MRN.
Wasn't sure I would watch it even if I could as the last few years had about done this long-time fan (Wide World of Sports vintage) in.
For me, Trevor Bayne/Wood Bros/21 win basically "saved" this season.
It was fun to watch the late NASCAR NOW and hear Bayne, his parents, the Wood Brothers all tell their stories.
Bayne's parents telling about having to sit in the stands to watch the race, the crowd figuring out who they were and pulling for Trevor, then when he won, going wild, etc was special.
Course I don't think any of that got reported by the primary broadcaster - probably wasn't on their script. But if it had - FOX would be sitting on a gold mine.
Eddie Wood choking up telling about considering folding, how ashamed they were, how Ford came in to right the 21, Ford on their pit box all day, etc. That's what its all about.
To me this is a side of NASCAR that I've not seen in a long time - folks who love racing getting to do it at the highest level and loving it. People, not production. Racers, not showmen. Genuine, not contrived. Real, not a show.
I'll watch now, but not because of who is covering it, but for a few hours Sunday it became real again.
Fox production value continues to be very good. I think they could have done something a little different with the thermal camera and would have been an added bonus instead of an annoying disctraction.
The Fox Broadcast team is AWFUL. I was a DW fan as a driver and he used to do a good job when he would do a Busch race from time to time while he was still a driver. No he makes some head scratching comments almost by the minute. As was stated he lets personal feelings get involved too much. Anything that happens on the track happened to him or Mikey at some point the past 70 years.
Don't get me started on Mike Joy, he is awful! He has always been awful going back to his days on CBS. I assume he will always be awful. Find Bob Jenkins or someone. He tells half the story at times, forgets things when they go to something else and never comes back to it. I didn't hear his normal references to the Northeast modifieds but I assume I just missed it.
Was Larry Mac there yesterday? I could barely tell.
Was glad to see Krista Voda doing the winner's circle interview. She does a good job. She is very professional in what she does and seems to have good knowledge of what is going on.
Dr. Dick is awful, he should have retired when those hats he wears went out of style in 1975. I didn't care much for him on TNN and hasn't gotten any better since.
In all fox has some very good pieces and David Hill does a wonderful job getting everything going. They have some horrible commentators that take away from the broadcast as a whole and make it unbearable to watch at times. Overall you have to call this a FoxSports Fail simply because.
Thank god for NASCAR trackpass and twitter so that I can follow the race from home and know whats going on.
I love the fox team, they do great. ESPN needs to change it up. Allen Bestwick needs to be up there, Andy and DJ could stay. Rusty sounds out of place, talks to much. ESPN has no chemistry like fox. everything flows with fox. DW does a great job. My little brother said to me this morning "that was the first race i've every watched from start to finish, whens the next one, i'm watching it" he is 13
What broadcast were you watching? Even most of your followers on this site disagree about the DW comments you wrote.DW is out of control and aggravating, period!Michael B's comments about DW are right on target. Does Mr. David Hill actually Watch or critique his broadcasts?
Hey FOX-
How original!...Put a desk with fans around it for the pre race show...SPEED has been doing that for about 8 yrs. now...
I decided to let the race sink in overnight. Bayne's victory was an emotional feel-good story that seemed to have a positive impact on everyone.
IMHO, Fox has a group of reasonably talented broadcast talent, although DW seemed to be suffering from Daytona burnout. His stream-of-consciousness comments were often non-sequiturs.
Regarding the post race coverage, Fox, TNT and ESPN do viewers a significant disservice by breaking away so quickly. The viewers have just invested several hours of their lives to watch the race. They deserve more than a few "on-the-fly" interviews and a quick goodbye. They should at allow for a 30 minute post race wrap-up show. If the networks are pressured by local affiliate programming, so be it. Let the affiliates cut away if they must, but let the rest of us see the coverage we deserve. The Daytona post race coverage was a disaster and was insulting to the viewers.
I can understand the need for Fox et al to have a broad outline of bullet points to guide the broadcast director. Their downfall is following a tightly controlled script, a point often mentioned on this blog. This particular Daytona 500 required the director to react to the racing conditions for a change, and generally speaking, Fox did reasonably well. I hope they don't revert to the etched-in-stone script when we go to Phoenix.
I almost choked when DW blurted this:
"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon."
Yogi must be jealous.
In the Nationwide we got to see the pairs of cars swapping position
a lot, and heard discussion of the relative facility with which they did it. Fox did not ever show them doing it, and in fact pulled the camera away several times just as a pair would begin to make the swap. I thought the Nationwide coverage was tons better than Fox in that respect.
I am willing to donate to the duct tape drive. Where do I send a few rolls to?
I may have heard it wrong, but Ithought DW called the Wood Brothers "matriarchs" of the sport, then followed that up with "founding fathers". :)
@KY1Wing -- maybe that is why the end felt so right yesterday - it felt real and I enjoyed it.
Cool that the fans around Trevor's parents were cheering him on.
Let's face it - if Jr had won, no matter what the circumstances, there would have been controversy about the win. This way, NASCAR has a good story and there was a good ending to the day that started in a wreckfest.
I strongly agree with a great number of other posts on here, DW needs to retire from being on-air with all his overpowering personal "family and friends only" commemtating.
As a general fan respectfully cheering for all 43 drivers who are putting on a show, I like to be kept well informed of ALL the teams, not just "June-bug" and "Mikey"! Nothing against them either, they are average drivers, even good at times, but, in the hopes of pleasing all current fans and even luring new ones, there is definitely a great deal of more interesting stories to be told than extensive interviews of the 24th place finisher!
Boogity, Boogity and Digger are for saturday morning cartoons. I liked racing better when it was real people doing real racing and not this modern cram-it-in-your-face-until-your-eyes-and-ears-bleed "circus of the popular"
This 500 had an amazing finish which should be a wake-up call to help NASCAR regain some of what it's lost over the past few years, it's just too bad that it almost got missed because all the attention was placed on a few "select" favourites.
2001Mugrad said...
"Find Bob Jenkins or someone."
The best, but someone would have to buy out his Indycar TV contract and he'd want to have to do NASCAR again.
He hasn't done NASCAR since 1999. While he's better than the Fox 3 Stooges, I also don't think he's as good as he used to be.
Fox need to get rid of Meyers, he is smug and thinks he is better than the sport...after 10 years he still has very little knowledge of the sport
Michael B. is right on concerning Mr. runamouth Waldrip. Someone posted that he should get cut some slack. My question is "why"? He is paid as a professional, and yet he gets away with shilling and doting his favs,and rambling on about nothing. Very unprofessional and getting worse. It's time for him to GOOOO.
Thought the Fox presentation was terrific. Glad to see them back. The knowledge from the broadcasting booth is heads and shoulders above espn. You may not like their personalities so be it but they have probably forgotten more about the sport than many of us will ever know.
Thought the interview with Dale Jr wasn't needed but then I'm not a JR nation fan so I'm sure they were happy to hear from their guy.
The only thing hubby and I had a problem with were reading the numbers on the ticker. The colors seemed to bleed onto the numbers.
coverage was not great--personally, I didn't mind the racing, since I don't like it normally, at least this was different. They didn't seem to cover the field much (since Jamie Mac ran well most of the day, I was able to follow, but I found my self lost on what was happening in the back, even to those who'd been wrecked. Waltrip. Well...his boogity stuff didn't used to bother me as much, and now I feel like it's kind of buffoonery. I think it's partly that the broadcast team is a bit 'stale'. Too much history from DW. And yes, he's always got to relate it to something personal. Maybe that's what they've told him to do, but we're heard about all his stories, already.
I agree pre-race was better than in a long time. Myers was surprisingly good. Let's see if the rest of the tracks have listened to us about the star 'mangled' anthems. Post race--they couldn't stay on for an extra 7 minutes to do some more interviews? Our 'regularly scheduled programming' was an *infomercial* (and why was it not scheduled til later anyways...it's a plate race, there's always a big wreck & as Kyle said, you could pretty much count on g/w/c). Next week may be a better judge of what we have when they know better what to expect.
Nascar really lucked out yesterday with Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers. Otherwise, most people would have concluded that Speed Weeks was a total flop. Did you notice the finishing positions of what most would conclude are the top 20 drivers?? Of those in last years Chase, only Carl and Kyle were in the top 10 yesterday. And the guys in the booth are raving about what a great race it was? I listened to VL this morning. The #21 Team were wonderful...contrasted by Kenny Wallace. I'm glad Daytona is over. Hopefully, Phoenix will be better.
FOX went off the air so soon because they were 50 mins OVER their broadcast time. They pre-empted COPS and Seinfeld to show the end of the race. Also Krista called Trevor "Travis" at the beginning of the victory lane interview.
anon 2:25--so you're saying the announcers were wrong about it being a good race because last year's Chasers weren't at the top? I'm not getting the logic. Yes, I know it's kind of a 'false' reading of how teams will run in the future, but that in itself doesn't make it a bad race.
Anon 11:25 -
You heard it exactly right. DW should quit trying to use those big words. I didn't react much when he said it except to roll my eyes. I have begun to think of him like a senile uncle. He's just background babble that is worth a laugh once in a while for the unintentional humor.
Word verification "deste"
Maybe "detest"
It was the usual, messed up, biased, poor commentary and coverage with one new gimmick thrown in to keep the ADD crowd amused. Get rid of DW, Larry Mac, and Hammond, and get Eli Gold and Buddy Baker for the commentary.
First let me say Fox generally did a decent job calling the race.
BUT did I miss the complete finishing order results of the race or was that left out of the broadcast?
Even Nascar Now did not list the complete rundown as well - just top 10 and "notables".
Also, there were some key players (Mark Martin for one) a lap down for a while, How did that happen and how / when did they get their laps back? Who were the lucky dogs (you guys called some of them but not all).
It seems that there are certain drivers that we just never hear from. Since I'm and older fan (57), I would have appreciated a word or so on Terry Labonte.
If I were the producer I would have a prompt for the booth as the cars are on the backstretch getting ready for green after a caution for review
1. status of lucky dog;
2. wave around cars,
3. a general list of cars that are having various trouble,
4. any other issues that would be easy to overlook during green flag runs.
At Daytona under green, it would be impossible to do a "through the field" rundown under green,but with long caution laps, it could happen then.
One other thing - did NASCAR consider taking some of the angle of the banking during the repaving job? My OPINION - Reduce the banking, bring handling into the picture, and the racing gets much better!!
I would like to get your thoughts on these points if possible.
I'm sorry, but I've completely had it with DW. Last week, he looked us straight in the camera and told all of us who have always been and always will be Dale Earnhardt fans, that with the 10th anniversary of his death, it's time to find a new hero. How dare DW make a comment like that! You're a sick man, DW. You need help.
The race itself was kind of strange with two cars humping each other all day.
Thankfully Trevor Bayne saved the day. Without his win, we would be spending all day talking about the strange pushing phenomenon that will ruin Talladega.
FOX did OK with what they had to work with on the track. However, they do talk down to the viewer though. We are not all stupid.
Darrell Waltrip needs to get over his love of Toyota and MWR while on the air.
Eli gold and mumbling buddy baker? DW is paid to be the drivers analyst from his experiences......ned and benny always told stories about what they did on the track so did buddy......its almost becoming a cliche to bash fox......plenty of old races on youtube from 79-00 and they look the same as todays
Nascar does not understand why they are loosing fans at the track and the tv viewers so here is another opinion. They are loosing fans because they have gotten away from who they were. I have been a diehard fan since the mid 60's but my family and freinds won't watch it or go to the race. They hate the car,scalpers,the chase,the commentary,Boogity Boogity get a Toyota. Dodge gets to build a _astard engine,Toyota gets to run a old Chevy,now Ford gets to build a race engine with bigger cooling passages, None of those engines are or were in production. Fans have had it!!!!!!!!!
I love DW, so I can't be objectionable here.
I would've liked to see a replay before going to commercials at the end, but they were over the broadcast window as it was.
I will say that the Sprint girl is "Gorillas-In-The-Mist" Ugly.
anon 2:56 pm. The logic is just what I said...look at how the the top 25 drivers finished yesterday. Most finished between 20th and 30th. I'm not looking at the listings, but from memory, the engine failures were McMurray,Harvick and Burton. All the Hendrick cars had terrible finishes. Kenseth and Biffle wrecked out. Reutimann and Waltrip wrecked out. I'm just saying that it's hard to conclude it was a great race when so many excellent teams had so many drivers finishing poorly. Hope this helps!
Tim Brewer: When a tire goes flat, it is only flat on the bottom. Back to you, Marty.
I sais this a couple of weeks ago, and I sure do wish I could remember who wrote it or said it, the B,B,B, is stupid, no other "major league" sport starts it's telecasts this unprofessional way, once again this year, I was determined to listen to my favorites, Mike Joy and Dr. Dick, but DW and his constant droning, and cheerleading sent me back to MRN, didn't hear Barney Hall, Moody, or any other announcer talk about the "June Bug" or Mikey, maybe DW just needs to learn how the Pro's do it, nah, too late, he'll never change, too many people have told him his schtick is adorable, and those are the one's he listens to, oh well, thank God for MRN
I was at the race, interested in seeing the FOX race coverage myself.
Defending the timing of the Jr. interview, hadn't he just been released for the infield care center? Criticizing it, it shouldn't have been longer than the race winner's.
The pre-race didn't need 20 minutes of concert. If they didn't have enough racing stories to fill 90 minutes, they should have only broadcast 60. This is NASCAR, not CMT.
Sorry, I must be the only guy in America who doesn't want to see a bunch of goobers making faces and waving signs behind pre-race crews, regardless of network. They're incredibly distracting and add nothing to the coverage. I never thought I'd see something that made me long for the 'Hotel'.
The 'super-slow' motion was overused, and ran on too long when it was used. The thermal cam was effective but was used during green flag racing; it should have been saved for cautions.
Kudos for showing the last 20 or so laps uninterrupted.
One more time: bumper cams and in-car shots may look dramatic, but they don't tell the story of what's happening. Save them for post-accident use when they may show what happened. The shots used to support the 'Crank it up' gimmick also don't tell us what's going on. Please, please, PLEASE drop this useless feature and (more importantly) the lousy camera angles that come with it. Go look at the camera selection Speed used for the Truck race; that's the way it supposed to be done.
DIGGER MUST DIE! The one time he popped up during coverage, his graphic was so large it blocked most of the (lousy) camera angle.
As for the race itself, it's a product of the track. Restrictor plate racing will always be an inferior product, but it isn't safe to run this outdated layout otherwise.
anon 6:04...it doesn't really, but I appreciate the response. Let's just say, at Talladega or Bristol, a few big wrecks take out a bunch of the usual top 10 guys. And yet a few guys who have good cars rise up and race well for a really exciting finish. I don't think that's a bad race. It's the racing we're talking, not the teams.
Jamie's engine was down a cylinder but did not totally fail (he's my driver). Shame, because I think he or Montoya could've won. But just to make the point, I personally like to see some underdogs up there. Keeps it interesting. I really figured this (unexpected winner) could happen at a plate race or a road course, because of 'specialists'. Bayne I think is more than a one trick pony, but we shall see. Might be welcoming him at the beginning of a great career.
I'm tired of Nascar trying to be like other sports. I'm tired of Fox one moment trying to express that it is like other sports, but then in the next breath (Larry Mac),"what other sport do you know where the competitors talk to each other and strategize on how they're going to beat them" Pick a line a pick one side or the other. Again, I prefer the line of not being like other sports. DW, please let the play by play call the play by play. Especially coming to a checker flag. You ruined Rick Allen's call of Waltrip winning the truck race by pretending you were back in 2001 calling the 500. Yes it was a special win for Mikey (though illegal IMO), but it was just a Truck race. Keep it in perspective. Then Jaws, ruined the call for Mike Joy on Trevor's 500 win. DW, please let Mike Joy have an attempt for a Ken Squier moment that can be remembered like Al Michaels "Do you believe in miracles". I thought Fox did okay considering what they had to work with. But don't dumb down the coverage thinking you have scores of new viewers. Because chances are, you don't. He timed it perfectly, but just a little too soon will stick with me for quite a while. Great line.
pretty well covered, still the same annoying situation where the real action (Incidents, major lead changes)takes place with commercials on, and we get a "oh, this happened under break" routine and a replay.
WOW
Lots of DW bashing here, but I would remind the critics that it was FOX bloviator and super-ego big mouth David Hill who hired DW and who allowed (no, make that encouraged) DW to Boogity and promote the Dig-rodent. Then they
reportedly go into biz together selling Digger and Boogity tee shirts??
The sooner FOX is out of NASCAR the better for al true fans
Just watched the entire FOX broadcast again last night and I believe FOX does the races better than anyone ever has. The race ran long because of all the cautions so we didn't get enough post race stuff, DW should've let Mike Joy call the finish and Krista Voda could've done more in Victory Lane but overall I thought the broadcast was very good.
We reviewed the DVR recording after getting home. Agree, pre-race much better. Race coverage, meh.. good but not great. The 2-car packs don't play well on TV. I'm not impressed by gimmicky TV effects. Calling the race, they did as good as could be done I think.
However!! In person, with scanner, this was one of the greatest Daytona 500s I've ever experienced!!!!!!
Anonymous 2/21 8:58am wrote:
"Dannyboy--many of us remember watching film of the races on Wide World of Sports. Having raced and knowing about engines doesn't mean you know more about watching a race on TV than any of us. "
That was NOT my point. My point was that someone named "Anonymous" had opined that those of us who know anything about racing hate FOX, DW, etc, etc. I was saying that I DO know about racing, I've got more experience watching it than most here, and yet I LIKE FOX, DW, etc. even after 10 yrs.
BTW: I was NOT talking about Wide World of Sports coverage of NASCAR, which began in the 1970s. I was talking about CBS Sports Spectacular (the pioneers of NASCAR coverage) that began with filmed and edited coverage of the 1960 Daytona 500. I remember watching Fireball Roberts race before he died in 64, when I graduated high school & got my driver license. Yup, I'm THAT old ;-)
For all those blaming the TV coverage for the recent drop in NASCAR ratings and attendance: Uh, not really. Notice the full house? AND - Ratings were UP, even WAY up in NY & other big cities, and it began at the start & only got bigger. Just heard Lee Hamilton 1090 Sports San Diego say that the 500 out-rated the NBA All-Star game and EVEN THE SLAM DUNK contest! How's that for kiboshing a theory? That's a heck of a lot of people who don't normally pay attention "putting up with" someone who, according to many here, turns people off.
I realize there's different opinions for different people - some here want Bob Jenkins to (re-)join the NASCAR coverage. Bob Jenkins' coverage has been making my skin crawl since hearing his Indy 500 radio calls from the 1970s. The only saving grace to his 1980s-90s NASCAR TV coverage was Ned & Benny.
Dannyboy, thanks for that clarification; makes sense to me now in response to that comment.
Personally, the one I never liked was Eli Gold. And yet others loved him. I don't think we'll ever all agree on broadcasters; probably because they have certain characteristics that we personally notice more than others. Gold had this habit where he would say 'if you're a Rusty Wallace fan, he's in the garage.' As if the only people who cared were his fans. I like to know where they are whether I'm a fan or not, lol. Just one aspect I found irritating. But if I had to choose him or some of our current guys...I might be picking Eli.
Just a note on the 'full house'. DIS took out grandstands to put in a 'fanzone'. Still, their numbers were good (180K, I think I read.) But as far as TV, last year they were on against the Olympics. So next week may be a better judge.
anon 8:58
Excellent job FOX...always great but one huge problem? Where the heck is Gilliland and Labonte? and why Jr? disappointed this is stuff ESPN does
OMG a shrine of people who see and hear what I do every week.
SHUT UP DW, it's not about you! The most biased, over exposed, hasbeen in the booth.
The mash up of the english language is killing me. You make NASCAR a joke! Don't get me started on Digger and the DW store. What a shill!
Boogity, boogity, boogity? Lets reach up there and pull your tongue out of your mouth, one more time.
Krista Voda? Give me Wendy Venturini and the SPEED crew everytime.
Really who cares what Dale Jr. thinks anymore? The guy doesn't have the hunger to win like he did when he first entered the series. Might as well put Derrik Cope in the 88, he is just a marker every week.
come on guys use some common sense for crying out loud! larry seems so quiet during the race. I hardly noticed larry was there. I didnt hear larry say pull those belts tight one more time, but dw got to say his boogity boogity boogity. I guess larry is just somber and sad because of all the emotion of the weekend. These are all comments that you guys stated...yet you failed to understand what the real reason is behind larry being so quiet. It's because he's PISSED...he's not allowed to say his catch phrase anymore (but dw is) and he is just plain mad and is telling fox to go screw themselves, through his actions. I thought it was pretty obvious about 5 mins into the broadcast. I can't believe not one person here could figure that out. Come on now
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