Great fall weather at Martinsville means NASCAR gets an opportunity to put on a good show as the season winds down. The pre-race show on ESPN today is only thirty minutes, but the green flag does not fall until 1:58PM ET.
Russ Wallace, the father of Rusty and Kenny passed away last night after an illness. Kenny was replaced on SPEED's RaceDay by Larry McReynolds. Rusty will not be replaced, but the Infield Pit Studio will host several guests. Nicole Briscoe is hosting with Brad Daugherty alongside.
An interesting Marty Smith interview with driver Brad Kesewloski will air during the Countdown show. Also on the table will be the Chad Knaus pre-race conversation picked up by NASCAR.com's RaceBuddy at Talladega. Jack Roush again this AM denied team orders were in place last week, despite Trevor Bayne saying he was told to leave Jeff Gordon and pick up a Ford late in the race.
Allen Bestwick will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. On pit road are Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch and Jamie Little. Vince Welch informed us he is off this weekend as his daughter has a cross-country track meet. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage.
Martinsville is short-track racing defined. It will be impossible for the "hyper-tight" ESPN coverage because there is always a pack racing or something going on. The ability to pick and choose who to cover is gone.
It's a shame that ESPN did not experiment with Nonstop coverage for this entire race. One commercial of three minutes in length under green flag conditions seems like an hour at this track. Instead, only the final half of the event will have the side-by-side commercial format.
NASCAR.com will continue to offer RaceBuddy. This consists of a collection of in-car cameras with two fixed speed shots of the racetrack. Listening to the team radios should be interesting today.
This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series on ESPN. To add your comments, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
393 comments:
1 – 200 of 393 Newer› Newest»Beautiful day! Let's go racing.
Been watching Race Day. My heart goes out to the Wallace family. You could tell those guys, especially Kenny, really looked up to Russ. My condolences to the Wallace's.
Larry Mac has fixed this show. Its amazing the difference he makes. Anybody remember the Darlington truck race from this year? Mikey was away and Larry Mac stepped in and it was the best broadcast of the season. Today's Race Day has been the best so far. He is outshining Kyle as well. My hope is when Larry finally gets booted out at Fox that he takes over Race Day and VL for Speed.
in re: marty smith/kez interview:
i thought marty asked some great questions w/strong follow-up, and received interesting responses from kez as a consequence. he didn't back away from probing the darker aspects of kez's personality, especially in his comment about having a big chip on his (kez's)shoulder. the result was an uncommonly frank, brutally honest, and compelling interview
just goes to show what a difference the interviewer can make to the quality of an interview.
i agree with roland in re:larry mac: he's added so much to this pre-race show of late. i particularly enjoy that he isn't backing off of his opinions: i may not agree with everything he's said but i'm enjoy hearing his comments.
Roland, couldn't agree w/you more. I feel so bad for the Wallace family. Larry Mac is brinin' it tho!
Nicole said they were getting some guests for NASCAR Countdown.
want to bet 1 of the guest is Cuz Carl?s
Very sad for the Wallace family. Thoughts and prayers to them all.
Thought Marty Smith's interview was outstanding. I'm impressed with Kez's frank answers.
Tuned into Raceday by default and was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed it. Wonder why? ;-)
I'll have to catch up with the comments later today...just too mice here to stay inside all afternoon. Maybe I'll record it and watch later.
Y'all have fun!
Marty Smith in the house. Not digging the giant spider though.
Pammmmmm,
Carl is the in-race reporter....again.
Nice tweet from Kenny Wallace. It is so hard to lose a parent. Makes me think of mine. Makes me think of what Bear Bryant used to tell his players: "Be sure and call your Mama. I wish I could call mine."
I love how after Chad tells Jimmie to tear the back end off the car, Chad looks at the in car camera, as if he realized he just screwed up.
Might have those conversations in the hauler before the race from now on.
Awesome Brad interview. Thats why Im a Keselowski supporter.
Bwad keeps talking like that I fear someone in charge of "product" will become "concerned" about the "product's" image or some such horseblather.
But as for me, one who does not care for him, his stock just went up.
Love to hear the cold hard facts from Brad Kes.
I hate rooting for a Dodge and I especially hate rooting for Penske, but I'm rooting more and more for Kez. Nice piece by Marty!
Nice interview with Brad K. - I definitely took away a lot from it.
Jr saw the talent in Brad and gave him the chance he needed. Now jr needs to listen to what brad said. Jr too nice for his own good.
Jabber Jarrett: Isn't it Enuf
that we hear him all day long? But
nooo..he is on the pre race show
as well. ugh.
Prepare thyself for Worstwick ..he
will be louder than EVER ..AND
he will say his favorite word ..
"" Championship" a million times
No complaints with that pre race show. Nice and short. Great Keselowski interview. Marty did great both in the interview and live in the studio. DJ was an improvement. And Brad had 30 less minutes to annoy me, so he didnt really get on my nerves. Im ready to race.
Totally bored. Already almost 1:47 and the green flag has not dropped. Does Nascar EVER keep their word. They said 1:00 starts last year. Totally bored. Time for something else to watch. 47 minutes of totally wasted time
Anthem gets major win. Always fun to hear a band perform it over singers.
The band gets the whole city involved in the race. Everyone in town will be related or know someone in the band. Very nice change.
What a difference from last season. That was a solid pre-race show.
Anon, the race is scheduled to start at 1:58PM and has been for months.
My sincerest condolences to the Wallace family.
Was surprised no Halloween costumes on race day today. Haven't hey done it every year?
William, the SPEED costumes were on the truck series pre-race show and they were not allowed this season by the new SPEED management.
But, they do have the guys wearing blue blazers and looking like total idiots. So, that's a start!
Again, Carl Edwards' mother in picture - why isn't she at home taking care of kids so wife can be at the track?????
Not a flattering shot of th start your engines announcer
I thought the race was supposed to start earlier too. Kept hearing 1:30 all week. Turns out it was just the start time of the pre race show that was moved. Every daytime Chase race went green around 2:15. This one looks like its going green a little after 2. Their gonna be racing daylight today, especially if theres a lot of cautions.
Speed new management would not allow costumes but give us all the other stupid shows instead of serious race talk. What a joke.
Carl's mom still creeps me out a bit.
Wait until you see some of the lifestyle junk SPEED has coming for next year.
None of it NASCAR-related.
Midlothian, VA! Denny's hometown!
Geez Carl again. Someone needs to tell Carl overload will drop his fan base quick.
I thought the Booth guys were all spiffed up for respect for Rustys dad? I dunno
Happy Halloween Planeteers!
Anytime, Carl? OK, how 'bout lap 500?
If Tums is sponsoring this race and are showing ads, why won't ESPN call this race the Tums Fast Relief 500?
I wish Hollywood was working the 48 team!!!
Speed needs to change it's name with all the lifestyle shows. May not matter if direct tv has speed or not
Has anyone gotten the live leaderboard to work? If so, what browser? I've tried Firefox, Chrome, and IE and it's a no go in all. What changed from last week? I haven't updated my browsers. :(
Back in the stone age when I was in Jr. High School we boys had to wear blazer outfits to a school dances and other "social" functions. We looked as stupid and as awkward as we were. Had dorky patches, too, on the breast pocket -- not a cool ones like Jim McKay wore on TV.
Come to think of it the only two TV Sports people I ever thought looked like they belonged in blazers were McKay and Cossell.
I think AB is a vast improvement over Marty and DJ did not yell at all in the pre-race show.
Don't really understand those comments.
No one knows when the races start because no one knows lol. Scheduled or not to start at 1:58 the face of the matter is this. It starts at 1:00. That's the way it's listed on there site. When NFL says 1:00 they mean it - kickoff at 1:00. Nascar is listed as starting at 1:00. Period. Simple as that. It's now 2:00 and they just threw the green. Not really that hard to comprehend actually
that person must have really liked Dr. Jerry's monotone.
Hey, it's starting early.
racebuddy is really fair behind what is on Tv
Anon, the Chase races have been moved back to 2PM this year in order not to conflict with NFL football's early games.
That is how it has been since the Chase began this season. This green is actually earlier than the normal 2:15PM start.
Just so we are all on the same page.
Holy crap they were zoomed in during that opening run. Zoomed in so far they missed the wreck. Zoom the heck out please!
AR, no one at SPEED will officially say anything about the changes.
I can only imagine what things might look like next season if David Hill tries to turn SPEED into FOX Sports.
For a wreck involving at least four of the Chase drivers, ESPN didn't treat that with much excitement.
It's sad to hear SPEED's new management took away the costumes for the Truck series. My fave was the Wiz of Oz some years back :-D
Seems like they keep screwing up that channel with McJunk shows. The dangerous stupid driver commercials show about stunts, or whatever, alone should call for litigation issues. Not sure what mindset thinks those shows could possibly be "funny". Darn shame :(
Wonder what it's like for the employees on the screen.
Roland, even the camera that saw the car starting to spin just kept on panning with the pack and let the crash go out of the frame.
That was just stupid driving by Junior....
Sad thing is even zoomed in, you could see Ku. Busch start to spin. But instead of going ahead and staying with the shot, they switched cameras a missed the rest. Frustrating.
How many times will Brewer talk about brakes today?
Hate to tell you Anon NFL kickoffs are not scheduled for one o'clock, it a few minutes past the hour. Just like the first pitch, tip off, and yes the green flag. I read somewhere it was pushed back fifteen minutes early this AM.
John, HOTPASS does not have live timing and scoring.
We are going to keep focused on the TV coverage today folks.
If you are new to the blog, that is our beat. ESPN is the topic, although we also have SPEED's RaceDay and the DirecTV mess on the table for discussion.
Going to be interesting to see if Mr. Daugherty is back with ESPN next season. No comment on his contract yet.
Getting feedback that several applications do not have timing and scoring info.
No response from Turner, DirecTV or NASCAR yet.
I'm surprised nobody in the booth noticed Skinner plowing into the back of Regan Smith in that accident. Almost identical to the truck cool off lap.
Well I'm sorry but that makes no sence at all. To start the races 1hr after NFL starts, so as not to conflict with NFL starts. So now people get involved in their football games and don't turn Nascar on. Sorry, makes no sence at all. Just saying.
Anon, the result has been the first increase in Chase ratings in 5 years.
Whats NFL? Some silly game.
Apologies if I'm late to this particular party, but AB said Nascar non-stop is presented by AT&T.
AT&T? I wonder what the executives at Sprint have to say about that.
I know that the FOX race breaks are usually sponsored by AT&T, but this is a bigger deal.
With a short track like this you would think it would be important to have racebuddy in sync with the Tv.
Looks like we are going to see all wrecks via replay.
The truck didn't give Allen the extra replay he wanted.
Good shot of that wreck. Evil Curb claims another victim.
This is starting to look like FOX broadcast, all about the Replays!
So far caution laps > green flag laps.
Not that bad of a crowd in the stands today. So far TV shots are good, hope they stay away from bumper cams. Its a small enough track to show the field in a wide shot, and we can see the racing.
Is that too much to ask?
That's a weird looking 16, Jamie
Those pit stops were awful. No idea who gambled, Jamie mixed up the #16 and #32.
16 + 16 = 32 LOL
Notice that Interstate Batteries is on the 20? So weird not seeing that orange.
it was the 32! Twice the 16! At least thats what I saw on my DVR.
Need to speed up the cautions a little bit. Taking a bit too long. First caution lasted forever. Im just thinking about the ammount of daylight left. They cant afford a red flag today.
They announced earlier in the week that Interstate Batteries would be his sponsor this week.
Wow, after hard frost, it's sunny 59 outside. This annoying broadcast may not get played either on the DVR. cam work stinks which is a shame.
catch the comments later & will decided to dump off dvr or not...probably will.
p.s. It is interesting per Gluck's tweet comment, that the start command's have become sponsor plugs this year.
Also to those of you in snow country, hope you have power or stay warm until you get it back. Thinking of you.
done with racebuddy. to much of a delay to be useful.
RaceBuddy is a mess!
Bill, that was mentioned on Jayski a couple days ago.
I would think it would take more effort to zoom in and put one or two cars in a camera shot they it would be to zoom out and show a bunch of cars on a short track like this.
Every incident in this race has been shown to viewers via replay.
Edwards just told on radio to race smart concerning Jr. Edwards was telling CC to tell 88 to lay off.
missed the past for the lead.
Oh well.
This is a great race, with lots of bumping and banging, passing, and big position changes, and we've seen almost none of it. Like AJ Allmendinger. He must have started around 15th and he drove to the lead. How did he do it? We'll never know...
Cautions will be the story of the day, too bad we've missed all of them.
Bill, it is Interstate Batteries' 20th season with Joe Gibbs. That's why they put the colors on the 20 car this week.
Seems we are doomed for no live "action as it happens" today.
Grrrr who did Tony get into on pit road???????????
This track is so small, they could do it like MRN/PRN do. Put a camera in each corner and just switch among the four quarters of the track. Zoom in on the top action once in a while. I'd be happier.
There were 9 cautions yesterday. Any bets on today? (Record for the season is the tie for 15)
Zetona you are so right. I'm just about to just go set my DVR and whiz though this mess of a telecast later. So far, this has been no way to treat a race at Martinsville.
Edwards needs to realize many drivers have nothing to lose, they just need a win. He is the one that has a lot tp lose.
Go Jr!! Drive like your mad as h*ll!!
Jr bump drafting the 6? And then a little payback for Fords not teaming up w/Chevy last week?
Naaah...
Great racing between the 6 and the 88. Thats what we wanna see!
David Ragan might want to think again before slamming into the #88. Turning majority of the fanbase against him will only further solidify his place in the unemployment line. lol
Jr is/was extremely upset with last week's team orders for hanging in the back of the field and how did that work out for you Chad with all 4 cars for Hendrick finishing in the 20's. He said never again and was going to drive like he was mad as h*ll this week.
If this was the first race Espn ever did at this track you might figure they would not be use to it and the camera work would be learning as you go and making it better but Espn has done many races and have experience in telecasting a race. This is what they figure we want to watch.
another missed caution
Another missed caution thanks ESPN
This is so hard to watch. Can't they just show the pack racing and then use replays for the close-up?
RB shows McMurray's wrecked hard...TV showing a commercial for the Chase. This is so frustrating because the race is so action-packed.
Another caution, not that you'd notice
Jamie Mac brings out the caution and here I sit watching Golden Corral's chocolate fountain!!!
Really wishing we had Nonstop right now.
well, i suppose one way to look at it is this: by staying in commercial during wrecks, they have plenty of time to key up LOTS of replays.
Can't believe that the ESPN coverage has missed two yellow caution flags by collisions. What's with that?
Thank goodness I'm listening to the radio and I am keeping track with the race with my RaceView. ;-)
Holy ****! Tempers are boiling lately.
Revenge failed
Cautions while they are at commercial helps Espn show more commercials.
Show a restart, go to commercial. Come back, show a replay of wreak we missed because we were in commercial then go to commercial again.
Have a feeling Mr. Vickers might be seeing the penalty box pretty soon.
Ok its time to park Mr Vickers. 4 cautions hes been involved in in 100 laps. Dude has forgotten how to drive today.
That would have been an amazing NASCAR NonStop moment. Oh well.
Brian Vickers is a menace 2 society today. Park Him.
AB says let me explain what happen during the commercial well wait lets show the replay. GRRRR!!!! This is just awful coverage of short track racing as I'm and screaming four letter words at the TV well ESPN and here we go to ANOTHER commercial.
At this rate, this is going to be the best, craziest race of the year and we're not gonna see any of it live.
Allen and Company just sooooooo
cute with the BASE BALL tie in with the Nacar Racing.
Real Pros arent they? And gosh darn Allen is just soooooooo dang
funny.
I knowthat because his FAKE LAFF
is coming thru loud and clear.
The record for cautions period is 22. This season is 15. We're at 5 already. I hate to imagine seeing more than 15.
I would love to watch a race on television today:-)
ESPN is totally befuddled by motor racing.
Yesterday I was watching College football on Espn and they were advertising the race for today.
I wonder if Espn was not telecasting this race if Espn would even mention Nascar at all.
Being reported by Gluck that Jamie Mac tried to payback Vickers and wrecked himself in the process.
what a cluster&*%# of a broadcast...:(
OK, almost 100 laps in after an hour. 400 laps to go, ~4 hrs? May need to complete this tomorrow at this rate.
Its frustrating the drivers as well.
The battery is located right here behind this on-screen graphic.-Tim Brewer
Those are the exact words PammH I've been screaming at the TV
@RoadgeekAdam
At this rate you will not have to imagine more than 15. That may change if, like for example, someone were to put a contract out on Vickers.
Oh my, Brad is awful without Rusty! He can't explain anything and tries to be funny to make up for it.
I guess we will see more Brewer to make up for no Rusty. Can't ESPN include him in the conversation instead of pointing at parts?
And LOL this race is a complete mess.
No friggen caution for Ambrose and then they almost run him over.
Cant do full screen replays at this track. Unacceptable.
Caution #6: A Little Foreign Action
Sorry meant Labonte
This is a little embarassing now.
Like an ARCA race is breaking out.
If this demolition derby continues, the next thing you know they'll be adding a figure 8 to this track.
I remember Bristol used to be this messy!
I may run outta beer at this rate
There is great racing today at Martinsville but we'll never know it by ESPN's coverage.
If I was NA$CAR I would tag Montoya for that.
Marcos don't get no respect.
NASCAR should throw a red flag, get the drivers together, sing Kumbayah(?) and then start it over.
It's not even like these are accidents. They are driving completely over their heads with disregard who and what they hit.
Listening to the radio broadcast. Ragan is in the garage getting a radiator replaced. Don't think they mentioned that on TV.
As I sit here trying to follow what ESPN is putting on the screen, I look out through the window at what is currently a 72° clear fall day. I see no reason to stay inside and watch this battle of the zooming cameras
Things you may have missed today due to poor coverage:
David Ragan just pulled it behind the wall. No explanation.
Pit crew memeber for 38 car taken to hospital for evaluation after being hit on pit road.
Come on guys, get some frickin information out there.
Playing rap at Martinsville is a slap in the face to this sport.
For the second week in a row at what is normally one of my favorite tracks, I just can't take anymore of this so-called coverage of so-called racing. I'll skim through highlights later.
This race reminds me of a local Saturday night dirt track race.
Thanks Roland, ESPN has not updated either story.
They have been very aggressive on pit road today with the timing line jumps. Dangerous situation for the crew guys.
But I like Saturday Night Dirt Track racing. Fun to watch. Fun to be in.
@ Roland you sound like a fool with the last part of your comment.
Kahne5 laps down, no mention of that on TV either.
ZOOM OUT! PLEASE!
Zoom out, Zoom out please.
Theres a fine line between racing hard and racing like an idiot. 88 is straddling that line.
ESPN should have checked on the #22 & #4 before the Ambrose caution.
The wrap on the 88 made it look battle scared before the race started. A few dents and tire marks blends right in.
Any idea where Vickers is going for next season? That been announced yet?
The Blazers are NOT helping.Time to go back outside. *sigh*
@lacboi Im just going to take the high road and let you go on that one. I still stand by it.
That Tums commercial with the food whiping everyone is just so creepy.
If there are 43 cars in the race how come ESPN is only talking about 10 drivers? ZOOM OUT and talk about all 43 drivers. My High School tv kids can do a better job than this. My next project for them is to re-voice-over a race.
i keep thinking they could put 4 or 5 cameras up on the spotters stand and cover the entire track. then, each camera track a different part of the pack & let the truck decide on which shot to use.
maybe then, we'd get wider shots at a very short track.
Did I just see the "Digger Cam"?
BSPN needs to cover this race like Speed did with the Syracuse Big Block Modified race last night - just a very few cameras! This sucks!
Through the field is just filler and tight shots.
Except at a local Sat. night dirt track race you get to SEE the race.
Red -- I'm with you on that idea. High and wide, zoom in when you need to.
If you were new to Nascar, you wouldn't know how small this track is with these camera angles and tight zoom.
I'm guessing Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide series JD.
There aren't any openings with top Cup teams. The mid-pack teams are all out of business. I think Vickers would rather a competitive Nationwide ride than TRG Motorsports...etc.
If you are feeling frustrated go have a marshmallow cream sandwich. I just did. It was good and has improved my mood.
Strange--Chase drivers not highlighted in the ticker today. It would be helpful today, as would a "points as they run" about now, incidentally.
Ancient -- the fabled "Fluffernutter"? I haven't had one of those in years.
Gluck is saying Harvick says Dinger has hit him twice and he's now going to do the same to him. Wish ESPN would show that. Yeah right! LOL
Z, I was looking at that earlier. Also, no points right now nonsense.
I believe jr paid attention to brad k interview.
I thought that was odd too Zetona. Why stop highlighting the Chase drivers at the prime of the Chase?
This race must be so frustrating for ESPN!
They work so hard at showing only one car, but other cars keep getting in the frame.
Makiki
Wow, that was nearly a long green flag run.
Given how Edwards and Kez are running, we could be in for a big points shakeup. Again, no updates from the booth. At least this race is too good to be totally ruined by the coverage.
I'd ask that tour guide guy on the NA$CAR/ESPN commercial "Are you going to torture everyone who's trying to watch the race on TV with this stupid commercial?"
Sometimes, it's like the director is doing it on purpose.
Thanks for the points update! Bout time.
and there's the points as they run now chart! BSPN doesn't disappoint-much.
JD, well the director is definitly doing it consciously because he is calling the shots
8 cars parked today, matching the previous season record of 8 cars that parked in the fall Loudon race.
The #51 hasn't parked in a long time, and it was odd to see the #66 behind the wall since the plan was to race this weekend.
Boy we got back to the race from the commercial just in time to get the Sprint commercial, holy smoke,
tight shot of a single car, talk about that car for a few laps then talk about another car by only showing that car with tight shots.
So true Charlie. I'm still trying to figure out how the #24 is up to 5th.
Worst ESPN race coverage ever?
pretty close JD. trying to think of worse...
By far the worst (for a short track)
Z. O. O. M. O. U. T. !
I cant believe how many time I only see one car in the shot. WHY? What don't they understand? Its not their first race
I'm sorry for Rusty's loss, but I sure don't miss him on the telecast.
Makiki
So do you know where your driver is and why.
No one putting any effort into the broadcast. What a damn shame.
Was that just shown LIVE with Labonte?
I know my driver started the race because I saw his car on the pace laps.
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