Saturday, November 5, 2011

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Texas (ESPN2 - 12PM ET)


The big story of the day is Kyle Busch being parked for the TMS weekend after his truck race incident last night. ESPN2 gets the first race without Kyle, as Denny Hamlin will race the JGR car in the Nationwide Series race today.

Nicole Briscoe will have Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside of her in the ESPN Pit Studio. Two current owners commenting on a driver employed by another owner just does not seem right. It should be interesting to see what they say on the pre-race show.

Marty Reid will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Dave Burns and Vince Welch will be the pit reporters. Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage.

ESPN finally gets a good theme for this event, which in the past has featured Cup drivers running away with the race. This event has Danica, lots of new faces and Cup drivers with nothing to lose. As usual late in the season, those running for the championship mix with those looking to keep a ride.

Texas is fast and the TV challenge is to show the packs of cars as contact is the reason for most incidents. Restarts are interesting and the long-shot down the backstretch is the most useful camera, as most of the passing happens in that area.

The weather is good, but the story of the weekend is going to be Kyle Busch. Watch to see how ESPN handles the balance between the two. We want your TV-related comments as the race is in progress. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

126 comments:

Daly Planet Editor said...

This one should be interesting.

sbaker17 said...

No doubt about it.
Rusty and Brad are useless

Anonymous said...

Can anyone explain RW getting a contract extension?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Brad was a mess. He is just a cheerleader. Smart man too!

Roadgeek Adam said...

Not sure I agree here, Brad and Rusty are at least showing they can say stuff. It may be poorly explained, but I got their points.

Daly Planet Editor said...

ESPN loves him!

AncientRacer said...

I do not know about you, but I really, really would not like having to have a "one-to-one talk" with Coach Gibbs any more than I would like to have had a "one-to-one talk" with Coach Bryant in the shadow of whose stadium I sit now.

Interesting thing is, though, this may (and I might venture a cautious "probably") raise KyBu's stock. The tut-tutting will fade as these things do, but the bad boy image will be strengthened and if you look at his popularity ratings have grown despite (or perhaps on account of) his behavior it may be a net positive. Maybe not with M&M's, but with someone.

Anonymous said...

Great seeing Lindsay Czarinac on Nascar Now the past couple of days.
Any plans for her to host next season?

BLING! said...

Totally agree with the NASCAR penalty on Busch. Sick of Brad and Rusty, and tired of Wallace's and Waltrip's, other talent out there. Nicole Briscoe is the best part about Countdown.

Anonymous said...

@AncientRacer You are probably right with the fans forgetting about this last bout of KyBuBadboy sponsors not so much. Not in the economy & not with the publicity of a negative kind. M&M's market to moms & tots set, Interstate Batteries is a family (& personal friends of Gibbs attend the same church) owned, family values business. Not sure how much they will tolerate, especially since this is his 2nd "moment" this season.
Just my thoughts on it

Daly Planet Editor said...

No info on Lindsay because the hot rumor is that NN might not be back in the same form for next season.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Classy interview with Herm!

Vicky D said...

Nice tribute to Russ Wallace. That would be fitting if one of the Wallace's could win this race today. Just heard about Busch being parked thought Nascar made the correct choice. Let's go racin'

Anonymous said...

Why is this race on so damn early?

Anonymous said...

Where's ole DW when you really need him?

I ordinarily avoid DW whenever possible, but this is the exception that proves the rule.

I would pay good money to have DW on the TV now trying to explain and excuse KB's behavior. We could hear all about how KB is the greatest driver ever and just wants to win. Everything is forgiven if you want to win. All the while, ole DW would be stammering and choking back the tears.

Somebody in TV needs to find DW and put him on the air right now. Put him on Pay per View if you have to, but get him on the air. I'll watch.

AncientRacer said...

@Anon 12:55

Alabama v LSU -- so I can watch this and attend that.

(good a reason as any)

PammH said...

valiant effort on the anthem, but he didn't have the range for the song, imo.

glenc1 said...

wayyyyyyy better anthem than yesterday. Not the greatest range, but he didn't mess with it.

Charlie said...

Espn announcers in suits. Just doesn't look right.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Anon, DW is on Twitter right now talking about all kinds of things!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Hermie Sadler in blue blazer yesterday! #blazergate

John in Chico said...

What's up with Race Buddy? The page comes up but there's nothing to click on to get it running, useless as it is.

AncientRacer said...

Did I miss it, or am I right that Danica is in this race and not a peep about her during the pre-race except for Hermie's tweet?

Daly Planet Editor said...

John....no RB for NNS.

Daly Planet Editor said...

AR, she was interviewed about her Weldon tribute hood and helmet live.

Charlie said...

Instead of showing lap 2 and 3 they show a replay.

Sally said...

I just got back in time for the start. Has there been any comment from Kyle Busch since he got parked, or is he sulking somewhere?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Sally, he commented last night but not this AM since he got parked for NNS and Cup.

He is a JGR employee for those two series, so he will do what they tell him to do.

Sally said...

Hmmm. Well, I guess we know how much influence the 'good duy owners' have had on Kyle's attitude so far.

Roadgeek Adam said...

Too...many...Cup...drivers

Bowyer, Edwards, Logano, Hamlin, Vickers, Ragan, Keselowski, eek

Daly Planet Editor said...

Told the Mars family came to the track this weekend. Yeeouch.

Charlie said...

Wonder what reason Nascar will use to say why there are not that many fans at the race.
To windy, to hot, to cold, KB not in the race, beer prices to high - who knows.

Anonymous said...

Why do they always say "14th....on the track..." where else are they racing? The moon?

Anonymous said...

Who told the Mars family to come? Gibbs?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Charlie, surprised me too.

AncientRacer said...

OOOOO. If the Mars family IS there it the incident kinda fits B.C.'s Dictum: "Don't ____ up on a slow news day."

Daly Planet Editor said...

No, they were planning on being there and then this happened. Their driver, who all the marketing and TV ads are built around, gets parked.

Sally said...

Good thing they have all those Cup drivers...really bringing in the fans, eh? ;)

Sally said...

Talk about bad timing to lose your cool! That has to be extremely embarassing for the team.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Sally, you just have to wonder what this event would be like with NNS only drivers.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Editor -

This is Anon 12:57 again

Thanks for the response regarding ole DW. It must be hard for him to type when his eyes are filled with tears.

Roadgeek Adam said...

For one, Trevor Bayne would be leading at the moment...

Buschseries61 said...

Hey everyone! What have I missed?

AncientRacer said...

@Buschseries61

The pizza. Its all gone

Sally said...

No 'wonder' here, JD. It would be a lot more interesting to me!

John in Chico said...

So what time, local did this race start, noon? That doesn't give people much time to get up and get to the race. And why would it start so early? Check the TV listings for what's on when this race is over.

Charlie said...

Is the booth going to call the race or just chit chat.

Daly Planet Editor said...

John, there is no NASCAR TV network and this race is not on SPEED.

Got to go when TV tells you to go sometimes, especially in the Central and Pacific time zones.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Charlie, glad you said that. Marty is all over the daggone place.

Buschseries61 said...

Didn't save me a slice AncientRacer? haha!

These guys are horrible when the race is boring. Marty tries many tangets of conversation, but Jarrett and Petree rarely bite. Leaves Marty with nothing to do but keep talking.

AncientRacer said...

Gosh Elliot merged into traffic and went up the track fast there

Dave in OKC said...

Wishing we had a little Craven here right now - if only to save Marty from himself.

glenc1 said...

ya know, I'm pretty sure the first couple years I went to the Glen, they always started the race at noon. And that's when I was driving two hours to get there. I think they ran NW on Sunday because the Cup guys were in Sonoma. but anyways, it wasn't *that* early.

Ya know...I don't think you could squeeze enough cash in that piggy bank to buy the Wrangler stuff....

Buschseries61 said...

Can you imagine Jarrett in the booth last night:

'Ron and Kyle hit each other, it's nobody's fault...Kyle may have pushed the limit, but he has emotions just like the rest of us.'

(hypothetical)

Charlie said...

What a difference this race is and the truck race last night. Speed vs. Espn.
Through the field is a filler with tight shots.
If they would just call the race we would know what is going on without this up to speed stuff.

Roadgeek Adam said...

13 cars on the lead lap already...this race is effectively over

Roadgeek Adam said...

Correction, 12

Daly Planet Editor said...

This is a tale of two drivers. Cup and NNS. Unfortunately, in the same race.

sbaker17 said...

AncientRacer said...
@Buschseries61

The pizza. Its all gone

November 5, 2011 1:37 PM


ROFLMAO
Keep the comments coming AR!

Charlie said...

Marty loves talking about the past and not what is happening now or what might happen.
He will tell you laps led, how many lead changes.

Anonymous said...

This sucks. Not the coverage - it is predictably awful - but billion dollar teams fielding at least 2 cars a piece.

What competition exists here? How many outside of the top 10 have EVER seen a wind tunnel for their cars?

Screw Nascar. I think I'll take up woodworking come 2012. It's an empire that exists so the France family can continue to make money, and like a kid playing the Sims series of games - you have just as much accountability.

No thanks. In their desired demographic and disgusted.

Buschseries61 said...

The scope of the field is soooo small. All the rest are lap cars in the way.

Anonymous said...

You too can see a dude sitting in a pit box! Let's split screen to that for nearly a minute! This is important!

(I so want Dave Barry to cover the coverage for a change, since Thompson kinda smited himself...why these people aren't fired and possibly shot on sight is totally beyond me.

Oh, yeah. Caution happens while a commercial runs!

Wait for a crappy recap...

Roadgeek Adam said...

Finally.

Sally said...

Came out of commercial for the caution...that's good. explanation of what caused the caution...nada.

Charlie said...

If the caution comes out the 5 second lead the leader had is gone. Thanks Marty - wonder if that happens all the time.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Three more years of ESPN!

Buschseries61 said...

I don't think Petree & Jarrett really care about the Nationwide series. It would be nice if ESPN hired two that did.

AncientRacer said...

No Charlie

It does not happen ALL the time. Only when the car in front has a 5 second lead. It is to be distinguished from a caution when the car in front has a 2 or 3 second lead. Can be confusing to newbies

Anonymous said...

JD - don't you put that evil on me, man! DON'T YOU PUT THAT ESPN EVIL ON ME!

Roland said...

The camera on the roof at start finish is useless today. I dont know if its windy or not but the camera is shaking so bad its hard to watch.

Anonymous said...

"Coverage " of races - not to good

NCAAF games on TV - blow out

the nap I took waiting for improvement of either - priceless

Sally said...

I think I'll check out the Breedre's Cup races for a while. More passing there with the original 'four on the floor'.

Daly Planet Editor said...

ESPN evil? Come on man!

Sally said...

No, 'evil' gives them too much credit. Incompetent is more like it.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Trollster! Where ya been man? We missed ya!

AncientRacer said...

Looks ro me like Duckboy is out for a test session. He is driving all over the track apparently testing lines for tomorrow. Booth has made a big deal of his doing pit practice, but not this

Charlie said...

I maybe wrong but I don't remember Speed showing a single truck in one shot all race long last night.

Daly Planet Editor said...

No, they did a great job keeping things in perspective last night.

Today? Not soooo much.

Charlie said...

With this type of broadcast I can see why there is no one at the race watching.
If you have never been to a race and the only thing you have to compare with is Espn's coverage. Why go.

sbaker17 said...

Daly Planet Editor said...
Three more years of ESPN!

November 5, 2011 2:12 PM


No Sir. Not for me

Charlie said...

4 bars across the screen. No other sport on Tv has so many bars.
Points as they are now bar - we really need that taking up space on the screen.

Anonymous said...

4 years or whatever of ESPN hacking their way through mediocre, advertiser-based coverage that sucks?

You bet. Don't you put that evil on me, JD!

I look FORWARD to TNT - it's not as crappy.

ESPN as an entire network, needs to be dragged out back and shot.

So - don't you bring that evil on me, Daly - what I gotta look at next year...I'll take up video games. Shrubberies. (nice ones, not too expensive) or sawing away at the driveway with a steel brush to get oil spots out.

In short, anything is better than this.

AncientRacer said...

Think maybe I will start a spyglass concession and go from track to track selling spyglasses so those attending can see the race "just like on TV"

Charlie said...

Is KB allowed at the track. He could sit with the Mars people.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Just think, if ESPN does not get renewed, they will know it by the end of 2012. Can only imagine what they will do for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Charlie, since he was "parked" he can remain at the track. If he was suspended, he would be removed.

John in Chico said...

Kyle B. was barred from racing this weekend only. Maybe a good time to spend quality time with the clients this weekend.

Charlie said...

I saw four cars at the same time on Tv. I saw four cars not for position but there were four cars on the screen.

AncientRacer said...

@John in Chico

If he is cannot you imagine what a laff riot it is in the Mars family suite?

Anonymous said...

I wish to hell there was something else worth watching atm - this isn't cutting it. Race? What race? Two cars go around the track, then a cut to in-car, and everyone's pitting....but who cares?!

Yay for kickbacks to ESPN for getting featured.

Just to really be a jerk (had a diff. word in mind) - if this is a development series, AKA the K&N stuff...why is a Cup driver zooming around in it with about three million bucks on hand on any given race to buy a new chassis, hire a kickass pitcrew, etc?

Competitive? No. Worse since Martin tore up the series.

Anyone got a router table?

Sally said...

I wonder how Mars feels about their driver today? Bet THAT caused some uncomfortable moments.

Anonymous said...

Daly Planet Editor said...

Just think, if ESPN does not get renewed, they will know it by the end of 2012. Can only imagine what they will do for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

November 5, 2011 2:43 PM
--
Remember it couldn't possibly be any worse than the first 2 years of the contract. Could it?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Where is Doug Banks when you need him?

Daly Planet Editor said...

I think our little troll is growing up. Moving from body part names to sex stuff.

So proud of him.

Charlie said...

It is so much easier to talk about what happen rather then what might happen.

Kenny Wallace just said someone blew an engine and nothing from the booth.

AncientRacer said...

While you are watching NASCAR Single-Car Racing here is something off-topic I find amazing:

Tuesday I whipped up a five gallon stockpot of gumbo to bring up here to Tuscaloosa. Got here at about 10pm last night. Stuff is all gone now. All of it.

Charlie said...

Last night I posted that the director of the truck race has watched races on Tv - I don't think this director has.

Buschseries61 said...

Has anyone 15th on back except Danica been covered the last 100 laps?

AncientRacer said...

I wonder what Jimmie's tweet meant. Like "consistent" with what?

Anonymous said...

BTW meant to ask - JD ya think Mayfield has sent a flowers & a gift to KyBu for taking the media spotlight off him this weekend?

Charlie said...

AR - JJ was asking people that follow him what they thought about the KB thing. I think he was saying what ever Nascar does they should keep their ruling consistent.

AncientRacer said...

@Jojay

If he does I hope Kyle does not take them. That is all he needs; a stick for "receiving stolen property"

Bill said...

JD- And you were concerned that the Mayfield incident was bad for the sport. KyBu heard ya! Now it's Jeremy Whom?

And I totally agree with NASCAR parking the Shrub, but Hornaday has had this coming for a looong time.

Of course KyBu's actions were unconscionable, childish, stupid and extremely dangerous, especially at a high speed track, so there is no excuse for his actions.

However, Kyle, like Tony Stewart are a bit more "mature" than they used to be, although both still show the ability to snap, given the proper motivation.

For the "new" Kyle to do what he did shows that he finally had enough of Hornaday's antics and snapped. Bad, bad, bad situation all the way around.

Kyle needs to be fined, put on probation, parked for the rest of the season, or all three, but Hornaday had it coming, and I'm glad somebody finally rang his bell.

I just wish Kyle had clobbered Hornaday with his fist after the race instead of using his truck. Sadly, most racers these days are too chickens**t to do it that way.

AncientRacer said...

@Charlie

But what is his standard? Did he have one in mind? I agree with the principle, but what is Jimmie's reference point (if any)?

Charlie said...

15 Laps to go.

Anonymous said...

@AR - wow never thought of it that way.

Charlie said...

Touching the wall bring out a caution?

Charlie said...

Nascar doesn't follow a standard for when to throw a caution.
Remember some races where a car spins and might get going and might not and they keep it green and then other times they throw a caution for a piece of paper.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Stay wide please ESPN!

Buschseries61 said...

Reed Sorenson has run great all day, currently 17th in a MacDonald Motorsports car.

RWI will end today on a thud, Wallace 19th & Annett 20th

Robert Richardson ran both cars to the distance today. Currently 25th & 26th

Roadgeek Adam said...

FINALLY BAYNE WINS

Charlie said...

Horrible coverage by Espn.

Bill said...

Decent camera shots through the final 10 laps. FINALLY.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Trevor Bayne!!!

Daly Planet Editor said...

Tailpipes and tight shots in those last few laps.

Roland said...

Awesome finish!!!!!!!!!!!

Bill said...

Bayne burnout looked good from the blimp!

AncientRacer said...

Nice finish and Herm got P13 - excellent for him.

See y'all tomorrow maybe. Depends on what time we leave here. Bye!

Roadgeek Adam said...

After the letdown yesterday, seeing Bayne win this is grand. :)

Buschseries61 said...

Another bad ESPN Nationwide race.

At least Bayne finally won.

Charlie said...

Today I think Jamie Little learned there are fans on the car that cool the tire/brakes. The questions she asked near the end of the race were all about the car fans. Good for her.

glenc1 said...

Nice win, crappy coverage.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Always nice when the final dash after the restart adds a tick of excitement to a Cup driver dominated NNS race in front of an awful crowd.

How can they think this is working?

Sally said...

It makes me wonder if BZF ever watched a Busch race when Cup drivers seldom ran the circuit, and the Busch drivers were the starts of the series on their own? And that the stand alone races at the short tracks created their own excitement?

Daly Planet Editor said...

Well, that was interesting. Join us tomorrow for a special live blog for NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED!

Going to be an interesting Sunday for NASCAR TV!

Thanks again, everyone. See ya!

JD