Everybody is groggy from the time change, Kyle Busch is sitting this one out and the Chase is coming down to the wire. Happy Sunday, folks!
Nicole Briscoe gets Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty to re-voice the opinions they gave Saturday on Kyle Busch. Since the ESPN2 Nationwide Series race, there has been an apology from KB on his website and a Facebook posting from #18 sponsor M&M's USA.
It should be interesting to see what interviews and guests ESPN is able to land for the pre-race show. No word on Twitter this AM about the location of Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs has been on the other NASCAR TV shows doing full-out damage control.
Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree will call the race. These three appeared earlier on Sunday's NASCAR Now show. Jarrett said he expected additional penalties from either JRG or NASCAR where Busch is concerned.
Jamie Little, Dave Burns, Vince Welch and Dr. Jerry Punch are the pit reporters. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage. This is a dynamic track and it might be a long day for those working pit road if the action is similar to last week in Martinsville. There was not a lot of giving and taking going on.
ESPN has quite a task on its hands today. Three storylines must be followed from start to finish. First, the Chase and the saga of Carl vs. Tony. Secondly, how Michael McDowell is doing in the #18. Finally, coverage of the actual race.
In the past, this has been a tough issue for a network that likes to script things in advance and keep working back toward those stories in the telecast. One big incident today might scramble all three of those main storylines. It should be interesting to see how they respond.
We invite your comments on the ESPN coverager of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Texas Motor Speedway. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below.
398 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 398 of 398Had a chance to hear the Nat Wide race on the radio. THEY YELL ALL THE TIME BECAUSE THEY'RE EXCITED!!
You try talking over the racket at a track! You'll be yellin too.
It aint golf, eh?
Not even halfway!
Already see the moon coming out too..
Wave-around didn't work for Labonte or Cassill. Both had to fall off the lead lap and pit.
Ya know, I'd wonder if we could fit everyone into Gateway, probably would get a more interesting race, and likely a good crowd.
Nascarnut, LOL, that didn't come out quite like I meant, but really it does work for me.
although I don't think NASCAR likes Gordon quite that much any more - they've moved on to giving love to other drivers these days.
1/2 way is 167 laps
Anyone else notice that Bestwick is calling restarts as sponsored by American Ethanol? That rarely happened during FOX or TNT's part of the season.
McMurray with problems, lets see if ESPN updates us
Roadgeek Adam said...
Already see the moon coming out too..
November 6, 2011 4:38 PM
It's not the moon.
It'a giant M&M!
My RaceBuddy keeps freezing. Is that so I have to refresh and get the commercials yet again?!
Makiki
If you want to leave a comment, at least have it make sense.
None of these announcers has been yelling, it's just the opposite.
All of our complaints are about the boring pictures and commentary.
15 or so laps till side by side commercials
That scene with the passing and the view with the sky after reminds me of when Connie Parsons passed away in 1991 during the Champion Spark Plug 500, they did similar.
Makiki, RaceBuddy was doing the same for me. I finally had to shut it down.
When you are hoping for halfway, something is just fundamentally wrong.
Hey! I just found out who my troll is. Very happy about that. Now I can do something about it!
I was thinking that during the last pit stops, JD. Long way to go in this race.
I may take a nap for a while and come back when it gets to 20 to go - that is usually when things get interesting to watch at these big tracks.
sbaker17 - one of the yellow ones!
Congratulations, JD. I suggest flaming swords for dispatching the troll. If you'd like help, I'm betting that a lot of us would join in!
It's a guy from Twitter believe it or not!
Good JD!
Wishing for halfway? Wishing for the final 10 laps so there will be some racing.
I am in the other room and overheard them talking about someone dying - who was it? Motocross rider?
Thanks to Roland for the radio link. It's much more interesting than ESPN.
I've had a full pot of coffee and this TV coverage is still putting me to sleep. The race shot priority seems to be not to show the empty seats. Frustrating.
Whatever problem McMurray had was ignored. He's now off sequence from the field and hanging on to the lead lap now that everyone else pitted. Needs a yellow now.
Good JD!
Wishing for halfway? Wishing for the final 10 laps where there will finally be some racing.
I suggest strapping him to a table, compiling an archive of his stupidty for his forced viewing displeasure, and a red hot branding iron or two just for additional intimidation.
Did I mention i'm kinda wrong in the head? :p
Jimmie Johnson up to 4th *JJ Dominance Warning*
Brad Keselowski up to 6th too.
Regan Smith & Clint Bowyer have been the big losers the last 50 laps, back to 21st & 23rd respectively.
Back to Tim the Toolman
Time was I did not like the idea, but with 500 milers like this I am coming to embrace the idea of either shorter cookie-cutter track races or a series of independently scored heats.
I wanna know how you found out. Did he/she confess?
I don't know, JD. It has been rather amusing to read his pathetic attempts to shock us, hasn't it? sometimes that's the most exciting part of race 'coverage'.
I finally gave up on RB too. Spent more time frozed up than running.
Goodbye troll....you'll no longer get the attention you desperately crave.
Makiki
Not the kiddie troll, the other one about Bestwick and yelling and stuff.
He just said some profanity to me that matched his comments on Twitter.
Always interesting in cyberland.
Reading all these comments about your troll is almost as exciting as reading comments BY your troll.
(To keep you from deleting this comment, I will add a comment that zooming out shows more cars. Back to you, Allen)
-Racebuddy has been solid for the past few minutes. I had issues a little while ago as well.
Re: the "adult" troll - wouldn't it be funny if it was Mikey? (Or Bill Weber? I've kind of always thought it was him...)
ESPN finally updating Johnson, Keselowski, Ambrose, & Gordon. It's like a switch was turned this week, Kevin Harvick seems irrelevant to the championship and race.
Trolls tend to come and go, they have a personal agenda and then they just get bored.
I'm old, been around the block and had it a lot rougher than someone typing bad words at me.
It's just such slimy behavior. Yeesh.
Cathy, I talk to MW all the time on Twitter, just communicated with him yesterday.
No update on Weber, I know he is still living north of Clearwater, FL with his family.
Have not seen him on the air recently.
Gilliland/Cassill/Labonte pit off sequence, which is why they are blowing past the leaders.
JD
Maybe you have multiple trolls
Troll = Mayfield?
(I know, foul)
Had 3, one got bored and left. Still have our tween and the adult.
Tween is pretty funny, all about body parts and sex stuff.
Adult is just a mess. Everything from profanity to politics.
Guess it's sign-up time and Wordpress for next season if we can get it together.
A lot of drivers being updated for the first time 198 laps in.
Can't believe we've gone 200 laps with just 1 caution.
I feel old. I remember the good ol days when cars used to wreck during races and bring out cautions.
The SxS picture is still so small I cannot make it out. Waste of time really. The I think, "well, what if there is trouble?" And then I amswer myself, "Wouldn't matter truck would miss it like they so often do on full-screen."
As for trolls the thing I don't like about trolls is how they have come to be associated with Cheetos and I like Cheetos. Why not Cataloupe? I do not like that.
I've noticed the Bestwick troll had a very distinct 'diction', I guess I'll call it. Always could see it was the same guy. I can see why you would recognize it.
Just as I typed it (it will eventually post) we have a caution!
Vickers on a roll again this week.
Woprdpress is good. You can use emoticons
OMG A wreck
Jimm, I follow Jeremy and Shana Mayfield on Twitter!
She has been letting if fly about the most recent "raid" at his house.
Interesting to hear all the different sides of the story.
ESPN is still putting the commercial in the large box. Has anyone told them of their mistake?
Does A T & T have a new smartphone?
Won't miss the 'shouting' troll a bit. But the tween troll just tries SO hard to be offensive, and only manages to achieve pathetic.
Get ready for the army of wave arounds.
Hey JD
Sorry I haven't been here a lot lately.
Saltsburg Trojans football was in the playoffs and that has gotten me all wound up.
Second, I gave up on ESPN and NASCAR
JD
So happy to hear you say you'll be here next year.....just don't think I could follow this NASCAR coverage anymore without TDP to keep me sane. (Well, sorta sane...)
Makiki
JD, a twitter guy? How strange that someone would do that.
Makiki, this is the time of the season when we all try to get things lined up for next season.
Was just up in NC and talked with some folks about some stuff.
Money is tight and the NASCAR media world continues to shrink.
It's really a weird situation! I certainly will give it a try for 2012.
aha, LOL, funny to realize that there were 2 trolls. A big one and a little one - although both were obviously juvenile in their attempts to get attention.
Heard Weber on a broadcast of H1 hydroplane racing on Versus a few weeks ago.
JD, without you and this sight it will be impossible to watch a Nascar race. Anything we can do to help assure your return?
I just prefer having the blogs, since I don't like being on the social media crap we have elsewhere.
JD, you know a bunch of us die hards would donate as we could to help w/a site for next yr.
How did Weber do?
just this: i have turned the race off & am watching a CSpan BookTV program on Guvenor Morris-- and i am not making this up.
sigh.
I still hate that the commercials are in the BIG box and I have to try and figure out what's in the small box - oh wait, that would be the race - the reason I tuned in in the first place.
I know a regular WordPress-based site is 17.99 a year I believe.
Ambrose!
Marcos Ambrose has always been really good at Texas. It would be a great story if he won.
Would love to see Marcos win on an oval.
Looks like he fell back to third. :(
I appreciate that, but things are moving along nicely. I'll keep you all posted. Hoping for some good things to come for 2012.
(by the way: i'm keeping up with the race on twitter. i just can't take the tv broadcast any longer.)
That was great. Three way battle for the lead and we go to a football promo. Then come back to a completely different battle, then right to a commercial.
You could put up some ads. Not too many because it slows loading, but some. I would click on ads for you as I am sure others here would and I am not one to click on ads. Hardly ever do.
JD, I sure hope you are able to come back. I'd miss your columns and the good times (even with the trolls) we have on this blog.
I doubt that I would have stuck with NASCAR's tv coverage if not for your blog. At least this way, I know I'm not alone in the wilderness.
100 laps to go according to pit command.
Kahne closing in on Stewart. Time for a pre-produced full screen feature.
Chris, some of the reporters in the media center went nuts on Twitter about that.
Nice to know some other media types watch the TV coverage. Sometimes, I wonder about that.
Stewart and Kahne are 3-4 tenths faster than the rest of the field. Stewart is fighting hard for that championship!
they are not calling the race-just telling stories. I have to mute them & turn on the radio. AB must be frustrated beyond belief...:(
Looks like they both slowed down slightly and took a break, Gordon now the fastest.
I wish they'd tell us what happened to Ambrose. From battling for the lead to two seconds back with no explanation.
Adam are you sure you're 20? and you don't do the social media thing? Not a crack on you, just wondering.
You know AB is losing his mind.
Johnson wrecks and they showed it! I'm speechless. Oh wait it was because it was Johnson.
Smoke got in the Chase thinking he was a placeholder. Then stuff happned. Now I think he REALLY does want it, and moreover Smoke can really use it in his role of owner courting sponsors for his cars. If Duckboy wins it will just put more coin in Jack's pocket.
At least now the majority of the cautions today have been for on-track action and not debris.
That was intentional by the 48.
Weber wasn't bad, but seemed very scripted. Was surprised to hear the voice.
Give it time Zetona there are still 93 laps left. LOL
JD, if AB is losing his mind, he's doing a fine job of sounding in control.
Ancient, I agree about Stewart. He's not my favorite but I'll take him over duckboy and any other roushketeer.
Gina, I'm 20, in college, using a Windows XP desktop in a house from 1929 wishing he didn't have a cell phone (smartphones and all that crap are just useless pieces of technology), doesn't like social media, has a working furniture-sized record player, 35 year old stereo, 45 year old speakers to it. All picture tube, SD televisions in the house, working VCRs, one DVD player (none of that Blu-Ray crap). I want a working 8-track tape player (and some tapes), drool for the 1976 #1 Album (Frampton Comes Alive) in record form, bookshelves of books to read and will be teaching my kids some day with, you name it.
what an interesting post. Not!
Gina, He has to be taking a dose of Prozac before the race starts.
for those interested, earnhardt is 17th and Johnson is 20th
If the race ended now...I would be an angry man feeling short-changed.
HAHA! Didn't work Jimmie!
Roadgeek, do you drive a manual transmission car? If you want to do the whole '70s retro thing, make sure you find a car with manual steering, manual brakes and no A/C!
Adam, I think all that is awesome! what's your major?
Nascarnut, maybe I should try doing that before the races, too. I could be much more mellow then.
yawnnnnnnnnnnn
Bill, I refuse to get my license till I'm at least 21 at the least. (I'm betting when my 21st birthday comes around in March, I won't be working for it then either.) My sister is 16 and she is driving.
JD
fake Kyle Busch @ 5:38
A 12th place finish would be like a victory for Denny Hamlin today.
I like you, Adam...lol. While I personally have joined the digital revolution, we have a vinyl store nearby, very popular one. The Bop shop. They have what you seek....but's 4 times as much as what it was in 1976!
My niece & nephew are in their 20's...they have smartphones. So far as I know, they have no use for Twitter. They're too busy working, going to school, to care that much about what other people are thinking, except for texting their friends. My niece is on Facebook....but my nephew is not. Some people just have other things to do with their time.
I always laugh when the survey question is what ads did you see in the side by side? Honestly I never remember since I don't pay attention to the commercials -even when they annoy me.
Ahh, so you live in a city? Us 'burb/rural dwellers are pretty much forced to have a car.
Man, this is rough.
Manual steering! Yeah! That'll build up muscle!
God I hated that
Anyone, was that actor David Keith pitching Bristol?
Rough JD it's BRUTAL!!!
Ahh love seeing a Bristol commercial. Gets me all fizzed up. So ready for March. Already have my tix.
I live in suburban New Jersey about 30 miles northeast of Gina. I just have absolute refusal. What 20 year old should be driving anyway?
Also, I'm an either education or journalism / history double major in my 3rd year of college.
CAUTION A REAL CAUTION
BOOM! There goes Joey
Wow, Adam, not until you're 21? i couldn't wait to get my license at 17. I had a job in high school so my mother had to let me get it and a car! LOL She wasn't happy but I was.
@Bill yes indeed
It's starting to get interesting now.
@Roadgeek Adam
You ought to get a few dip pens. You sound like the kind of guy they would appeal to. I switched to them about 20 years ago after hearing the late Civil War historian Shelby Foote say he used them and they improved his work by giving him a rythmn and space to think. I love using them for almost all my work writing. The computer I use for finishing the text and for stuff like this.
I still can't believe how horrible the stands look Dallas home game or not.
Hope they remind me who's playing on MNF
Tough time for the area, Dallas fans love the NFL a lot more than NASCAR.
Race on a Cowboys home game day is just insane.
I should add a Smith Corona typewriter to it, (I have done college homework with it before). Gina, I don't have a job, which is the only problem my parents have with me not having a license.
I had a mazda, manual shift with rack and pinion steering. It was smooth under power, but parallel parking was a bear.
I agree, there aren't many public transportation options for me out in the country of NJ either. Our company is all about "green" initiatives and were trying to force a move to a city for public transportation which meant either Phila or Newark -- and all of us would still have had to drive our cars to the nearest train station so there would be absolutely NO gain.
If this venue and date is not working out Rockingham could use it. They have Safer Barriers now and are getting a truck race.
Just an idea
My computers "Sunset Alarm" just began. It is 4:56 CT. Too early
KyBu got a sweater and came back to the pit box.
Kyle is getting more coverage here today than he ever does when he is driving. Hmmmmm. :)
Adam, that's cool about the typewriter. I typed many a document on a typewriter before Microsoft ruled the world.
Ancient, do you really use dip pens? Or are you just pulling our leg?
Did anyone see what the debris was?
Is that an animated gif on the right of that box with the commercial in it?
No, we saw the truck and the track worker, but not the "debris."
I really do. Really. Koh-I-Noor cork grip handles, Speedball nibs, and Pelikan Ink. Blue, Midnight Blue or Black for writing and Red for editing.
"Well, I pawned my Smith Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer chicken stand."
The 11 Camry makes a nice can opener
or is that a bottle opener?
JD a twist tie is REALLY SMALL! LOL
Ancient, didn't you know that you aren't supposed to use red for editing any longer. Apparently it makes people feel bad -
Gina - We are told to use green when grading papers now.
Jr sighting!
Menard, Biffle & Burton have come to life after running most of the race in the lower teens.
Allmendinger & Ragan have gone backwards.
24 car making a good rally? What nonsense is that? considering they've run good all day today.
I'm just hoping they hold it together for the end - that has been where they fall apart these last 10 days.
there is something weird going on with the scanner today though - it's like they keep stepping on each other for Gordon, Gustafson & Dickerson.
Pretty clear the announcers are being told to talk about what is on the screen, not what is happening on the track.
Buschseries, I had heard that from others who are teachers. Sheesh, no one worried about MY self esteem - they tried to make sure I got an education.
I'm getting interested now that Gordon is contending. Makes all the difference in the world.
Gina: Yeah I know about red. I remember that coming in when I was still teaching. But I had tenure so I ignored it; labelled it "too PC for me". Now I only edit myself, so it is OK ;)
I hope we get some drama down the stretch here.
I spoke too soon - Gordon getting passed by matt the brat and Kahne.
they are going to short pit -- NOW.
It's bad JD. I'm getting more info from the NASCAR.com leaderboard than the booth conversation.
Ambrose has slid wayyyy back to 16th. RPM is falling as the sun sets.
It is pretty clear to me that ESPN does not plan to share with us much of what occurs at Texas Motor Speedway.
Doc is yelling fire on pit road & it takes them 4 beats to show it...wth???
Ancient, I use red for my own editing too - and I ask those who want corrections to give it to me that way as well. I want to see the darn edits, not try and figure out if the pencil scratches are notes to themselves or to me.
Now the 24 is in 20th. WTF? All I did was go out to lock up the cars!
Ancient, they short pitted - waiting for everyone else to pit now. At least I hope that works out the way they wanted.
AR, don't feel bad. The 1 went to the garage & they never told us under the 20 blew up.
It's just sooo tempting to listen to the radio instead of these guys...and I like these guys!
They are just held hostage to the ridiculous camera choices and all the scripted stuff.
Somehow Biffle ended up ahead of Gordon.
I like the "ad" for quicken loans and the close up.
I wonder if those cars at the top of the leaderboard can go to the end? Oh wait, are they going to tell us something about the fuel mileage?
Gina;
Thanks. I hope so too.
I also insist my editors send them to me in red too. I even bought a box of red pens for one in LA to use on my stuff as I like the dits on hard copy.
24 to 15 now
JDI finally gave in and am listening to the race on the radio online. Got tired of just the cars in 1st and 2nd. I tune in to watch ALL the cars racing.
btw, about the crowd...I think a lot of people in TX have been hurt financially by the drought too.
Unless NASCAR bunches the field, the only drama will be whether this is a fuel mileage race or not.
I wonder if we'll see lots of camera shots of Burton's wife crying since she seems to do it every time he has a win.
8 drivers are trying this strategy, caught ESPN off guard.
Yes, ever so exciting racing at Texas.
Has anyone reported how short the 31 and 39 are on fuel?
Here comes Newman for fuel
Wow the pit reporters really aren't doing their jobs. Seems like they have been following along like viewers at home.
Hmm, did the 39 stay out that long to force 31 to burn more fuel and help the 14?
Busch, yes, that was kind of funny, they actually had to cover those cars. Screwed up their script.
Keselowski in, not sure about Kurt Busch.
Gina, they (someone from TV) said she asked them to not to show her...she doesn't like it. Might not stop them though.
Fuel mileage races is not racing.
ah, so much for Kim's wishes.
yep, there's the shot of Kim!
Here's your predictable Kim shot
Hey! There is some drama!
That was the first of the Mandatory Crying WAG segments.
Burton is out of fuel. His wife is crying now. What a shame
Great effort for Burton. Just drive it dry.
@oldnew...
good thinking!
Makiki
OK, as much as I like AB, the whole summation thing at the end of the race has gotten so it annoys me.
What a marathon. At least it's over
Impressed they showed most cars crossing the line.
Yay. Was chilled in house so wearing old Home Depot Jacket of Tony's for 2 hrs!
Glad he won again. :)
Had his T shirt on last time he won.
6th, Ancient. Not too bad considering the 24 ran like a 3 legged goat in the spring here at Texas.
Dang. 4 wins. That is something. Most of the race was a snooze fest, but the end was really good.
IMHO
See Y'all. Time to cook! Bye!
At least they have a race for the Chase!
And Jr. managed a top 10 finish. How did that happen? Guess I'll never know.
that sure felt a lot longer than 3 hrs.
3 legged goat LMAO! A top 10 anyway. Old Boy ain't dead yet!
Phoenix is sold out! That's great!
ESPN's NASCAR Non-Stop is a joke. Broke for commercials during the Victory Lap!
I'll bet KyBu didn't want to be on camera either but somehow i doubt that anyone cares about requests like that, not from Kim or anyone else.
If you are heading out, make sure to leave us a "Race Wrap" comment on the new post.
Thanks!
Ancient, yes, thank goodness, the fire does still burn - I have been having a hard time figuring out how they could run so well during the first 26 races and then have such awful luck during the last 10, but you're right, the old boy still fights on.
Sally, Jr just followed Jeff through - LOL
TV tonight:
Victory Lane 7PM on SPEED
SpeedCenter 8PM on SPEED
Wind Tunnel 9PM on SPEED
NASCAR Now 10PM on ESPN2
Thanks everyone! See you on the Race Wrap post.
Post a Comment