The two remaining NASCAR TV partners at this time of the season, ESPN and SPEED, will split the Friday on-track action from the Texas Motor Speedway. ESPN2 will open the day with Nationwide Series practice at 11:30AM ET and then follow it with the Sprint Cup Series practice session at 1PM.
Marty Reid is finishing out this season as the voice of the Nationwide Series telecasts. He is up first with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree for the early session. Allen Bestwick then comes along with Jarrett and Petree for the Cup practice.
ESPN has the usual cast of characters on pit road. Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Dave Burns and Vince Welch will handle the reporting duties. Tim Brewer and his car parts are over in the Tech Garage.
The ESPN day ends with NASCAR Now on ESPN2 at 2:30PM. Former TNT reporter and now ESPN anchor Lindsay Czarniak will host the show. Ricky Craven is the in-studio analyst this weekend while Marty Smith and Shannon Spake will report from TMS.
John Roberts picks up the hosting duties as SPEED begins the night shift with a 4PM version of NASCAR Live. Jeff Hammond will be alongside Roberts while Randy Pemberton will report from the garage area.
SPEED's two on-track sessions are at 4:30 and 6:30PM ET. Hermie Sadler joins Larry McReynolds and Steve Byrnes to call the Sprint Cup Series practice up first. Phil Parsons then stops by for the Nationwide Series session up next with Byrnes and McReynolds. Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner will handle the reporting for both telecasts.
7:30PM starts the Camping World Trucks telecast with Krista Voda hosting the pre-race show. Rick Allen then comes along for the live race at 8PM with Parsons and Michael Waltrip along for the ride. Hermie Sadler and Ray Dunlap are the reporters.
The TV night ends with the "new look" version of Trackside. Rutledge Wood has transitioned over into the host role. He is joined on the stage by Kyle Petty and Jeff Hammond. Newcomer Marianela Pereyra is the reporter. Fans have very strong opinions about the recent changes to this classic TV series.
We will live blog the truck race, but please feel free to offer your TV-related comments right here on any of the Friday telecasts. We will also use this post to pass along any breaking news, as NASCAR silly season is in full swing and many other current and former NASCAR personalities are in the news this week. Thanks for stopping by.
34 comments:
I will watch practice but just cannot take trackside anymore, has become too stupid. I want information not comedy.
So sad to hear about David Reutimann. Will see how bowyer does, maybe it is the equipment and not reutimann. Truex has not done much either. LS
WOW, i didn't realize the good old hosts from trackside were gone for good!! I'd just caught bits & pieces of goofy games with Rutledge & Kyle.
WOW. The crazy fans drove me away from those shows last year, w yelling/drunks/waving signs annoyingly. But no Steve B, no Jeff, No Larry Mc...what the heck they talk about on that show now :(
New SPEED management just keeps gunking up the shows.
Least they are putting Wind Tunnel back to 9pm. I HATED 8pm showing.
I hope to find the old SPEED gang on tv Friday night to watch the stuff from Texas but will avoid Trackside itself. Wish N Performance had a permanent time slot, too, and not on raceday.
That's a good show done in studio & I like it's back to the original three guys, the rare times I've stumbled onto it again.
Looking forward to all coverage, but Trackside. The Rutledge and Marianela combo is not working for this NASCAR fan. Speed needs to rethink their strategy regarding this show. Thanks for the schedule information JD.
I used to be a regular watcher of Trackside, but no more. I'm with Anon 11:55PM, Sophia (dear) and BLING!, it's just too stupid. Doesn't nascar care what this show does to their brand?
JD, do you know what the ratings are for Trackside now vs when it was watchable? I'm curious to know if they reflect what we have said so far.
I stopped watching Trackside years ago. They were all poor,but the Friday night version was just plain fluff. No way would I ever watch Trackside.
Sweet cant wait for Friday action! Oh and JD what happened to the article you were going to write about the bad tv coverage still getting good ratings? You mentioned how your next post would be about that but never saw it???
Jon, that was replaced by the breaking stories of the Hendrick plane crash and Mr. Mayfield. It will appear next week.
Great Job on the "Ratings vs. Production" Article Wednesday Night.
Trackside was once a great show. I cannot even turn it on anymore. What a shame Speed has destroyed it!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Anon, did you see my response to Jon? That column will appear next week.
Actual Rutledge Wood quote:
Q: How did you find your way into NASCAR?
RW: "I started with SPEED in February of '05 as the MC and DJ at the SPEED stage. It was a position through the marketing department and believe it or not, I actually saw the job listing on Craigslist. When I started, I didn't know much about NASCAR but I fell in love with it quickly. It's hard to believe I've been on the road with NASCAR that long, but it has flown by."
Dreams can come true ... It can happen to you....
In the meantime while I wait I am going to Tuscaloosa for this year's verion of "The Game of the Century"
Sophia... JD has the handy dandy side bar with all the NASCAR program listings....you can usually check Fridays to see when NASCAR Performance is on. And thank you, JD for keeping it up there, I use it all the time. I know there are other sites out there where you can find it also. I think we have to remember that SPEED is a sports network that does carry live programming (not enough...) so it makes the scheduling require a bit more flexibility. That doesn't bother me.
I sometimes turn on Trackside, but usually when I am doing other tasks. I like Rutledge, I like Kyle...heck, I see nothing wrong with Marianela. But the show itself is awful. Last week they were *carving pumpkins*. Oy vey....
But I would also like to mention, who at SPEED is trying to turn Byrnes into a comedian on Racehub. The goofy weather outfits; who is making him do this schtick? I thought Spencer was the comic relief (who can be alternately funny & terribly unfunny in the same segment.)
It's been very interesting to watch the on-air changes now happening at SPEED. IMHO there is a lot of FOX and David Hill stuff showing up. Just glad no Pizzi or Caliendo...yet.
I refuse to watch any program with that villiage idiot Rutledge Wood. His bit had grown tiresome after day 1. I wish speed would only use people that had some sense of professionalism.
I really enjoy Rutledge & Kyle however I don't watch because of all those people with their stupid signs in the background. As for Marianela I can't stand her. I'm also curious about Reut and his prospects for 2012.
Gordon is supposed to be on trackside as a guest since he's giving away the corvette that was raffled off for the foundation.
That's the only reason I'll watch trackside at this point.
Rutledge does not amuse me.
I doubt that I'll catch practice either since I have other stuff to do
Trackside is dead to me. I wont watch it. I like some goofyness mixed in with great interviews. New show gives you none of that. Its Kyle and Rut being crazy and some woman in a bunker somewhere reading tweets for no reason. Remind me not to watch.
Nice to see Steve Byrnes calling the action today.
Sorry this track bores me. I may watch some Sunday, but not during the Giants game. Otherwise, there's a lot of other things to do on a (rare) sunny warm fall weekend.
No Trackside for me! Haven't watched for some time now. Like everything else, someone has a 'better idea' and ends up ruining a good thing. Ratings will drop and it will be canceled like all the other past good shows we used to watch.
Here we are at years end again and one part of me wants the racing season to hurry up and end. Silly season just messes everything up for the 'core' fan in me. In the old days (showing my age) you could buy that jacket and know that next year, your driver would be there with the same sponsor, the same car number, same CC. But not now.
NASCAR has evolved to a series of change. Announcers, drivers, shows, sponsors, it's an never ending whirlwind of change. Some good, some bad.
I'm just getting tired of trying to keep up with it all.....
With the announcement today that Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip will split the #00, they said MW will run both Talladega races, the summer Daytona race, and Kentucky.
The first Talladega race conflicts with his new NASCAR on FOX deal. Maybe they will let Hammond back in the trailer that weekend.
Steve L, I know what you mean about the discontinuity on who's driving where, for what make and sponsor. I have stopped buying souvenirs for the most part - I stick with either something from the track esp if I haven't been there before or something from Chevy racing.
there used to be a sports store near here with a lot of NASCAR stuff...owner told me once the sponsor-changing stuff just killed his business. Other sports keep their logos, for the most part. Even Jeff Gordon's rainbow is gone....my friend has not yet bought a 'Drive to End Hunger' shirt.
I try to buy smaller, cheaper things. Stickers, pins, bandannas.
Gordo and Burton: Something about
a slight altercation during the
practice at Texas ?
And info on that ? thanks
Only hat I've bought lately is an M&M's hat. A Green M&M's hat with a Rinestone M and a pink underbrim.
Good conversation starter. Women are drawn to it.
Danica will drive the 10 car in Sprint Cup next year! Daytona, Darlington, Bristol, Chicagoland, Texas, Phoenix, and a few others 10 races all together
saw it on Nascar.com
As others have mentioned, I regret the loss of the long term sponsor affiliations. In the days of the "Tide Ride", you could identify the car without it being mentioned by an announcer. As long as it showed up in a camera shot, you could probably pick it out and know how the driver was doing. The special paint schemes used today also may have a purpose, but it makes it more difficult to identify a car. Combine that with rotating sponsors and the TV viewer has a tough job to identify and follow a car.
You would think that NASCAR and its TV broadcasters would be careful to make sure that all of the primary sponsors got some air time to justify their continued support. Instead, the networks and NASCAR seem determined to do just the opposite. NASCAR's chase results in focus on a few teams while ignoring the rest. And ESPN's hypertight camera coverage results in long periods of focus on a single car. That concentration not only angers fans who want to watch a race, it prevents air time to all the other primary sponsors.
I think that the concentration on a few cars and sponsors is slowly killing the economic foundation of the sport. When top tier teams like Roush and Childress have to eliminate a team because of lack of sponsorship, something is seriously wrong.
I used to think that ESPN was merely arrogant and stupid. That was sufficient reason to explain their personnel choices along with the producer and director decisions. After last week's failure to mention a serious injury to a crewman because he was not on a significant team, I am forced to conclude that ESPN is also callous and evil. They have had five years to relearn how to understand the fans and broadcast a race, and this is the best they can do?
I hope ESPN is not any part of the next NASCAR TV contract. If they go, I will celebrate their departure. I don't know how anybody else can be any worse.
Seeing Reutimann's picture on this article only makes me think less of the media and for sure MW. The media today says it is just business sure does let MW off the hook.
To not even take the extra time to talk to Reutimann in person makes MW look awful. You have someone with a contract through 2012 but do not make sure you tell them in person.
The media just passes over all this as if it is ok. Just like they pass over other things that makes NASCAR look bad. You would think they all work for NASCAR.
Will not pull for MWR at all. LS
MW said he could not get in touch with reutimann Tuesday Because he was on a plane. I mean really?? If he cared at all for reutimann he could have delayed his announcement until he could talk to reutimann in person.
He at the very least owed him that.
Reutimann's being pushed out puts a whole new perspective on all those AArons commercials where he wasn't allowed to be the spokesman. Wonder how quickly Aarons will pull them?
Anyone tried using PitComman for qualifying today?
Nascar.com says PitCommand and the radio broadcast are available for today's cup qualifying. I've tried several times to fire up both applications to no avail. A blank page for PitCommand and nothing when I click on the arrow to start the radio broadcast. I'm a paying customer for PitCommand.
JD, can you please wake up those yahoos at Turner and find out what the problem is? Thanks.
Aarons might should be worried about backlash because of the way reutimann was let go more than their commercials.
During Sprint Cup Qualifying, they came back from break and showed a Jimmie Johnson highlight reel then went back live and they were halfway through Jeff Gordon's qualifying run. And not only that but they didnt even mention Jimmie after the promo thing. That didnt make no sense. Especially since Qualifying is taped so each car can get on TV, and they ignore Jeff for Jimmie. If it was JJ Yeley or someone I wouldnt care, but Jeff has a ton of fans. They deserved to see his whole run. Just didnt make sense to me.
Roland
Sorry to hear about Jeff not being shown but as a Tony Stewart fan we've dealt with stuff like that quite often. You don't get used to it. Just imagine if you were a fan of some top 20 driver as opposed to a top 10 driver. You'd be lucky to see your guy on tv.
NorcalFan....no response at all! Not a good sign.
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