Day Two Of Your Turn: Sprint Cup Series On ABC From Richmond, VA

What a night! College football covered portions of the pre-race show and then the race turned into a parade of commercials from start to finish.

Allen Bestwick had only a short time to get comments from Ray Evernham, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty from the Infield Pit Studio. Tim Brewer was in the Tech Garage.

It was the "A Team" of Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree who called the race from the TV booth. Down on pit road were Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch.

The race started on time with all the TV markets except one on time for the start. ABC was into commercial before lap 8 and this was the theme of the night. At the track, the crowd all waved American flags on laps 9 and 11 in a tribute to the fallen US citizens of the terrorist attacks. Despite the fact that the TV guys knew about it, they went to commercial.

The rest of the telecast featured only one rain delay. There were no technical issues and the pictures and sound were solid.

Update: Fans of Marcos Ambrose and other top ten drivers filled my email after the checkered flag. ESPN's director chose to show only Denny Hamlin finish the race and showed no other lead lap cars finish. This despite the fact that drivers were racing not only for the finish of the race, but for place in the Chase for the Championship.

This post is our opportunity for you to offer a post-race wrap-up of the ESPN on ABC coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from Richmond. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.

Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Richmond (ABC - 7PM ET)

NASCAR follows college football on ABC Saturday night. The telecast is scheduled to begin at 7PM with thirty minutes of pre-race show.

Allen Bestwick will have a full house tonight. Ray Evernham, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty are all in the Infield Pit Studio for the pre-race, the event and the post-race coverage. Evernham is a breath of fresh air and he works well with Wallace. Unfortunately, Daugherty is relegated to his cheerleader role in this scenario.

Marty Reid will be calling the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. These three did not have a very good Friday night calling the Nationwide Series race. They had a long day on the air handling multiple sessions and that showed with the lack of energy on the NNS race telecast.

Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage. His performances have become cult classics as he reviews mostly the same information he has offered since 2007. Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch are the pit road reporters.

ESPN has a formula that maddened fans on Friday night. Each segment of the race begins with wide shots and an overview of the race. Then, the director slowly zooms the cameras in just like FOX until only one or two cars is being shown on the TV screen at a time.

The telecasts for the viewers ultimately become a series of random cuts between pictures of two cars racing for position. ESPN had confirmed that this style will continue by now showing two video boxes on the screen, even at short tracks like Richmond.

What do each of the two video boxes have in them? That's right, a tight camera shot of two cars racing for position. Fundamentally, it's embarrassing that ESPN cannot adopt a NASCAR production strategy that makes sense for the fans watching at home.

There are a lot of other viewing options tonight, including top of the line sports. It's going to be very important as NASCAR moves into the Chase to harness some momentum tonight and carry it down the stretch as the sport begins to compete head-to-head with the NFL on Sunday afternoons.

This post will allow you to voice your opinion on the ABC coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Richmond. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Richmond (ESPN2 - 7PM ET)

Here we go with what could be one of the best Nationwide Series of the season. A wide variety of drivers are set to go at it under the lights at the Richmond International Raceway.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race show with Ray Evernham, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Marty Reid will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch, Dave Burns and Jamie Little are the pit reporters. Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage.

Richmond is classic short track racing. The packs of cars battle and run side-by-side constantly. It's up to the director to keep the best action in the camera frame while the producer uses the announcers to tell the entire story of the race.

This track can have red flag periods due to the track being blocked. Cautions usually breed cautions and the TV crew will be chasing the hectic action on pit road both under green and caution.

This post will serve to host your comments on the Nationwide Series action from Richmond on ESPN2. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by!