Greg Biffle Calls Carl Edwards Out On "Inside NEXTEL Cup"

The tale of Inside NEXTEL Cup on SPEED this season has been one of an up-and-down TV series. Sometimes informative, and sometimes way off-the-mark, this decade old NASCAR series was rumored to be on its last legs.

Monday night, as host Dave Despain welcomed his regular panel of Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, and Kenny Schrader, things looked to be a bit on the boring side after a single file Martinsville race that featured little racing and lots of bumping.

After the opening conversations, Despain brought-up the on-going story of Carl Edwards pushing around Matt Kenseth after the Martinsville Cup race. This was made more real for SPEED because it was reporter Bob Dillner's camera crew that captured the brief confrontation.

In most circumstances, the current INC panel has been a group of peacemakers who put the best interests of the sport and the sponsors ahead of any momentary loss of reason that may occur after a long and hot race. Not this time.

Once Despain showed the footage, and asked the panel about their thoughts, things took a very interesting turn. For one brief moment, the kind of frank and sometimes brutally honest comments that made this show a hit years ago rose from the ashes.

Greg Biffle was just back from being married, is a veteran Cup driver, and is a Roush/Fenway Racing team member. His response to Despain was fully expected to be coated in politics and cliches. Instead, what happened next was amazing.

"Carl came from a few rows back, bombed down into turns one and two, and door-slammed Matt up the racetrack. Then, to make matters worse, as they were on the corner exit ran him (Kenseth) off into the back stretch wall," said Biffle.

"If you drive like that, you have got to be able to take it," he continued. "You would expect that Carl would figure if he drives like that, somebody is going to race him the same way, especially a team mate. So, in the next corner...Matt just bumped the back of him and he lost two or three spots back to where he was," he stated.

But, Biffle and the panel were not done yet with Carl Edwards. Not by a longshot. Things were about to go from plain talk to harsh words. Greg Biffle ended with his parting shot at Edwards by saying of his actions after the race "I think the true colors (of Edwards) are coming out there." Then, in another moment that reminded viewer of the "old days," Michael Waltrip spoke-up.

"When I think about it, its disrespectful to Jack Roush," said Waltrip. "When Carl came up to Matt after the race with the TV cameras rolling and started pushing on Matt it really made me sick to my stomach. I'm a car owner now and I see it through Jack's eyes and I don't like what I saw," exclaimed Waltrip.

Kenny Schrader was to the point, as always. "They need to sit down and get over it, Carl didn't handle that right at all." His face told the story of someone who had been through a lot worse in racing, and thought Edwards antics to be ridiculous.

The remainder of the show was good, and it was good in part because Despain had stumbled across what former INC host Allen Bestwick knew so well. To get the best out of the three panelists, get them wound-up early on something they feel strongly about. Bestwick was the master at this, and he would then transition the panel into the highlights and things would take-off.

Unfortunately, Despain does not have this touch, and simply uses his monotone to read the script for the highlights, actively trying to quash all driver antics. In this show, the drivers continued to pour-out the good information, despite the repeated interruptions of Despain. He simply cannot lose "control" on TV.

The difference in this show was having Greg Biffle back on the set. On the subject of Tony Stewart, the panel again got Despain off-track and began a discussion of Tony "self policing" the Martinsville track. Said Waltrip, "there has to be somebody in charge." Biffle and Schrader were dialed-in to goofing around, and for once Despain lost his leadership position to good old INC laughter.

The panel was all over the correct information about the race, and several times corrected Despain while he was reading his script. Even teasing each other during their own highlights, Waltrip and Biffle were having a great time. Having a solid third panelist to join Waltrip and Schrader is a key to this series carrying on.

The candid comments and great information flowed better on this episode than they had in many shows. This was due in-part to Michael Waltrip keeping his head in the game for the entire hour, with no sponsor plugs and no changes of topic for reasons related to his team or manufacturer. What a difference a dialed-in Waltrip makes for the viewer.

Toward the end of the show, Waltrip stepped-up to offer the official explanation of the green/white/checkered flag finish. The panel led Despain through a recap of why and how things happened in the final three laps of the Cup Series race. Today, these guys were earning their money.

In a wonderful stroke of luck, the show came up "light," and this allowed the panel to talk about life outside of the NASCAR circle. Finally, it was clear to viewers how the personalities of these three drivers are so completely different. Waltrip talked sponsors and family, Biffle talked fishing, and Schrader said he was going out to eat later. This was the type of fun that SPEED viewers have been missing.

There are only a couple of episodes left for INC this season. After months of problems and turmoil, to see this type of free-flowing and orderly show clearly suggests that SPEED executives got involved and decided to put things in order.

If only for one night, the kind of casual and chaotic fun that allowed this show to become a hit was on display again. SPEED has not announced if INC will return for 2008, but with a fresh host and the continued support of the production executives, this franchise may have not taken its last breath.

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Ryan Burr Steps-Up To The Big Time (Updated)

Standing alone in the ESPN2 High Definition studios, Ryan Burr had a big smile across his face. Finally, Burr was getting an opportunity to host the one hour version of ESPN's racing show NASCAR Now. He would make the most of this opportunity.

As The Daly Planet has mentioned before, Burr has solid credentials behind him in TV journalism, and is currently working as an anchor on the ESPN News Network. Many emails have come our way from former co-workers and associates of Burr that all say the same thing. Great guy and hard worker. Monday on NASCAR Now those traits certainly showed.

Burr works fast, and he launched into the Martinsville NEXTEL Cup highlights without gimmicks or hype. He followed the video with a replay of his interview with Jimmie Johnson from the track on Sunday night. Johnson enjoyed the interview, and Burr asked all the right questions. Then, he tackled the controversy.

NASCAR Now reporters Angelique Chengelis and Marty Smith stopped-by to deal with the frustrations expressed after the race by Carl Edwards. In the past, NASCAR Now would have been over-the-moon with Erik Kuselias and Tim Cowlishaw hyping this incident for the entire hour. Smith and Chengelis put this one incident in perspective and then moved on to other news. What an outstanding change of pace for this show. Kudos for Burr for mentioning SPEED in reference to the footage.

Moving on to the Johnson vs. Gordon relationship, Burr questioned the honesty of the seemingly mild-mannered rivalry. He pushed both of the reporters for answers, and got them in clear terms. This was exactly the way to use these "Insiders."

Veteran reporter Mike Massaro showed up next to present a feature on the Martinsville experience of Jeff Gordon. Massaro and Burr were standing in the Home Depot garage on the ESPN2 set. Interestingly, once again ESPN chose to use the outstanding radio call of MRN's Dave Moody in place of the ABC audio of Jerry Punch in the highlights.

With Burr and Massaro side-by-side, finally two TV professionals were interacting and talking on ESPN where NASCAR was concerned. What a breath of fresh air.

Amazingly, NASCAR Now freely used the call of the SPEED announcers when showing their outstanding video recap feature on the NASCAR weekend at Martinsville. This really added another element to the show, as many things happened and many incidents occurred in the Truck race on SPEED. It was great of ESPN to include the audio along with the video highlights.

Jamie Little's post-race interview with Carl Edwards went a long way to answer the question of what was on his mind when he manhandled the much smaller Matt Kenseth. This sound was part of a big Chase contenders recap that put a lot in perspective for fans who watched the race on ABC. That crew left a lot of information at the track, and once the telecast was over they really did not offer viewers any closure.

Shannon Spake returned for her usual Monday feature, but this time she was off the mark. Spake was once again covering a topic that is making NASCAR fans absolutely crazy. That is the two glamour boys of Hendrick Motorsports, and the eternal question of...when will they fight? Spake added nothing new, had no new footage, and ended with a rambling interview of Chad Knaus who affirmed no hard feelings.

The king of reality for NASCAR Now has been Stacy Compton. This time, he addressed one final time the Hendrick Motorsports reality of Jeff Gordon being Jimmie Johnson's mentor and friend. Stacy has been putting things back into perspective for the ESPN anchors and commentators on this program all season long.

The NASCAR Now reporters returned with multiple news updates. They covered Jeremy Mayfield, Bill Davis Racing, Jacque Villeneuve and the future of Haas CNC Motorsports. Smith and Chengelis work well together, and both are confident enough in their own abilities to share the spotlight with another reporter.

Burr continued the fast pace of this show with highlights of both the Truck Series and the Toyota All-Star Shootout. Both these events were on SPEED, and it was great to see ESPN stepping-up and showing NASCAR highlights without regard to which network televised the event.

After rejecting the regional NASCAR racing action earlier this season, Burr hosted driver Joey Logano and led him through a review of his season and the outlook for his future in the sport. "It was awesome" said Logano of winning the Toyota Shootout as he smiled broadly. Imagine, happy people on NASCAR Now.

Burr again asked the right questions, including the relationship seventeen year old Logano has with the older competitors. At the end of the interview, a smiling Logano said "thanks, man." This interview meant a lot to the NASCAR regional racers, and it ended the Grand National Series on a good note for ESPN.

After a concise preview of the upcoming Atlanta race by Stacy Compton, Burr made several indirect references to his opportunity to host this show, and then told viewers he would be back on Tuesday. While this is a positive turn for the struggling NASCAR Now, there was one thing Burr could not avoid. One thing even he must bow-down and pay homage to as an ESPN employee.

He took a deep breath and said the one word that has struck fear in the hearts of ESPN's NASCAR viewers since February. It was time for...Aerosmith. Well, the transition to the fifty-nine year old in spandex was rough, but the other fifty-six minutes of NASCAR Now on this Monday was worth a little pain.

Update: Burr continued as the host of NASCAR Now on Tuesday, and worked his way through a show packed with information. Once again, he correctly identified SPEED TV as the source of the Edwards vs. Kenseth footage, and used his reporters to follow-up on this story. The show contained a long fantasy racing segment, but also contained news and a Memphis preview.

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ESPN Snubs Bestwick For Memphis Busch Race

The ESPN assignments are out for this weekend, and one of them is very surprising.

While the normal NEXTEL Cup crew will handle the Atlanta race, the Busch Series is off at Memphis Motorsports Park for a stand-alone event. To the delight of fans, former Busch Series Champ Randy LaJoie will provide the color commentary. But, that is not the story that grabbed our attention.

Hosting the ESPN2 coverage and providing the play-by-play will be Marty Reid. Meanwhile, down on pit road one of his reporters will be Allen Bestwick. That is a stunner.

ESPN has stationed Bestwick on the Busch Series beat all season long. His duties have included play-by-play as well as hosting the Busch Series pre-race show for the telecasts where Dr. Jerry Punch handled the call of the race.

Several times this season, Bestwick has single-handedly hosted the pre-race show, provided the play-by-play, and then hosted the post-race activity on the Busch Series stand-alone races. He was ESPN's one man band for the Busch telecasts.

Why and how Marty Reid comes into play is unclear. Reid is the open-wheel and NHRA broadcaster who has only appeared in a vacation relief role on the NASCAR beat this season. Reid is certainly qualified for this challenge, but once again it appears that Bestwick has been left out in the cold when high-profile assignments for ESPN come around.

One other announcer note, Brent Musburger will be back for the Atlanta race on ABC since he has plenty of time to travel from his Saturday college football assignment.

Also, the fifth installment of the Chasing Glory series airs on Wednesday at 5:30PM on ESPN2. This quality series from NASCAR Images has followed the "Chasers" as they go through the ten final races of the season. It is worth putting on the DVR for later viewing.

Finally, if you missed the outstanding Ultimate NASCAR series on ESPN earlier this season, you have the chance to record two episodes. "The Explosion" episode airs this Thursday at 4AM Eastern Time, and "Greatest Drivers" airs on Friday at 5AM Eastern. This is a chance to see Dr. Jerry Punch doing what he does best...reporting and presenting feature material.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email editor@thedalyplanet.tv if you wish not to be published. Thanks again for taking the time to stop-by and leave your opinion.