Steve Byrnes Answers Your NASCAR TV Questions

Since we have received so many great comments during the year about a wide variety of NASCAR TV topics, we have decided to add a new feature.

The Daly Planet will post a column talking about one NASCAR TV personality, and then allow you to ask them the one question that has been on your mind all season long. The key word in that sentence is...one.

Any post with multiple questions will be deleted, so make your one question count. Our guest will read the column, send me the answers they feel comfortable providing, and we will review what they say together. Considering the level of NASCAR TV knowledge shown in the thousands of comments on this blog, it should be interesting.

Our inaugural guest is Steve Byrnes from Fox Sports and SPEED. Currently living in the Carolinas, Steve is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in Radio, TV, and Film. He hails from LaGrange, Illinois and his full bio from SPEEDtv.com can be seen by clicking here.

NASCAR fans like Steve because of his on-air style. He makes the transition between hosting a studio or talk show and working in the announce booth for on-track action very smoothly.

Using that versatility, Steve hosts the popular Trackside show on SPEED that has grown into a featured primetime live program for the network. On racing weekends, he also hosts NASCAR Live, and during the final ten race stretch he hosts The Chase is On from the SPEED studios in Charlotte.

The Daly Planet received many comments and emails about Steve's hosting of the practice and qualifying sessions for both the NASCAR Busch and NEXTEL Cup Series. He and his SPEED crew often stepped-in right between the other networks telecasting the actual races. In fact, when Byrnes ended practice for one series, another network might immediately go on-the-air with Happy Hour or a live race. NASCAR fans appreciated the good humor and solid knowledge that he brought to these telecasts.

Working for Fox Sports, Steve is a pit reporter for the NASCAR on Fox telecasts, and has also managed to quietly slip-in some work doing play-by-play for selected NFL Football games. That assignment is a big statement about his sports TV abilities.

Veteran NASCAR fans remember Steve from a long list of shows, including the Totally NASCAR series that aired on both SPEED and FoxSportsNet.

In summary, Steve has been a fixture on the NASCAR scene for some time now, and his ability to relate to the audience, show guests and his fellow on-air announcers has been well documented. We certainly appreciate his help with this "experiment."

This post will remain up through Thursday, to allow folks to think of the one good question that they have always wanted to ask. Steve will be reviewing the questions on Friday, and I will publish a column with his answers over the weekend.

UPDATE: Thanks for your great questions, Steve's answers will be up soon.

If this first effort goes well, we have Krista Voda, Wendy Venturini, Randy Pemberton, Matt Yocum and several other folks who would also like to participate. Thanks again for stopping by.

Time For Your "NASCAR TV Best And Worst" Of The 2007 Races

Before the memories fade of the 2007 NASCAR season, let's try to bring back some of those classic TV moments that really got our attention. They would be divided into two categories, the good and the bad.

The one thing that we require is that both moments must be from a race itself. Later, there will be another column about all of the non-racing NASCAR TV shows. That one should be fun.

So, this is not about the actual racing, or the drivers, or NASCAR as a business. It is about the coverage you have watched all season long on the NASCAR TV partners. It is what pops into your mind when you think NASCAR TV this season.

One example of a good moment might be Mike Joy calling the finish of the Daytona 500. An example of a bad moment might be Mike Massaro pressuring Dale Earnhardt Junior after he had just missed The Chase. Now, I think you might be getting the picture.

If you want some help, just peel back through the archived pages of The Daly Planet to remember Allen Bestwick and Randy Lajoie in Montreal, Brent Musburger in the Fan Zone at Daytona, or Rusty Wallace introducing us to Eric Amarillo. How about hip-hop at Pocono, TNT's Vampire Movie, or the infamous Draft Track? We even got email about Krista Voda's "Britney Spears" hat.

Some folks think Larry McReynolds hanging in there at Sonoma with no voice and sick as a dog was outstanding. But, in that same race we had the TV crew actually play-back an obscenity from Kyle Petty, the TNT in-car announcer. Who can forget that the team prayer came first?

This should be fun and we will be leaving this post up for two or three days to allow folks to come back and add more. All we ask is that in your post, you only name one good thing and one bad thing from the TV race broadcasts this season.

You can always come back and post again, but leave some fun for the others! If you get off-track, we will delete you and ask you to try again.

We had Mike Joy and company from Fox Sports, Bill Weber and his gang from TNT, Jerry Punch and the ESPN/ABC guys, and then Rick Allen and the SPEED crew on the Truck Series. These four groups should give everyone a chance to think back and dig-up two memorable moments for a good comment.

Once we are all done, I will add in my two cents and then try to put together a recap of your comments. This column will stay the lead through Wednesday, when we get to ask Steve Byrnes some TV questions.

To add your comment, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the instructions. We do not need your email address and there is nothing to join. Here at The Daly Planet, we just want your opinion.

Updates: SPEED Casting Call For NASCAR TV Career

One note to pass along:

SPEED is conducting a casting call for a NASCAR Tour Coordinator for 2008. Go to all the races, have fun, and get into the TV business. To read more and apply, click this link. Good luck to all and we expect a full report back to us if you get the job.