Lots Of Pre-Race Shows But No "Victory Lane" Again

We have to begin this pre-race programming post with a picture of the bus race champion from Lowe's Motor Speedway. Last season it was Jimmy Spencer, but this year he was crushed by fellow SPEED announcer Wendy Venturini. She held-off John Roberts, Rutledge Wood, Spencer, Kenny Wallace and Hermie Sadler to claim the victory.

It will be NASCAR Now on ESPN2 at 10AM Eastern Time that kicks-off the Saturday pre-race action for one hour. This show features Ryan Burr and Nicole Manske hosting with multiple ESPN reporters checking-in from the Chicagoland track. NASCAR Now has bounced back from a tough Tuesday show on Richard Petty to recover quite well with wall-to-wall coverage of the Tony Stewart announcement and reactions.

Fans will have to take a break as RaceDay on SPEED does not come along until 4:30PM. SPEED does have Tradin' Paint at 3PM with USA Today reporter Nate Ryan as the media guest along with host John Roberts and regular panelist Kyle Petty. Larry McReynolds brings his NASCAR Performance show to the air at 3:30PM and Adam Alexander hosts NASCAR In A Hurry at 4PM.

Roberts then comes along with his big cast of characters for RaceDay at 4:30PM. This week at Chicagoland the program will have Casey Mears, Carl Edwards and Jay Frye who is the GM at Red Bull Racing. Venturini's Real Deal segment will be taking a look at Brian Vickers. News will include a review of Stewart's announcement, the most recent NASCAR penalties and a video highlight package of the bus race.

TNT is up next with NASCAR On TNT Live! hosted by Marc Fein. This season, Fein has finally gotten himself comfortable with NASCAR and being joined on the stage by Kyle Petty and McReynolds really has helped. This show will feature Richard Petty on his anniversary week of 50 years in NASCAR. Tony Stewart will also be along to update his 2009 team news.

Popular CNN Headline News anchor Robin Meade will be acting as a race official and riding in the pace car, so there is no doubt viewers will see her during the pre-race show as TNT and CNN are sister networks in the Turner Broadcasting family. Fans may remember Meade taking a ride on Wally's World a while back and loving every minute of it. She seems to be slowly becoming a NASCAR fan.

Allstate Countdown to Green is next at 7:30PM with Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach up in the TNT booth hosting the program. This is the final race for TNT, so look for Weber to talk about the overall TV package and his experience this season. This program leads into race coverage at 8PM.

As usual, SPEED is going to hold the airing of Victory Lane until 8PM on Sunday night. If you feel strongly about this topic, I would urge you to contact SPEED through the contact link on the SPEEDtv.com website. Perhaps, next year the network will make a commitment to the fans instead of the schedule.

This post will serve to host your comments about the pre-race shows from these three NASCAR TV partners. To add your TV-related comments, click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

Richard Petty On "Trackside" - Your Comments Please

OK, I surrender. After the mess that NASCAR Now made of the Tuesday one hour special from the Petty Museum, fans apparently felt very strongly about the way SPEED treated The King on the Friday night edition of Trackside. Here is your opportunity to tell us all about it.

Reminder: Trackside will re-ar at 2PM Eastern Time on Saturday.

Petty was the only guest and host Steve Byrnes was outstanding. He even brought-up some video from well over a decade ago of Byrnes hosting Petty on the sidelines at a Washington Redskins game. Byrnes was overwhelmed that the players, in full gear and ready for a game, came directly to Petty just to shake hands. Many returned after the game for his autograph.

Panelists Jeff Hammond, Larry McReynolds and Elliott Sadler had obviously done their homework and asked informed and diverse questions. Petty discussed the past, the Petty Enterprises recent merger and other current NASCAR issues.

The King has lots of strong feelings and a very good sense of humor. Both of these attributes were on display in this hour-long program. If you watched the show and would like to relate your feelings, please do so below.

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TNT At Daytona: The Future Of NASCAR TV (over 100 comments)

There had to be a time during the TNT broadcast of the Sprint Cup Series race from Daytona where the various NASCAR executives had to all have the same thought. Why can't we do this for every race?

From the moment that the "wide open" coverage of TNT began, there was rarely a moment when viewers missed the racing action. This season, TNT used a relatively small-sized box positioned on the right side of the screen to show the commercials. It worked like a charm.

Veteran TV Director Mike Wells stamped his name on this race in no uncertain terms. The commentary was good and the graphics were fine, but the pictures were spectacular.

NASCAR nation had been watching the very different style of the Fox Sports gang this season. Races were filled with gimmicks like Digger and sometimes dominated by bumper cams and tight shots of the leader. Rarely did fans see any car finish the race live except the leader. After frequent complaints, Fox actually began to replay the finish for the rest of the field.

Wells came from the ESPN "old school" days where the racing on the track dominated the coverage, not a pre-conceived storyline or a high-profile driver. The camera work was outstanding all race long as wideshots that zoomed to provide a perspective were mixed with just enough low angle and speed shots to create a dynamic viewing experience.

Bill Weber was surprisingly effective at mixing-in the more frequent but less obtrusive commercial elements throughout the telecast. Weber still yells "Matt" a bit too harshly, but his performance this season has been tempered by the presence of Kyle Petty as the true leader of the TNT telecasts.

Petty has mixed effectively with both Wally Dallenbach and Larry McReynolds to form a rather unique team of analysts. Dallenbach and Petty both offer the driver's perspective, but in their own very different kind of way. McReynolds is not physically present "upstairs," but is as vocal a member of the TNT team as the trio up in the booth.

It seems that with one season under their belts, this TNT on-air team has become as comfortable with each other as viewers see with the veterans at Fox. Petty has played a key role with his ability to address any issue and even poke fun at himself. His role driving the pace car at the opening of the race made for some fun banter with the other announcers.

The fundamental truth is that by keeping the video of the race on the screen during commercial breaks, viewers are going to "consume" the content of the commercials at a much higher rate. The transition to a full-screen commercial in a normal telecast is a signal to either surf the other channels or turn one's attention to another activity for two minutes. Those who DVR or TiVo the race just hit fast-forward.

This race telecast is a model for the NASCAR TV coverage of the future. Sponsors got a terrific amount of exposure for their commitment and fans got a non-stop telecast that was visually better than anything they have seen so far this season. Despite the dissapointing finish, this time the pictures really did tell the story.

What were your views of the "wide open" coverage from TNT on Saturday night?

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