Still Waiting On NASCAR TV Changes

The last we heard, both Fox and ESPN were huddling with the bean counters and looking at the NASCAR TV production budgets. TDP talked (click here) about the fact that some adjustments were going to be made before the 2009 season got underway.

This week starts the official countdown to Daytona 2009 and it should be very interesting to see if the Hollywood Hotel, the ESPN Infield Pit Studio and the ESPN Tech Center all roll into the speedway with the rest of the TV gear.

Since the article talking about the potential cutbacks, there has not been a peep from either ESPN or Fox in that regard. Both networks are neck-deep in other sports at the moment and there is apparently little time to talk about NASCAR issues.

All this speculation began when Fox dropped the on-location pre-game show for the network's Major League Baseball Game of the Week. This put former NASCAR reporter Jeanne Zelasko on the sidelines. She has recently begun (click here) a campaign to have herself named the play-by-play announcer on the LA Dodgers baseball broadcasts. Thanks to a TDP reader for the correction.

If Fox will drop the on-site pre-game for baseball, will there be a change in the status of the Hollywood Hotel for 2009? This custom-built mobile production studio is the second version of this concept and did not start-off to (click here) rave reviews.

While the old version had a real window as a backdrop, the new model essentially cuts-out the outside world and exists as a closed studio. Pictures of the racetrack behind Chris Myers are actually inserted electronically.

It may well be that Fox decides the Hollywood Hotel is worth the cost this season because the network is telecasting Sprint Cup Series races. That moves us over to ESPN, a network that does not touch a Cup race until the Brickyard 400 in late summer. ESPN handles the final seventeen Sprint Cup Series events.

At Daytona and then long into the season, ESPN will only be telecasting the Nationwide Series races. The last two seasons have seen ESPN bring the Infield Pit Studio and Tim Brewer's Tech Center to both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series weekends right from the start.

Perhaps, ESPN might be considering saving some dollars and reducing the level of TV production elements on the Nationwide Series races. They could always return the Tech Center and the Infield Studio in July when the Cup coverage begins.

As fans may remember, ESPN also has an infield studio crew that appears only on the Nationwide races all the way up to July. Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty and sometimes Ray Evernham were on-hand to cover the Nationwide companion races on Cup weekends.

Originally, this approach of using ESPN's full Sprint Cup crew to handle the Nationwide Series races was considered good practice time. Now, after two seasons the practice is over. ESPN has indicated they want to come out of the box lean-and-mean with the economy drastically slowing down the TV advertising dollars in NASCAR telecasts.

We should be learning shortly what NASCAR TV elements will continue to travel for Fox and ESPN as they begin the year in Daytona. Whether those decisions affect the on-air announcers will only be known when those two networks issue their first NASCAR press release of the season. TDP will keep you updated.

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No "SPEED Report" This Sunday Is Bad News

Things have been going very well for SPEED as the network moves from rented studio and production facilities to a new High Definition broadcast facility just north of Charlotte, NC. Click here for a link to David Poole's story about the move.

Many TDP readers have also been checking-in with the good news that SPEED-HD has been recently added to their cable systems. SPEED's goal is to get all the 2009 NASCAR programming in HD and continue to grow the HD availability of the network.

The move to a permanent facility is great, but unfortunately it comes at a price.

SPEED is not ready to go on the air from the facility and will not be able to produce the first live SPEED Report this Sunday at 7PM. This program (click here) is still listed on the SPEEDtv.com website. Hopefully, the network will be ready one week later and start the racing news coverage on January 11th.

NASCAR fans know that the off-season has been packed with news and SPEED has been left out in the cold where TV coverage of the sport is concerned. This Sunday would have been a perfect day to catch fans up on the Elliott Sadler lawsuit and explore other topics like Ray Evernham's strange silence on the issue and Richard Petty's thoughts on the end of Petty Enterprises.

While NASCAR may be the focus of this blog, it is Grand-Am fans that are also not very happy with SPEED. This weekend is the only test session before the Rolex 24 race in Daytona. An on-site reporter would have been able to update SPEED Report viewers about the wide variety of drivers participating in the big race this season. Now, there will be no TV coverage of the test at all.

Compounding the issue is the fact that SPEED is the official TV network of Grand-Am racing and will carry all the key races live this season. No matter how you slice it, missing out on a report from the test session will put a dent in the Grand-Am Series season opener.

Since SPEED committed to revamping The SPEED Report the series has taken-off in terms of viewership and credibility. The days of Ken and Barbie are long gone as the network now rotates SPEED's own on-air talent through the co-anchor positions each week during the season.

Viewers have seen Krista Voda, Bob Varsha, Leigh Diffey, Ralph Sheheen and others present a fast-paced and exciting hour of news and highlights from all over the motorsports world. 2009 should bring an even more sophisticated program from the new SPEED studios.

Regardless of the reason, the SPEEDtv.com homepage (click here) for The SPEED Report explains none of these facts to readers and instead promotes Jimmy Johnson in NYC and the upcoming 2008 Sprint Cup Series banquet. How is it that this website continues to be such a mess?

Hopefully, it will be just over a week when SPEED returns to live motorsports news programming on Sunday, January 11th with the first edition of The SPEED Report. There is little doubt that this first program will move quickly, as the network has a whole lot of catching-up to do.

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Bob Margolis Starts A New Chapter

Yahoo! Sports, Bob Margolis and NASCAR seemed to be a very good combination. Based in Pennsylvania, Margolis was always able to keep a safe journalistic distance between himself and the personalities in the sport. His observations for Yahoo! were often quite different than the Charlotte-based media folks.

His last post on the Yahoo! Sports NASCAR page was November 16th. In low-key style, he offered his thoughts on the 2008 season and signed-off with "that's all folks." That phrase was a bit more prophetic than most readers knew.

Margolis was leaving Yahoo! on his own accord and December 31st was his last day on the payroll. 2009 will allow him to start a fresh chapter in his life. It is a life that took on a brand new meaning only two short years ago.

Many of you read the TDP post entitled "Daytona as a Place of Healing." At that time, we were celebrating Bob's return to the Rolex 24 sports car race as a very personal victory over a daunting opponent.

Margolis had stopped many race fans in their tracks with his brutally honest story on Yahoo! titled simply "A Survivor's Story." For those seeking a fresh perspective in this new year, just click on the title.

Now, after a full season of covering the NASCAR beat one final time, Margolis is headed in several diverse directions. Full of energy and a zest for life, he is turning his writing talents from weekly race observations to a long-form biography.

Project one is a biography of Jack Roush. The man who NASCAR fans either love or hate is one fascinating individual in the world of motorsports. As Margolis reminds TDP, many fans do not know the lifelong love affair with speed that has driven Roush for decades.

While Carl Edwards and the Roush NASCAR teams may be in the headlines, Roush has won with several class entries in the Rolex 24 sports car race in Daytona over the years. There was also a time when he dominated the SCCA Trans-Am category, winning over half of the races his team entered. Margolis clearly has his work cut-out for him where Roush is concerned.

The American Drag Racing Association is the group that races down an eighth-mile distance and this season is title sponsored by the National Guard. As they grow to a ten race schedule in 2009, Margolis is going to coordinate both the Internet and media side of that business as the VP of Communications.

Finally, the Internet continues to be home to a growing selection of social networking websites with all types of different themes. iTeamSports has the idea of allowing participants to own various kinds of professional sports teams, including NASCAR. Margolis is going to be helping that company expand its motorsport presence in several series. It certainly is an interesting concept.

So, for all of you who have been emailing about why Margolis has been gone from Yahoo! Sports for the last several months, there is your answer. Here are some words from Margolis to TDP readers that will ultimately put his move in perspective:

I've been very blessed in my life. Having survived cancer has changed the way I look at everything. Every day is a gift and I plan on enjoying each and every one of them. Ever wonder why they call right now "the present?" It's because it is a gift. I've had to learn that, the hard way. Never take ANYTHING for granted.

For more information, Margolis was a guest on the Rowdy.com podcast. Just click on the "Listen Now" button on the right side of the page.

Best wishes to Margolis on his new challenges and many thanks to him for being a good friend of our efforts at TDP since the beginning. Please feel free to add your comments by clicking the COMMENTS button and following the easy directions.

The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet and Happy New Year to everyone.