Sunday Morning Show Comments

The new start times for the Sprint Cup Series races have forced a little reorganization where NASCAR TV is concerned.

The Sunday morning TV starts with NASCAR Now on ESPN2 at 9AM. Nicole Briscoe hosts with Marty Smith reporting from Atlanta. This one hour show continues the ESPN formula of basing the shows in Bristol, CT and sending reporters out to the events. ESPN packs lots of information in this fast hour.

Over on SPEED, the disorganized and faltering NASCAR Smarts show airs at 9AM. I have no clue where SPEED is going with this program or what it accomplishes. The original sponsor, Ask.com, is long gone. Remaining is a ridiculous format and some bad TV. NASCAR in a Hurry fills out the hour with a video recap of Friday and Saturday at the track.

RaceDay rolls in at 10AM on SPEED with momentum building. Kyle Petty has been a breath of fresh air for this program. Now, the challenge is for Kenny Wallace to stop shouting. He got into this bad habit because of Jimmy Spencer's antics. With Spencer long gone, the one thing that Wallace should never say again is "Let me tell you all something!"

Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler continue to be the heart and soul of this show. Their ability to effortlessly handle any situation inside the track makes RaceDay worth watching. While they may have very different personalities, they share a solid knowledge of racing and a wicked sense of humor.

Petty is still trying to define his relationship with host John Roberts. These two both like to have the last word and it has made for some interesting moments. Petty is not afraid to let his opinion be known, but unlike Spencer does not need Roberts to step-in and sort things out once he is done. It's time for Roberts to go back to hosting and let the opinions come from the panelists.

NASCAR Now and RaceDay combine to offer three hours of pre-race coverage that leads into another hour of pre-race from FOX. As we watch the shows roll by, look for how many times the same guests promoting the same topics are interviewed. It's not uncommon to see the same person three times before the racing starts.

We are going to use this post to open comments up before, during and after the morning NASCAR TV shows. There will be a new post up for the NASCAR on FOX telecast that begins at 12PM ET. As we move through the morning, let us know what you like and do not like about the pre-race shows.

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, make sure to join us for the live race chat Sunday afternoon.

Live Blogging Camping World Trucks in Atlanta (1:30PM - SPEED)

With the Nationwide Series off this weekend, the ESPN gang is not in Atlanta. That allows the SPEED TV team to step forward on Saturday with live coverage of the Camping World Truck Series. Thanks to Nate Ryan of USA Today, shown above is a picture inside the SPEED TV truck with the crew getting ready for the coverage.

Krista Voda will start the telecast with The Setup pre-race show at 1:30PM ET. Voda will have Geoff Bodine and the gold medal Olympic Bobsled team as guests. Bodine is racing a truck in Atlanta.

Calling the race is Rick Allen. He will be joined by Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip. Allen has been a regular anchor on SPEED's new Race Hub show. Parsons has been in the news as the controversy over "start and park" teams continues. Waltrip just unveiled his new amateur talent show, Fast Track to Fame, last Monday night on SPEED.

The biggest TV news involves truck series pit reporter Adam Alexander. He has just been selected as the new play-by-play announcer for TNT's six Sprint Cup Series races. Alexander is joined today by Ray Dunlap on pit road.

SPEED's truck series production formula is simple. They show the race, focus on the teams and eliminate the TV bells and whistles. Last season, we argued with Allen over his omission of the many truck teams that were starting and parking. He defended his decision. Should be interesting to see what happens if and when some teams head for the garage early in the event.

Waltrip has been finding his voice as an analyst and putting his normally sponsor-driven personality on hold. The results have been outstanding, especially down the stretch last season. With the Daytona race being more of a stand-alone event, this Atlanta race should really show TV viewers if Waltrip can continue his growth in this position.

Last year, Parsons flew under the radar with his Nationwide Series start and park teams. This year, his move into the Cup Series put him front and center. SPEED has worked very hard to avoid this topic and it should be interesting to see what Parsons has to say when the S&P truck teams pull off the track.

The truck series has traditionally had great racing in Atlanta. The weather is cool and clear. There are a handful of Cup Series cross-over drivers who should run up front, including Kyle Busch. It should be a good mix of personalities.

This post will serve to host your comments about the TV coverage of the Camping World Truck Series race from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. 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 joining us today.

Darrell Waltrip Discovers Twitter

It had to come sooner or later. Darrell Waltrip's younger brother Michael is one of the greatest NASCAR tweeters of all-time. Long before Twitter became the cool thing to do in the sport, there was Mikey!

Pictures of socks, sponsor products, TV shoots and almost anything else that was swirling through his rather unique mind seemed to find its way on Twitter. Waltrip now has over 33 thousand folks following him on his @mw55 social media journey.

Now, big brother has signed-on with the name @AllWaltrip. Darrell got the hang of things rather quickly and noticed that Twitter is kind of catchy.

Certain traits might just run in the family. Before long, Darrell was talking about the final Gordon pitstop in Las Vegas, his sick hound dog and Geoff Bodine's Olympic bobsleds. As Waltrip got the hang of it, things began to mushroom.

Here are some fun DW tweets:

About NASCAR on FOX: TV is 60% mental, the other 50% is delivery.

About his TV viewing: Better get to bed, time for O'Reilly, he's good but I'm starting to dig Glen Beck!

About his endless chatter: People say "you sure do talk a lot." May I remind those people I get paid to talk a lot. A picture AND a thousand words, no talk...no pay.

About Junior's nickname: I call him Junebug because when he was a little boy that was what me and Big "E" called him. He told me I was the only one that could do that.

About his Daytona outburst: I just like a good race, an exciting finish. There are times when I just turn into a race fan. Shake and Bake baby that's what DW cheers for.

About today's race schedule: My favorite tracks have always been the short tracks. Big mistake taking them all off the schedule, they are the backbone of the sport!

About Twitter: I've become a Twitter junkie in just a couple of days. I've got to give it a rest, but it sure is fun!!

Last season saw Kyle Petty take his cell phone to the TNT announce booth and use Twitter to interact with fans during the live TNT races. This season, Petty has been tweeting during his various appearances on SPEED shows, including RaceDay and Victory Lane.

That kind of naturally leads to the question of the moment. This Friday, Waltrip will be on the air from Atlanta Motor Speeway. He will call Sprint Cup Series practice, qualifying and appear on Trackside. Now armed with Twitter on his trusty cell phone, will Waltrip interact directly with fans during the time he is on the air?

Thursday on ESPN2's NASCAR Now program, host Nicole Manske had Jimmie Johnson answer Twitter questions that NASCAR fans sent in shortly before the program. They were a lot rougher than many journalists are used to asking the champion. Johnson had a great time with it, that was clear.

One thing Twitter does is open up for people like Waltrip the reality around them that they are sometimes insulated from discovering. Simply by giving fans an opportunity to offer feedback directly, perhaps some priorities might change.

Some female fans on Twitter were not very kind when it came to Waltrip's antics with Danica Patrick on the Trackside show. Had Waltrip read their words, he might keep those comments in the back of his mind for the next time he interacts with Patrick.

Certainly, the viewpoints of those fans are not right or wrong. They are just opinions. The key to Twitter is when something happens on live TV, you get to know how viewers react almost instantly. It's like the NASCAR Fan Council with instant voting.

So while TV personalities from Wendy Venturini to Kenny Wallace tweet from the track this week, it should be interesting to see if Waltrip jumps in the deep end of the pool or puts his instant fan feedback gadget in his pocket. This will be one experiment that anyone can watch. Twitter is easy, free and worthwhile for NASCAR fans.

We would like your thoughts on this subject. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. We are also on Twitter at twitter.com/TheDalyPlanet. Thanks for stopping by.