NASCAR "RaceDay" On SPEED From Kentucky Speedway

There is a sellout crowd today at Kentucky Speedway for tonight's inaugural Sprint Cup Series race. Before the on-track action, there is a two-hour RaceDay show on SPEED.

John Roberts is hosting with Darrell Waltrip and Kenny Wallace on the panel. This might be the biggest crowd of fans in the history of the many years of the program.

Reporting will be Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler. There is a lot going on inside the track, but one big story is what is going on outside. There has been a monumental traffic jam all day long that has delayed fans and even some drivers from getting to the track. Let's see if SPEED reports on this story.

Rutledge Wood is back on RaceDay and he will be interviewing NFL veteran Chad Ochocinco. Not too sure what the agenda is or why TV is interested in this person, so we will find out together.

Kentucky Speedway's sellout will push issues like no SAFER Barriers on portions of the track and bad traffic jams aside. It's going to be fascinating to see the drivers working before a full house of fans truly excited about the sport.

Wallace has a tough time working with Waltrip on this program. While Kyle Petty tends to be inclusive, Waltrip is the opposite. His opinions are spoken as fact and often Wallace's only option is to agree with the Hall of Famer. That dynamic should be the key to the two-hour show.

As we have in the past for select venues, we are offering you the opportunity to comment on this program before, during or after the show. Feel free to voice your opinions about the content, personalities or production of NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED. To add your comments, just click the comments button below. Thanks for stopping by.

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Kentucky (ESPN - 7PM)

It's been a rainy day in Kentucky, with activities at the track interrupted several times. Luckily, ESPN has all eleven NASCAR announcers in place to fill any time needed.

Allen Bestwick is on ESPN at 7PM with NASCAR Countdown. He has Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside for a scheduled thirty minute pre-race show. Upstairs in the TV booth is Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.

Over in the Tech Garage is Tim Brewer. On pit road are Dr, Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch.

The good news is that the weather is clearing, but showers are still possible and this track has been plagued by "weepers" in the past. Those are the pesky spots in the seams of paving on the track that let water "weep" through even after the track itself is dry.

The pressure of this race telecast is clearly on Marty Reid. Allen Bestwick has been filling-in for Reid as he worked the IndyCar races and has done an outstanding job. Some poor choices in what Reid has said on the air this season and some bad decision-making in what he has not is resulting in a pretty vocal fan backlash.

Our feedback in comments on this blog, Facebook and Twitter has not been positive. With the Chase coverage looming, this is a good opportunity for Reid to step-up and get back in the groove of providing quality play-by-play for a primetime Nationwide Series race.

ESPN has been having a solid season in terms of beginning to understand the concept of showing the best racing on the track and the developing stories. This is a long way from following the leader and only focusing on the stories discussed in the pre-race show. We call that following the script.

The challenge tonight is to essentially preview for TV viewers what they will be seeing when the coverage of the Sprint Cup Series switches to ESPN in July. The last four seasons have been rough. It should be interesting to see what changes between now and then in terms of on-air personalities or coverage.

We invite your comments on the ESPN coverage. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for stopping by The Daly Planet, some comments may be moderated before posting.

It's Thursday Night For Truck Racing

UPDATE: Sorry folks! Due to some scheduling issues I am unable to host a live truck series blog tonight. We will instead use this post for comments on Thursday's truck series coverage on SPEED. To add your opinion, click on the comments below. Comments may be moderated before posting. Thank you!

The season is grinding on and the field is pretty thin, yet the Camping World Truck Series somehow manages to put on a pretty good show. Nowhere in NASCAR is money tighter than the third-tier national touring series.

Camping World has been a good sponsor, but this week's entry list for Thursday night's race at Kentucky Speedway shows that a pretty good number of the starters may be exiting the facility long before the race is done.

There are 37 trucks on the entry list and it looks like about ten of them will be parking once the free fuel and the single set of tires is done. That's a shame, but it's a reflection of the times in which we live.

The mix of cross-over drivers just shooting for the win is lead by Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler. Truck series points leader Johnny Sauter has rookie Cole Whitt chasing him down and only 20 points behind going into the race. Ron Hornaday, Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton round-out the top five in season points.

18 year-old rookie Johanna Long continues to persevere and Jennifer Jo Cobb makes a truck series appearance in a truck she is listed as owning. Parker Kligerman continues a good season for rookie owner Brad Keselowski as he sits in 8th place in the points.

SPEED has the gang back together again. Rick Allen has Micheal Waltrip and Phil Parsons in the booth for qualifying and race coverage. Hermie Sadler and Ray Dunlap will patrol pit road. SPEED's veteran production team should make good pictures under the lights for the race.

There are fifteen more races this season for the trucks including long trips to Las Vegas and Dallas. It should be interesting to see if some of the truck series regulars can give Busch and Sadler a run for their money on Thursday night.

On these triple-header weekends, it's always interesting to see what SPEED can do with an on-air crew of 6, no infield studio and far fewer cameras than ESPN and TNT will use on Friday and Saturday night.

Just like the scrappy truck teams, SPEED usually delivers a good show that keeps the focus on the racing and lets the cameras show the best battles on the track.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.