It's Go Time For TV At Daytona

The gripes of the off-season are over as the Sprint Cup Series cars involved in the Bud Shootout hit the Daytona track at 5PM and 6:30PM for practice sessions that will be carried live on SPEED.

Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds from the NASCAR on FOX gang get to knock the rust off from the winter over on the FOX-owned cable network. Steve Byrnes and Matt Yocum are the reporters for the early session. Krista Voda and Dick Berggren will handle the final practice.

Before the first session, SPEED breaks out a cast of thousands for a one hour NASCAR Live show that will try to touch all the bases and get the fans caught-up on the many changes in the sport since last season.

At both 4PM and 6PM it will be John Roberts and Dave Despain hosting from their respective positions. Kyle Petty, Jeff Hammond and Phil Parsons will be working as analysts. Randy Pemberton, Wendy Venturini, Bob Dillner and Hermie Sadler will handling the reporter duties.

Once the on-track action is done, Adam Alexander will host SpeedCenter from the SPEED studios back in Charlotte, NC. The new analyst replacing Ray Evernham on this show is Ricky Rudd. It should be interesting to see how this on-air dynamic works out as the season rolls on.

At 8:30PM the always entertaining and mildly chaotic Bud Shootout selection show is also on SPEED. As host, Steve Brynes tries to maintain order while his "assistants" Kenny Wallace and Rutledge Wood try just as hard to disrupt him. Ultimately, the line-up for the Saturday night race on FOX will be set.

One of the NASCAR Media Group's finest programs is the Dale Earnhardt Sr. episode of the series called The Day. This program ends the NASCAR programming Friday on SPEED at 10PM and should be mandatory viewing for anyone wanting to understand the sport.

We will be taking your Friday comments on this post as the NASCAR TV day rolls by on SPEED. It should be a good opportunity to notice any changes that have been put in place by the network's new president and also to see just where the TV focus will be as we head toward the Daytona 500.

To add your TV/media related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by the Daly Planet.

It's Media Day In Daytona

It is Media Day at the Daytona International speedway on Thursday. Basically, time for drivers to answer the same question asked by different faces hundreds of times.

This year, SiriusXM and NASCAR.com will be live from the location all day. ESPNEWS will be live from noon to 3PM. Then, Mike Massaro hosts a 30 minute NASCAR Now show. SPEED is up next with RaceHub running for two hours, from 6 to 8PM ET.

Media Day runs from 8AM to 4PM like a big singles dating party. Every media outlet gets an allotted amount of time and then someone says "change" and everyone gets a new partner.

Let's use this post to allow you to tell us where and when you see these NASCAR drivers during the daytime as NASCAR moves toward more TV and radio exposure for the sport.

To give us your observations, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our loyal female readers. Thanks for putting up with us for the last several years. Since we are once again about to embark on another season of talking NASCAR TV, we are letting this day rest in complete peace.

As you ponder the upcoming racing season, I wonder if perhaps you have a NASCAR Valentine's Day wish you might choose to pass along. Have a great day!