SPEED: Craftsman Trucks at Daytona

The Chevy Silverado HD 250 was the debut race for SPEED's 2007 coverage of the Craftsman Truck Series. After several years of experience, the network continues to provide outstanding pictures and sound that rivals the broadcast networks coverage of the NEXTEL Cup Series. From a truly technical standpoint, this event was a home run in terms of production and engineering.

Partnering with the production crew were booth announcers Rick Allen, Phil Parsons, and Michael Waltrip. They were supported on pit road by veteran Ray Dunlap and newcomer Adam Alexander. As with the 2006 season, Allen continues to struggle with his fit in racing, his terminology, and his style. His laid back commentary is more suited for baseball than racing, and his attempts to describe exciting on-track action and racing incidents leave him struggling to deal with fast-moving events.

Its clear that Phil Parsons should be given the opportunity to call a race in the play-by-play position with Michael Waltrip in the booth for color commentary. Phil balances Michael's commentary very well, and it is clear that Waltrip respects the former driver. Along with a strong pre-race show anchored by Krista Voda, Parsons and Waltrip could offer a stronger line-up to the racing fans than SPEED currently offers with Rick Allen. This is the only national NASCAR Series that SPEED produces, and it is time for Parsons to be rewarded for his hard work and dedication over the years.

This commentary would not be complete without a tip of the hat to both Krista Voda and Mark Martin for anchoring a pre-race show, in freezing temperatures, with class and dignity. Martin was surprisingly well-spoken on many topics, from current racing rookies to the untimely passing of both Bobby Hamilton Sr. and Benny Parsons. Krista Voda is continuing to prove over-and-over again that she is the only correct person to resurrect the network disaster that is the weekend SPEED Report. The network desperately needs her to restore credibility to their only national news program.

SPEED: NASCAR RaceDay at Daytona

Before the Duels at Daytona, SPEED used a special edition of RaceDay to preview the two races. The comfort of John Roberts in directing traffic and controlling the cast of characters surrounding him continues to get better and better. Last season, this series really came to the forefront in midseason, and ended in Homestead on a very high note for the network. Now, as SPEED begins its biggest challenge of dealing with ESPN at every race, NASCAR RaceDay becomes their biggest weapon.

Certainly, the key to this program, aside from the announcers on set, is the talented Wendy Venturini. A program like RaceDay allows her to use the knowledge built up from her racing roots to relate to drivers and other racing personalities perhaps better than any other TV reporter at the present time. The odd man out is Bob Dilner, who has never fully recovered from his problems at Daytona last season. He seems strangely disconnected from the sport, and speaks in absolute terms about many topics that are perhaps not as urgent as he tries to make them.

As the Daytona 500 approaches, SPEED will unveil the Sunday edition of NASCAR RaceDay in all its glory. Let's hope that these early editions will remind the network that the show is doing just fine, and does not need the kind of major changes that have sunk so many other NASCAR-related SPEED series over the last five years. Does anyone remember Ms. Tweeden and NASCAR Nation? Enough said.

ESPN: NASCAR Now with Chris Fowler

ESPN made the mistake of bringing in Chris Fowler to Daytona in the middle of the biggest breaking news story in some time. Regular host Erik Kuselias was nowhere in sight, and Fowler was clearly not a favorite of analyst Rusty Wallace. Barely hiding his disgust for Fowler's lack of racing knowledge, Rusty took it upon himself to correct and disagree with Fowler several times in the first segment of the program alone. Poor Boris Said, also on the set, was put in the position of peacemaker.

ESPN was clearly struggling with the on-going multiple suspension and fines stories, but Shannon Spake worked hard to relay as much information as possible when updating viewers on the Team Evernham problems. Kudos to Rusty Wallace for taking a critical view of NASCAR's penalties against Evernham. The death penalty for a speeding ticket, he remarked.

Fowler seemed amused by all this, chuckling openly about the "good old boys" and how they cheat. I felt at any moment he might update us on Ole Miss or the Crimson Tide, but he clearly had no clue about NASCAR. He also never explained his presence, or the absence of the regular host.

For some strange reason, ESPN's new field reporter Marty Smith was attired in a suit jacket and tie, even as he was summarily booted out of the #55 garage. Marty seems strangely confused about this live TV thing, and is going to face an interesting transition from internet reporter to high profile national TV personality. He is a smart and hard-working guy, so let's hope that the ESPN veterans help get him up to speed with the techniques he needs to perfect.

Somehow, Brad Daughtery, Bill Cowlishaw, and Chris Fowler in jackets and ties just do not represent NASCAR to me. ESPN needs to understand that NASCAR did just fine without them, and that the network needs to regain its credibility with viewers. NASCAR Now needs more hard news coverage, and less posing and preening from its Bristol, CT based announcers.