SPEED: NCTS Set-Up Show at Fontana

SPEED's decision to formalize a thirty minute pre-race show for each NCTS event is beginning to pay dividends. Finally, the drivers and teams of this struggling series will be provided some critical TV support programming. This type of "preview show" was instrumental in attracting the new legion of fans to the NEXTEL Cup Series, and may wind-up being exactly what the NCTS needs...desperately.

Krista Voda has returned to SPEED, and positioned herself as the energetic cheerleader of this series. She is key to the success or failure of this program, and needs the remainder of the reporting and announcing team to step-up to her level of professionalism and emotion. Her ability to partner with Mark Martin for Daytona's NCTS pre-race show was memorable in light of the passing of Bobby Hamilton Sr. The chemistry between the two was obvious.

The challenge for SPEED is to begin to add more features like the outstanding and emotional profile of Jack Sprague. Voda is a veteran feature reporter, and is especially adept at bringing out the emotion in her pre-produced pieces. Perhaps, pit reporters Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander will branch out and begin to add this kind of humanistic feature reporting to their resumes.

Veteran media types know just how crucial this year of television coverage is for the continued success of this series. With only 34 trucks racing at Fontana, and at least four teams of questionable character, NASCAR needs to pull-out all the stops in cross-promoting the NCTS on the NASCAR TV partners. The first call from NASCAR needs to be directly to the NASCAR Now producers in Bristol, CT.

If ESPN continues to choose to ignore this series, they can lower its value in future NASCAR TV negotiations with the network, or end it outright and allow the spotlight to shine on ESPN's exclusive Busch Series coverage. The ball is in NASCAR's court to troubleshoot this problem of ESPN ignoring one of NASCAR's three national divisions. And make no mistake, they are ignoring it.

SPEED, on the other hand, needs to get its own troops in order. The NCTS is the only national NASCAR series racing on SPEED, and that needs to reflect itself in SPEED's other programs. The management at SPEED needs to inject NCTS features and highlights in Raceday, Inside NEXTEL Cup, The SPEED Report, and WindTunnel. As SPEED and NASCAR Images continue to re-define their relationship, let's hope the good racing and colorful personalities of the NCTS do not fall by the wayside.

NASCAR Now: Shell Oil vs. NASCAR

Recovering from a difficult showing at Daytona, Erik Kuselias and the NASCAR Now crew broke out their hard news right up-front on Thursday. Marty Smith has been returned to his status as "NASCAR Insider," and spoke plainly about the visibility of the Shell Oil company promoting their gasoline brand with Kevin Harvick, and why Sunoco was upset. Smith was well-informed, and explained both sides of the issue. He left as a weekend teaser the fact that RCR is "expected" to change Harvick's logos back to a Shell Oil non-gasoline brand at the next event.

Then, just like a lingering Daytona hangover that will not go away, the screen revealed Brad Daugherty and Tim Cowlishaw. Welcome back to Around the Horn, or maybe College Gameday. While both of these men are classy and well-spoken, they have absolutely no first-hand knowledge about the sport of NASCAR. Especially when following Marty Smith. Daugherty spoke incorrectly about race team and NASCAR sponsorships conflicting, and he never even referenced Alltel, Cingular, or NEXTEL. What he said was just fundamentally wrong. These exact type of issues have been around for years, and NASCAR makes it perfectly clear what limits teams can go to in terms of products and logos.

For some reason, Mr. Cowlishaw appeared as if he had just awoken from a nap, and forgot to look in the mirror before his TV appearance. His comments reflected someone who was perhaps still a bit groggy. This is not a talk show, and Cowlishaw's role is ill-defined. He is forced to "comment" on topics under discussion, but in the NASCAR world he has no credibility. We have seen NASCAR and all its TV support programming grow over the last ten years. What we have not seen, at any time in that mix, was Mr. Cowlishaw.

The racing chat rooms and forum boards are all asking the same question, why does ESPN need a non-racing journalist and a famous basketball player on their NASCAR coverage? Cowlishaw is great on Around the Horn, and Daugherty is an authority on the college hoop game. Perhaps, ESPN might consider adding more content for newer fans, or more field-produced features that tell personal stories of the sport.

The last time ESPN tried a Bristol, Connecticut based show about NASCAR, they quickly found that no matter how hard they tried, NASCAR did not live in New England. Its lives in Mooresville, Concord, and the greater Lake Norman, North Carolina area. Moving RPM2Nite to Charlotte changed everything. Maybe NASCAR Now is beginning the slow trip through the same cycle. Only time will tell.

NASCAR Now: Mike Helton Speaks

Wow! What a difference a day makes. NASCAR Now host Erik Kuselias returned to his studio hosting role and led a fast-paced thirty minute program on Monday that can be defined by only one word...excellent. This is the reason ESPN returned to NASCAR news after SPEED Channel passed time-and-time again on an opportunity to establish its own daily news program. Here are some highlights:

• NASCAR President Mike Helton appeared via telephone and spoke plainly and in very clear terms about the caution flag controversy at the finish. Like it or not, Helton put to bed any additional speculation about NASCAR's "motives" by appearing live on ESPN2.


• Marty Smith returned to his best role as "news man," and broke the scoop that Mark Martin will likely run the Pepsi 400 this season. Smith has a credibility when he is reporting and speaks with a sincerity that a new program like NASCAR Now needs.


• Mike Massaro brings his strong field reporting skills to the show in a manner that is always factual and fast-paced. His report comparing Harvick to Earnhardt Sr. featured exclusive sound from Richard Childress, and left no doubt that Massaro is the top NASCAR field reporter at ESPN.


• The surprise of the show is Stacy Compton. ESPN should have left Chris Fowler, Brad Daugherty, and Brent Musburger at home when they went to Daytona, and just featured Stacy Compton with Kuselias. His moment-by-moment break down of the final lap of the Daytona 500 was the best explanation of what happened, why it happened, and what NASCAR was thinking. Even Mike Helton complimented Compton on his analysis of the situation. What more can ESPN ask from a rookie announcer?


• Taking the time to put the 2007 Daytona 500 in historical perspective was a great idea, and shows the maturity of the ESPN studio production team. With the network returning to NASCAR after six years, its important to establish that they understand the history of the sport, and more important, that they respect it.