SPEED Answers ESPN With A Huge Day Of NASCAR Action

Readers of The Daly Planet know that this week has been all about the NASCAR on ESPN gang.

Kicking-off the week with the one hour roundtable version of NASCAR Now, the network that formerly floundered in the sport is suddenly on top of its game.

The NASCAR Now crew chased down stories all week, and the opinionated Rusty Wallace planted himself firmly in the news with his interesting opinions of several big stories. Oil cooler lids were a hot topic.

Now, it is SPEED's turn to step back into the spotlight with a huge day of live NASCAR coverage from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is what the network does best, and NASCAR fans know it.

At 11AM Eastern Time, SPEED goes live with Craftsman Truck Series Practice for ninety minutes.

At 12:30PM, the Nationwide Series takes to the track for their final practice. This session should be between ninety minutes and two hours long.

At 3PM, the Sprint Cup guys take to the track for their ninety minute session that will be followed by a NASCAR Live show that will flex and take the network to 5PM.

Trackside is next, and is early this week because of the live racing to follow. Steve Byrnes, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip will be live for one hour from the SPEED Stage outside the Speedway starting at 5PM. Updated: Guests will be Mark Martin and Reed Sorenson.

To set-up Sprint Cup qualifying, SPEED will do its quirky thirty minute Go or Go Home show at 6PM. This program tries to give a good overview of the teams outside the top 35 in points that must make the race on time. As fans know, these teams now qualify together so they basically get the same track conditions. That has changed the dynamic of coverage for the TV crew, so it should be interesting to see how SPEED handles it this week.

Up next at 6:30PM will be the big Cup Series qualifying show, with the NASCAR on Fox broadcast team in place led by Mike Joy. This track has some interesting features for qualifying with high speed and different levels of grip. It should make for some exciting attempts from the teams that have to make the show on time.

A flexible version of NASCAR Live will bring the network to 8:30PM and set-up the big primetime feature of the evening on SPEED.

The Craftsman Truck Series takes center stage next as Krista Voda hosts The Set-Up pre-race show. Voda will be joined by Adam Alexander and Ray Dunlap on pit road.

At 9PM, the veteran crew of Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will take-over to call the action in the Truck Series race that is scheduled for two and a half hours on SPEED. (Don't forget AMA Supercross from Daytona follows the Truck race.)

This big day of twelve and a half hours of live NASCAR coverage on SPEED continues the solid at-track programming that SPEED has been providing for several years. From John Roberts and Steve Byrnes to Hermie Sadler and Wendy Venturini, SPEED has worked hard to make the on-air "talent" household names for NASCAR fans.

Just think, eight months from now in November, the same SPEED TV personnel will still be working hard to bring fans every moment possible on the track, and every story in-progress from the garage. These folks do work hard.

Friday should be a great day to set the DVR or try to catch the action live as it happens all day on SPEED. Not to be forgotten, ESPN2 slips-in their Friday version of NASCAR Now at 6PM from the Bristol, CT studios.

This page will serve to host your comments about the practice and qualifying coverage on SPEED. There will be a new post up in the early evening on Friday to host the comments on the Craftsman Truck Series race.

To add your comment, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. This blog is about the TV coverage of the sport, and TV-related comments are welcome.

Thanks again for stopping by, and have a great day of NASCAR from Atlanta on SPEED.

Mark Cuban's HDNet Increases NASCAR Presence

While many cable TV viewers may not be familiar with HDNet, millions of others have been enjoying this service for years. Created by maverick businessman Mark Cuban, HDNet replays the full-length races from the Sprint Cup Series in HD on Thursday nights.

Launched back in 2001, HDNet has been slowly inching into the NASCAR world. This season, the service will partner once again with SPEED to carry a good chunk of NASCAR's Regional Touring Series action.

Here is the official information:

High definition pioneer HDNet will broadcast 16 races, continuing a partnership with NASCAR that began five years ago and provided the NASCAR Camping World Series with its first live television package. HDNet coverage will begin March 29 with the NASCAR Camping World Series opener at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif.

It includes the first eight races of the NASCAR Camping World Series West season, as well as the season-finale Oct. 18 at the new Kern County track in Bakersfield, Calif. The NASCAR Camping World Series East broadcast schedule on HDNet will pick-up with the July 19 race at Music City Motorplex in Nashville and run through the final seven races of the season, culminating with the live broadcast at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway Sept. 28.

HDNet’s broadcast schedule will also include the mid-season combination race between the East and the West at Iowa Speedway May 18. Last year, viewers watched then 16-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Joey Logano out-race 2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick in a thrilling duel.

"HDNet is proud to continue this successful partnership with the NASCAR Camping World Series," said Mark Cuban, president and co-founder of HDNet. "NASCAR's stars of tomorrow have given us some great action over the years and we can't wait to offer race fans more of the same on HDNet this season!"

Cuban has some work to do to raise the profile of HDNet, and this type of creative partnership with SPEED and NASCAR will go a long way in that direction.

SPEED will re-air all of HDNet's sixteen races, and will produce another eight on their own. This combination is great exposure for the hard-working regional drivers.

The NASCAR Camping World Series is the top level of the NASCAR Developmental Series and is made up of two regional tours, the East and West, competing with identical race cars. The cars are similar in appearance and design to those cars used in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The cars are powered by 350 to 358 cubic-inch V-8 engines. The series travels to many of NASCAR’s most historic short tracks as well as making several appearances in combination events with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

With SPEED now in over 75 million TV homes in North America, perhaps shows like RaceDay and This Week In NASCAR will take a moment to highlight the regional racing action this season. This would now make more sense than ever with all of these regional races airing on SPEED.

Last year, The Daly Planet pushed ESPN2's NASCAR Now very hard to include the regional series, including the fun NASCAR Modifieds who often race almost in ESPN's own backyard. Maybe this season NASCAR Now will take the plunge.

The regional racing series starts March 29th and runs through late October, with the big finale called the Toyota All-Star Showdown carried live on SPEED. You can check the regional racing series schedules at several Internet websites including NASCAR.com. Perhaps, you can attend a regional race in your area and say hi to the HDNet crew for The Daly Planet.

We welcome comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.

"NASCAR Now" Has Real Breaking News At Last

Of the three co-hosts of NASCAR Now, Ryan Burr is the one with the real experience in breaking news. The former anchor of ESPNEWS has been on-the-air with all kinds of sports stories that were in-progress. Wednesday, Burr put his training to good use.

Penalty news was flying as NASCAR Now hit the air at 6PM Wednesday with a live show. Burr quickly offered an update on Carl Edwards and his big penalties.

Fans of the show must have been thinking about the strong statements made on Tuesday by ESPN's Rusty Wallace. He called Edwards problem simply an accident and a mistake. Rather than heeding Rusty's advice, NASCAR instead lowered the hammer. There was only one thing to do.

That would be to bring Wallace right back on the program again and ask him about it. Burr did exactly that, and Wallace did not disappoint. Saying NASCAR threw everything including the kitchen sink at Edwards, Rusty stood-by his statement that the entire situation was a mistake.

"I think this is very, very harsh," said Wallace. "It was just unbelievable. I don't think there is any compassion here. I don't think there is even any common sense in this ruling."

Burr interrupted Wallace for some real breaking news. It was Lead Reporter Marty Smith over at Robby Gordon's shop saying that sources there had just told him Gordon's penalty has been rescinded. While a financial fine was kept in place, Gordon did not lose his points. This was NASCAR Now working overtime, and showing the resources that ESPN brings to the table.

Wallace was quick to point-out that this decision by NASCAR made sense, but was also quite a different issue than the Carl Edwards situation. He also backed-up Smith's report and comments about the harsh financial reality of Gordon's team situation.

After a quick wrap-up of testing from Phoenix, Burr assembled both Wallace and Smith for a conversation about NASCAR topics in the news. This trio is intense and fast-paced when it comes to NASCAR issues. The personality differences between these three NASCAR Now on-air "talent" made for interesting conversation.

Smith has the formal news training, the college education and the dry sense of humor. Wallace has lots of experience in the real world of NASCAR and is just now finding his TV niche. Burr loves to direct traffic, and it has been interesting to watch him learn the sport.

The conversation about the open-wheel drivers having problems, including Team Penske, was fascinating and informative. Wallace talked very frankly about his former car owner struggling with Sam Hornish. Smith suggested that Montoya's early success led to false expectations for the many other open-wheel stars. Both of these were great points.

Finally, Robby Gordon appeared in-person live to sum-up the hearing that he had just left. There was no doubt that Gordon was relieved, both for his NASCAR future and the very survival of his racing business. Smith was very professional, and his questions about the fan perception of Gordon and his team were right on the money.

How does it get better for fans than this? A driver straight from a NASCAR hearing walks back into his own shop and ESPN is there live. Wallace even got a chance to ask Gordon questions directly, and was as plain-spoken as usual. Two ESPN personalities asking questions of Gordon about one of the biggest news stories of the week. This TV series has truly come a long, long way.

This weekend in Atlanta, Burr heads-out to the track for the first time as the on-scene reporter, and Nicole Manske comes back to anchor the weekend shows in the studio. Allen Bestwick returns on Monday for the one hour roundtable.

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