SPEED Shifts Gears And "TWIN" Is The Casualty

News Update: Michael Waltrip announced on Thursday morning that he is joining the cast of Showtime's new "Inside NASCAR" series. Click here to jump to our Facebook page for more news and comments on this topic.

Well, this is certainly going to be an interesting column to write and it should get equally interesting reactions. No topic in the three years of TDP has ever gotten more email and comments than This Week in NASCAR on SPEED.

In 1996, then SpeedVision Executive Producer Bob Scanlon tried to get some NASCAR programming into the mix for the new cable network. He enlisted the help of the old Sunbelt Video Studios in Charlotte, NC. The result was an iconic show that ultimately became a cult hit for a small audience of hardcore race fans.

Inside Winston Cup Racing was a familiar title. Ned Jarrett had hosted a show by that name on TNN also produced by Sunbelt. But, now TNN was gone. The title moved over to Mondays on SpeedVision, flexing over the years with the changing sponsors and emerged in 2009 on SPEED as This Week in NASCAR.

Monday, reporter Michael Smith of The Sports Business Journal offered an advance peek at SPEED's NASCAR TV plans for 2010. Click here for the full article. One paragraph jumped off the page:

The network's stalwart This Week in NASCAR on Monday nights has been cancelled. The news and analysis format, hosted by Steve Byrnes, Michael Waltrip and a variety of other guests, "just wasn't connecting with the fans anymore," SPEED President Hunter Nickell said.

One original member from this TV series is Waltrip. He addressed this topic on his Twitter feed:

"So TWIN was an incredible 14 year experience. I'm happy I was part of it. Alan, Kenny, Johnny, I'm thankful we had the chance to hang out. Steve, me and you are veterans. I'm glad we got to hang. Greg, Chad, Jimmy y'all were a joy to work with."

SPEED has already rolled out a new Monday through Thursday evening NASCAR news and interview show called Race Hub. Smith reports that the network will also revamp Monday nights with some new NASCAR oriented programming.

From the Sports Business Journal article:

Among the new programming: A show that delves into the lifestyle of the fans who tailgate and camp at the track; a show that recaps the Sprint Cup race through scanner communication between the drivers and their crews; and Jimmy Spencer's own show, a first for the former driver and outspoken co-host of Speed's at-track show, NASCAR RaceDay.

While the tailgating show is new, fans of TWIN may recognize two elements of the old show that are being retained. The "Scanner Chatter" feature where NASCAR Media Group video and audio footage is edited into highlight form was always popular on TWIN. Expanding that content into a stand-alone show is not a new concept, but it's better than losing it all together.

Jimmy Spencer was added to TWIN during the 2009 Chase for the Championship. He was the odd man out from the beginning and never fit in. What he did bring to the table were his passionate and outspoken rants on various NASCAR topics.

It seems that SPEED may believe that Spencer's willingness to put himself on the NASCAR firing line will pay off in ratings. The format of Spencer's new TV offering has still not been made public. One thing is for sure, Spencer does not keep a low profile when the cameras are on. The RaceDay program confirms that.

Most goodbyes in TV are awkward and sometimes they never even happen. Suddenly, something is just gone. The abrupt departure of Allen Bestwick and Johnny Benson from TWIN years ago backs-up that reality. There will be no highlights show from SPEED of the best moments of TWIN over the last 14 years.

The garbage truck emptying the dumpster outside the studio's flimsy garage door. Someone having the bright idea to give Michael Waltrip a slo-mo replay controller. Bestwick about to have a coronary because the show was completely out of control. Kenny Schrader asking Mike Helton every season how much he made, for information purposes only.

Over the years dogs have wandered through the set, hundreds of NASCAR personalities have been guests and thousands of topics have been discussed. While the show had declined over the past several seasons, the efforts to revive it by SPEED and the NASCAR Media Group seemed half-hearted. Maybe, the time is right to move on.

How do you feel about the cancellation of this long-running show? Do you have a favorite memory that made you a NASCAR fan or stuck in your mind forever? Do you feel that this timing is right or would you have liked the show in some form to continue?

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NASCAR TV Scarce For Charlotte Media Tour

Update: Monday night just before 8PM, SPEED's Randy Pemberton announced that SPEED will be carrying the NASCAR press conference from the Charlotte Media Tour live. Unofficial information sets the telecast for Thursday at 1PM ET. We will confirm this ASAP.

NASCAR staggers into 2010 still bearing the scars from a rough ending to the previous year. During the off-season, the sport made wholesale changes in an effort to return the Sprint Cup Series to national prominence.

There are four TV networks that televise the practice, qualifying and race action during the year. Two of those networks, ESPN and SPEED, offer daily news programs about the sport. NASCAR Now is seen six days a week on ESPN2 and Race Hub is aired Monday through Thursday on SPEED.

NASCAR Now airs at 5PM ET, before ESPN2's primetime line-up gets clogged with live sports coverage. The network also tries to re-air the program after midnight for the West Coast audience. "Tries" is the operative word in that sentence.

SPEED added Race Hub into the mix late last year, seemingly from nowhere. There was no build-up, no hype and little planning. Whatever happened at the network caused a ton of resources to immediately be allocated to what was a long forgotten cause, NASCAR news during the weekdays.

Having two daily NASCAR news programs on TV is going to be great for the fans in 2010. NASCAR Now in the early timeslot will focus on using its own reporters to deliver updates on the sport and mix interviews with pre-produced features.

Race Hub is designed to host NASCAR personalities live in the Charlotte, NC studios of SPEED. The mix between the buttoned-up style of ESPN and the casual style of SPEED should be fun to watch.

This week, writers and reporters from across the nation make the annual trip to the Concord, NC area. The Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts a media tour that provides coordinated visits to team shops and NASCAR locations during a four day media blitz that begins on Monday.

This is the time when the teams offer new information and answer questions. Drivers, crew chiefs and owners have media conversations that set the tone for the season. NASCAR itself hosts the media at the Research and Development Center and usually announces updates and changes during this function.

There is also a stop at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to update the progress of that immense facility scheduled to open later this year. A visit to the SPEED studios was not on any published agenda that I received. That is not a good thing.

Unlike past seasons where the power of the NASCAR media was firmly rooted in print publications and their online websites, the tide has changed with the recent demise of NASCAR Scene. Many veteran reporters were fired in a one day event that changed the face of the NASCAR media.

In a rather de facto manner, television is about to become the leader in putting the NASCAR headlines front and center for the fans. Then, fans can go and search for those same topics online. With hundreds of various NASCAR websites around and the number growing, the two NASCAR TV news programs are going to be a guiding light for fans.

Monday, there will be no NASCAR Now on ESPN2. The series is not scheduled to begin until February 1 this year. The information from the media tour will try to push its way onto ESPNEWS and perhaps SportsCenter. Amid the NFL playoffs, NASCAR is not even a blip on the ESPN radar. Best of luck.

That leaves SPEED to carry the NASCAR banner and it will start the week strong with Race Hub on Monday at 7:30PM. Hosts Adam Alexander and Randy Pemberton will welcome NASCAR President Mike Helton. What a great way to kick-off four days of live media tour coverage. Unfortunately, that is not going to be the case.

The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday editions of Race Hub are being preempted by the Barrett-Jackson auto auction from Arizona. After only being back on the air for one week, Race Hub is done after the Monday show. The next live news program on the network is The SPEED Report on Sunday evening.

The auction coverage begins at 7PM each night, so SPEED made a choice not to move Race Hub up by one hour and air it at 6:30PM on those three mid-week days. Airing in the 6 to 7PM timeslot are re-airs of "lifestyle programs." Race Hub returns on Monday, January 25.

Ironically, after all the chaos in the NASCAR media during the off-season, getting the pre-season message out during this big week will once again come down to the remaining members of the NASCAR press corps. Unfortunately, both of NASCAR's national TV news shows are off the air for very different reasons.

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SPEED Strikes Gold At Last

Well, it certainly was a very long time coming. Veteran TDP readers know the frustration we have expressed over the past several years with the lack of weekday NASCAR programming on SPEED.

Monday on SPEED used to feature This Week in NASCAR in the evening. That show was taped in the early afternoon and focused on racing highlights. Once it was done the long wait began until the network started telecasts from the next racetrack on Friday.

Over the years, SPEED has offered a wide variety of excuses for running and re-running the weekday "lifestyle programming" that one of its executives championed. The original long-form NASCAR programs fell off the radar screen while people towed trucks, chased stolen cars and bracket-raced at drag strips.

Here are excerpts from an article in TV Week several years ago where SPEED VP Bob Ecker talks about why the network dumped racing-related programming on weekdays:

The network’s (new) strategy is to air what it calls "automotive lifestyle programming" in prime time. When Fox acquired control of SPEED in 2002, the network took on part of the company’s NASCAR package and showed racing seven nights a week, said Robert Ecker, VP of Programming.

But, SPEED’s racing programming on weeknights stalled. “It didn’t work. It didn’t resonate,” Mr. Ecker said. That led SPEED executives to start to develop automotive lifestyle programming.

“We have discovered over the course of time that while there are race fans, there are also people that have a love affair with the automobiles but are not necessarily interested in racing,” Ecker said. Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Well, a funny thing happened last year prior to the week of the NASCAR Hall of Fame selections. SPEED suddenly scrambled to put a half-baked NASCAR news show on the air called Race Hub. It just appeared out of thin air. The buzz was that it actually appeared after a phone call from NASCAR.

Originally, it was so bad you couldn't turn away. Then, things began to change. NASCAR personalities started to appear in the North Charlotte, NC studios of SPEED. They just drove over to SPEED in their blue jeans and talked about NASCAR topics.

Unfortunately, the season ended shortly after Race Hub was just finding a groove. Amazingly enough, SPEED quickly confirmed it would return on January 11 for a new season. The network also added a repeat at 8:30PM Pacific Time to serve the West Coast NASCAR fans. Suddenly, there was an hour of NASCAR on SPEED Monday through Thursday in primetime every single week.

This season, something rather amazing has happened. NASCAR has come alive on SPEED during the weekdays. Steve Letarte, Danica Patrick, Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Travis Kvapil and many others have been in the studio. Cars have been brought in to make driver and sponsor announcements, Reed Sorenson being the latest. All this was in just four days of thirty minute shows.

Slowly but surely, NASCAR is awakening to the fact that live national TV exposure is now available literally right down the street. Perhaps, SPEED is awakening to the fact that this sort of program should have been on the air years ago.

Many of the Race Hub shows this week struggled to fit into a thirty minute format. Guests like Mike Joy, Robin Miller and even Danica Patrick seemed to be having fun and could have continued with their racing conversations. Maybe one hour pre-season shows next year would serve to allow even more NASCAR personalities to stop by and chat.

SPEED will continue to rotate its own announcers through this program as hosts. On February 1, ESPN2's outstanding NASCAR Now program returns to offer earlier news updates on the sport at 5PM on weekdays. Race Hub is going to have to exploit the Charlotte location and studio interaction to keep the current momentum going.

Have you watched Race Hub this week? How about sharing your opinion on the format, hosts and potential of this TV series? To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.