NASCAR's Dress Rehearsal Starts Thursday

Following one of the most tumultuous off-seasons in years, the survivors of NASCAR's sponsorship woes are finally heading to Daytona. It's testing time for the Sprint Cup Series teams.

SPEED is going to handle all the activity and will split the morning and afternoon sessions between online and cable TV coverage. Thursday through Saturday at 9AM SPEED will stream coverage on the SPEED.com website. There is no charge and the video stream should open on portable devices as well.

Rick Allen and Jeff Hammond will be up in the booth talking about the on-track happenings while Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner will be covering the ongoing stories in the garage area. There should certainly be a lot of things happening live.

After lunch, the 1PM sessions will feature the big boys up in the TV booth on SPEED. Steve Byrnes, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds will be talking a lot about the new rules package and what effect it will have on the "tandem racing" we saw last season. Hermie Sadler and Randy Pemberton will be the reporters.

John Roberts will be hosting all of SPEED's coverage and should provide a solid presence from the infield, even without the SPEED Stage. Daytona weather is always changing and the current forecast does contain the threat of rain and also changes in temperatures during testing time.

NASCAR has made it very clear that the newest set of rule changes in radiators and cooling systems is clearly aimed at stopping the two car "tandem racing" that fundamentally alters the dynamic of racing as we knew it. Teams adapted quickly to this style and poured resources into this type of racing.

SPEED returns after a hiatus that saw the NASCAR news continue at a frenetic pace on social media and racing websites. Unfortunately, the only designated motorsports-themed cable TV network stepped aside and despite one off-season special following Kurt Busch's departure from Penske, there was silence on SPEED where NASCAR was concerned.

One week after the testing coverage is over, SPEED returns the Monday through Thursday RaceHub program anchored by Steve Byrnes. Right now, the original air time is still listed as 6PM but perhaps the network might reconsider and move this important show back to the original 7PM ET timeslot.

West Coast viewers used to get the RaceHub repeat at 9PM Pacific, but SPEED also changed this time in mid-season. The 11PM timeslot meant many viewers had to record the show and try to catch it a day later. Returning the re-air to 9PM Pacific would certainly help the series and the sport at a time when both need it.

Thursday really starts the NASCAR TV season, this will be our sixth since opening the TDP blog. Next up is the Hall of Fame induction and then things get underway in Daytona for real. We will keep updating the media listings on the left side of this page.

We also encourage you to take a moment and join Twitter. This easy to use and free service will put information from your favorite drivers, teams, tracks and media personalities right on your computer or phone. You don't have to type anything or disclose any information. It's just a great way to stay plugged into the NASCAR scene with the most up to date information. We are at twitter.com/thedalyplanet.

There will be a live blog open for testing each day, but please feel free to add your TV and media-related comments to any of the topics mentioned above. To add your opinion, just click on the comment button below. As always, thanks for stopping by.

The Rusty Wallace Saga Continues

The NASCAR TV world has been a tough environment for Rusty Wallace. Now, that rough road has extended to his racing business.

This from Rusty Wallace Racing on Friday:

Officials of Rusty Wallace Racing announced today that the team's on-track activities will be put on a temporary hiatus. "This was a tough decision to make, but it was the prudent one from a number of perspectives," said Wallace. "We just didn't feel like we had enough sponsorship in place to accomplish all of our goals."

"I promised myself and my family long ago that if the team wasn't funded to a level with which we were comfortable, we just wouldn't run it," continued Wallace. "I've worked way too hard to put part of my life savings into a race team."

Wallace continues to actively seek a ride for his son Steven in the Nationwide Series. RWR's other driver, Michael Annett, and the 35 remaining RWR employees were let go on Friday. There will be no RWR presence in the Nationwide Series in 2012.

Click here for a Dave Rodman interview from Saturday with Wallace on NASCAR.com.

Wallace spoke to Rodman passionately about his state of the art shop and then plead poverty in the same interview. Wallace said he has made absolutely no financial profit since 2004 on his Nationwide Series racing operation, but then said his shop is really designed for two Sprint Cup Series teams.

Five years ago, Wallace was the "Great White Hope" of ESPN. He was paired with loyal ESPN soldier Jerry Punch and former crew chief Andy Petree to anchor ESPN's combined Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series coverage. That honeymoon lasted exactly one year.

Click here to read "ESPN Changes Take Many By Surprise" from January of 2008. Wallace had been moved to the infield and paired with Brad Daugherty and Allen Bestwick. Wallace would continue to appear on the NASCAR Now studio show and also fill-in on select Nationwide Series telecasts when new lead analyst Dale Jarrett was off.

Wallace had clear contempt on the air for certain NASCAR personalities with whom he had clashed as a driver. They included Sprint Cup Series drivers, crew chiefs and owners. It was clear Wallace could not step away from his past and into the new role offered to him as a network TV analyst.

Bestwick proved to be the best thing that ever happened to Wallace in his TV career. A consummate pro, Bestwick kept Wallace on a very short leash and immediately cleaned-up any mess that Wallace made live on the air. Unfortunately, Bestwick could not help Wallace with his off-track issues.

As the picture above documents, Wallace put his trust into a company called US Fidelis. Click here to read "Trouble Brewing For Rusty Wallace And US Fidelis Sponsor" from June of 2009. Rusty and Steven Wallace were featured on TV commercials that ran endlessly across cable TV networks. The Wallace duo personally assured NASCAR fans and general TV viewers that US Fidelis was trustworthy.

It all came crashing down in 2010 in a very big way. Eleven states went after the US Fidelis owners for fraud and deceptive business practices. At the core of the complaint were the misleading TV commercials done by the Wallace father and son. Tens of thousands of people had been defrauded out of millions of dollars and were left with worthless extended warranties.

Click here to read "NASCAR Fans Got Fleeced By US Fidelis" from November of 2010. Neither Wallace ever apologized to NASCAR fans and ultimately it was revealed that RWR was left with over $500 thousand in unpaid sponsor fees by US Fidelis as the company collapsed.

In January of 2011, ESPN decided to sign Wallace as a network analyst through 2014 and the end of the current TV contract. This new comfort level led Wallace to more actively promote his RWR team cars during Nationwide Series telecasts. That led to some interesting moments during the season.

"NASCAR TV's New Lightning Rod" was the most recent TDP column involving Wallace. It was published on August 2 of last season as ESPN's coverage expanded as usual to add the final seventeen Sprint Cup Series races to the network's existing Nationwide Series coverage. Click here to read the column and the fan comments.

Now, Wallace begins the final three years of his ESPN contract without a race team, without his son currently driving in any NASCAR series and with the clock ticking on his expensive shop and racing inventory. It's a new perspective brought about by the current economy and perhaps by choices made in the past.

ESPN begins the network's sixth season of NASCAR coverage with the Nationwide Series race from Daytona on February 25. Rusty Wallace will be in the Infield Pit Studio as usual, although this time he will be speaking as both a former driver and a former Nationwide Series owner.

We invite your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website and comments may be moderated prior to posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Weekend: FOX Betting On Waltrip Brothers In 2012

Update: This topic has generated a lot of conversation and comments here, on Facebook and Twitter. Leaving it up as the lead story.

The NASCAR on FOX gang will be returning the core group of on-air talent for this season's coverage, but there will be one significant addition.

Michael Waltrip will take a seat in the Hollywood Hotel beginning with the Daytona 500. His role will be to appear on the pre and post-race shows, as well as providing analysis as needed during the race. In the event of rain, Waltrip and infield host Chris Myers will quickly become the show.

Moving aside is Jeff Hammond, the NASCAR on FOX on-air personality perhaps most identified with this infield position. This season, Hammond will become a roving reporter and has said he was absolutely fine with the change.

In 2011, FOX-owned cable TV network SPEED paired Darrell and Michael Waltrip in the TV booth for several races. The family dynamic between the two was interesting and the FOX executives loved the result.

"Michael is simply one of NASCAR’s most gregarious, genuine personalities and we loved the dynamic between him and Darrell when we paired them up on occasion last season," said FOX Sports Media Group Executive Producer Eric Shanks in a release.

"Michael has also been featured in numerous television commercials over the last decade, which makes him familiar to a much broader audience," continued Shanks. "I expect a lot of ‘gotta see’ TV coming out of an all-Waltrip Hollywood Hotel next season."

Shanks also made it clear that Michael Waltrip will remain in the Hollywood Hotel during and after the race. Waltrip will not be attending to his multi-car team duties, but dedicating himself to providing analysis for the full TV telecast.

This means that Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds in the TV booth will have to deal with the sometimes overbearing presence of Darrell Waltrip upstairs and now the powerful and very vocal media personality of Michael downstairs.

"The TV Lightning Rod" was a post from last season. We discussed the much more emotional and sometimes out of control aspects of Darrell Waltrip's last two seasons in the booth for FOX. Click on the title to read the entire post.

"Waltrip Negotiating To Purchase Red Bull Racing" is a post from Dave Moody's Sirius Speedway blog. Click on the title to read the story. This is part of the very real issue on the NASCAR on FOX table.

The younger Waltrip is actively involved as a multi-car Sprint Cup Series team owner. He will also drive a limited schedule in the series, focusing on restrictor plate races. Waltrip-Pastrana racing will run at least seven Nationwide Series races in 2012 with driver Travis Pastrana. Waltrip's K&N East team appears to have been shut down for this coming season due to lack of sponsorship.

The younger Waltrip has been embroiled in the normal controversies involving changes of personnel, driver contracts and sponsor issues for years now. His off-track issues are well-documented and his continuing presence on social media outlets is legendary. His tweets tell the story of perhaps a lonely man, working hard to establish his place in the sport and reclaim happiness in his personal life.

Against this complicated backdrop comes the most challenging television assignment of his career. A veteran analyst on SPEED's Camping World Truck Series telecasts, Waltrip has plenty of practice up in the broadcast booth. On FOX, however, after his time in the pre-race show is done his role will be quite different.

This time, Waltrip will literally be waiting in the dark for an opportunity to add his opinion into a telecast that already has his older brother squarely positioned as the star of the show. There is little doubt that the on-air dynamic at FOX will be significantly different than it had been with Hammond in that position.

SPEED indicated years ago that the reason it was permissible to have Waltrip in the truck series TV booth is because he did not own any teams in that series. There could be no claims of favoritism, questions about his agenda or suggestions that his comments on other teams were motivated by an ownership perspective.

Now, the new management at FOX Sports is brushing aside those issues and banking on the fact that the reaction to the younger Waltrip, both good and bad, will lead to a bump in the TV ratings. Despite the PR spin of last season, NASCAR TV ratings are far below the popularity of the sport only four or five years ago.

The point is well taken that the senior Waltrip will be 65 years old in February and has been doing this for a very long time. FOX is beginning the final three years of an existing TV contract and will be opening negotiations with NASCAR this year to determine the network's role in the future.

It may well be that Shanks is investing in what he sees as the potential successor to be the lead announcer for NASCAR on FOX. Should the network continue in the sport, the younger Waltrip will have three seasons of experience under his belt and perhaps the torch will simply be passed within the same family in 2015.

We welcome your thoughts on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. TDP does not allow profanity, hateful speech or derogatory comments. Please do not post links to other websites. Comments will be moderated before posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.