Daytona 500 Live 7PM FOX: Chatting On Twitter

Live race chat is once again on Twitter.com using the #TDP1 hashtag. You can easily sign-up and participate. It's free and easy to use, please join us.

5PM update: Conditions still go for 7PM racing, one last rain band moving toward area. Hoping it misses track.

Update 12:50PM: RaceHub on SPEED at 6PM will serve as the Daytona 500 pre-race show. Full updates from the NASCAR on FOX team at the track as well as SPEED analysts in-house.

Update 12:30PM: FOX PR spokesman Dan Bell has confirmed that every local FOX affilate nationwide will carry the Daytona 500 live. That is huge, especially for West Coast viewers on a Monday at 4PM local time.

Update 10:15AM: NASCAR has announced that due to continuing rain, the Daytona 500 will be run at 7PM ET Monday and televised live on the FOX Broadcast Network. It was raining in Daytona at 9AM with jet dryers shut down and the track wet. Forecast is for daytime rain with clearing after 3PM. Will update track drying efforts and potential for 7PM start on this page. Thanks for your patience.

It was a valiant effort, but no amount of positive spin from the NASCAR on FOX gang could defeat Mother Nature. From the opening weather forecast that predicted possible light rain but no problems getting the race in to the subsequent five hours of rain fill, the Daytona 500 was not to be.

Here is the reset information for fans about Monday's TV and radio coverage:

FOX is scheduled to come on the air at noon ET and if the track is ready the green flag will be dropped by WWE star John Cena only minutes later. There is no pre-race show on either FOX or SPEED. There is also no flyover.

RaceBuddy or any type of video streaming is not done with the NASCAR on FOX race package. The network pays top dollar to have viewers watch FOX and that buys them what is called "exclusivity." As far as video is concerned in the US, it's FOX or nothing.

As of midnight Sunday, SPEED stated that network has no plans to re-air the race Monday night if it is completed on Monday afternoon. An email to FOX went unanswered, but it is highly unlikely that the Monday primetime line-up would be set aside for a replay of the Daytona 500 on the FOX Broadcast Network.

Basically, this means set the DVR, VCR or whatever recording device you may have available for all day Monday from noon until you get home from work. Right now, the only scheduled re-air is later in the week at noon on SPEED. Why these two sister networks could not agree on this issue as of Sunday night is anyone's guess.

For our friends in Canada, TSN2 will have coverage should the race get underway at noon. UK fans the word is Premier Sports will carry the race live when it happens on Monday. For those of you down under SPEED Australia will carry it live.

On the radio side, click here for a direct link to the Motor Racing Network (MRN) homepage. In an agreement reached only a short while ago, MRN can now stream races online through the MRN website in addition to using the normal radio affiliates nationwide. On Monday, there will be direct links for fans to use either the website page or the MRN mobile page to stream the race.

For those with android phones who want to use an app, click here for the I Heart Radio homepage. This provides feeds of local radio stations nationwide and there are several MRN affiliates on the list. You can scroll down on that page for a list of apps easily installed on your phone.

iPhone users it has been recommended that the TuneIn Radio app, click here for the link, is easily installed and is free. That will allow access to the same MRN affiliates for coverage of the race. The list of MRN stations is right on the MRN homepage.

As always, the SiriusXM NASCAR channel will carry the race live. SiriusXM has a live stream, but it is not allowed to carry any NASCAR content. To hear the Daytona 500 on SiriusXM, you must listen using your auto or mobile receiver.

After the race, SPEED will offer RaceHub at 6PM anchored by Danielle Trotta. She will have multiple reporters updating the stories from Daytona. ESPN will be using SportsCenter and ESPNEWS for post-race content.

We will once again be running a live stream on Twitter for TV comments on the coverage. Enter the #TDP1 hashtag into the Twitter search box to see all the comments in our stream display in real time. Please join us, Twitter is free and loaded with information.

Once the race is over, there will be a new post up right here for your post-race comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage. Please take a moment to stop by and give us your wrap-up of the telecast. Thanks again for hanging in there, let's hope we have Monday racing at Daytona.

Post-Race Part Two

ESPN got into the act with an abbreviated post-race show after SPEED did the same in leaving the Camping World Truck Series on Friday night. ESPN had a whopper of a Nationwide Series tilt on Saturday afternoon with mangled machinery and lots of stories to pay off.

What these two networks have in common is that they both cover these respective series exclusively. It was NASCAR's intention that these two support series would benefit from being on only one network for the entire season.

SPEED left without speaking to lots of folks for the debut of the Car Warriors show. It was thirty minutes later than scheduled, but it was the network itself that scheduled it after a live event. There is absolutely no guarantee that a race will end at a specific time.

ESPN had a big ACC college basketball game ready to go as the Nationwide Series race dealt with a late red flag period for SAFER barrier adjustments after an accident. The race telecast ran past the tip-off, so ESPN started the game on the ESPN3.com website.

After the race surprise winner James Buescher, shown above, got the checkered flag. But it was what happened on the last lap that made the network's hasty escape annoying. Granted, this race was something of a mess but that is the nature of the beast at Daytona.

One driving force behind the discontent with post-race shows is social media. NASCAR race information is available on almost a real time stream on Twitter and a slower but more informative platform on Facebook. These two content streams often reflect what is going on at the track and the resulting frustration is that the network TV coverage has long since departed.

A lot of folks have weighed in on this topic. As we mentioned, on one side is a fan base who just enjoyed a Nationwide Series race with free live scanners, a RaceBuddy video feed and top of the line network TV coverage. More post-race content would have updated the stories of the race.

On the other is those who believe the race is over when it's over. They feel it is not the TV network's responsibility to show an extended post-race for either the Trucks or Nationwide Series.

The point is that the Sprint Cup Series is already surrounded. Four hours of pre-race shows on three different networks precede every single race. Sunday, it will be five hours for the 500. After each race, SPEED offers multiple hours of recap shows while ESPN uses SportsCenter as a platform for post-race coverage.

Minutes after SPEED left the air on Friday, fans were posting pictures on social media of the hole torn in the frontstretch catchfence after the big crash on the closing laps. The network never updated this situation. Questions were being asked about fan injuries or the situation for the race on Saturday.

After the Nationwide Series race, fans were asking if their favorite drivers were OK after the big crash. Also, they asked for a full field rundown and why Danica Patrick did not talk to ESPN after her crash.

In a way, fans asking for more live post-race TV coverage is a great sign. Interest in both series was solid heading into this first race and the action in both races certainly was exciting. The question is, how should post-race live coverage be delivered?

Neither the trucks or the Nationwide Series have the post-race press conference for the winners streamed at NASCAR.com like the Cup Series. SPEED has no weekly TV support show about the trucks and ESPN has never had one for the Nationwide Series.

We have seen both SPEED and ESPN stream content online before with great success. The problem is that type of content is scheduled in advance. The very nature of NASCAR is still at the core of the issue. Once the green flag flies, the time of the checkered flag is anyone's guess.

This is the final season for the NASCAR.com website to be operated by Turner Sports. Next year, NASCAR itself will be in charge and that should result in some major changes. Post-race content has to be high on the list as this topic has been debated for several years now.

If you watched the ESPN Nationwide Series telecast, did you get the feeling they rushed off the air? What stories or information did you miss? If ESPN has shifted coverage online would you have watched? How about some suggestions on how to handle this situation in the future?

We want your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Post-Race Debate Rages Again

It only took about ten minutes and fans on social media, email and this blog were already yelling about it. I was yelling about it too.

The debut of the Camping World Truck Series was held Friday night at the Daytona International Speedway. Basically, it was a freight train ride for the first three-quarters of the race mixed with some isolated accidents. No one was injured.

The final portions of the race consisted of several accidents involving key personalities in the sport. Ultimately, the final laps were marred by an accident that saw one driver's truck get up into the catch fence in front of the grandstands.

The race ended at 10:20PM, which was 20 minutes longer than SPEED had scheduled for the event. After getting the drivers back around to pit road, the network did some brief interviews of the top three drivers and the winning owner before departing in what some called a hasty manner ten minutes later.

What was scheduled for 10PM was the debut of a new season of Car Warriors. This "reality" TV show was panned last year and resulted in a lawsuit claiming the producers manipulated the outcome to make the best TV, not produce an honest result. On Friday night, this show started 30 minutes late.

A pretty hefty debate quickly got underway with folks making points on both sides. Here are some of those issues and then you can throw in your two cents.

Here were my points to argue:

The Camping World Truck Series is the only major NASCAR series carried on SPEED from start to finish. The focus should have been to take as long a time as needed to take care of the stories that unfolded during the race.

This is the best opportunity for SPEED and NASCAR to get fans involved in the personalities of the drivers, including the rookie winner of the race. That gives the fans a reason to then tune into the next event and develops fan interesting for the season.

The final accident put a truck into the catch fence and appeared to completely flip the truck over while airborne. TV should have updated the viewers on the status of those involved and any injuries to fans before departing. Also, significant damage to the catch fence could affect Saturday's on-track activity.

Here is the other side of the coin:

The network had already run 20 minutes past the scheduled off time and allowed ten more minutes for interviews prior to departing. The entire telecast ran 30 minutes long.

The trucks are not a major series and the fact that they kept wrecking over and over again is what forced the race to run long in the first place.

TV is not obligated to stay past the checkered flag and in this case allowing time for interviews made sure viewers got to see some key drivers before departing.

Where do you come down on this issue? Did you watch and were you confused that the network left hastily to a non-live program? Did you know where your favorite driver finished prior to the end of SPEED's telecast? Do you think SPEED did the right thing and the network's own business and programming agenda comes first?

We invite you to share your thoughts by clicking on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.