SPEED has decided to return the popular Tradin' Paint program intact for 2008. After Kyle Petty replaced Michael Waltrip on this show last spring, The Daly Planet ran a column which can be read by clicking here.
The show took on a new dynamic with Petty, who had a very low tolerance for even the most veteran media members in the NASCAR press corp. Few can forget national AP reporter Jenna Fryer asking host John Roberts, "can I just leave right now?" She had been blindsided by the level of Petty's contempt for what he considered fabricated reporting. A review of that show can be read by clicking here.
Poor Bob Pockrass from scenedaily.com did not get any better treatment. Pockrass was in full "NASCAR baiting" mode, and got Petty riled-up on a variety of topics until he finally snapped. Petty wound up yelling that Pockrass was "full of BS" and spends his time "blowing smoke up people's butts."
Pockrass dismissed the chance of Montoya winning this season, and Petty told him the whole point of NASCAR was that any driver could win on any Sunday. Pockrass narrowed his eyes and asked "does that include you?" Fans were wondering what they would see when the show came back from commercial. Read about that one here.
The key to this show is John Roberts. When he simply directs traffic and acts as the referee, the thirty minutes goes by in a snap. But, when Roberts steps-in and becomes the third panelist, things go astray. After this happened several times last season, it had us asking if maybe a second guest would help the balance.
Tradin' Paint then added Jeff Gordon for what may have been the best episode of the regular season. A review of that show is located here. Having a third panelist to make the discussions "less personal" really worked. Unfortunately, it did not work in a thirty minute format.
In the end, logistics prevented SPEED from expanding this outstanding program to one hour in length. That is about forty minutes of real content, with the rest being promos and commercials.
The program schedule for the series dances around a bit, depending on whether the Cup races are day or night, but the show can be found with a little work. Unfortunately, SPEED has decided not to add a Monday airing for 2008. That is disappointing.
There will be a new set for the series, and the first program will be February 8th at 9PM Eastern Time. That will be a part of the new roll-out of SPEED HD and their "100 Hours of NASCAR" promotion.
This should be a good year for Tradin' Paint, a program definitely worthy of making part of your regular viewing all season long.
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26 comments:
Sorry they have not picked a regular time for this show..:( I missed a couple last yr because of the varied air times, even tho I ALWAYS print out jayski's wk-end schedule (for myself & more than 1 of my friends).
Can't wait to see the new stage tho!!
The big news from SPEED Channel today is that Humpy Wheeler is getting his own show. Whether it's Speedweeks only or not, I don't know for sure.
Gold. Comedy Gold, I tell you. Can't wait for that one. He's a character.
Anon 9:29PM,
We will have the official info on that shortly. If you would like to give us your opinion of Tradin' Paint, we would appreciate it.
JD
Any news on Inside Sprint Cup returning to the airways/hosts lined up?
I'm glad Tradin' Paint is returning, and I'm glad Kyle Petty will still be involved, but I would like to see either a third panelist or a rotating line-up of drivers on the show. Watching Mr. Petty (or any driver) in this format week-in and week-out can get pretty repetitive, especially if I'm able to catch the show on a regular basis each week.
It's a real shame it won't be given a regular time-slot on Monday nights. I figure that's because the show is taped each week before Sunday's race and airing it Monday nights we'd know how accurate their "looks into the crystal ball" were. A better time slot would be immediately following Trackside each Friday night, or even immediately prior to NASCAR RaceDay on Sunday mornings (where it sometimes appeared last year). SPEED needs to run Tradin' Paint and NASCAR Performance (if it returns) every week at the same time.
I'm afraid that I lost a lot of my previous respect for Petty after some of his 'performances' last year. I began to feel that he was just too full of himself. Nobody could be right but him. If anyone questioned him or NASCAR, he blasted them. I didn't like that. The Pettys are known for class, not intimidation.
Anon 11:02PM,
There is some big news coming about Inside Sprint Cup for this season. I expect that we will be breaking that news on maybe Wednesday.
I am working hard on SPEED for the details, but all we know is that the show does not every appear in the program schedule on the Monday after Daytona. The time slot is reserved, but there is not title for the "re-vamped" show.
We will put up any news we "officially" get right away.
JD
I hope the show's EP tells Kyle to tone down his Angry Race Driver persona.
It's one thing to have a spirited debate, but what's been doing has been rude and boorish. I can't believe that's his real-life personality--he must be acting for the show.
I for one am not looking forward to "Tradin' Paint". Despite everyone's love for grown adults slinging middle school insults at each other, I for one don't think it helps racing, or television. If they want to act civil, that is one thing, but what you have now is a driver (Kyle Petty), who cannot find the appropriate words to convey a point so he degenerates the conversation into a tirade that solves nothing. It has at times dropped almost to the level of a NASCAR themed Jerry Springer show.
I know everyone loves Kyle Petty. I know he has a wonderful camp for disabled kids, and I know he has sacrificed more than almost anyone for the sport. That certainly gives him the right to criticize anyone he chooses in racing and the media. However, that doesn't mean we have to videotape and broadcast his tirades every week.
I wonder if Kyle realizes the damage he is doing to his image by appearing on this show?
The King wouldn't be universally revered if he'd been seen spouting off like this every week.
Funny you rail against ESPN when their hosts try to get discussins from the guests, but seem to love this tabloid show that at times is worse than a Springer show.
If having Kyle Petty on Tradin' Paint makes the show a success, that's great. You want to make the fans happy.
I'm not a fan of Kyle's and don't get him. He's a terrible driver, and he doesn't even appear to like being a driver. Why does he do it? Becasue of his dad? Because of the money? Because he doesn't have anything else to do? Because it will keep the Petty name current?
Anyway, for me it's easy to just change the channel.
I like the concept of this show and it's much better w/ Kyle Petty than it was with Michael Waltrip. I just don't like it when the show turns tabloid-y. I want intelligent discussions of the various issues -- not fighting or belligerence.
I missed a few shows last year due to the scheduling being so screwy. The DVR tends to find it most of the time, but if qualifying or another show runs long, Tradin Paint & Larry Mac's tech show don't always start at the scheduled time and I miss the beginning or end.
My Sunday's usually start with watching those two shows, which gets me behind enough to skip commercials thru Race Day and then the actual race. If not, I'll watch my cooking shows until I've wasted enough time to be able to fast forward thru the race. Although me fast forwarding thru the race didn't start until well into last season. ;-)
Shawnna in OKC
Having been a fan for over 40 years, I like Kyle and his old school racing attitude.he was raised around guys like JR Johnson, Cale, the Allisons.Those guys didn't care for the BS media questions either.For him it's all about the racing, not the glamour.
Kyle would have quit driving years ago if his son hadn't of been killed.Adam was the legacy of Petty enterprises
Great news on Tradin' Paint. This was probably the best show on TV, as they didn't flinch from taking on some of the tough issues. Kyle Petty is, at times, a little over the top with his opinions, but at least they don't run from controversy.
I'm glad to hear that Tradin Paint will be back next year and I did watch it more often once it was Kyle in the seat rather than Waltrip with his self-serving attitude. However, I agree that while Kyle should be able to express himself and allow his personality to shine through, I disagree with any of the shows degenerating into a bunch of disparaging or angry commentary. I'm not a fan of any of the shows that do that, NASCAR related or otherwise. I would have liked to see a regular time for this show too rather than having to figure it out each week.
I enjoy seeing Kyle on Tradin' Paint but I'm really curious about INC and what Speed will do to that show. This suspense will bother me til I hear the news, but I hope it's about AB coming back as host and KS & MW back on the show.
I like Kyle Petty. I'm not really a fan of the "debate" type shows. I tune in to see who the guest is and the topic. I watched the majority of the shows, with Kyle, last season. I always enjoy John Roberts. I'm glad that the show is returning.
Elena said 'I'm not a fan of Kyle's and don't get him. He's a terrible driver, and he doesn't even appear to like being a driver. Why does he do it? Becasue of his dad? Because of the money? Because he doesn't have anything else to do? Because it will keep the Petty name current?'
Kyle does like being a driver and he is still very passionate about the sport and racing. Why does he do it? Because his son, Adam Petty, isn't here anymore. If you will remember, Adam was killed at Loudon on May of 2000 during a practice session. The 45 car was going to be Adam's ride in the Cup series.
As for Kyle 'needing something to do' I tend to think that he's got plenty of things to keep him busy. There's his work at Petty Enterprises, Victory Junction, his other charity work and the possible opening of another camp for ill children. Not to mention his family and home life.
Another reason that Kyle is in the 45 car is because PE does not have another driver ready to take over yet. From what I've gathered through articles and interviews I've seen, PE is going to take their time and make sure that the driver who replaces Kyle is really, truly ready for the Cup series. They aren't going to just pluck some young kid from another series and put him in that car without proper, old-fashioned racing preparation. I'm hoping that Chad McCumbee is the one who will get that ride as he seems like a real down-to-earth, genuine, well-mannered young man, that he'd be a good fit for the PE organization.
Regardless of who is driving the 45 car when Kyle decides to stop racing, it will be the first time since 1949 that a Petty has NOT been in a PE car on the track. It will be the end of that part of racing history.
As a fan who appreciates the legacies of the families that helped make the sport what it is today, that is not a day that I look forward to.
Well said, Mr/Ms Anon.
If I may add, if a driver can finish any race in the Cup series, then they are a "good" driver.
I do not dislike Kyle Petty. Just don't care for him. It is nice that those who do like him were able to say so without throwing me under the bus.
Though none of the comments convinced me, I will let them stand without comment.
From the SPEED site:
"While Petty’s outspokenness last season caught the eye of many viewers and NASCAR insiders, the driver of the No. 45 Dodge says he comes about his “feisty” side honestly.
“I’ve been at this for a few years now so I’ve probably developed some deep-rooted opinions about several topics,” Petty said. “Racing is the Petty family business. I wouldn’t say that it means more to me than any other driver out there, but I do think we have a more vested interest in what happens each weekend. That may come across as ‘fiery’ on the program.”
Note to Kyle: Wanting to be seen as "Firey" is not an excuse to be rude or a jerk to the other guests on the show.
I like the idea of Tradin' Paint, I don't like the idea of having only one driver being a regular on the show at a time. They mix up the media panelist, they should do the same with the drivers.
I don't mind that Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty have opinions. I do mind that they seem to feel that their opinions are the only ones worth having and denigrate anyone who argues with them.
As a result, I can't say I'll be watching this show. Unless the "media" panelist is Erik K. Then I'd watch simply for the fireworks. In some respects, Erik and Kyle's arrogance is evenly matched. Kyle gets the edge only because he actually knows something about NASCAR.
I liked Traidin' Paint for the banter while I will agree that Kyle went a bit over the top on more than one occasion. HOWEVER, he DID seem to tone it down there towards the end of the season.
I also agree that he SHOULD have went off on Jenna Fryer among others for their engineered if not made-up stories as it is the biggest of my pet-peeves. The second most annoying would be media asking a driver if he "can win today". (Just once I'd like to hear a driver say: "Nope. We just came to practice with the big boys."...here's your sign!)
I'm very excited to see that Kyle will be back! I love him and look forward to watching him again :)
I am glad Kyle is returning to the show,I also wish they would set a time and day for the show.As for people not liking Kyle how is that possible.How can you not like a man that has put his sons passion before everything else.As for people saying Kyle does not have the passion to drive a race car that is crazy.Maybe some of these new fans need to go back and look at the horrible crash that broke his leg at talledaga it changed dws life when he broke his leg at charlotte.You have to remember everytime this man gets in that 45 car he relives every moment he had with his son.Passion should be the sponser of petty enterprises.I am glad to see that pe is moving foward after such a long dry spell.I applaude Kyle and Patty for having the courage and strength to continue in a sport that took so much from them and for that reporter that says Kyle cannot win on the track he does not have to He is a winner everyday because he helps make it possible for kids to be helped that cannot help thereselves.There is one thing I ask of KYLE PETTY PUT YOUR SONS CAR UP FRONT WHERE IT SHOULD BE. I have been a fan of pe since 1975 and i got used to seeing that big smile and I can only imagine how big that smile in heaven would be to see that 45 up front where Adam would be.So Kyle for all of the fans that cried when your son got killed on that horrible day put that car where it should be up front with that big petty grin that your dad made famous. GO 43 &45 I know there will be a big celebration in heaven when one of those cars are sitting in victory lane this year.So you new fans that do not know the history of Kyle Petty just shut up and let the man drive for ever how long he damn well pleases. I will be at martinsville and texas the site of Adams first cup start I wish you the best of luck and look foward to alot of good race days this year.
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