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Last week, TV viewers saw
RaceDay's Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler interviewing drivers at the race track before the event. While that is normal for these two reporters from SPEED, what was not very normal was to see Fox's Krista Voda and Dick Berggren standing right there waiting to interview the exact same drivers for the
NASCAR on Fox live broadcast.
Once again this week in Las Vegas, the final thirty minutes of
RaceDay on SPEED will overlap with the Fox pre-race show from the Hollywood Hotel.
RaceDay runs from 2-4PM ET while Fox takes to the air at 3:30PM.
The irony here is that the green flag is not scheduled to wave until 4:46PM. As Michael Waltrip used to say in the Aaron's commercials, do the math.
SPEED is owned by the Fox Cable Networks group, so the overlap seems a little bit strange. Essentially, SPEED is providing during their two hours the same content that the
NASCAR on Fox crew will be reporting in that one hour pre-race show.
Sooner or later, this situation has to get sorted out. Imagine asking SPEED viewers who have been watching
RaceDay for ninety minutes to turn the channel to Fox in the middle of the live program. Fox may suggest that SPEED has the hardcore fans and the Hollywood Hotel the casual viewers, but I would disagree.
ESPN2 starts the day with
NASCAR Now hosted by Nicole Manske at 10AM ET. SPEED is next with
NASCAR Performance with Larry McReynolds and Chad Knaus at 12:30PM. The now infamous
NASCAR Smarts gameshow with Kyle Petty and Rutledge Wood will air at 1PM. That is followed at 1:30PM by
NASCAR in a Hurry hosted by Adam Alexander.
RaceDay at 2PM will feature Hermie Sadler racing go-karts with Kurt Busch. Jimmy Spencer will talk with Carroll Shelby during an on-track feature and the show will chronicle the amazing logistics of the Fontana to Las Vegas trip for the teams and cars.
Fox takes to the air at 3:30PM for an hour of pre-race that will lead to a 4:46 green flag. Post-race TV will include ESPNEWS live with the Media Center press conferences and
Victory Lane on SPEED at 8PM. The Sunday night edition of
NASCAR Now does not begin until the Sprint Cup Series races move to ESPN in July. That is certainly a shame.
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