Biggest NASCAR TV Saturday In Memory

Several different elements have come together to create a "Super Saturday" of NASCAR TV for fans. Between ESPN2 and SPEED there are thirteen straight hours of live NASCAR action on TV. Get some extra snacks and settle in, this should be good.

SPEED's outstanding team of Steve Byrnes, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond are always entertaining. They have been with NASCAR fans handling various practice and qualifying sessions since February in Daytona. On Saturday, they will be front-and-center for a big chunk of the live TV coverage. The trio begins at 11AM ET by covering both sessions of Sprint Cup practice.

Joining the team from the garage area will be Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner. These two have been showing fans just how familiar they are with the personalities in the garage as they move effortlessly between drivers, crew chiefs and owners for interviews.

John Roberts will host a version of NASCAR Live at 12:30PM between practice sessions. Roberts has been working very well with this low-key program. Using a variety of reporters, Roberts lets fans get caught up with the day's events through this simple and effective show.

After the 1PM Cup practice is over, all hands continue on deck for SPEED as the track goes directly into Nationwide Series qualifying at 2:30PM. On this day, it should be fun to watch the drivers running up and down pit road as the Sprint Cup qualifying follows directly at 4:30PM.

It is time to change the channel at 6:30PM and pray that somehow the 3:30PM college football game on ESPN2 has ended in three hours. Judging on past experience, that is not likely to happen. Waiting to start the NASCAR Countdown show are host Allen Bestwick with his expert analysts Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham.

This trio is going to have their dancing shoes on as they will have to be flexible with Countdown and wait for the college football game to end. Both Wallace and Evernham will then move to the broadcast booth as part of ESPN's ongoing television concept called "Backseat Drivers."

Wallace and Evernham will be joined in the broadcast booth by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Fans who watched the Nationwide Series race from Michigan may remember that the four analysts basically sit in the TV booth and discuss the race. Stories and reactions to the racing are going to be offered to viewers instead of the standard play-by-play announcer calling the action and letting the two analysts chime-in as they see fit.

As the Nationwide action winds down, the Camping World Truck Series action gets underway. SPEED offers Krista Voda with the pre-race show for the CWTS called The Setup at 9:30PM. This is another simple and effective show that allows a lot of information to be presented to the viewer in SPEED's now familiar informal style. Voda is a proud Iowa native, so with the trucks ready to roll in front a big crowd at Iowa Speedway, this show might be a bit special.

One thing we do know is that Voda will not be delayed by football. So, it will be Rick Allen capping off the night by calling the CWTS action on time at 10PM. As usual, Allen will be joined by Phil Parsons but on this night viewers also get an added bonus. CWTS champ Johnny Benson will be joining the team replacing Michael Waltrip who is attending to Cup duties in Atlanta.

Benson is currently on the injured reserve list nursing the effects of a SuperModified accident in his hand-built car a while back. Luckily, the safety features Benson put into the car literally saved his life.

The CWTS race should wind up around midnight, putting an end to a very long day of NASCAR TV action on what many know is a very big day of college football action. Currently, the weather forecast looks good for both Atlanta and the Iowa Speedway area.

In addition to NASCAR and college football, there are a ton of sports on TV this weekend from tennis to baseball. NASCAR will hopefully make its way through the maze and into the homes of NASCAR fans without any big issues. TDP will keep you updated on any changes or situations as they happen all day long.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, we welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

It's that time of the year again. Time for NASCAR fans to locate the ESPN Classic network on their cable dial. College football season is here.

Saturday returns the Nationwide Series television coverage to a familiar pattern. A live college football game begins at 3:30PM and the NASCAR pre-race show begins three hours later. Last season, that was a rough combination.

This week Allen Bestwick stands ready to kick things off at 6:30PM from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bestwick will have Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham in the Infield Pit Studio to start the day.

This is the time of the season when the Nationwide Series pre-race show suddenly becomes optional, despite the fact NASCAR fans have been watching it since February and this is the heart of the season.

Should the college football game run longer than 7PM, ESPN Classic has taped programming up until 8PM so it could serve as a back-up. Not all NASCAR fans get Classic, but other than ESPNEWS that is the only option to get the race started on TV.

This weekend is the transition when NASCAR is suddenly surrounded on Saturdays by college football and on Sunday by the NFL. Things on the air have changed drastically for NASCAR every season this has happened since ESPN returned to the coverage in 2007.

The Atlanta Nationwide Series race signals a return of the "Backseat Drivers" concept that was first used in Michigan. ESPN will have Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Wallace and Evernham watching the race and talking to viewers in an informal fashion.

Bestwick will remain downstairs in the infield and will probably handle the vast majority of the traffic directing should the college football game run long.

The top three excuses heard about this situation last season were that the pre-race show does not really matter, that the Nationwide Series is the minor leagues and that college football gets better ratings. All those excuses got old very fast.

TV viewers expect to see complete coverage of the only NASCAR series that ESPN shows from start to finish. That includes the pre-race show and the green flag. While Atlanta is a fast and exciting track, it may be the NASCAR fan that is taken for an exciting ride this Saturday afternoon. Put some fresh batteries in the remote.

TDP will be live blogging the ESPN2 telecast of the race, please join us. In order to leave comments on this topic, just click 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.

Boogity Brawl Comes To A Legal End

It certainly is interesting to see how two people can have different opinions on the same topic. It is even more interesting to see how we define "intellectual property" on the NASCAR side of the legal system. This is the article in Cupscene.com:

A spokesperson for NASCAR’s Darrell Waltrip Thursday responded to a lawsuit filed against a New Brunswick Canada businessman for the use of the word ‘boogity’.

Randy Nicholson, a long-time racing fan, was forced to change the name of his tiny memorabilia shop under the threat of a lawsuit by Waltrip who accused Nicholson who of infringing on a trademark Waltrip claims he has on the word ‘boogity’. Nicholson initially called his business Boogity Boogity Racing, and then later changed the name to Boogity Sportswear.

As a television commentator, Waltrip says, “Boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go racin’, boys” each time the green flag drops.

According to Nicholson though, the trademark that wasn’t registered by Waltrip until four years after Nicholson’s store was established.

Waltrip’s longtime business manager however, took issue with Nicholson’s claims.

“It’s unfortunate to read the articles about Mr. Nicholson’s store, as they do not tell the whole story”, said Van Colley in a statement. “The truth is DW first came up with Boogity Boogity Boogity and then the name of the store appeared.

“Mr. Nicholson only used Boogity as a result of DW’s earlier use on FOX. In my opinion, it is not a coincidence that DW started his broadcasts with Boogity, Boogity, Boogity in March of 2002 and then 9 months later, with his business partner, Richard Poulin, that Mr. Nicholson incorporated a company called BOOGIDDY BOOGIDDY RACING INC on November 6, 2002. He then changed the corporate name to Boogity Boogity Boogity Racing Inc on March 3, 2003. That company was dissolved on July 25, 2008. Then the store operated under the name Boogity Sportswear.

The shop went as far as applying for DW’s trademark of Boogity, Boogity Boogity which was rejected in late 2007 by the Canadian Trademark Office.”

According to records, Waltrip registered the catch phrase as a trademark in Canada on Oct. 31, 2005.

“My point is there is no way Mr. Nicholson should be surprised about what has happened,” Van Colley said. “It is odd that the shop filed for DW’s trademark.”

Whether Mr. Nicholson is a small business owner or the owner of a large corporation is irrelevant to the matter. You simply can’t take some one’s legally trademarked intellectual property and attempt to profit from it. Common sense tells me that I can’t simply throw up some golden arches in my front yard, hang a sign that says McDonalds on it and fire up my grill to attempt to sell some hamburgers simply because I want to.

We appreciate Mr. Nicholson being a NASCAR fan and his selling of legally licensed NASCAR merchandise in his store.”

Nicholson has until next Tuesday to wipe his shop clean of the word “boogity” and has already taken down his signs.

“I never dreamed in a million years that something like this could ever happen,” Nicholson said. “I’ve been open for eight years, but now I have had to take my signs down, and people driving past think I am closed.

“I really don’t understand this,” he added. “It is not like I was making money off of Darrell Waltrip’s name. It’s a word for goodness sakes- ‘boogity’ - and I am not even sure it is a real word. It’s a redneck word.

Nicholson said it will cost him between $5,000 and $8,000 to register a new name, put up signs, change his business cards and letterhead, order new checks change the way his phone is listed, and set up a new website.

“I used to like Darrell Waltrip,” Nicholson added. “But I think if I had him here now, I’d tear out his wind pipe.”

Speaking for Waltrip Van Colley said. “We also wish no ill will to Mr. Nicholson, despite his comment of wanting to “tear out DW’s wind pipe.” At the same time, I won’t apologize for protecting DW’s legal rights. We, like NASCAR, the drivers and teams in our sport fight this kind of thing all the time.”

That certainly is an interesting look at some of the off-track issues NASCAR personalities have to deal with in the business world.

TDP welcomes your comments on this topic. Just click on the comments button below to add your opinion. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.