Friday, September 11, 2009

Your Turn: Nationwide Series From Richmond On ESPN2


The cars were under the lights at the Richmond International Raceway on Friday night.

Allen Bestwick started the night with Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace from the Infield Pit Studio. They handled the pre-race show and provided comments coming out of the commercial breaks in the live race coverage.

Marty Reid returned to the broadcast booth and was joined by Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett. It was Petree who responded to Reid and was very active in the telecast. Jarrett was reserved and provided comments, but not in the same role he has on the Sprint Cup Series telecasts.

Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch were on pit road. They provided some race recaps, but the limited cautions provided few stories for them to report. There were no interviews with crew chiefs in the race.

Kevin Harvick was the in-race reporter and he had a rough night. Harvick did the normal pre-race interview, but his role was limited due to the high number of green flag laps. Tim Brewer was in the Tech Garage and reviewed again some NASCAR basics.

This is your opportunity to offer your opinion on the ESPN telecast of this race. To add your comment, just click on 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, this feature has proven to be very popular.

Live Blogging The Nationwide Series From Richmond, VA (ESPN2 - 7PM ET)


Here we go with what should be a very exciting race for the Nationwide Series from the Richmond International Raceway.

Allen Bestwick starts things off from the Infield Pit Center for ESPN2. Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty will join Bestwick from that location. It seems strange that Wallace would not move upstairs and join the broadcast team. Wallace has been working a lot of the Nationwide Series races as an analyst.

Instead, it will be Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth with play-by-play from Marty Reid, who returns to the series after a hiatus. Reid should add some spark to this night race that tends to get rather intense for this series.

On pit road will be Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch. Jeff Gluck of scenedaily.com related earlier that Spake has just announced she is pregnant with twins. ESPN's Ryan McGee suggested that Marty and Ryan are good names for the new additions.

There is a very diverse field for this race. It is the time of the season when there are very different agendas in the Nationwide Series. Some drivers are trying to get recognized for next season at this big race where all the Cup Series owners are watching. Some are trying to keep sponsors while the Cup-whackers are mostly just aiming for the win.

This is a very fast track for the TV Director. The challenge is to blend the track level cameras with the high shots and the in-cars. The action is so fast that the easiest thing to do is stay wide and let them race. Should the ESPN coverage again tilt toward tight shots and in-cars, it could be a long night for TV viewers.

This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN2 coverage of the Nationwide Series from Richmond. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

ESPN's Afternoon TV From Richmond, VA


ESPN2 is on the air with coverage of the Sprint Cup Series practice, Nationwide Series qualifying and finally Sprint Cup Series qualifying.

Jerry Punch will handle the Sprint Cup Series action while Marty Reid has returned and will call the Nationwide Series activities. Both play-by-play announcers will be working with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.

This is going to be a long day for Jarrett and Petree. They will also stick around to handle the Nationwide Series race later tonight.

Richmond is a huge race for the sport and the tension level is high in the Sprint Cup Series garage. Keep an eye on the interviews from the pit reporters in these sessions for who is having a good day and who is struggling.

This post will serve to host your comments about the afternoon TV on ESPN2. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. We will update news during the day on this post as well. Thanks!