ESPN is chocked full of programming right now and none of it includes NASCAR. This weekend, the only time ESPN will be involved with the Nationwide Series is for the actual race coverage. Practice sessions and qualifying were carried by SPEED.
Allen Bestwick kicks-off the pre-race NASCAR Countdown show at 2:30PM. He will have Dale Jarrett and Brad Daugherty alongside in the Infield Pit Studio. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage.
This is another Danica moment for ESPN. On Friday and early Saturday, SPEED completely downplayed Patrick's presence and treated her fairly but without favor. It should be interesting to see how ESPN approaches this topic in the pre-race and event coverage.
Jarrett will be moving upstairs to the broadcast booth and joining Marty Reid and Andy Petree for the race. Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch and Dave Burns will be on pit road. Rusty Wallace, Shannon Spake and Jamie Little have the weekend off.
This is a flat track that is a test of patience and tires. The TV producer may be praising the double-file restarts and pit strategy before the day is done. In-car cameras work well because there is so little passing under green.
TV coverage on the caution flag pitstops is going to be key, as this is perhaps where the majority of the passing for position will be taking place. This has certainly been a key television issue in the past.
Once again, the familiar scenario may unfold where several of the Sprint Cup Series drivers could dominate. NHMS normally rewards the teams that start from the front of the NNS races.
This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Nationwide Series race from New Hampshire. 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. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
113 comments:
hey planeteers! have a great race. i'll catch up after usa world cup match.
Happy Race Day Planeteers :)
Canadians viewers only get half a Countdown, TSN is only joining the coverage at 3:00pm.
Afternoon all
People tweetin' from the track rain is coming probably before NNS race.
The sound is Horrible!! Comcast in Maryland. Anyone else having issues? No other channel sounds bad. I can bairly understand them. Even the other Espn channels are clear and sound good.
Hope we get the race in!
Wishing all a great afternoon. :)
No sound issues in central Florida, JohnP
no problems in TX on DTV
Yell at your cable system JP!
Sound is good here in Tampa area Brighthouse, -JohnP, sounds like it might be local to you.
Nice story on the late DJ & the 32 team
Danica time!
Danica sure does sell tickets.
Yea, it must be local. Just one channel though - The race. :( I've checked three different tv's. Even the sound on the commercials is rotten. So, it's a comcast issue. Bummed. Thanks for letting me know it's not the feed from the track.
@Jojaye - No coverage here yet,... who's "the late DJ"?
Martin--DJ Richardson he was an OTW guy for the 32 N'wide team as well as Happy's 29 team. He contracted H1N1 last November and passed away in December :(
Got to give Danica an A+ on that TV interview.
You can check out his Facebook fan tribute page. I am a member.
Forgot to add yes that was a nice piece on DJ :(. Due to issues missed the coverage at the beginning of the season so didn't know if he was mentioned so it was nice to see that piece.
@Martin - was over wall crew member for KHI - he died from H1N1 flu over the winter ,& is being remembered by #32 crew w/decal all year.ESPN pre race did a nice story on him.
Sorry I forgot to refresh before posting what Gymmie said.
NP!
Thanks Gymmie!
TSN just did something weird since they didn't cover the first half of the Countdown. They replayed the broadcast's intro from 30 minutes ago (prepared video intro, weather forecast and top-10 starters graphic) and then abruptly switched to the Infield Studio where Dale Jarrett was in mid-sentence.
That is weird. Strange choice.
Sprinkles reported pit road....
tweets are saying raining just after National Anthem.
YW Martin :)
To all those who said Danica would put butts in the seats, I guess all her fans came dressed as empty bleachers. Sure are a lot of empty seats seeing Danica's supposed to save Nascar.
Probable S&P teams today: 91, 70, 90, 61, 92, 26 and 75.
Maybes: Baker Curb's 37 and 43.
With sponsorship, I predict 27 and 89 will run the distance.
@Darcie - I heard ticket sales were 30% higher because of Danica. Was last year's attendance really that bad?
Darcie maybe the weather scared some fans away although it doesn't look like a lot of folks there today.
the inrace reporter thing didn't go so well today! neither worked right.
Looks like all my S&P predictions dropped to the back at the start with the exception of the 61.
MV - yeah when you don't have a crew chief, it might be a bad day to coninue racing.
To those that complain about empty bleachers, this is nothing new even in the "glory days" of NW racing. SMI and ISC on purpose close off sections of the track where tickets are not sold in some sections.
If this race is 60-70% of the Cup attendance tomorrow, that is pretty darn good in all reality.
Did ESPN totally gloss over the LaJoie thing?
GREAT to hear Reid again love calling out start and parks.
Oy the girl and Morgan....
She made it to lap 7 only
Danica and Mr. Jesus :(
@Vicky D - I really didn't know what Kevin Swindell's plans were, but I guess we know for sure now.
MV, now I've heard teams say - well we'll race the whole race or we'll only run 20 to 30 laps - when they never did that before. Guess it's out in the open and Nascar doesn't care one way or the other.
David, the media wants everyone to believe that the Big D would sell out venues. I don't care if they block out sections, you can bet your behind IF there was a demand, they would be thrilled to open those sections. More hype just to make everyone think she's a savior.
What a great day. Danica has already wrecked. Now we won't have her forced down our throat
What LaJoie thing? They will never comment on that.
But for people to call her the sell out ticket is just irresponsible. NW races NEVER sell out Cup venues at least not over the last 12 years that I've seen. It may have come close back in the day before tracks over-expanded but with the current track seat configurations as they are now, ain't happening Danica or not.
She's a hype machine, no doubt about that. Hard for any driver, ANY to live up to that kind of billing. Especially one learning stock cars for the first time.
It's horse crap that they don't JD. He is an ESPN employee and an actually pretty big part of the NW Series and it's history.
They mentioned when they've suspended/fired other people, just seems like a professional courtesy to at least mention it since EVERY other time someone else got suspended on the policy they at least brought it up under news/notes.
Morgan must think a womans place is in the kitchen...
Twitter is on FIRE - DP sort of needs to brush up on the rules-bet TK is laughing at home!
Anyone know when the Pony cars will debut in NW?
@Vicky D - You're right, NASCAR probably doesn't care.
I think Marty Reid literally calling out the "Start & Park" teams is a good thing if the teams themselves aren't hiding it.
The media tries to defend these teams' tactics. When it comes to Tommy Baldwin or TRG, they do try to find sponsors and race when they have one. There's no defense or excuses for the Prism and D'Hondt Humphrey teams.
Pony cars next Friday in Daytona
David,
The reason I was making a fuss earlier this week is because you have to fail an ESPN drug test to get suspended for a drug policy violation.
The same HR policies apply to making public statements about suspensions. It's all a big legal deal.
I'm waiting for them to say how long it is for.
JD
David, do you know what is going on next week in the NNS Series?
Brad Baker off the track. Only Mark Green left among my S&P predictions.
What's that?
Far as I know a massive R&D session for the NW COT lol.
ESPN could still mention he is suspended from NASCAR for failing a NASCAR test.
I hear your point about ESPN's policy but if his contract states he must be in line with NASCAR's rules and regulations might that be another case where he could be suspended?
MV, that 70 car has actually been running alot of the races here as of late with Green in the car. I figure they will try to go all day
David,
Sirius said today most teams have only one COT and NASCAR has helped "convert" old Cup cars to NNS COT's to fill the field.
NASCAR says they have 45 cars for the qualifying.
Sirius says that 20 or more may be start and parks because the teams have no second car and must have a COT for Michigan in a couple of weeks.
The new COT count for Daytona was around 20.
Bob Pockrass said he was told some teams will not even practice on Weds. because they have no back-up car.
Going to be an interesting week.
JD
Thought I'd mention for anyone who didn't catch it. It appears the #21 Richard Childress team is going away after Daytona and giving up its guaranteed starting position. They would only return at Bristol.
I suspect Baker Curb Racing might downsize or go away as well if they don't find sponsors. The #27 team will stay afloat a little longer as Jennifer Jo Cobb will field a for the 4 COT races for the team (but will drive it in only 3 of them). The #27 team might rent the car in other races to stay in the top-30.
Wow, that is insane. Haven't heard a word on that so that is great information to know. Really a sad state of affairs, NASCAR should have gotten a serious answer from teams if they could do this back in April and adjusted the schedule accordingly.
I can't say I blame the teams since it could be a wreckfest. Probably be wise to find a guy or two who want to drop way WAYYYY back and just ride all race.
Real shame for that 21 bunch. Hate to see another real NNS team go away.
MV, I thought the 21 was going to rent the car out as well. Maybe the 70 team should hop on that....
Hmmm....wondering how wise it was for Danica to pay back Morgan on that restart. She must not know about his sponsorship. :)
@David - If enough teams just go away without renting, they won't need to "buy" the #21's points. There are only 8 full-time teams outside the top-30 and the #70 is 4th in line to inherit of those spots.
If a broadcast was done properly you would not need to do Up to Speed or though the field. The announcer should be able to keep you up to date as the race runs.
Well if you figure the 21, 27 and 43 go away that would get them awfully close.
Crying shame it's come to this. I really really feel the answer for these teams is to make it next to impossible for Cup drivers to do full double seasons by having more stand alone dates at smaller tracks
Sorry JD-I think RCR,Gibbs, & Roush have helped DESTROY the NNS series - $$$$$$$$$$$$ & engineering vs. the small Busch teams who could not compete & went by-by(pcp,cici,baumgaugner, etc)
But you can't stop that, the only thing you can do is say no NNS points for fulltime Cup guys.
That would make the big owners put new faces in their NNS cars to win championship.
I guess it is accepted that during green flag pit stops there is no reason to show the cars on the track racing for position.
@JD - If I was making the rules, I'd say if you're in the top-20 driver points in Cup, you get no Nationwide points. That would rule out all the top Cup drivers and keep them from running both series full-time. Brad Keselowski could get points right now, but if he slips into the top-20 in Cup, no more points in Nationwide.
Guys like Nemechek and Menard could run a bunch of Nationwide races, but they're not the ones ruining the series.
And Kenny Wallace is running 7th and you wouldn't even know he was on the track.
MV, it has to be based on participation and not results.
That is the big debate right now for 2011.
No flow to the race yet. Tight shots and tech center don't get it.
Charlie, rough day for the producer. You can hear Marty and his guys trying to tip him off, but lots of missed incidents.
Last year, we would say they got fouled up on their script and are lost.
I don't believe in making special rules for certain people. You can't tell the guys they can race and then give no points, that is NASCAR proving having Cup guys in the Series is SOLELY a money grab and nothing else. Facts being facts many of the 1.5 mile ISC and SMI tracks have no business having the NW Series there at them. If they were to get this series back to it's roots a little bit and accept a step back as a step forward it could go a long way. Make logistics for doing the double impossible. Run a NW and Cup race on the same day at different locations like they used to if you have to. NW guys now only double dip to win the championship or to keep teams afloat with sponsorship. Kyle Busch has said he would run less races but NOS and Z-Line are only on the car because Kyle drives it. Same goes for many sponsors in the series.
They need to bring the cost down and moving away from less companion Cup races, 4 or 5 more NW/Truck standalones could be the trick IMO.
Gimmick points systems or picking and choosing who gets to race for points or not is just well....dumb IMO.
A one mile track and they miss WHAT happened to put Tayler in the wall and Ricky sitting backwards ?!?!?!?
David - Kevin Harvick has been saying that all along if Nascar doesn't want the cup guys to race in NW, move to a different track so they can't do both.
David, the problem is you have to solve the issues within the jurisdiction of the sport.
The only thing you can legally do is change point structure. You can't tell someone who has a license and paid the fee not to race.
It's a real debate going on right now behind the scenes.
The NNS is in real trouble right now.
JD
And some idiots are calling for a crapshoot in the nationwide series to 'spice things up', but not allow Cup drivers to be eligible for the title. The concept hasn't done much to increase interest in the Cup title...plus, having the Cup drivers run but not compete for the title is even more stupid.
tia, can you believe they missed that? It was the one guy who had been crashing in every race.
He's taking Steve Wallace's title.
JD, i wanted to jump in and offer up my opinion of the Randy LaJoie issue.
I totally do not understand your stance on the fact that it involves two different companies.
Come on dude, do you think that NASCAR is going to allow anyone associated with illegal substances or for that matter, anything illegal be involved with their nice pristine sport? (unless you are a France of coarse)
If you step out of bounds with any sanctioning body then you should not be allowed to participate either as a contractor vendor, media or as a competitor. Especially when drugs are involved. For example, if you have pit reporters down there running around in the "danger zones" well you do not want to have them with drugs in their systems.
It can impair judgement and lead to disaster. Truck drivers are another example, if one was tested positive for pot then he also would lose his job with TV, NASCAR and the truck driving career would stop.
I have never heard of NASCAR testing TV people who all possess "Hard cards" with gives them as much access as any team member except over the wall access during racing. Randy was tested for another reason and got snagged. Oops, well what about the other 200 plus broadcast members? Why not random test them too. It may make for better TV broadcasts because at times it appears that they may be on drugs based on the quality of the shows.
Thanks for your posting my opinion.
Or they could sidestep all that and change the locations of the races JD.
We agree something has to be done we just disagree how to go about that.
I know Harvick has been saying it, he has been saying it for over 5 years now and that was a genius idea he had that I have run with.
Making Cup drivers race for no points does little to solve the problem because the major issue is how a team gets its money to race during the season. That money comes out of race purses. If you still can't get enough out of that to race all season, then the rule becomes completely pointless.
Plus if the rule backfires and Cup drivers pull out entirely, what then? People will cry the Series is dying the series is dead.
Everyone wants to see Cup drivers race somewhat in the series whether they admit it or not because of the perks it comes with.
Getting the series back to short tracks and lowering the travelling/equipment costs for the TRUE NW teams should be priority #1
Shame we lost tracks like Nazerith and Pikes Peak and Myrtle Beach for tracks like Fontana, Chicago, Kansas, and TWO Texas races. Oy.
Anyways, this is a discussion for another day.
Have been in and out of room so missed the whole Stenhouse deal
I wish to thank The Disney Family of Networks for the lovely promo for a clearly adult themed show on HBO about the oldest job in the world. Lovely, thank heavens my grand daughter was on potty break, or we would have been having question time here.
What were they thinking?!?
Racing,
No problem, all opinions are good.
My point is that ESPN is not tied to NASCAR in a legal or any other manner.
LaJoie flunked a drug test for a NASCAR license to be a spotter. He already holds two other NASCAR licenses, including one to drive in the top three series.
NASCAR followed their own company policy and ESPN did not.
The ESPN/Disney drug policy guidelines are nothing like NASCAR's as both serve very different purposes.
Having LaJoie in the studio on a Monday to talk about the race in New Hampshire is important to ESPN.
LaJoie expressed remorse, explained the situation and apologized.
What is the point of not allowing him to sit in a studio in CT and talk about NASCAR?
IMHO they are very different.
JD
I am in shock over that HBO promo. Just amazed.
Jojaye Good point. Wow, they really did that?
I hope NASCAR noticed.
FCC too!
Jojaye, when pharmaceutical companies & a couple of other businesses were allowed to advertise on tv, the commercials have really gone down hill.
I guess this race is something like practice. No cars are changing position on the track.
Just show tight shots and do up to speed over and over again.
JD, Ok that's more clear. It's just hard to be a commentator about a sport if you are stuck outside the fence.
I know Randy, he is a great guy and has always been good for the sport.
Tough break for him and it's too bad. But, it is there sport and they make the rules sometimes as they go. I held a hard card for four years and never touched illegal drugs. Was that hard to do being a product of the hippy dippy seventies. No it was not hard to do. That was then. NOW- I do however enjoy a bowl now and then these days. Helps me relax.
Why is the natural plant so illegal anyway? It's better for me than hard liquor.
JD - It's not that it was Ricky involved that I'm shocked at ... But, it's the fact that it's a SHORT track ...
Though, they did screw up last week ... and never showed "how" the # 11 car spun and caused the "Big One" ...
I don't think we got the HBO commercial ...
Just had a commercial for the NHRA at SIR ... "As they return to tear up the track" ... Apparently, the scriptwriter(s) MISSED the fact that the NHRA drivers threatened a boycott of SIR a few years back IF the owners didn't repave it as the track WAS torn up and had grooves in it (like I-5 with studded tires) ...
Did they show why the caution or will we hear about that when then do another Up to Speed.
No excitement or pointing out that the 22 was having a horrible stop. huge game changer here this late for them
Reid said 40 had engine problem
From SBNation's Jeff Gluck: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. explains that driver was trying to get her loose so he could pass. Danica: "So that's like a technique?"
I know Reid said an engine blew up but I just thought it would have been nice to see it before they showed pit stops.
looks like today will be win #8 for JGR in 16 Nationwide Series races. Would be nice to see if they could still dominate with young nationwide only drivers!
tight shots do not show the race.
The only time you see racing is in a replay.
What a sad broadcast.
I wonder if we'll see a replay of Mark Green's wreck? Oh no they had all the cameras on DP.
ESPN's live leaderboard has already declared that Kylie WON the race ...
http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/rpm/racecast?raceId=201006260304
But, they also list it as a 175 lap race ...
No big deal about the caution the driver was 33rd so who cares.
The producer and director had a tough day today.
The announcers just followed along but they were really out of sync.
Yeah, booth has been just a tick off today.
Definately not the best telecast for the ESPN crew today. Was there a memo sent around Bristol telling the production crew that wide shots would get you fired? Tight shot are the enemy of the fans! Please stop using them!!
Booooooooo ...
This is another reason why I'm NOT voting for the former Redskins player who's running for US Senate here ...
The announcers are more excited about the burn out then the race.
At least tight shots work for a victory burn out.
Thats a silly reason not to vote for someone....given all the other reasons not to vote for them lol.
Nice burnout there, ESPN with Danica is not too great....
They do a much better job without her.
A very forgettab le telecast of a forgettable race. I think the number of people in the pits exceeded the number of people in the stands.
Was that not the most anticlimactic victory lane reception ever. Sad celebration to end a sad broadcast! fitting i guess.
Not really psyched for Sunday from watching this tilt today.
David - I'm not voting for the guy because he holds Joe Gibbs in such high regard ... and I don't like/respect Joe Gibbs anymore ... Plus, the guy took farm subsidies whilst calling for smaller govt & ending handout programs ...
Disney does better when Kylie/Joey are NOT in the race ... and the Gibbs cars "struggle" ... Seems like they forget that other people are out there when the Gibbs girls are there ...
Nice candid interview by Danica. I'm sure some people will be uppset that she didn't whine about anything.
Well tia I think we will agree to disagree on the Gibbs front. I can't fault their NW program or driver selection or anything along those lines. Maybe you might not care for who drives for him but I love their driving styles. If it's dominating NW, what do you think Roush was in the 90's in this series? Burton and Martin whipped them every week. RCR in the middle of this decade, now Gibbs. It's evolution and they have something figured out with this car. New car should be interesting to see how they adapt.
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