This was race number two for the NASCAR on TNT gang. Lindsay Czarniak opened the show from Michigan as she hosted the pre-race Countdown to Green show.
Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds joined Czarniak for the show. TNT profiled the late Dave Allison in the Pride of NASCAR series and Wally Dallenbach Jr. offered another installment of Wally's World.
Adam Alexander called his second Sprint Cup Series race in the play-by-play role. Petty and Dallenbach joined him in the booth. Matt Yocum, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider and Phil Parsons covered pit road.
There were no technical difficulties with this telecast and weather did not play a factor. The race went quickly and finished earlier than scheduled. TNT provided a very complete post-race show. Update 4:05PM: Much to our surprise, TNT left the post-race show and asked viewers to go to NASCAR.com to see the rest of the coverage. There was still 25 minutes left in the scheduled timeslot.
This is your opportunity to offer your own post-race TV wrap-up of the TNT telecast. This is the weekly post that is most read on this blog. Your comments count.
To add your TV-related opinion, 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 offer your comments.
54 comments:
Great broadcast but EPIC FAIL leaving 20 minutes early!
I thought the coverage was very good. I wish they had shown the debris or tell us the reason. I also wish they had covered the S & P cars more. The small number of posts speaks well of the coverage. It shows the fans were watching the race and not griping about the coverage. Like in golf, the smaller the number, the better.
The race ends earlier than the 4:30 ET time slot. So they cut the telecast short, then tell people than can go onlne and watch extended post-race coverage. That doesn't make sense. Here's a thought, keep showing the coverage on TV.. UGH!!
RaceBuddy is doing a wrap up online now.
Really good coverage and the booth did a nice job of telling the story of the race.
TNT's broadcast makes it easy to watch a race. Huge improvement and what a contrast from what we got early in the year from Fox.
Would have been good to see the debris that caused the cautions.
Leaving the broadcast BEFORE the end of the hour was a bad decision. Whatever they were going to show on TNT could have waited to start at 4:30.
Why did they leave the air before scheduled time? There were plenty of drivers they could have talked to. Whatever they do online telecast, my poor old outdate computer can't do it. Just extremely glad I have Sirrius
BTW thanks JD for the tip on twitter that the post-race would be on race buddy. i might not have tuned over to it otherwise.
Although right now I'm listening to Kurt and that's NOT who I want to hear from. LOL Personal preference.
I appreciate that we have the forum to voice our opinion. Thanks JD.
TNT was in top form today. I missed Raceday on purpose because of DW being on there. I paid to watch him on Wednesday for the prelude, so I have had my fill of him for the week.
The preracae was informantive and no condescending remarks to us fans. Nothing stupid thrown at us jsut to keep us entertianed. I loved the Davey Allison piece. (My daughter's name is Allison, made sure to use 2 L's for him) I digress..
I love how there is no yelling, cheerleading and downright favoritism shown by the announcers. No cute nick names, no changing teams and drivers to suit the situation. Just plain commentary on the race.
Kyle and Wally really compliment each other very well. Adam seems to have made the adjustment very well. They did miss a couple of "Debris Cautions", but I think that NASCAR was just trying to make the race more interesting. This race had a lot to be desired in the excitement part, but they kept it interesting.
Overall the only complaint I have is that the post race is not up to par with the rest of the broadcast. I was eagerly watching the interviews then they said that you need to go to NASCAR.com, then I was really disappointed then.
Let's keep up the good work and just work on the post race..
Coverage was pretty good. However, it is unaceptable that they leave the broadcast early for some stupid made up repo man show. Total fail on TNT's part!!
Bravo TNT!
You are setting the standard for NASCAR coverage.
You produced a race and not a "show".
Alexander was much improved. KP and WD were smart and funny.
Camera choice was simply superb.
My favorite moment was your showing the entire final lap with dropdown. (No silly shots of wives, grandmothers, hugging crew members...)
I enjoy RaceBuddy even though I don't need it to keep up with what is happening.
Could you donate RaceBuddy to the "show" twin networks? They need it.
They say you have some of the least interesting races...not boring the way you are covering them.
Til next week,
Makiki
Honolulu
Normally, I'm logged on to The Planet during a race.
Today, I was so interested in the actual racing that I was seeing, I just didn't want to leave my comfy chair for the computer.
What a pleasure to listen to the guys in the booth talk about the racing. What a pleasure to actually see the racing, rather than 1 car go 'round, and 'round, and 'round.
The only nit I want to pick is the absolute disaster of leaving the air 20 minutes early. Why didn't the reporters go chase down some drivers? Bad move, TNT.
Why go early to that repo man show or whatever it was. Would have liked to see/hear more interviews. RB locked up on me then I went over to live leaderboard and that was acting up but good broadcast. I thought AA called the race better this week maybe he needs to get his feet wet more. All in all a B+.
OK, so Denny Hamlin just said that its "show business" and he understands that NASCAR manipulates the races.
Wonder how that will work out for him with NASCAR later on?
Two things today irritated me about TNT.
First was the ticker. The names were crowded when they had more than enough room to make them readable.
Second, leaving early when time was scheduled to 1:30/4:30. Obviously I have a computer but, what about those who don't? They can't go to NASCAR.com to see Race Buddy and the extended coverage. TNT has joined ranks with FOX (kept that family friendly) and BSPN by leaving fans wanting to see more driver interviews.
agree on the failure to stay on tv with postrace. that decision needs to be re-thought.
as for the broadcast:
* i thoroughly enjoy listening to dallenbach and petty. their observations and explanations add to the broadcast. but . . .
* adam alexander needs to step up as the race is coming to a close and take control of the booth so he can do solid PxP at the end. i felt his work this week was improved over last week and i am confident he'll get it down pat -- if kye & wally remember to step down & let him have it the last 10-15 laps. (or fewer at sonoma!)
* the truck gave us great shots all day, very little use of in-car camera and strong use of wide angles.
* RaceBuddy is such a gift to nascar fans! while the leaderboard continues to be a glitch, there are so many other sources for that info that i just stop using it. there were issues with the viewing panes not matching the labels but since i keep it on battle cam most of the race, i wouldn't have known unless someone asked about it.
* this was a cohesive broadcast: commentators were supported by the producer and director, fans were given great info and still allowed to see the racing during tech center, the race was allowed to set the storyline.
* someone needs to make certain that all debris is found with a camera and shown to fans. if it can't be found, the booth needs to say "nascar threw the caution for debris in turn 2: we're looking to find it for you" or somesuch. eventually, i hope, nascar will stop this nonsense. which leads to . . .
a non-tnt observation: hamlin stated post-race that he "knew" there'd be one last caution and said that it's because nascar wants to give the fans what the fans want (ie GWC finishes.) well, i don't want nascar to manipulate the race at ANY point w/phantom cautions and i certainly don't want to see an entire afternoon's hard work be destroyed for a team via a phony GWC finish.
back to tnt:
solid job from Countdown to Green thru the race but compromised with the failure to use all the time alloted for post-race. drivers were available and interviewed online so that's not a good enough reason. fans deserved a solid finish to a great broadcast.
but compared with the cluster that was fox's broadcasts? tnt has once again done an outstanding job. many thanks to everyone involved -- except the guy who decided "No post race for you!"
Yea, Denny said a mouthfull there. I was wondering why TNT did not say anything, or show anything about that last caution. That falls in Nascars lap. Not Denny's, not TNT's. Maybe Nascar should just make an overall known rule there is going to be a fake caution with 10 to go and get it over with.
As far as TNT.. GREAT, EXECELLENT, WONDERFULL.. Not sure how to say it better. And I didn't have to look as the booth workers faces as the race was going on. Wow - what a thought. They talked stragity(best part of the racing to me). They showed pit road without camera skipping every 1.25 seconds to another car. Thanks TNT, you remind me of ESPN of the 1990's era. And that's as good as I've ever seen it.
JD - Does TNT save money by stopping the broadcast uplink early?
Nope, all the service is budgeted and ordered for the scheduled length of the event.
Man, that was a bad decision!
Red, I agree with you on your point that as a fan I don't want NASCAR manipulating the finish.
I'm not sure where they've gotten that stupid idea, but IMO most race fans want to see a good race play out without interference from the sanctioning body.
It does not help NASCAR's credibility that the fans think its manipulated the end of races(no, I'm not into conspiracy theories)and obviously the drivers also think so.
JD, it was just a plain stupid decision if the timeslot is already paid for!
I was not up to multi tasking but GREAT TV COVERAGE! & FABULOUS TRUCK WORK.
LOVE.THE.WIDE.SHOTS.
yes it's worth shouting to celebrate TNT.....I was out in yard a bit and using transistor to hear MRN *had to keep rotating the radio to get the signal, but LOVED MRN!!*
As far as the end, as others have stated EPIC FAIL.
It's LAZE to make people go online. I did not WANT TO get on the computer. THAT's why we have tv TELECAST. Loved the tv pictures on the 52 inch tv and even on the smaller 20 inch tv's in the house.
TNT gets the job done. I LOVE Wally & Kyle but notice, Kyle's voice has been gravelly for WEEKS on some shows...does he have vocal chords issues? Nodules? NEVER notice this before on him...
I liked his explanation/reminder of Denny low on fuel due to air bubble between the carburetor & the fuel cell :-)
The IRONY of RBuddy is we don't need it with TNT *except it's nice to use during commercials...today we did not, as my house mate was watching Form 1 until we switched to NASCAR, so just used ONE TV today & no laptops for the race*
RBUDDY as set up on TNT needs to be free ON ALL RACES.
If Indycar.com can do free video online for fans, especially since few have Versus, RB could be more available.
My main gripe?
Only 4 races left on TNT.
LOVE TNT CAMERA WORK.
it truly cuts back on the comments/snarks/gripes.
:-D
TNT's broadcast of the Cup race at Michigan was solid and a joy to watch. Everyone involved in the coverage was on their A game today.
In addition to TNT's TV broadcast, TBS' RaceBuddy was once again providing extra online content via NASCAR.com. While there were several glitches which were eventually corrected mid-race: viewing tabs showing mislabeled images, leaderboard graphics showing the Pocono track layout, green race indicator light never changing to yellow for cautions, slow and/or sometimes frozen field standings, real-time sync delays, it was encouraging to online veiwers to be able to, in effect, direct their on race. The overhead shots were simply amazing, and the tight shot of the of the flagman sneaking a smoke was a hoot.
I did not mind that TNT's broadcast was cut short. Maybe it was TBS' attempt to answer some suggestions that more live online content be made available, even if it was only what would have been seen on TV anyway. :)
Regardless, this was the second week in a row that NASCAR fans, both new and diehard, were treated to a quality broadcast of a somewhat difficult to produce race, this one being a step above last week at Pocono.
Good job TNT. Race on.
I really hope some people noticed that the comments on this site have not been all negative for this broadcast. Maybe they will change their minds about us being nothing but complainers. Anybody have some Tennessee coastline property to sell me? By the way AA, good job.
Epic fail with leaving early to go to that fake staged reality show. I want to see the post race coverage on my big tv, not my computer monitor.
Camera shots were great. Adam still needs improvement. He had trouble identifying cars.
Still loads better than Fox. Fox is more like the horrid reality show they left early for, only no bleeps.
HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND that was a steller broadcast! I dont think it gets much better than that awsome awsome job TNT wow is all I can say! FOX ESPN take notice
please :o
TNT does a few things well, but overall what a boring broadcast. I mean, it was a boring race, but still, the announcers add nothing to it. FOX may throw everything but the kitchen sink at you in terms of production bells and whistles, but at least you don't get sleepy during one of their races. This is just a prelude the ESPN-naps we'll be getting in just a few more weeks.
One last comment - I think it really hurt the sport when the winning driver gets out of his car and basically announces that the last caution was phony. I mean, I know the debris was probably not yellow-worthy, you know it, the fans in the stands probably know it... but that doesn't mean you have to get out of your car and the first thing you say is that the sport is kinda bogus and the endings are manufactured "for the fans." I hate that.
I thought Michigan was pretty darn good race for that place. The crowds looked pretty darn good from the blimp view on race buddy (which on my DSL kept locking up and no matter how many times I refreshed, the leader board kept stuck on lap 122). I love the TNT coverage. Lindsey Czarniac is great (I might be biased since I live in DC). I really all three of them. Nobody talking over/interrupting each other nor hawking there brother's sponsors or rooting for your own kid/team. They have great chemistry. I have always enjoyed Wally Dallenbach. I like is style and the way he explains things. If I recall, you didn't seem to care for him - I would like to know why - just because he hasn't been in seat for a while? I love TNT the best - even the prerace show. Too soon we will have ESPN and switching to other channels preempted by other sports.
I am with Texas Race Lady--the race was interesting enough that I really wasn't motivated to blog...add me to those who felt like the coverage took me back to long ago when they used the best camera angles and the broadcast was cohesive. I turned away after Denny won, so I didn't know they'd gone early. That's just dumb when you have good pit reporters who can go find people to talk.
Another solid outing. Adam did sound a lot better this week, agree he needs to pick it up towards the end a bit, though a shout out for Kyle saying "it may be 5th place, but it is the best race on the track" The sense of honesty I get from these guys about EVERYTHING makes these broadcasts shine. From Kyle making it a point to say "my opinion" to what I already pointed out, it makes DW and his dishonesty seem all the more seedy. His visit to Raceday was most unwelcome today, turned it off 10 min in.
TNT is really setting a high standard for the balance of the year, nice to be able to watch again!
Tom
Inverness, FL
After 2 weeks of TNT race coverage I will give them an A- grade. They keep the in-car shots to a minimum, they follow the race that is unfolding on the track (and not their own agenda), and the announcers in the booth do not talk over one another. I also enjoy the pit road coverage where they keep the camera on the car for the whole pit stop. Overall, I feel the TNT coverage appears to be based more on the race and not the personalities providing the coverage. This approach is a breath of fresh air after the FOX coverage.
Unless I'm mistaken, TNT pulled this same stuff with leaving early last season, all to show something that was a repeat we've all seen at least 40 times.
Good solid broadcast, but in my opinion, a basically boring race. These guys just don't race hard anymore and just tool round collecting points to make the Chase. It's one of the reasons why I'm not such a rabid fan anymore.
I don't understand the griping about TNT leaving the broadcast shortly after the end of the race. When a sporting event is over, it's over. Whether it's baseball, football, basketball, racing or any other sport, the losers are not interested in hanging around and discussing the loss. They may humor the broadcaster but their heart is not in it. The track, stadium or arena is empty within minutes of the end of the event and that is the way it should be with racing coverage.
OSBORNK,
Not quite sure what kind of sports you watch on TV, but even my regional sports network has a full thirty minute post-game show for every MLB, NBA and NHL game.
This week at MIS, there were a myriad of stories from the race that were never covered during the brief TNT post-race show.
The double insult to fans was that TNT moved off the air and online at NASCAR.com long before the scheduled off time.
This not only eliminated the opportunity to see the post-race content for fans not at the computer, but it left fans who recorded the coverage for later viewing without the full post-race comments.
The post-race show should have been simulcast on TNT and NASCAR.com to serve the fan base.
This was a bad call to serve the interests of Turner Sports before the NASCAR TV viewers IMHO.
JD
It just amazes me how one network who was the leader in NASCAR coverage throughout the decade can turn to junk like FOX has the last few years, yet a cable network with only six races can put together an awesome effort and give the fans exactly what they've been asking for (especially here on TDP!) Somehow TNT turned a usually boring Michigan race into one that was watchable. While the racing did get strung out and the cautions were few and far between, the booth announcers made things interesting to say the least.
In particular, I liked the follow-up when Hamlin had trouble getting out of the pits during green flag stops. Kyle and Wally were right on top of it and later Larry Mac was at his model car and engine explaining what happened to the 11 car. His explanations beat Tim Brewer's "this is a steering wheel, it turns the car" nonsense to a pulp.
I also liked when Kyle called Allmendinger's block on Hornish (I believe) BS. Any announcer who tells it like it is earns my respect in an instant. Also, Adam is coming around as PXP. Much improved from Pocono last week, Infineon should be a true test for him.
My only gripe was the lack of a post-race show. As a Gordon fan, I was disappointed they interviewed the winner, 2nd place, 3rd place, 5th place, and 7th place, but nothing from the 4th place finisher. Also wish they stayed on until their scheduled time.
Another gripe--there's only 4 more TNT races left!
TNT is light years ahead of FOX. And the kicker is they do it with less. Less bells and whistles. Less BS & garbage (Pizzi, goofy intros,etc). Just showing the racing and having guys in booth calling/discussing it. Also like Lindsay. Larry Mac is a different person on TNT or maybe it's because he's not with DW or under David Hill's "direction".
I also make sure to watch the pre race show. Always intersting and see/learn something I didn't know. Didn't watch RD, although I know I'm missing Wendy and Hermie.
I thought the broadcast overall was pretty good. There were a few dead spots with no one doing any talking. Maybe that was actually a good thing.
I liked how the camera would move from one battle that was ending to another that just started without changing a take. Fox would have just stayed zoomed in on the one and missed the other.
Another fine broadcast by TNT. These guys are so far ahead of Fox, it must be embarrassing for the Foxes to watch. Altho the repo show was kind of funny, it surely didn't warrant leaving NASCAR early.
I liked Denny's comments as I interpreted them to mean "hey NASCAR, throw all the phony cautions you want, I'm still going to kick the crap out of everybody today"
Go ahead NASCAR. Just hand the reins over to the management and officials at Bowman Gray and be done with it! We know you want it, TV wants it, just do it! PFFFFT.
Can't say enough great things about RaceBuddy!!! Watched the whole race with it, scanners & twitter and was happy with its coverage including post race. From comments here looks like I'll be able to delete the DVR of the race without watching, since we saw everything including the debris that brought out the final caution.
I was happy when Fox was done so that I would not have to listen to hillbillies spouting bad grammar. So I tune in to TNT and find none other than Larry Mac is here as well, and still spouting bad grammar in hillbilly tones. Does anyone other than rednecks, and yours truely, like stock car racing?
I am a JR fan and follow him weekly on RaceView where I can listen to his scanner. By running toward the front, he got quite a bit of airtime. During most of the race, if you listened to the booth and pitrow announcers, you would have thougth he had a car that was almost impossible to drive, but if you listened to the scanner, you heard that he was quite happy, almost giddy, at how the car was driving. According to the scanner, the changes made to the car were few and far between and minor at best, but according to TNT they were almost at the throw the kitchen sink at the car stage. Were they trying to create drama where there wasn't any??? If you listened to TNT, you came away with the impression that it was another horrible Lance McGrew race
when in reality it was probably the best race he has called to date and both driver and crew were extreemly happy with the results. I rarely listen to other scanners so I don't know if this was an anomoly or if they try to manufacture drama to liven up what was a very boring race or what. Was I the only one who noticed this?
Overall race coverage was good, but it seems to me that if they are more commercials this year. I wish that if there is a caution (real, not debris) during a commercial that they could go to a split screen to show what caused the caution, but I amagine that is way too much to ask for.
Since I watch the NASCAR races on my DVR because most of the time I am working during the live race, Sunday afternoon. Because of that, watching the rest of the post-race coverage is not possible to me. I really wish that TNT would broadcast the post-race coverage. I guess it’s just another small thing that the leaders of the sport just doesn’t make it very fan friendly.
No Raceday for me. DW is now there. TNT did a good job. They must be aware of what fans really want in a broadcast. I think Larry Mac is great without DW. For you people who complain about Larry and what you consider poor grammer, I feel sorry for you because obviously you must find something to complain to be happy.
It was a big mistake to leave the air 20 minutes early. In country areas, people may not have computers, MRN or phone access to follow post race happenings so maybe TNT should consider other options and stay on the air until time slots are up. There are a lot of us fans who live in the country and don't have all the new fangled technolgy available.
Thank you.
GA Red
Real brief this time around...
TNT is beating down Fox like Secretariat at the Belmont in '73. Adam still needs a little work but was much improved over the previous race. However, yet again leaving coverage early is unacceptable! Why would they do that when nobody is expecting anything different on until later?
JD, I saw an article on Scene Daily that originated from the Sports Business Journal. In my eyes, NASCAR just doesn't get it and has no idea what its "core fan" wants when it comes to TV broadcasts.
NASCAR's desire to strengthen its hold on the sport's most avid fans showed progress in certain Southern markets, but the numbers from Fox's broadcasts from February through May showed sharp declines in the younger audience.
Overall, NASCAR's viewership on Fox dropped 7.1 percent from 2009 and the numbers are down 16.5 percent from 2008 for the races that were not affected by weather.
"Our core fan is older," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. "That's a fact. Our strategy and focus the last couple of years has been to target our core fan base. If we're making strides with that fan base, it shows that our strategy is working."
Michael W. is such a brown noser of NASCAR. The heck with the fake cautions. Denny had the lead, kept the lead. As boring as the strung out field is/was, that was the racing was that day. Please no WWF added. Strung out is what you get on a 2 mile track. So be it. If they would add more short tracks, there would be no need for fake cautions. Build the seats to the sky if NA$CAR wants to be able to get more fans at the race.
I thought TNT did a great job, but big mistake leaving early when we all see you have (just) 20 min. left. Shorten the stupid pre-race, get DW OUT, and cover what needs to be covered at the finish. If your network people are tired or whatever the reason was for leaving. Beleive it or not, i do not have internet at home, no cable near me (I do have Directtv)but i could not go to Race buddy.
Race Buddy:
JD,or to anyone that can answer this question.
For the Pocono race, Race Buddy had a drivers scanner button. I looked and looked for it for the Michigan race and couldn't find it. Was it not offered or did I simply not see it?
Thanks
Anon 7:14PM,
The Turner guys have removed the extra team scanners from RaceBuddy. The only available team radio is on the designated in-car camera channel.
JD
TNT did a great job w/a race that was boring. Even had a friend that was there & basically said it sucked. But the energy in the booth, wide shots of what passing there was & the improvement from AA was good! FAIL-leaving early when they had much more time to fill. My grade-B. Muuuuch more watchable than fox. Cannot believe who these folks are on Jeff Gluck's blog vote that think Fox is better...( New fans, maybe?
Race Buddy:
JD, thanks for replying.
Did TNT give an explanation as to why they removed the scanner function? And is that going to be permanent?
Sure, happy to help!
RaceBuddy now has updates from the host Lindsay Czarniak and the dedicated online pit reporter Jim Noble.
Turner wanted to focus on providing this exclusive live content to RaceBuddy users instead of just providing another platform for multiple team scanners.
So far, the results are pretty good but the other pit reporters need to get involved. Too much ground for Noble to cover.
The in-car audio team scanner will stay for the duration.
JD
All the positive comments almost make me wonder if I should have stayed home and watched TNT instead of going to the race. :-)
P.S. to yankeegranny: Don't think TNT was making up the #88's issues...car looked very loose off Turn 4 during middle portion of the race.
Minutes of race broadcast: 122
Minutes of commercials: 51
1/3rd of the race not shown. Pathetic!
I know I'm commenting rather late, but this is the first chance I've had. Wally and Kyle seem to work quite well together, but, much of the time Adam Alexander just seems to be reading promo notes. I can imagine the director pointing a cue card at him, he reads it, then the director points to Wally or Kyle. Maybe he is just getting up to speed, but I find it rather disappointing.
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