The 2010 season draws to a close with the final Homestead race telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN. Due to NFL programming, the one hour pre-race NASCAR Countdown show will be on ESPN2. The race coverage at 1PM will be on ESPN and the green flag waves at 1:15PM ET.
ESPN has twelve voices working today in South Florida. Allen Bestwick hosts from the Infield Media Center with Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty and Ray Evernham. Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage. Marty Reid will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Down on pit road are Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch.
The pre-race show will have a familiar theme, it's one of the best Chase for the Championship finales in history. Three drivers, three crew chiefs and three owners will get the spotlight for the hour.
The trio in the TV booth will once again be torn between the race and the Chase. Lots of teams are ready to race hard with nothing to lose while the three top contenders have to mix a cautious approach with the reality that this is the final event.
It should be interesting to see how ESPN chooses to frame the coverage with this tough task on the table. Cover three different cars on every lap in case something happens. At the same time, cover the battle for the lead of the race and the stories that play out once the green flag flies.
ESPN's "micro-coverage" approach has featured small clumps of cars chosen by the producer for TV viewers to watch. ESPN has dictated who will get the TV exposure, despite the reality of what is happening on the track. It's been a great debate for years. Does TV have the right to exclude the best racing in order to follow a script?
Lots of questions should be answered today and it should be fun to watch. This post will serve to host your TV-related comments on the final Sprint Cup Series telecast of the season. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by for this final live blog of 2010.
461 comments:
1 – 200 of 461 Newer› Newest»Brian France interview - never trust a man when you can't see his eyes.
He is all about the "green" deal this season. Eco-friendly.
This is pittiful. France and clan are all patting themselves on their collective backs.
Focusing on the green deal - keeps his focus away from the real issues.
Kind of an annual event, we'll see if he shows up on the ESPN pre-race show.
BF says need to tell the story better. ESPN were you listening??
Whatever happened to the deal at the beginning of 2010 where John Darby was going to step down and train his successor? Nobody wants the job ?
Not yet! Still looking I was told.
Still looking ?
Must be more to that deal. They had all year.
Ray Evernham would be a great fit.
Hammond didn't answer Waltrip's question. What Waltrip was getting at is if Earnhardt Jr. is leading and Johnson is second and needs the win to get the championship, are there going to be team orders?
On another note, I think NASCAR would be wrong to go to 15 Chase contenders, 12 is enough. There has to be a limit somewhere.
THAT would be a huge story.
If Dale Jr. was leading this race at the end, Johnson was second and needed one more spot for championship.
Wow - we'd see something there, although odds are a million to one on that scenario.
Be interesting when Ray decides what he wants to do next season.
All BZF's talk about trying to find yet another way to fiddle the points to invent a close race each season makes my teeth hurt. How many more gimmicks does he want?
I would've liked for Kyle Petty to tell Brian France a lot of fans don't want the Chase changed or want it gone altogether. Wonder if he would have asked Kyle if a fan actually told him that and dismissed the notion that someone doesn't love the Chase.
NASCAR is NOT listening to the fans.
If NASCAR would pay him what he deserves and empower him, Ray would be great as Sprint Cup Series Director.
After a few years at that, he can take Helton's job.
Let's hope this race is Rusty's swan song.
Shake up the deck for 2011.
At any NASCAR race it's a 43 car field.
Today for ESPN it's a three car field all day.
Nascar Countdown is on Open Access in the UK. PQ now OK after being poor in the first minute or so.
I'm hoping they won't have these "2nd / -6 pts" tags over the cars all day, that would be annoying!
Not really expecting anything great from ESPN coverage today. I'm going to try to keep my frustration level low.
Wishing everyone a good race. :)
The only reason Brian the Brain is at the track is to give out the trophy. Otherwise he would be anywhere but there. Have the Nascar press corps(e) decided to stick around the track today, or are they at the nearest bar watching football?
I guess I find Denny and JJ's cocky attitudes hard to take when the only reason they are ahead of Kevin is because BZF wiped out his 20 race lead. And anyone wonders why I can't thake this thing seriously?
No necktie in the ESPN studio? Bad Brian.
We can sit here today and complain about the same old stuff that the TV networks continue to do wrong every week. We can sit here and bash Rusty and Marty Reid. We can sit here and chastize Brian France. But today is not the day for that. JD is gonna have blogs during the week where we can air that dirty laundry. Today is bigger than any day this year. Today is the day the 48 goes down. Today is the day nascar gets a new champion. Today is the day weve waited for for 4 years. I got a lot to say about how crappy the coverage has been/will be today. I got a lot of bad things to say about Marty and Rusty, but todays just not the day. Today is championship day. Get em Denny. Ill see yall after the race
JD what's the deal with streaming today? I saw your post mid-week that PIR was streamed, but never saw a link in here?
I think the thing to keep in mind Roland is that anytime ESPN wants to switch things up, it can do it instantly.
I encouraged change before Phoenix and it did not happen. Despite the great storylines, it is going to be interesting to see what TV viewers at home are allowed to see of the race.
By the way, everyone has an opinion. That's what makes the world go around.
We will not know if NASCAR.com is going to stream the race until 1PM.
Depends if ESPN streams it to the Time Warner Cable subs.
How is that for suspense?
Think there are some nerves on the starting grid right now?
Be nice if ESPN adopted Speeds style of coverage for the final F1 race of the season for today but I doubt that will happen.
Found proof that the TV folk have been lying to us all along about this being the "closest" Chase in history...
In the inaugural Chase in '04, the top three - Kurt Busch, Jimmie and Jeff Gordon - were separated by a grand total of 21 points.
Funny how spin works these days.
So "Green" is a top priority??? BF sure does have his finger on the pulse,doesn't he? And Kyle Petty kisses up to him by saying how "proactive" Nascar is. I'm sure those carburetors and pushrods instead of overhead cams and port injection are examples of how "proactive" Nascar is??? Let's just go race , pleeze!
Carry this even further...since they were invoking the 1992 finale, even THAT one beats the closeness of today's.
That year, Davey Allison, Allen Kulwicki and Bill Elliott were only separated by 40 points.
At last check, both beat what we have starting today. Sigh.
Tom, TV is ultimately a sales business!
Hey, Anon 12:47,
Big Bill France is cringing in his grave at his son's words, I'll bet.
Actually, when I said OA picture is OK, it is until something moves. As someone on another forum said This NASCAR broadcast is sponsered by Lego it seems..... A nascar.com stream is likely to be better than this.
Agree completely, JD. I still believe this race will be a keeper because this will be an actual RACE...nobody racing to finish at a certain point.
That's what I'm looking forward to seeing today.
"TV is ultimately a sales business!"
Very true, but people only buy a product they perceive is worth their time. The product has dropped in quality and people aren't buying. There are two parts to selling a product. The quality of the product and the presentation. Both are being rejected by the buyers.
Jamie Little trying to ooze optimism...only twice in history has the points leader heading into the finale not gone on to win the title.
Hamlin IS starting 37th today, BUT he won coming from 38th a year ago. Don't give up hope.
Any word from our friends in the U.K.? Last week, it seemed the Nascar.com stream came to life because of the debacle with the British TV partner.
"No Denny and JJ aren't going to talk to each other". 5 seconds later talking to each other.
Prior to The Breeders Cup Classic 2 weeks ago, I found something very interesting in ESPN's coverage leading up to the start of that race.
Zenyatta was the focus of all the attention. (well deserved).
For nearly 5 minutes, an eternity on TV, ESPN simply let the pictures tell the story with NAT sound.
No announcers, No graphics, just pictures and sound.
It told the story, it built the drama & you did not dare change the channel.
Sometimes its just that easy.
Kevin riding around by himself.
I like all three drivers; but, I will be saying "Go Kevin" today. :)
Hey, Ken,
In TV or radio, silence truly can be golden...the late Ernie Harwell (and I miss him dearly having had several interviews with the man before he retired) was a master at the use of silence to let the sounds around the ballpark be part of the story.
It SHOULD work the same way across any sport being broadcast.
@oldnewenglander It is on in the UK, but with poor picture quality at the moment. Stream last week was better.
Well, not the top of the line anthem for the finale.
this anthem is criminal!!
Pants get tighter Brett?
Dear Lord! What in the heck was that screeching?
In a strange way, the quality of the anthem for the 'grand finale' seems totally appropriate to the whole 'chase' thing.
Seems the new UK signal provider is having some issues. Keeping an eye on NASCAR.com and hoping the live stream pops-up shortly.
That anthem was painful.
How many times did BretM change keys? Then at the few notes at the end, messed up the key again? WTH
Tone deaf after all these years and no mic enhancement. Disgrace!
Even when the chick finished, he messed up notes at the end.
CRIMINAL.
I think desecrating the anthem should be same law as flag.
I came back from Greenville Light Opera Works' "Trial by Jury" performance last night (driving past Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet -- which for NASCAR fans is the home base of Greenville-Pickens Speedway as the aforementioned dealership controls the crate engines and owns the track) and what I saw with Bret Michaels today was awful singing. Maybe I am too tough but that's what I thought of the Anthem. Very rude and some words were wrong.
Geico could substitute DW for Andrés Cantor in that commercial with the same result.
I don't know about all of you, but I've actually been feeling kind of nervous about this race today. Think how the driver feel.
well, after the way the Anthem has been butchered this years I guess it was too much to think we would get a good one today. maybe next year will be better!
I just hope that the "other" drivers take over the lead and ruin ESPN's script!
Empty seats...at the Cup FINALE!?!
Once again, the best part of this whole deal is that once the green flag flies, no one knows what will happen.
That is the one thing that has been keeping me coming back this season despite all the TV chaos.
Just point the cameras and let 'em race.
Buschseries,
Nate Ryan from USA Today tweeted a pic from atop the press box 90 minutes before the race.
There was not one car on the main road into the speedway.
The cops had no traffic to direct.
I was floored.
JD -
Many thanks for the blog once again this season.
I respect the work you put into it.
I think we ALL thank you !!
Any chance of seeing racing other than the top 3 drivers on ESPN today? Don't think so.
We are fixing to find out. Time to make the donuts.
having been to homestead, they dont send you all the way down that road, they send you down some side roads before you get all the way to the track
hi all! Good Race day to all. Whoa 60+ comments before green flag, gonna read up & catch up.
Live stream now on. http://www.nascar.com/multimedia/webcast/generic/
JD, that is really sad. I remember Homestead selling out weeks before the finale years ago.
I do love the dramatic theme music. Better than Aerosmith
Oh yea the ratings are going to remain the same if not lower. It shows how unhappy the fans are and have left.
I just have to say...I think that was the weirdest anthem I have ever heard. They got her cause he can't hit the high notes, and yet neither of them could stay in key and he messed up the words. It wasn't just bad, it was bizarre.
I had to laugh at Allen's comments throwing it to the booth. We *hope* they can bring some enthusiasm, but I'm not very optimistic.
Thanks for this blog JD. It has been a long season but you have made it endurable. Keep up the good work.
S&P prediction today: 36, 87, 66 and 64.
Some of the usual S&P cars have sponsors or need to defend their top-35 position. Those are: 09, 71 and 7.
Front Row Motorsports' #38 car is 74 points away from bumping the #71 car out of the top-35. Dave Blaney is a good driver, but I think it's a long shot.
Si, if 'the closetst battle EVER' doesn't fill the stands and send ratings over the top, what will Nascar blame this time?
Wait! Let me guess...mores tupid gimmicks? I know! Just pick 10 numbers out of a hat at ramdon amd name those your 'top 10 drivers' to compete for the titler! Yeah, THAT's the ticket!
Well... if the TV ratings are down for this one, NASCAR & ESPN need to do some real soul searching.
Going green - hooking up laptop to tv to watch a movie. We want to thank ESPN for a great season
In my best Katy Segal / Married with children voice - "Thank ESPN kids"
"Thanks ESPN"
Maybe next year will be better (said that 3 years ago, and 2 years ago, and last year)
Good lord, non-stop points as of now
Look foreward to your promise of a blog on Sirius / XM satelite radio and NASCAR later this week.
Interesting. Denny dumped his trophy girlfriend a few months ago, and no one was with him in Victory Lane when he won Martinsville or Texas. Yet, Denny smooched some brunette after the National Anthem was butchered (what else is new).
So, did Denny ask his ex to be there in case he wins, (it would be odd to see a Cup champ without a WAG) or did Denny dial up www.rentababe.com for the finale?
Oh my God! Now wo have a ticker JUST for the 3 chasers!? This is REALLY going too far!
And there it is! The point update bar on the screen THE ENTIRE RACE!
Do they even care anymore?
great a points as they are now graphic. just what we needed, more useless crap on the screen!
Bill missed that Denny dumped Jordan Fish?
Let's add the football scores and we will have no picture
I have to tell you, streaming nonsense on top AND bottom is the screen is starting to make me nauseous.
Why are all those cars in a 3-man race?
Sally-I figured it was coming, you didn't??
I like the top graphics. I hate the bottom ticker. ESPN needs to take that off during the race
Denny Hamlin thank you for qualifying in the back. Our only chance of seeing racing in the back.
@Pamm...I guess I'm the eternal optimist. You know, digging thru the pile of manure, knowing there has to be a pony under there somewhere?
How the points will "flex and flow" ???
WHEW! Johnson leads by 70. The race is over. Switching to the NFL.
Bill, Jordan is there today with Denny's family. Not sure where that info came from.
UK TV pictures so blocky, it is unwatchable. Stream good picture quality. Can see the pointless 3 person ticker there.
Is Conway still in the 7? I thought Robby would drive in the race
If the points as of now graphic kept them from talking about it, I would almost be okay with that. But it won't so what's the point.
The double ticker is not getting great reviews.
Someone should probably tell the booth there are 267 laps here. It's almost like they have no clue what to call right now.
Keep an eye on the back of the ticker. See who Starts and Parks.
If this race ended now, I'd be demanding a refund.
NOT a ticker at the top with the "points as they are now". Oh, please. The most awful thing ESPN could do. My God, they are clueless.
JD, you mean someone told you they don't like the double tickers?
Points bar!?! 2 tickers and the top lap bar!?! Could they add more useless tickers?
Commercials by lap 12
i like the top 3 points thing..afterall that is what this race is all about.. take the bottom ticker off and we don't lose any space. (maybe could have waited until the last 100 laps)
Happy Race Day Planeteers
Already annoyed but if the ticker keeps them from saying "if the race ended now your champion would be" every 5 laps then I can attempt to ignore that :(
Streaming on Nascar.com....will we see any shots that don't include one of the anointed three.
This is awful. Just jumping to the three cars in the field without any regards for ya know...the race leaders or anyone in the Top 10. This sucks.
Could be the sport's worst nightmare today - JJ wins five in a row.
Are you serious? There is no way the CAN'T have a points as the run graphic! It is really all that matters today.
Yes - the chase is a rigged points system, but if there were three cars this close in any points system ESPN would be doing the exact same thing as they should.
@bozo...points don't count until the final lap.
Could we get some graphics action on the two sides of the screen as well?
All the clutter on the screen is really distracting. Talk about putting the raceing at the bottom of the totem pole!
@Buschseries61 - The preliminary entry list had Robby in the #7, but Conway was on the list when the teams showed up at the track. Robby is in a big lawsuit with Specialized over the "S" on the hood of the car and the cans of his Speed Energy drink.
And, Conway had tweeted when he was taken out of the #7 car weeks ago that he'd be back in it at Homestead.
Y'all quit whining. Brian France says ESPN does a great job covering NASCAR !
OK, who had lap ten in the pool?
what gets me is, NASCAR keeps bragging about this Chase as if it validates their system...as if the last 5 years never happened.
I hate the ticker, they don't have to have it up ALL the time. Way to put even more junk on the screen.
Gee thanks tool man Tim
When a tire loses air, it goes flat. Back to you, Marty.
Thanks Tim for that tremendous insight to something that probably wasn't case.
Lets send it down to Tim Brewer to hear the wrong reason the tire blew.
Thanks for the WAG update on Denny. I know Jordan was getting close to Denny's parents, but that was a pretty lifeless kiss. OK, back to the important things: how many times will Marty say "in the mix" or "meat in the sandwich"?
If the fender rubs against the tire, the tire will blow....back to you Marty.
Understand it doesn't matter until the end, but just like in swimming during the olympics, they let you know how far second place is away from the gold... well these guys are going for gold, silver, bronze today. I agree it could wait until later in the race and it would be good if they focused on the race itself until near the end and let us just watch the ticker to see what the 3 are doing. In the end i'm not watching this race to see who wins the race, i'm watching to see who wins the championship...
main drawback to watching race live instead of DVR is not commercials it's can't FF through Brewer Uggg
Pink slips after this race:
1. Rusty Wallace
2. Tim Brewer
3. Marty Reid
And I'm trying to watch a race and don't really care who wins the championship.
For half a century, I have watched races to see who wins.
Uh oh. 48's pit crew stumbled. What's poor ol' Chad gonna do?
Anon 1:34PM,
Most fans have a favorite driver. That does not change if their fav does not make the Chase or the top couple drivers in the final race.
The ratings have plummeted because TV eliminates drivers (Junior, Tony, Mark, Ryan, Juan) just because they are not on the top of the Chase.
It's a very tough situation to handle and unique in sports.
Good thing the junk on top of the screen blocks half the 11 car in that tight shot
Okay..we've seen the 48 in the past come back from something like this early in a race to get a top 5..will Hamlin remain calm and do that too?
Let's see how ESPN reacts to this Hamlin story.
This could be like the IndyCar race at Homestead last month -- points leader chokes with contact.
Just trying to talk some TV today. This is a big race and is going to be very important to ESPN and NASCAR.
To what JD said - I wouldn't even know right now if Tony Stewart or Dale Jr were in this race. Now think of the fans that are being turned away because of a lack of ANY kind of balanced coverage.
Hence - ratings drop. You can talk all you want about the championship and the three drivers that are important, but that's not going to help ratings at all.
@jonathan...the champ will be crowned at the END of the race, not before. I have no problem with covering the top 3, but 'points as of...' is just stupid. the champ will be crowned without the tag at the top of the screen.
Sears is getting some good value today! Back to you, Marty.
FINALLY! Seeing nice wide shots of actual racing!!
Not a fan site Jonathan, we have had this conversation before.
This is a huge TV story right now. I think Andy Petree has taken the lead in this telecast.
Great info.
Oh man. Recorded audio from like five minutes ago from Hamlin that ESPN plays as if it's live.
Sad.
Marty & I are equally overwhelmed
OMG! the #88 and #77 are actually on the track! Imagine that!
Anon, that was old audio wasn't it?
Triple in-car. ESPN is accomplishing new things every week.
I read about Hamlin's audio on Yahoo's race blog about five minutes ago. I believe it was from before the restart.
ESPN played it as if Hamlin was being calm while moving through the field. Then chuckled as if they didn't know about it.
Now, will ESPN update the points on the screen if any of the top 3 drivers lead a lap? I don't think those points normally get added until after the race but I wonder if they do it during.
I feel sorry for people with a television smaller than a 24 inch. What a graphics overkill!
Guess there was a coup in the ESPN trailer and the graphics guys were victorious
The triple line graphics at the top and the lower third crawl not matching in speed make me sea sick.
Good thing they pulled the camera back a bit. I thought they were replaying a Hamlin qualifying run.
I'm waiting for the 'spin & win' reference.
Me too, JD. Not the best idea.
I have no sense of what is actually happening in this race right now. Just that the 48 is coasting in the Top 5 and Hamlin is driving through the field as ESPN focuses on a car that is slipping further and further behind the race leader (over 11 seconds behind as he does it).
Kevin Conway isnt dead last. Im really surprised.
tv on but doing laundry & in and out.
WHAT's the deal with all the graphics!@#$^&*!(!* on the top??
AND the bottom? BSPN whizzing on the fans for the last race.
Would they do this for last game in NFL or MLB?
1/4 screen is useless graphics on 2 tvs.
Turning off the washer and going for a walk on this gorgeous sunny day.
Brian France, I'm glad you are 'enjoying' ESPNs/ABC crappying,graphics filled, MTV STYLED camera work.
I'm outta here.
p.s. oh, after 5 minutes watching, we need MORE in car cams
(Insert sarcasm there)
The Johnson, Hamlin & Harvick ticker is not HELPING things...idiots :(
Allmendinger is running 2nd. Anyone heard a word about him? This coverage is a total joke. And if BZF thinks this is 'great' coverage, he is on the world's best drugs.
Thank you for viewing the all Denny, all the time segment. Not to a commercial break.. ugh!
SBaker17 - there goes your spin & win comment!
"Carl Edwards is looking sooooo good" says Reid.
I wouldn't know. You haven't bothered showing the leader or about how he has over a one second lead.
I have to say, with all the clutter on the race screen, I find the ads almost soothing to my eyes.
@Anon 1:51 - Yes, bonus points will be factored in the Chase ticker. They are also factored in the updated points totals you see on the NASCAR.com leaderboard.
I'm trying to use the graphics to understand who is where and why, but it's really hard to do.
There are FOUR progress bars on the screen. I have a 46 inch TV, and it's still annoying, especially the one at the bottom. I have always hated ESPN's bottom crawl bar--too many abbreviations, too many sports. Isn't that what Sportscenter's for?
Can you imagine watching this race on an old 19 inch CRT?
Marty is totally lost--why is it so difficult to just call the race?
All the fake excitement-and tedious
remarks are really testing my patience--finger is on the channel button on the remote.
Alternate storyline:
Roush-Fenway and the Ford developers have finally figured out the new car over the past few weeks.
Hamlin's run through the field is really made for ESPN and their hype machine. The thing is, he is passing Bill Elliott, David Gilliland, and Dave Blaney to do it...not all that impressive when you think about it.
Well, I just got home in time to see Hamlin take himself OUT of the championship race. So that leaves me with not much reason to watch this race.
At any one time with the driver blurb on the screen close to 1/2 of the tv picture is covered.
Amazing.
Gina, just hang in there. Long way to go and lots of things can happen.
My head is hurting from all these crazy graphics on the tv screen!
@MeekloBraca - Kevin Conway is now running dead last of the cars on the track.
Points as they are now is no different than the current running order.
NASCAR doesn't hand out 5th place prize money until the end of the race. Points are no different.
What's with the now POP UP GRAPHICS? If you are watching this live, you've never had a seizure!!
And Bengals are not on tv but apparently playing better with no cameras on them.
Plus 240 Ben Gal cheerleader reunion today. Shame to miss that, lol.
NOW I'm going for a walk
p.s. Jesus, God, Buddha & L Ron Hubbard could not help this clustered mess of a broadcast (para-phrasing Kinky Friedman's words!)
LOL @ Justin Allgaier's tweet..I love how some people blame others for their own inabilities ...lol having a blast watching history in the making at homestead.
listening to MRN on WPSK, they are three laps behind TV! Dang it!
great battle for second but TV is in commercial.
Next year, ESPN will introduce full screen pop-up ads that will require using the TV's remote control to close.
Look! The points changed!!!! Hey, its pit stops, they changed AGAIN! How insightful!
Marty's crutch phrase of the day "...on the racetrack." We're already up to five.
Hamlin pitted early in this sequence, might help close the gap between him and Johnson. Did ESPN show Hamlin's stop?
One advantage of streaming - no bottom line ticker
How's Jeff Gordon's pit crew doing??
John: I recall that sponsors judge part of the value of the sponsorship by having people record each logo view and each mention during the course of the broadcast. I have to believe that there are sponsors who get little to no value out of the entire ESPN series of race broadcasts. Is this type of information published or available anywhere? I have to believe that this would be data that NASCAR could use to beat ESPN over the head regarding their "storyline" focus.
@bevo - Watching from Canada also removes the bottom ticker.
How did the #24's crew work for ya on that stop Chad ?
But BZF thinks the coverage is superb! Why would he want to change it?
Could we please just fast forward to about lap 250.
Joyce Julius in Ann Arbor, MI does reports on sponsors showing up in TV shots/mentions..and what that actually would be worth in dollars of exposure.
Maybe Chad will swap these guys with the #5 or the #88 crew before this race is over.
Carl, ESPN told NASCAR it's their problem because they have to cover the Chase first and the race second.
It's a real mess to solve. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Thanks Detroit.
@Martin Vincent- but it's cold up there :-)
The 48 er 24 crew was still faster than the 24 er 48 crew on that round.
Anyone know what Harvick's deal is? Kind of the odd man out right now on TV.
Is it me, or have we seen the same set of commericals for all 3 series, all season long?
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