ESPN's "NASCAR Now" Is A One Hour Culture Clash

There comes a time when it is impossible to continue to give "second chances" to someone who refuses to change. There comes a time when things are so bad that its almost hard to believe they will ever get better. On Monday, ESPN2 rolled-out the one hour edition of NASCAR Now. Promoted as a way to provide more race recap and analysis, the show turned out to be a culture clash between the "NASCAR guys" and the "ESPN guys." As the season continues, this has "Hatfields" and "McCoys" written all over it. And its starting to get ugly.

Erik Kuselias, the former ESPN Sports Radio talk show host, served as the studio host of this new one hour TV program. He is the king of the "Hatfield" clan, who likes to talk in radio-style accusatory sound-bites and use harsh and demeaning language. As the host, he constantly talks over anyone on-the-set, or anyone who appears as a guest. He is brutal. The most interesting part is, he is lost on any kind of actual NASCAR issue, has no clue to any NASCAR personalities beyond the obvious, and is absolutely oblivious that he is walking in the hallowed footsteps of RPM2Nite.

Tim Cowlishaw is also a "Hatfield." He will appear to talk about any subject, at any time, on any network. But, it must involve hype and absolutely no factual information of any kind. Nice work if you can get it, and he certainly has found his dream job on NASCAR Now. Cowlishaw and Kuselias make NASCAR Now into great sports radio. Unfortunately, ESPN has chosen to present this "talk show hype" in video form on ESPN2.

On this premier show, Boris Said and Stacy Compton lead Kuselias through a recap of the Texas NEXTEL Cup race. Then, the show slowly began to crank-up the hype machine. First, it was Montoya vs. Stewart. Then, Dale Junior in a Hendrick car. Mark Martin going part-time again. Finally, Kyle Busch in trouble because he was "gone" when they needed him. The garbage was just piled-up higher-and-higher by Kuselias and Cowlishaw until they made the one mistake that always shakes things up. They brought-in people who know.

Reporters Marty Smith and Terry Blount are "McCoys." They appeared via liveshot and both seemed very eager to speak to a lot of issues. When these guys are on together, Kuselias changes instantly into Superman in the Kryptonite Cave. This is his worst nightmare, two guys who have been there and done that right in his face. He tentatively stepped into the water with his Earnhardt Junior hype. And then it happened.

Without wasting a breath, Marty Smith reached back and brought the pain to Kuselias and Cowlishaw like he has never done before. It was a smack-down of epic proportions, and showed the country the division that exists at ESPN between the people actually out working in the field, and the hype-kings of the studio. And as I mentioned earlier, it was ugly.

Smith leaned back and smacked Kuselias a mile on the "Dale Earnhardt Junior in a Hendrick car issue." Kuselias had been trying with all his might to make this simple act into a conspiracy of contract negotiations and anti-Theresa sentiment. He kept asking anyone who would listen if Junior was "making a statement." Smith forcefully said that he was personally standing there when "it happened." There was no conspiracy, there were no statements, there was just a friend asking Dale to run a couple of laps to move the car-up in points. Dale made sure and got permission, and then helped his friend out. Perhaps, a lot of us were just waiting for Marty to say..."and you are an idiot Erik!"

Kuselias tried to speak with Terry Blount on several issues, but Terry knows the entire NASCAR scene as well, and what he was saying was so far above Kuselias head that the host just spoke right over top of him and quickly moved the reporters off the show.

ESPN had to return to the hype, had to return to the ridiculous "fact or fiction" and "driver pick-em" segments that serve as advertising platforms, and nothing else.

With an hour of program time, one would surmise that ESPN would focus on The Busch Series, seeing as ESPN paid millions for the rights to the entire season. This edition of NASCAR Now again avoided The Busch Series like the plague. Mondays are for looking back at the entire racing weekend, not just Sunday. No where is this concept more lost than on the "Hatfields" of studio hype at ESPN than with the struggling Busch Series. The "hype kings" have no time for actual racing stories and interviews when there are rumors to be invented and motives to be created. Does the ESPN Programming Department watch this show?

Kudos to Stacy Compton for keeping a smile plastered on his face while surrounded by the ridiculous behavior of Kuselias. Compton patiently corrects the host over-and-over again on even the most basic points of NASCAR racing. Boris Said is happy to be working, and while he brings an upbeat personality to the set, he is also forced to deal with the sophomoric questions and rude behavior of the host. Compton and Said are working men trapped with a very bad boss and nowhere to go.

The animosity that reared its head between the field reporters and the studio host is bound to flare-up again. Pros like Marty Smith, Terry Blount, Angelique Chengelis, Shannon Spake, and Mike Massaro are not going to risk their reputation and credibility by getting caught-up in the "sports radio hype" that Kuselias and Cowlishaw bring to the table. While the "Hatfields" may rule the studio in Connecticut, the "McCoys" are on the road alongside the entire NASCAR family, and working hard. As the season moves forward, and more real and serious issues arise, there will be even a bigger difference between those who know, and those who just talk about it. And my feeling is, its going to get ugly.

NASCAR on Fox Shows Only Two Cars Finish...Again

The solid performance turned-in by the announcing crew of the NASCAR on Fox telecast was again upset by the decisions of the Producer and Director from Fox Sports. After an incredible performance by the booth announcers, the pit road team, and even the Hollywood Hotel gang, it seems incredible that TV viewers nationwide saw only two cars cross the finish line in Texas. Let me say that again. TV viewers saw only two cars finish the race.

When this happened at Bristol, I said it was a big problem. When it happened at Martinsville, I said it was incredible. Now, at the huge Texas Motor Speedway, Fox asked viewers to watch a multi-hour race and then showed only the top two cars crossing the finish line. This is a fundamental failure that NASCAR must correct.

It is almost like Fox has adopted a policy that NASCAR fans are now so stupid they think the race is over when the winner crosses the line. How else to explain this incredibly bad decision that immediately flooded The Daly Planet inbox? Every fan understands that when the winner "wins," the rest of the field is still racing!

As if this incident was not enough, the announcers in the booth were clearly trying to call the remaining cars coming across the finish line, where drivers were battling door-to-door throughout the field to get their best finish. The Fox Sports Director even tried to cut back to Jamie McMurray, only to show two cars already finished driving away from the camera. This was just a fundamental mess on an Emmy Award winning telecast. Why?

Drivers that fans had watched for three hours deserve to be seen ending their race. Drivers that fans love, are endlessly loyal to, and proudly wear their colors deserve to be seen ending their race. Drivers whose sponsors advertise on the NASCAR on Fox telecasts and spend millions of dollars in support of their team deserve to see their car cross the finish line. Period.

What in the world has happened to the NASCAR on Fox production team? Whose bright idea is this, and how do we end it? Both ESPN2 on the Busch Series, and SPEED on the Craftsman Truck Series do not have these problems. They both celebrate the entire field finishing, and follow the other close finishes throughout the field until the race is done.

This is the third column that has been forced to skip over the wonderful aspects of a NASCAR on Fox telecast to register the shock and dismay of not only The Daly Planet, but the NASCAR fans who cannot believe they never saw their driver finish the race. As I mentioned earlier, what in the world is going on here?

RaceDay On SPEED: Jimmy Spencer Goes Off!

During this season, RaceDay has been the best NASCAR-themed television show on any cable or broadcast network, hands down. This two hour extravaganza plays host to very serious discussions of NASCAR issues one minute, then features Kenny Wallace completely goofing on something ridiculous. Earlier this season, The Daly Planet referred to it as "Speed-a-palooza." Host John Roberts and reporter Wendy Venturini have established themselves as top TV professionals in the sport through their performance on this series.

Normally, Jimmy Spencer knows his place. As a retired driver with a questionable reputation, Spencer is a great foil for both Kenny Wallace and the numerous guests that appear on the program. He has kept himself well-informed, and grown into a much better television personality with each passing season.

On Sunday, Wendy Venturini presented an excellent two-part feature on Max Siegel, the new President of Global Operations for DEI. During the report, Mr. Siegel and Venturini mentioned Dale Junior's sister Kelley, who is his agent and business manager. It is no secret that getting the two Earnhardt "camps" together is Siegel's key goal. The end of the report led back to the set, where Jimmy Spencer waited. Then, all hell broke loose. And Jimmy Spencer may wind-up regretting it.

"Theresa Earnhardt gave Dale Junior his opportunity to race." It was with those ominous words that Spencer began his comments. After making sure that Junior knew his place, Spencer moved on to Dale's sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge. "I am shocked that she kept her middle name. Why keep Earnhardt? I think her ego is so big and she is backing Theresa and Max (Siegel) into corners. She's not a good negotiator. If she was working for someone else they would probably fire her."

Spencer continued his comments with "I think she is using ego to control this direction, and Dale needs to be careful about it." Now done with Kelley, Spencer switched his aim back to Dale Junior, and was very eager to invoke the name of Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the basis of his argument.

"There are a lot of true Dale Earnhard Sr. fans who will lose respect for Dale Junior (if he leaves DEI)." Spencer stated "I don't think Dale Junior needs to leave the organization. I don't like what Kelley (Elledge) is doing...how she is putting them (Theresa and Siegel) in corners."

Spencer closed with "Dale and Theresa and Max need to sit down and get this worked out. If the old man was still living, he would kick Earnhardt (Junior's) butt. I would hate to see that organization fall apart."

Whatever Spencer's motivation, his attack on Kelley Elledge was poorly timed. It has been well-documented that she had just undergone serious surgery, and is in the process of recovering. While she was on-hand at the opening of JR Motorsports new shop this week, she is far from full strength. In addition, RaceDay has always gone out of the way to be fair to all parties involved in NASCAR issues. This time, there was no Earnhardt Junior or Kelley Elledge standing by with Wendy Venturini to address this discussion. Had they been there, Spencer may have been singing a completely different tune.

I believe we have not heard the end of the reaction to these comments on national television. If the print media takes the ball and runs with it, there may be bigger issues on the horizon for Jimmy Spencer than his apparent hatred for Junior's sister.

UPDATE 9PM EASTERN TIME SUNDAY 4/15/07: On the Victory Lane program airing Sunday night at 8PM on SPEED, Jimmy Spencer issued an apology to Dale Earnhardt Junior's sister, Kelley Elledge. In reference to the comments detailed above, Spencer said he "kind of took it personal and he is sorry for what he said to Kelley." From this quote, I believe we can assume that Spencer felt he was somehow representing the interests of Dale Earnhard Sr. in his commentary during the RaceDay program. We can only see what repercussions these strong comments, and this brief apology, have on both the Earnhardt family and the fans.