"NASCAR Now" Makes Amends

It seems that ESPN got the message. It seems they got it loud and clear. The Friday version of NASCAR Now and the Sunday morning version of the same show had absolutely nothing in common. Thank goodness.

ESPN flexed the network's journalistic muscle on Saturday morning and decided to present both sides of the 99 Team penalties story. This finally included the comments from other key drivers in the garage that poked holes in the "intent" excuse offered by the Roush organization.

Reporter Angelique Chengelis returned to right a wrong, and did a good job of doing it in a balanced manner. Although choosing not to mention the Friday issues, Chengelis touched all the bases in her report on the on-going issues where Roush Fenway was concerned. Basically, penalty and intent are two separate issues.

Taking a break from controversy, the NASCAR on ESPN team provided an energetic and fast-paced wrap-up of the Saturday Nationwide race. Simply put, it was fantastic. This is exactly what this Sunday morning program needs to keep the Nationwide Series on the map, and promote the fact that all the races are on the ESPN networks.

To top it off, the program provided an interview with the winner. In 2007, The Daly Planet spent the entire year begging this Sunday show to even include the Busch Series results. As we have said so often this season about NASCAR Now, my how things have changed.

As a great "tag" on this report, Rusty Wallace joined host Nicole Manske from the track to update a lot of stories with his unique style of commentary. Rusty was also pumped-up, and offered a lot of good information and personal observations. This is a great role for Wallace, who likes the spotlight alone.

Kyle Petty was up next, and Manske did her best to use Petty to address a wide variety of topics. Fresh off his Tradin' Paint program, Petty was outspoken in his views on the 99 Team and the issues involved in this mess. Manske moved Petty onto his views about making the top 35 list for the rest of the season. Petty continued his views that the top 35 program is still a good idea.

Capping the interview, Manske pressed Petty for his future plans and got a very surprising and honest answer. Petty said if his son Adam was still alive, he would have already retired. What a statement. He continued on about the Petty Racing move to the Mooresville, NC area and framed what his company can do for the future. Another solid and interesting interview from Manske as she continues to surprise.

Wallace returned to address issues from Hendrick Motorsports to Kyle Busch. Rusty was on his game, and finally presented himself as a total TV professional in a live interview. Whoever has helped get Wallace polished in his new role deserves a lot of credit. Love him or hate him, Wallace is finally speaking his mind without reservation.

Non-fantasy racing TV viewers have to tolerate Christopher Harris and his biting comments that treat drivers as numbers and "horses" in some kind of bizarre race. If that information helps fantasy "players" to some kind of advantage, what can you say? ESPN makes a lot of money off fantasy play, so Harris will be seen all season long.

In closing the show, Angelique Chengelis returned with Jim Aust from Toyota to put their political spin on the Lee White vs. Jack Roush words in the media. Aust's point was that boys will be boys and the media basically does not get it sometimes. Aust put things in perspective, and actually did a good job of calming down the media frenzy that Nate Ryan and USA Today did a superb job of starting.

Finally, Roush himself appeared to put things in his own words. His comments made sense, but rang hollow in the perspective provided by other drivers and TV analysts. Manske did a great job of pressing Roush, and finally stepped-up to the plate and did a solid interview with tough questions. This might have been a nicely defining moment for this show and this host.

As the NASCAR learning curve continues, it is nice to see ESPN decide to go after the full story and use of all the available resources to give fans a full and diverse hour on Sunday morning. This one program has changed completely from its 2007 version, and now packs all the punch needed to claim a place among the "must see" TV list for NASCAR fans before the race.

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Big Sunday Of NASCAR Includes New SPEED Show

Sunday's NASCAR TV activities should be very interesting. With the on-going public dispute between Roush Fenway Racing and some of the other NASCAR teams now front-and-center, it should be interesting to see how the NASCAR TV partners handle the topic.

Friday was a struggle for both SPEED and ESPN where the 99 team penalties were concerned. As the programs flew-by on SPEED, there were all kinds of opinions being offered, and all kinds of reactions coming back at the on-air announcers from the fans. As the panel found out on Trackside, fans were not buying the excuses.

By the time NASCAR Now hit the air on ESPN2, the network had decided to jump into the fray with a lopsided report that detailed only one side of the issue. It was an interesting program, to say the least.

Saturday's weather pushed the Carl Edwards team story to the back burner for a while, but when live TV coverage resumed there was a new emphasis on reality as opposed to opinion. Finally, Jeff Hammond did a factual demonstration showing exactly the piece in question and answered a lot of questions in the manner SPEED should have done originally.

For the rest of the live day on SPEED, there was a lot of back-peddling from a lot of on-air personalities now willing to admit there might have been a real problem with Mr. Edwards car. The fact that a rash of exactly the same type of violations had been found recently by NASCAR might have helped.

What also might have helped was several high-profile NASCAR personalities, including drivers, openly mocking the very words reported as factual by several NASCAR TV outlets. Print and Internet media spreading the "opposing viewpoint" to Roush may have caused some TV types to change their tune very quickly.

Give Allen Bestwick and the ESPN Nationwide Series TV crew credit, they focused on the race at-hand and gave this series the priority. Bestwick promised TV viewers that the 99 penalty story would be fully detailed on both the Sunday morning and the Monday evening editions of NASCAR Now.

With ESPN on the air first at 10AM Sunday morning, it should be even more important for SPEED to get their facts right and their stories straight for RaceDay. This week, before RaceDay hits the air, there will be a new show on SPEED.

NASCAR in a Hurry will basically review through video the events and stories of the previous 48 hours. Since this is the first episode, it will probably just serve to review and not expand on the topics in question. This new show begins at 11AM.

Then, the big SPEED franchise show RaceDay begins at 11:30AM. This TV series has never been one to avoid issues, so it should be interesting to see what Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace have to say about the oil cooler lids.

Following RaceDay, the Sprint Cup race coverage begins with the NASCAR on Fox gang at 1:30PM. This crew must be tired of dealing with the oil cooler lid issue, but for casual viewers who only watch the races they must explain it one last time.

By now, the information has been flushed-out in detail and this experienced crew should be able to put it to rest and get the attention back to the action on the track. Hopefully, good weather will result in good racing and the sport can get fans focused once again on the on-track activity.

Do not forget that you were supposed to lose one hour of sleep last night, so things are going to be a little off-kilter early in the day. There will be posts up for comments immediately after both NASCAR Now and RaceDay.

There will also be a post up for in-progress comments on the Sprint Cup race on Fox. If you have an opinion on the coverage you have seen so far, please feel free to leave it on this post. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

SPEED's "Tradin' Paint" Suddenly Very Calm

There was a lot of anticipation before the Saturday edition of Tradin' Paint took to the air on SPEED. Host John Roberts had regular panelist Kyle Petty alongside and USA Today NASCAR Reporter Nate Ryan as the media guest.

It did not take Kyle Petty long to get cranked-up a bit about the Roush Racing penalties on the 99 team. Ryan offered that the penalties were right along the lines that NASCAR has followed since the COT was introduced.

Petty agreed, and decided that the point in question was really that "intent" had been the excuse offered by the Roush organization. "Intent is not in the rule book," said Petty. "Intent is not anything, take it and wipe your rear end with it."

Ryan was the USA Today reporter who highly publicized the comments of Lee White, now with the Toyota organization. Roberts made Ryan defend his story and White's comments, which he did by slipping behind the "free speech" excuse. Petty responded that White should have been questioned about why he made these comments.

"Lee White has no dog in that fight," said Petty. He continued to question why Ryan chose to use this type of comment in a national publication. Ryan was reminded that the Ford Racing management did not attack Michael Waltrip Racing and their engine additive issues one year ago in Daytona. The point was well made.

Changing the subject, Ryan responded to the Robby Gordon appeal with suggestions that the NASCAR appeal system is murky at best. Petty's point was that a mistake is a mistake, and Gordon's issue did not even merit the original penalty.

The remainder of the show featured polite conversation on topics that the Producer had chosen to offer the panelists. This season, that has been one of the problems with this program. It has gotten polite.

SPEED switched the positions of the panelists this season, which features the host in the middle and the other two panelists sitting awkwardly at the two ends of the main desk. As Jenna Fryer from the AP asked, "where do you put your legs?" It simply has not worked.

Another new wrinkle is trying to put the two panelist in a video effect featuring two boxes side-by-side. The pace of the show and the willingness of John Roberts to jump-in quickly makes this almost impossible. It might work for Larry King Live, but not for Tradin' Paint.

Roberts is the key to this program, and his role has to be defined. If this show is going to cream-puff NASCAR issues, it will join Pit Bulls on the cancelled shelf. Roberts let Ryan off-the-hook on why he chose to put a big sensationalized story in USA Today that was just as suspect as the Roush explanations it addressed.

Taped in front of a small crowd in the cold, this edition of Tradin' Paint was not exactly what the doctor ordered on a weekend packed with high-profile NASCAR news. Last season, after Petty joined the show, Tradin' Paint was on the "can't miss" list all year long.

This season, the SPEED executives need to do a little work on the set, the format and the topics to get this TV series back on-track. As the only show where non-TV media personalities are featured, it plays a vital role in exposing to the TV audience a lot of viewpoints that are not put forward by the full-time NASCAR TV announcers. It would be a shame if it faded away.

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