Labonte Slows The Pace On "NASCAR Now"

This season, ESPN has been "stirring the drink" with a wide variety of NASCAR personalities appearing on the one hour Monday version of NASCAR Now.

This week, host Allen Bestwick had Terry Labonte, Mike Massaro and Brad Daugherty to work with. While Massaro and Daugherty have been on the program before, it was the first time for Labonte.

The low-key Labonte is well-spoken, but lacks the on-air energy of a Rusty Wallace or Dale Jarrett. The responsibility of providing the excitement fell to Daugherty and Massaro. While these two did their best, it was clear that if Labonte returns there needs to be either another driver or a crew chief on the panel.

The group reviewed the Phoenix Cup race for thirty minutes, and it was clear after about fifteen minutes things were being drawn-out far too long. Labonte was not going to step-up and take control like a Wallace or Jarrett, but he did respond quite well to Bestwick's questions and held his own in conversation.

Bestwick has assumed the leadership role not only for NASCAR Now, but for ESPN's NASCAR on-air team. His presence and knowledge has finally been allowed to flourish, and he is making the best of the situation. One interesting switch for ESPN this season is the ability of the announcers to talk about controversial issues.

Drug testing was brought-up by Bestwick, and he led an interesting discussion that neither SPEED or Fox has been able to handle. This has become a TV-driven story, and ESPN has taken the lead in keeping this topic very public. All the panelists contributed their views, but Labonte took the high road and did not criticize NASCAR for their current naive policy.

Jimmie Johnson was on the program by satellite, and this was a nice touch. Bestwick and Johnson have fun, and this was another good interview. Unfortunately, NASCAR Now continues the policy of only having Bestwick ask questions during satellite interviews. Things would be much better served with all of the group involved.

The panel briefly reviewed the Nationwide Series race, and spoke about the upcoming race in Mexico with some mixed emotion. To say the least, this event is something that teams are once again not too thrilled about. It should be interesting to see how ESPN approaches this weekend's race on-the-air.

Bestwick told viewers that ESPN will be using the off-week for the Cup Series to host a Monday version of NASCAR Now that will feature the reporters for the series. The show will explore various topics that have arisen this season and allow the reporters to take center stage on the program. It certainly sounds like a good idea.

This program lags a bit when one of ESPN's "big guns" like Wallace, Jarrett or Andy Petree is not on the show. Petree might have drawn a lot more out of Labonte with his crew chief perspective. Instead, the program had to rely once again on the general statements and casual knowledge of Daugherty. It was not the same.

When the reporters are named for the show next Monday, we will provide an update. Hopefully, both Massaro and Marty Smith will be included because of their hard work and dedication so far this season. As The Daly Planet suggested a while back, both Terry Blount and David Newton need to make an appearance on this series to help fans further understand their levels of NASCAR knowledge and journalism backgrounds.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page and thanks again for stopping by.

"Sirius Speedway" On Monday Afternoon

Thanks again to Dave and Suzy for letting me stop by the Sirius studios. What a nice group of people. Due to some driver availability issues, I was on a bit early but it was certainly fun.

Monday is a good day for talking TV, mainly because of the clash between Major League Baseball and NASCAR that happened on Saturday night. Viewers of both sports were short-changed, as the Fox gang did not choose to follow many of the practices that are normally done in live program overlap situations.

Spoken as a person who has been in that situation many times before, there is often no easy way out and things tend to happen rather quickly. In this case, good intentions led to both parties walking away with ruffled feathers.

Other topics on the agenda may include TV clearly driving the drug testing agenda while many print reporters steer clear. In addition, viewers are asking why Ray Evernham does not seem to be showing-up on ESPN recently?

The email continues about Fox choosing once again to show only the leader finish, and refusing to comment on that issue. If Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not deserve to have their final run to the flag shown on live TV, than what the heck do drivers have to do? Winning is only one story of the race, and often it is not the best one.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, I will update the times as soon as possible on Monday. For those without Sirius, I will post an update on the topics and the comments as well. Thanks again for stopping by, if you want to suggest a topic for Monday, please feel free.

Schrader vs. Labonte On A Monday TV Match-Up

This is going to be an interesting Monday for NASCAR fans who like to watch TV.

Two of NASCAR's key television partners are going to be presenting one hour feature programs covering the same topics and competing for the same fan base. ESPN2 is up first with NASCAR Now at 5:30PM and SPEED follows at 8PM Eastern Time with the brand new This Week In NASCAR.

Both networks are rolling-out a new wrinkle this week with NASCAR Now welcoming Terry Labonte to the "roundtable" and TWIN bringing back viewer favorite Kenny Schrader. This will be the first appearance for both on these respective shows.

Labonte will be joined by Brad Daugherty and Mike Massaro in the ESPN2 studios for a program that will be hosted by Allen Bestwick. This show is going to be fascinating, because on the menu will be drugs and television. Those are two topics not usually discussed.

Since ESPN's Ryan McGee broke the Aaron Fike "racing while high" story, the howl for a new drug testing policy has become louder and louder. A veteran like Labonte should have an interesting take on the subject. Also, it should be interesting to see if ESPN broaches the subject of the delayed start of the race and the on-air mess that NASCAR on Fox viewers had to endure.

Over on SPEED, Steve Byrnes will be hosting the long-awaited return of Kenny Schrader to the Monday evening 8PM timeslot. Gone is Inside NEXTEL Cup and now TWIN features lots of video and features and much less conversation. Joining Schrader on the panel will be his long-time alter ego Michael Waltrip.

Perhaps, Waltrip's recent pro-NASCAR rants on a wide variety of subjects will play a little differently with Schrader on the set. Normally, the other panelists Greg Biffle and Chad Knaus just wince a bit and wait for the end.

Steve Byrnes has faced an uphill battle with this new program, as nothing is more difficult to change than a popular TV series. Just ask Dave Despain. With an off-week for the Cup series, it will be interesting to see if the show format continues to put the preview of the upcoming race before the discussion of the race from Saturday night. Waiting thirty minutes to talk Phoenix is tough to take.

This post will serve to host your comments in advance of these two programs. There will be a full column up after each show for your post-show opinions. To add a comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the directions.

The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page, and thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.