SPEED Promises "RaceDay" Surprise

Things are always just a little bit different on All-Star weekend and this one has proven to be no exception. Saturday will feature another roll-out of NASCAR TV programming in a "block" by SPEED almost all day long.

This effort is designed to lead-up to a three hour edition of the popular RaceDay program and then transition to the All-Star festivities themselves. Since SPEED does not have any Sprint Cup Series points races, this is going to be as close as the network comes to the big time on the track this season.

Off the oval, SPEED has continued to partner with the NASCAR Media Group and dominate the weekend TV programming where racing is concerned. It will be NASCAR Live at Noon Eastern Time that kicks-off the original programming on Saturday. John Roberts will be on-hand to host with Hermie Sadler and Randy Pemberton reporting.

That show will transition into a re-air of the Pit Crew Challenge originally seen on Thursday night. SPEED had some glitches originally, but this re-air should be all cleaned-up if fans want to record a good version of this special to keep.

Speaking of recording, Tradin' Paint at 2:30PM will feature a re-match of one of the oddest couples ever seen on TV. John Roberts will be trying to keep the peace between Kyle Petty and veteran writer Bob Pockrass of NASCAR Scene and scenedaily.com. Put this one on the DVR or the VCR.

These two have combined for some of the most interesting and hilarious editions of this show since the concept first started some years ago. Oil-and-water does not do the dynamic of these two justice. Pockrass will not back down from his views on the sport, which in the past have resulted in Petty blowing his stack in spectacular fashion. It should be interesting to see which topics the Producer picks to discuss.

Larry McReynolds has quietly turned NASCAR Performance into a dynamo of a show. Next up at 3PM, this program features Chad Knaus and Bootie Barker delving into all kinds of racing subjects and offering all types of topical discussions from a crew chief's perspective. Even for a mechanical novice like myself, this program has moved to the "must see" list.

NASCAR In A Hurry is an interesting little TV series hosted by Adam Alexander. The thirty minute show which airs at 3:30PM uses footage of SPEED programs both on and off the track to offer a short "wrap-up" of things at Charlotte so far. The trick is, they only use footage from the previous 48 hours. They pack all the "happenings" together and show them...in a hurry.

The "franchise" steps-out of the shadows next as RaceDay offers a "three hour tour" of all things All-Star that leads directly into the event. John Roberts hosts, with Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace alongside. Wendy Venturini provides the news and several features. Hermie Sadler offers the track description and is also a reporter on the show. Rutledge Wood continues as the "comic relief."

This program is said to contain a big surprise guest this week. SPEED is not letting anything slip, but since the show is live there might be some fun moments where this "guest" is concerned. As viewers might expect, Wendy Venturini will finally sit-down with Dale Jarrett and get his take on this final night at-speed in a sport that has dominated his life.

Live guests include Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. This week, the Speedway has added a new wrinkle for All-Star day. The Pennzoil Platinum Victory Challenge is the official name for the new burnout contest.

While many fans have seen this type of event at motorcycle rallies and even local short tracks, this one is going to be new. It will be the "big boys" from NASCAR on Fox that will step-in and handle the commentary for this special event. Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip will do their best to see through the smoke and offer their expert analysis.

RaceDay will also dip into the NASCAR Media Group archives, and offer some brief flashbacks on the past All-Star races that have certainly featured some memorable moments. It should be fun to hear the comments from Spencer and Wallace on these sometimes controversial moments in time.

RaceDay will transition directly into the All-Star race programming at 7PM. The NASCAR on Fox crew will again call the action. This post will serve to host your comments during the pre-race programming, and a new post will be added at 6PM for the All-Star race.

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TV Cameras Can't Hide Empty Seats

SPEED put on a brave face Friday as the network continued with on-track action from 9AM until almost 11PM. For TV viewers, SPEED's efforts were outstanding.

Unfortunately, one thing was also easy to see throughout the coverage. It seemed as if there was no one there. The grandstands at Lowe's Motor Speedway are huge, and vast sections of them were purposefully closed for this Friday program.

It was the main grandstand along the dogleg in the frontstretch that served as the focal point of the TV cameras when "fans in the stands" needed to be shown. Like several other tracks, Lowe's has the multi-colored seats that appear to the TV cameras to be occupied when in fact they are not.

On this day, no fancy illusions or very tight camera shots could hide the fact that even for All-Star qualifying and the Craftsman Truck Series, the fans just were not there. Hardcore racing fans may have seen the Summer Shootout Series telecasts over the years as the Legends cars and other series take to the small oval built into the frontstretch and along pit road. This looked like a Shootout crowd.

As the Craftsman Trucks put on a great show, the SPEED crew tried very hard to keep the cameras off the grandstands. When the TV requirements needed a wideshot, it was almost startling to see the infield appear to be more populated than the available grandstand seating.

SPEED also originated other programs from the SPEED Stage outside the track, and things appeared to be rather thin in terms of crowd numbers even for popular shows like Trackside.

The reality of a Friday schedule no doubt played a role, but this race "weekend" is supposed to be a destination that people visit as a part of an overall experience. Instead, it appears that many fans will simply attend the Saturday feature race and nothing else.

All eyes will be on the number of fans who come out for the All-Star race on Saturday night. Only a short time later, the Speedway executives are counting on exactly these same fans to return for the Coke 600 on the big holiday weekend.

As SPEED once again goes it alone on Saturday, the network may be dealing with another NASCAR reality of 2008. The eyes of the TV viewers will certainly be looking to see how many fans paid-up to be in the stands for this non-points race.

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In-Progress In Charlotte: Craftsman Trucks On SPEED

The featured event of Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway will be the Craftsman Truck Series race.

Krista Voda returns to the Truck Series when she hosts The Set-Up at 7:30PM. This thirty minute show features Voda and the two series pit reporters, Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander. Voda presents a pre-race show that is almost the exact opposite of The Hollywood Hotel.

She talks with the team members, owners and drivers in this series as though they are friends or even family members. The tone she single-handedly set for this show has made the Truck Series one of the most TV viewer-friendly in NASCAR.

At 8PM, she hands-off to Rick Allen who will call the action in the race. Allen will be joined by veteran Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip in the booth. Dunlap and Alexander will continue their pit road reporting duties.

The Truck Series on SPEED is presented in a very simple style. The production team concentrates on the racing, and allows the stories to play-out naturally in the event. The graphic package looks very familiar, but everything else about this telecast is produced by SPEED.

The Trucks should put on a good show, with the battle between the Cup Series regulars who are entered in this race raging with full-time Truck Series competitors like Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague.

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