Craftsman Trucks From Talladega On SPEED

Krista Voda starts the coverage of the NCTS from Talladega on Saturday at 3:30PM. SPEED enjoys this race, but the low count of Trucks in the event may put a whammy on the excitement.

Voda handles a thirty minute preview show called The Set-Up and then turns things over to Rick Allen to call the action. Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will be joining Allen in the booth to analyze the race.

Down on pit road will be the NCTS regulars Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander. Viewers get a positive surprise this week as SPEED has added a third pit reporter. Yep, it's Krista Voda. This high-speed race features some experienced veterans up front and some inexperienced drivers in the back.

Joey Logano is racing, as is Scott Speed and Mike Wallace. Regulars include Ron Hornaday Jr., Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson. The action at the front of the pack should be good. Keep an eye on how many trucks drop out early, there are some Nationwide Series "start and parkers" in this race. That series is off this weekend.

SPEED has presented a no-nonsense approach to this series for years. It goes "old school" with the focus on the action and the teams. The network has tried very hard to make the viewer feel that the NCTS is a family atmosphere. They work to introduce the new young drivers and also to continue the storylines concerning both the race win and the season championship.

This post will serve to host your comments about the Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED from Talladega. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for taking the time to drop by The Daly Planet.

Sprint Cup Qualifying On SPEED

Another challenge awaits the SPEED crew as they will try to time-shift qualifying from Noon to 1PM on Saturday afternoon.

The Petit LeMans sports car race is live on SPEED until 1PM, so it will be a pre-recorded Steve Byrnes who hosts the Sprint Cup qualifying. Byrnes will be joined by Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds to call the action. Veterans Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner will be handling the interviews from pit road.

This should be a rather straightforward session, with Talladega and the restrictor plate making the qualifying simply an exercise in safety for the Top 35 teams.

This post will serve to host your comments about the coverage of qualifying on SPEED. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy directions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Here Comes Friday At Talladega On SPEED

This is the second season of the new NASCAR TV contract and it continues to be a moving target for many fans. This Friday from Talladega, the action shifts from ESPN2 back to SPEED for the full day.

The Craftsman Truck Series takes to the track at Noon Eastern Time for live qualifying action. This is a tough season for the series, with only 28 viable trucks on the Talladega entry list. There are four additional trucks that will try to qualify for the event, but they are battling with the minimum lap time and not for pole position. Driver Richard Johns in his Chevy is the slowest, almost nine full seconds off the practice speed of Todd Bodine. Nine seconds...per lap.

Rick Allen and Phil Parsons will call this session with Michael Waltrip as the third analyst in the booth. Down on pit road will be Adam Alexander and Ray Dunlap. It should be noted that Dunlap is also the media guest on Tradin' Paint this week. Fans may have some memories of his last appearance on that program which earned him a "time-out" from his employer.

Once the trucks get sorted-out, the Sprint Cup Series takes to the track for two practice sessions beginning at 2PM ET. Steve Byrnes will host with Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond in the broadcast booth. Down in the garage area will be Bob Dillner and Wendy Venturini.

SPEED has become a favorite for this coverage because of the network's willingness to simply cover practice. Action on the track is featured, the reporters follow-up on stories and McReynolds is wonderful at telling viewers what different teams are doing and why. Dillner and Venturini move seamlessly through the garage area as if they are team members.

In between sessions, John Roberts will host a quick version of NASCAR Live. Randy Pemberton and Hermie Sadler will give the other TV crew a break while they talk to teams about what went right and what went wrong in the early session. This same team will return after practice to host a thirty minute edition of NASCAR Live at 4:30PM. This should wrap-up the NASCAR day and prep SPEED viewers for the upcoming ARCA event.

Race coverage for the ARCA Series begins at 5PM with Allen and Parsons back on the call. Venturini will be joined by Jim Tretow to handle the reporting from pit road. Lots of NASCAR eyes will be on this race, as ARCA has quickly become one of the main training grounds for future Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series drivers.

Mike's daughter Chrissy Wallace will be in the event as will Joey Logano and his JGR teammate Marc Davis. "Mr. Red Bull" Scott Speed will be racing as will former AMA champ Ricky Carmichael in a Kevin Harvick Inc. machine.

One driver to keep an eye on is 23-year old Gabi DiCarlo who is the only full time female driver in the ARCA Series. She is pictured at the top of the page. Her sponsor is Great Clips and that company has already committed to another full ARCA schedule in 2009 with DiCarlo. She is driving the car of a teammate that won the opening ARCA event in Daytona back in February.

While the ARCA race is underway on SPEED, ESPN2 will air NASCAR Now at 5PM. Nicole Manske will host the show, recap Sprint Cup Series practice and preview the Sunday race. The Nationwide Series that normally races on ESPN2 is idle this week.

SPEED is topping-off Friday with a blockbuster of a show. In what may be the ultimate fan recipe for Talladega, it will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon who appear as the guests on the rowdy Trackside show at 7:30PM. This show is on after the ARCA race, so viewers who are recording should add some extra time on the DVR, VCR or TiVo.

Byrnes hosts this show with Hammond and McReynolds. Elliott Sadler is the fourth panelist during this stretch of the season. Needless to say, the combination of Junior, Gordon and the Talladega crowd should be interesting to watch.

Please feel free to offer your TV-related comments on the topics above. This post will also host the in-progress comments on these SPEED programs on Friday. Let us know how you think SPEED is presenting the activities from Talladega by clicking on the COMMENTS button below.

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