Dale Jarrett Moves Front And Center For ESPN

The Nationwide Series has been racing since February. Like the trucks on SPEED, the Nationwide Series enjoys a TV home on the ESPN networks during the season. All the way through Homestead in November, fans know where to go to watch Kyle and Carl take on the rest of the field.

This Saturday, ESPN2 is going to offer something TDP discussed earlier in the week. Click here for that column. The topic drew a lot of comments and emails. Instead of Marty Reid calling the race, ESPN will have four NASCAR analysts who will talk among themselves while the race is in progress.

Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and Andy Petree are on the list. These three will be upstairs in the announce booth. Down in the Tech Garage will be Tim Brewer. Also on hand will be Allen Bestwick in the Infield Pit Center in his normal role of hosting the pre-race show and the telecast in general.

While all of those personalities are certainly going to play a key role in this TV experiment, there is little doubt who will be getting the most attention. Front and center on Saturday afternoon will be Dale Jarrett.

Working with the low-key Jerry Punch on the ESPN race telecasts forced Jarrett to develop his own play-by-play skills rather quickly. Someone had to provide the excitement and it was clearly not going to be Punch. Jarrett and his normal broadcast partner Petree have been forced to jump in when on-air silence is the only other option.

This season, ESPN assigned Reid to the Nationwide Series races down the stretch. He stepped in to relieve Punch of those duties. Although Reid made a great first impression in only a handful of events, he is taking this weekend off.

Even with Reid absent someone has to call the laps, the cars, and describe the action on the track. The mechanics of TV include transitioning to the pit reporters, to Brewer in the Tech Garage and to the frequent TV commercials. Indications are that Jarrett will carry the load.

As sports TV has become more flexible in the new media and Internet age, the traditional on-air roles have become blurred. Guys like Jarrett can move from the analyst position on a high-profile race to a studio role for Monday's NASCAR Now review show and then appear on the ESPNEWS network to discuss NASCAR topics in the news.

Perhaps, Jarrett and Evernham have proven to be the best when it comes to multiple roles for ESPN. Both have moved seamlessly through whatever tasks and assignments have been asked of them and yet continue to maintain a very distinct personality on the air.

In addition to the race analysis and general comments about NASCAR, both Jarrett and Evernham have been passionately outspoken about the current Sprint Cup Series car and the fact that changes continue to be needed for the overall good of the sport.

While Evernham has seen limited action this season in the broadcast booth at the tracks, Jarrett has been continuing his exposure as the featured face of NASCAR on ESPN across the board. Saturday, he will be asked to expand his experiences again and be the leader of the pack when it comes to coordinating the ongoing conversation among the four analysts and four pit road reporters.

While the Producer and Director may be talking in a lot of different ears during the live race, there is little doubt that a point person is going to emerge and that will be Jarrett. Like other top TV professionals, Jarrett took the time and invested the effort needed to learn his new role in front of the camera.

One of the top tennis announcers on TV works for ESPN and that is Cliff Drysdale. "Mr. Cliff" as he is called transitioned from the analyst side of the microphone to the host and play-by-play position over time. Drysdale is an excellent example of what may be in Jarrett's future.

One well-spoken individual with credibility in the sport and a good set of TV skills may be just what jumps off the page when Saturday's little TV experiment is done. My guess is that person is going to be Jarrett.

Bestwick begins the pre-race show on ESPN2 at 3PM and the "Backseat Drivers" special edition of the Nationwide Series race is next at 3:30PM. SPEED starts the day with Nationwide Series qualifying at 10:30AM and then both sessions of the final Sprint Cup practice at 12:30PM.

TDP will be live blogging the Nationwide Series telecast beginning at 2:30PM. Please join us. In the meantime, please feel free to leave us your opinion and prediction on Saturday's "Backseat Drivers" telecast. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below.

This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

SPEED Rules Friday's NASCAR TV

Just set it and forget it. SPEED rules the NASCAR TV on Friday from noon ET through 8PM. The network will handle all the on-track activity at MIS.

The dynamic trio for SPEED will be Steve Byrnes, Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds. These three have been friends for a very long time and their comfort level with each other translates quite well to TV.

Bob Dillner and Wendy Venturini will be doing a lot of walking as they spend seven hours tracking down the Sprint Cup and Nationwide stories from the garage area. Venturini continues to grow her fan base while Dillner is usually the last man out of the garage area after he provides updates for Sunday night's SPEED Report.

Noon begins the TV day with Sprint Cup Series practice while the Nationwide Series gets on the track next at 1:30PM. There are a lot of Cup drivers who will be jogging to the Nationwide Series garage while doing double duty this weekend.

3:30PM brings live qualifying for the Cup guys and on the big track at MIS, this is perhaps not the most exciting TV programming. Luckily, McReynolds usually has more than enough details and tidbits on each team to help NASCAR fans pass the time on the air.

The on-track action is capped at 5PM when the Nationwide Series returns for the late practice session. This could be a very interesting practice with lots of rubber down on the track and cooler temps making for some memorable speed and action.

Trackside ends the night for SPEED. Byrnes, McReynolds, Hammond and Elliott Sadler will welcome guests Joey Logano and Justin Allgaier. Kasey Kahne may also possibly be stopping by to say hello. This is always a fast-paced hour but SPEED is still having problems dealing with the rowdy crowds during the interview segments. Really tough to hear what is going on sometimes, an issue SPEED will no doubt have to address for next season.

ESPN2 makes its only Friday contribution with NASCAR Now at 9PM. This show is on the air later than normal due to live tennis. Mike Massaro is the host for this program that will recap the MIS action and preview the Nationwide race on Saturday.

This post will host your comments as we go through the NASCAR TV Friday. It should be fun to watch SPEED cover MIS exclusively. The weather looks good and there are some great stories developing both on and off the track for the network to cover.

To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Nationwide Series TV Experiment Misses The Point

When the ESPN portion of the Sprint Cup Series television package rolled around at the Brickyard in July, there was a lot of fan interest in what may have changed since the 2008 season. After the Monday telecast from Watkins Glen, the answer continues to be...nothing.

Click here to review the fan comments from all over the nation about the race. There are no comments on the linked column except for those offered by fans. Here are some excerpts:

SalB said...
Trying to make sense out of how any race is unfolding since ESPN took over from TNT is almost impossible. Overusing bumper/in car cameras is irritating at best. Covering only the top runners is completely disorienting. If you can't see the race as a whole, it's just so much noise. Their coverage has been a big disappointment. DJ and Andy in the booth are good, but seem limited by what the director is willing to show on screen. All in all, an embarrassing effort from 'The Worldwide Leader in Sports'.

philg said...
Ok, so we're used to Jerry Punch and the boys in the booth sounding bored by what's in front of them. Nothing changed, even as Ambrose closed in on Stewart and even as questions lingered over who would have enough fuel to finish. The opportunity to build drama and suspense was right in front of the ESPN crew and like so many other things, they missed it. But more than any of the normal shortcomings that we're forced to suffer through each week, the most shocking and downright pathetic thing was ESPN totally missing Ambrose's pit stop on lap 55 (kind of like they missed Harvick's pole-winning lap Saturday). Since practice, ESPN made Ambrose a focal point of its coverage. He was the in-race reporter, his car was crawling with cameras and the booth repeatedly told us how flabbergasted they were by his team's pit strategy. So when Ambrose's pit strategy comes together and his makes his last stop, ESPN is clueless and doesn't tell us until eight laps later. Unforgivable. If you're going to build the man up as a story line for four days, someone should have had eyes on that car at all times, period.

bevo said...
There is a focus that is lacking with ESPN. The broadcast has the feel of an effort run by committee. Every aspect has to be used - in-car cameras, in-race reporters, foot cam, tech center, "cool" camera shot of the week, "the" stat, "the" feel-good story. All of these must be used whether or not they help describe the race for the viewer. I feel sorry for all of the long time technical people behind the scenes who I am sure want to produce a great broadcast and are faced day in and day out by bosses who have no idea what they are doing. Monday was a train wreck of epic proportions.

These are just three of the comments offered publicly by fans. Several hundred more arrived by email. This weekend, SPEED is handling the practice and qualifying coverage for both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series from the Michigan International Speedway.

The NASCAR on ESPN team will telecast the Nationwide Series race on ESPN2 Saturday afternoon and then the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday on ESPN. While the Sprint Cup Series telecast will have the same on-air personalities as Watkins Glen, the Nationwide Series race will have something completely different.

In the heart of the season, ESPN is removing the play-by-play announcer from the live Nationwide Series telecast. Instead, four NASCAR on ESPN analysts will sit in the broadcast booth and make conversation. Here is ESPN's description:

ESPN’s “Backseat Drivers” telecast will engage NASCAR fans with the authenticity and experience of analysts Tim Brewer, Ray Evernham, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree and Rusty Wallace.

Here are some additional quotes on this upcoming event from a Tuesday conference call:

Andy Hall, ESPN Media Relations Manager: This whole idea came about from our Vice President of Motorsports, Rich Feinberg and his experience going to dinner with these guys over the last few years and just listening to the stories that they could tell and knowledge and experience that they have in NASCAR racing. So, the idea was born of doing what we're calling "backseat drivers" and just having these four guys in the booth commenting on what's going on with the racing and sharing their knowledge of the sport.

Rusty Wallace: It's a pretty cool idea that Rich Feinberg has come up with. Myself and Ray and Andy and DJ, we've probably got a lot to talk about, that's for sure. We've all won at Michigan before and we've all got stories to tell. I guess my biggest concern is that I don't step over the top of each other and we don't keep interrupting each other and stuff like that. It's going to be a different process for sure; instead of saying here they go, here they come, this guy is passing this guy or whatever, we're going to be able to comment on how the race is going and from our past experience what we thing we should do to do win is race or what I would have done or what Ray might do. I'm excited about it, and when it's all said and done, it's either going to work or won't work and we'll see what happens.

Ray Evernham: As much as we've done together, we still have different opinions on things, and it's great to be able to spar back and forth, and you've got DJ and Andy in the booth, and they're kind of you know, they're one way, more conservative, type of approach, and then you've got Rusty and I, we're wide open, do, whatever, gamble, two tires, no tires. So I think it's going to be a great deal and I'm really looking forward to it. Unlike Rusty, I really believe that we're going to be talking over one another and stopping and saying, no, man, that's not the way it is. But I think that's what ESPN wants, and I think that's what the fans are really going to enjoy.

The disparity between the comments of the fans and those of the ESPN folks is quite clear. Rather than address the TV issues lighting up the Sirius phone lines and filling the Internet chat boards, ESPN is instead removing the critical function from the live race telecast that provides the information, builds the excitement and coordinates the on-air traffic flow.

This is the first Nationwide Series season where ESPN has brought in motorsports TV veteran Marty Reid to call the play-by-play down the stretch. Reid recently handcrafted the best telecast of the season from O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indy. He has brought the series profile up considerably in only a handful of events with his enthusiasm and personality.

Now, Reid will not be at MIS and in his place will be conversation. ESPN's analysts had plenty of time in the rain at both Pocono and Watkins Glen to break out the old stories and fill hours of time on the air. At a big track like MIS, Reid's ability to generate excitement in the play-by-play role will certainly be missed.

What is your opinion of this TV experiment? A creative idea for a series that needs something new? A self-indulgent moment from ESPN? Perhaps, an audition for Dale Jarrett as the leader in the TV booth? How do you see this idea from your perspective? Will this TV twist make you tune-in to a Nationwide Series race?

TDP welcomes your comments. Just click on the comments button below and follow the easy instructions. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Follow TDP on Twitter at twitter.com/TheDalyPlanet.