Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Edwards On Facebook And NASCAR On TV


Early in the NASCAR on FOX telecast from Atlanta, Carl Edwards appeared on camera. After contact with Brad Keselowski, Edwards was clearly upset. The FOX team then showed Edwards a replay of the incident. Edwards admitted the video showed something different than he had first believed. Perhaps, he was also at fault.

"It looked like it wasn't as malicious as I thought," said Edwards. Television had apparently played a key role in straightening out a problem before it got worse. Unfortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth.

The NASCAR on FOX team did not report that Edwards had returned to the track to hunt Keselowski. They never showed Edwards as he chased Keselowski and repeatedly tried to spin him out. Instead, TV viewers saw the crumpled red car and then learned of the grim details through video replays.

Edwards was parked and Keselowski was alive. Edwards made his statement to pit reporter Dick Berggren who simply asked if he did it on purpose. The answer was a complete contradiction to the comments Edwards made earlier after being shown the first replay. Berggren never followed-up.

Brad Keselowski spoke carefully to pit reporter Krista Voda after being released from the Infield Care Center. He looked and sounded a lot more like a level-headed veteran driver than a hot-headed rookie with issues. He also said that Edwards had turned down on him earlier and told Voda that policing the sport was up to NASCAR.

After the race, Edwards did not appear on SportsCenter, SPEED's Victory Lane or NASCAR radio. He took his carefully crafted message directly to his fan base. Edwards ran to his Facebook page and posted the following message:

My options: Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyones safety or hard work, should I: A-Keep letting him wreck me? B-Confront him after the race? C-Wait til Bristol and collect other cars? or D-Take care of it now? I want to be clear that I was surprised at his flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.

Edwards has almost 70 thousand fans registered on his Facebook fan page. Click here for the direct link. What better crowd to address than those who are already fans?

By Monday night, Edwards was heading for 6 thousand comments on his post. Most of the comments addressed Edwards personally, assuming that he was going to read them. As with any fanbase, they were generally supportive with words like payback and punk used a lot. Any way you slice it, Edwards had taken a stand and brought his post-accident message directly to his own fans.

All eyes are now on NASCAR, as Tuesday is normally the day that the sanctioning body announces penalties and generally clears the air from the previous weekend. In the past, NASCAR has issued statements and distributed through their Internet media site the specifics of penalties. This week will bring a change.

Beginning this week and continuing every Tuesday after a Sprint Cup Series race weekend, a NASCAR representative will appear on SPEED's Race Hub program. Perhaps, NASCAR is finally understanding that getting the message out in today's media environment means more than just a press release.

Race Hub is a Monday through Thursday show at 7:30PM that generally works to promote the sport with some interviews and opinions mixed-in. Both FOX and SPEED analysts appear on the show to address various topics, but the show is generally focused on having a variety of NASCAR personalities as studio guests.

Slowly, Race Hub has begun to add regular weekly features. Having a personality like Robin Pemberton, John Darby or Mike Helton in the studio will certainly help sort-out the issues from the weekend. Having one of them appear every Tuesday will do a lot more than that for both Race Hub and SPEED.

Race Hub airs Tuesday at 7:30PM ET and re-airs at 11:30PM ET/9:30PM Pacific.

We will use this post for your comments on the Race Hub Series in general and the addition of a NASCAR visit on Tuesdays. To add your opinion, 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.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Your Turn: NASCAR on FOX From Atlanta


FOX continued Sprint Cup Series coverage with the race from Atlanta. Coverage began at 12PM ET.

Chris Myers, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond started the pre-race show from the Hollywood Hotel. The pre-race show had several features including an interview conducted by Waltrip. The Slice of Pizzi feature had Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the guest.

Waltrip joined Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds in the booth to call the race. On pit road was Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren.

Digger popped back up this week early on in the race with animation and then faded before the halfway point. In-car camera use was again a big topic as was the tight shots of two cars that seemed to dominate the coverage at times.

Pictured above is Joey Logano's tire that was just one of the many tire issues in the event. FOX originally blamed the problems on the camber of the wheels being used and then continued to try and put the issue in some sort of team context. The Goodyear spokesman, who was at the track, was never interviewed.

Several drivers were knocked out of the race, but Carl Edwards was the one selected for an interview. He was shown the replay of his accident in an effort to get him to blame another driver, which he declined. Other drivers out of the race who did not have the potential to generate controversy were never interviewed.

The "Crank it up" feature continued and was inserted at several critical times in the race. The commercial load continued to be the same, but the movie trailers and the movie videos run inside the race were gone. The ads returned to the normal sponsors associated with the sport.

The weather was good and the FOX technical crew had no issues on the air. Fox worked hard to keep the split-screen effect on green flag pitstops and used a lot of pitstop replays. The pit reporters were not significant in the race, with Steve Byrnes contributing the most information.

FOX frames NASCAR very tight, so a significant portion of the race was specific cars shown without a frame of reference to the track or the rest of the field. The final twenty laps were great racing until marred by an ugly incident involving Carl Edwards. The FOX team handled the incident with dignity and let it play-out on the TV screen and the track. Both drivers were interviewed.

On the first restart FOX cut tight and entirely missed the big wreck of the race. It was shown through replays. The finish was exciting and the TV pictures showed the entire field crossing the line.

This post is your opportunity to voice an opinion of the TV coverage by FOX. 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.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Atlanta (12PM - FOX)


The Sprint Cup Series continues the 2010 season at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The weather is clear and the track is fast.

Chris Myers opens the FOX coverage with the pre-race show from the Hollywood Hotel. He will be joined by Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond. Last week saw more disorganization and less of a focus on the stories of the race. Comedy and inside jokes are pushing this show in a very different direction.

Perhaps, FOX is again seeking to entertain the exclusive casual fan, but after three hours of hardcore NASCAR pre-race news on ESPN2 and SPEED, it's just not working. Myers jokes are not funny and there is very little focus. Hopefully, the show gets back on track after a rough start.

Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds have been working this weekend on SPEED. They have already hosted the practice sessions and qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series. As they transition from SPEED to FOX, perhaps they can keep the momentum of the week going strong.

On pit road are Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren. Atlanta has a lot of action, so the reporters will be chasing strategy calls as the race progresses. The leaders can lap quickly here, so keeping viewers updated on the field will be continually important.

FOX has Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman coming from the back of the pack after engine changes. The network has Dale Earnhardt Jr. starting from the pole. They have Jimmie Johnson seeming to be bulletproof. This season, Kevin Harvick and RCR have found themselves and are running strong. There is no shortage of storylines from the drop of the green flag.

Darrell Waltrip holds the key to this race telecast. When he keeps himself in check and acts as a good teammate, things flow well. When he gets emotional and goes overboard with his comments, things fall apart. TV viewers have seen him do both this season.

Atlanta is so fast that it does not lend itself to using the in-car cameras live until the field gets strung out. The low level speed shots are tremendously effective on restarts and through the corners. Restarts on fresh tires are going to be the most exciting parts of the race. We saw that in the Saturday truck series race.

This post will serve to host your comments about the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

Thank you for taking the time to join us today as we live blog the race.