TV Networks Dealing With Danica Again

It was an interesting time when Danica Patrick first began driving Nationwide Series cars for JR Motorsports. There was fan curiosity, media doubt and some incredible attention from the NASCAR TV partners.

Now, Patrick is back for another swing at racing the big cars. SPEED and ESPN both get to deal with this elephant in the room over the weekend. SPEED begins on Friday as Steve Byrnes, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond call Nationwide Series practice from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 10:30AM ET.

After a break for Sprint Cup Series practice at 11:30AM and then lunch, the Nationwide cars come back for final practice at 1:30PM ET. Once again, it will be Byrnes, Hammond and McReynolds.

The garage reporters for both Nationwide practice sessions on Friday will be Phil Parsons and Ralph Sheheen. These are the two guys who will be facing the task of dealing with the Danica marketing and PR machine at the track. Since SPEED is the live TV network, they get first crack at Patrick after she gets out of the car.

SPEED will also present a NASCAR Live show between sessions at 1PM ET. If you cannot watch the practice, this thirty minute program will be a good way to get updated on what is going on at NHMS. John Roberts is hosting with Randy Pemberton alongside. Hermie Sadler and Bob Dillner will handle the reporting.

Here are some other TV notes for the weekend:

Jimmy Spencer is back in New Hampshire for SPEED. He will be on the Sunday 10AM RaceDay panel and will then appear on Victory Lane at 8PM ET with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace. Kyle Petty is off working for TNT.

Speaking of TNT, the network announced that Time Warner, Bright House and Comcast have signed on to carry TNT's 3D coverage of the Coke 400 from Daytona. As we know, in order to see the 3D effect you must watch on a 3DTV and also wear the famous glasses. More details on this next week.

SPEED announced that Thursday, July 1 will be the day the network announces the nominees for the 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. That will be done at 8PM ET during a special presentation of Race Hub. Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Mike Joy and Ken Squier will all be hosting from various locations for this TV special. You may remember that SPEED is the official TV network of the Hall of Fame.

We will use this post for your comments on the topics above as well as the live blog for Friday NASCAR TV. To add your comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks!

Sprint Cup Owners Continue In TV Roles

It's been a topic here at TDP since 2007. Starting with the day that the first blog post was published, there have been strong feelings about current Sprint Cup Series owners who are actively involved in shaping the sport on TV.

This week, the lead news story was Marcos Ambrose. His self-induced problems at Sonoma kept him from winning the race. Ambrose was gracious enough to speak with several reporters after the event, including TNT's Marty Snider on the live telecast.

Wednesday, Abrose was a guest on Showtime's Inside NASCAR program. The series is hosted by Chris Myers and features veteran journalist Randy Pemberton on the panel. The other two members of the TV cast are very familiar to Ambrose. Brad Daugherty is his team owner and Michael Waltrip supplies his cars.

Earlier, Daugherty appeared on ESPN2's NASCAR Now. Host Mike Massaro made sure to preface his questions by asking Daugherty to either put on his owner or TV analyst hat. That made the interview passable, but it was awkward at best.

This is the first season in NASCAR for Showtime. They have the Inside NASCAR series being produced at the Hall of Fame studios owned by NASCAR in downtown Charlotte. There is little doubt that NASCAR also "helped" the network to select a nice group of on-air announcers that met NASCAR's desires.

Waltrip is remembered by many for being on the longest running NASCAR TV series in history. Under several titles, the Monday night hour on SPEED ended its life as This Week in NASCAR. It had two or three panelists and one host. They reviewed highlights, talked about topics and had some fun.

Inside NASCAR has a new set, a new host and a new TV network. Unfortunately, that has not calmed some folks in the fan base. The popular belief is that NASCAR just stirred the soup a little bit and served up TWIN to Showtime with some new faces.

The show has been entertaining, but Showtime is just not the right network for the series. A small TV universe for Showtime of only 17 million homes makes the percentage of those that tune-in for Inside NASCAR very small.

Daugherty and Waltrip have a track record on TV, but both have also decided to make a go of it as owners in the Sprint Cup Series. Having Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick on the Inside NASCAR panel every week would make folks uncomfortable. How is it then different with Waltrip and Daugherty?

The bottom line is that Waltrip and Daugherty risk affecting their ownership situations in the garage when they directly offer critical comments on other teams, drivers and crew chiefs. On the TV side, there is no doubt that during the course of a ten month season there are going to be moments were critical comments are called for due to the circumstances.

Ambrose is a nice guy, has a good perspective and will be fine. The real issue is that in these situations Daugherty and Waltrip are forced to toe the polite NASCAR party line instead of trying to draw more facts and emotion from an interview subject like Ambrose. There is simply too much on the line.

Inside NASCAR has found that Pemberton is a gem of information and strong viewpoints. The network has also found that Daugherty is not. Waltrip continues to try and cover all the bases as a strong advocate of NASCAR in almost every situation. It's an interesting mix.

If you had an opportunity to watch the program, how about telling us your feelings on this issue from that perspective. If not a Showtime subscriber, have your issues changed on the NASCAR owner on TV topic? Is it just a part of the sport? Can fans just tune-out the politically correct comments?

With the recent appearances of Rusty Wallace in the ESPN TV booth and Phil Parsons on pit road for TNT telecasts, even more NASCAR owners are actively shaping the way fans see the sport on TV. It begs the question if this is really fair?

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ESPN's Randy LaJoie Suspended

ESPN studio analyst Randy LaJoie was suspended on Tuesday by both NASCAR and ESPN.

Here is the NASCAR statement:

Randy LaJoie, a crew member for the No. 18 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

On June 11, LaJoie was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

ESPN did not issue a statement, but LaJoie was not present on the Monday NASCAR Now program on which he had been scheduled. The network confirmed on Tuesday that LaJoie had been suspended indefinitely.

LaJoie got out ahead of this issue in a series of media releases and interviews. He began by talking to Dave Moody on the Sirius Speedway radio program.

"I screwed up," LaJoie told Moody. "NASCAR tested me the day when I wanted to go spot for someone at Nashville. I already have two NASCAR licenses, but they said I needed a spotter's license, and that included taking a drug test. I took the test, and got a call a few days later, saying I had tested positive for marijuana."

LaJoie admitted to smoking marijuana in the infield campgrounds at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the party atmosphere following the Coke 600 in May.

This was his statement on that topic:

“My use of marijuana was an isolated incident following the Coca-Cola 600,” he said. “I plan to follow the recommendations of the substance abuse counselor and suggestions of NASCAR and hope that someday I can prove to NASCAR and all the people with whom I associate that I have taken such steps to see that instances such as this do not reoccur.”

Finally, LaJoie said he would not challenge NASCAR on the issue:

"I take full responsibility for my actions and respect NASCAR's decision. I wish to apologize to my wife and family first, to NASCAR, to my fans and the various media companies for which I work."

While LaJoie was snared in a NASCAR trap meant for just this purpose, it is still not clear why a drug test done specifically for NASCAR has any bearing on his ESPN television presence.

ESPN is owned by ABC, which in turn is a Disney company. Needless to say, LaJoie failed a drug test for individuals who desire a NASCAR license in order to participate. LaJoie was working for Joe Gibbs Racing as a spotter on a one race contract. LaJoie did not fail any type of ESPN employee drug test.

LaJoie is an important connection to the Nationwide Series for ESPN. That family of TV networks carries all of the Nationwide Series race from start to finish in a TV package that still has years to go. LaJoie's personality, perspective and opinions have served the network well since he came on board.

Perhaps you could give us your opinion of this situation and whether you feel LaJoie should continue to be on ESPN as a NASCAR personality. To add your opinion on this topic, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.