Johnny TV Gets The Call

It was only a short time ago that Steve Byrnes made the decision to get off the road and sign-up as the fulltime studio anchor of SPEED's Race Hub series. That left an opportunity for someone to step-in as the host of the network's NASCAR practice and qualifying coverage.

Byrnes left a void that is not easy to fill. His experience in this on-track anchor role as well as his general TV versatility made him a tremendous asset for SPEED. While the network has put several on-air personalities in this role, Friday at Kansas is perhaps the most high-profile TV role since Byrnes departed.

SPEED made it official with the weekly on-air talent assignment sheet. Network veteran John Roberts gets to follow Mike Joy, Rick Allen and Byrnes as being the face of SPEED for all the Friday practice and qualifying shows.

Roberts has been slugging it out in the trenches at SPEED for a very long time. Over the years, he had wrangled Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace, sat in the rain and show on the outdoor SPEED Stage and introduced Wendy Venturini more times than anyone on the planet. Nice to see that hard work pay off with this opportunity.

This is a pretty big statement by SPEED. Roberts starts the day at 1PM ET with Sprint Cup Series practice and comes back at 3PM with the Nationwide Series session. Roberts gets Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds for those programs. That should be a good warm-up for the big challenge of the day.

At 4:30PM "Mr. Big Time" strolls into the booth when Darrell Waltrip joins the trio to make it a foursome for Sprint Cup Series qualifying. Waltrip is never shy this time of the year and Roberts is going to have his hands full once "Ole DW" gets wound up.

As if that challenge is not enough, Roberts gets to put a nightcap on the situation with the Nationwide Series final practice at 6PM. This time, it's Kyle Petty and Phil Parsons alongside as his former booth mates are getting ready for the Trackside show at 7PM.

Roberts is pretty well-known for the fact he had to supplement his income when he first started working as a weekend local TV sports reporter in Charlotte, NC. He ran a landscaping business from his garage.

"People got a kick out of seeing me on television on Sunday and then waking up on Monday to find me mowing their lawns," Roberts told the doityourself.com website. Click here to read the entire story about Roberts and his now extensive home workshop.

We will use this post to keep tabs on Mr. Roberts as he navigates his way though many hours of NASCAR TV on Friday. To add your opinion of how SPEED and Roberts are doing, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

Thanks for stopping by, it should be fun to watch SPEED go through the day on Friday in both of NASCAR's top series.

NASCAR's Daily TV Shows Deliver (Updated)

Update #2: Leaving this post up as both NASCAR Now, which was preempted on Wednesday and Race Hub will have updated RCR appeals coverage on Thursday.

There may be some gloom and doom in NASCAR land over the production and TV ratings of the two Chase races this season, but one part of the NASCAR TV landscape is thriving. Right now, a little good TV news goes a long way.

ESPN2's six day a week NASCAR Now and SPEED's four day a week Race Hub are both cranking along on eight cylinders. Tuesday night was a great example of how two TV series with completely different approaches to the same subject matter can co-exist.

Mike Massaro has been a workhorse for ESPN this season. Monday, he filled-in on the one hour show for Allen Bestwick. After the recent passing of his mother, Bestwick was attending to family matters after anchoring the Dover weekend from the track.

The NASCAR Now production team, pictured above, has been tinkering with the show and on Tuesday had Kasey Kahne in the studio. Although notoriously low-key with the media, Kahne mixed it up as a co-host with Massaro and actively took part in the entire program.

Dale Jarrett and TNT/SPEED's Kyle Petty were among the satellite liveshot guests and both interacted well with Kahne on a variety of topics. Massaro several times put Kahne on the spot about issues from the Hamlin and Harvick spat to his racing future next season. Kahne absolutely took every question head on and never missed a beat.

The feature of the program was Lead Reporter Marty Smith's interview with Denny Hamlin. Smith knows how to ask the right questions the right way and really got Hamlin to address a wide variety of topics with honest comments.

Smith, Nicole Briscoe, Angelique Chengelis and the multiple other contributors to this program make it a pleasure to watch. Ricky Craven is the best NASCAR studio analyst by far. ESPN has been struggling to find a re-air slot for NASCAR Now and often the 5PM original airing is the one and only time this program can be seen by fans.

Even as the sport is in the Chase for the Championship, the Monday and Tuesday shows this week did not re-air. Due to the fact that these programs cannot be made available online, it would seem that ESPN would make sure to show them again and promote the very races for which the network paid dearly to televise.

Update: Informed by ESPN this AM that the Wednesday 5PM NASCAR Now program has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. This is the day that the RCR appeal is being heard and cancelling this program is just a horrible decision.

Away from the suits and ties of ESPN is the casual style of SPEED. Since Steve Byrnes took over Race Hub, the series has the personality and credibility it needed. SPEED is still working to adapt the studio, but things have come a long way from the famous car couch and pinball machine.

Danielle Trotta has been a solid addition to the program as the fulltime reporter based in Charlotte, NC. Still a tough sell for some female fans, Trotta has been asking the right questions and working to solidify herself as not just another pretty face.

SPEED has also been working veteran Wendy Venturini back into the interview mix. Fans were miffed when Venturini's Real Deal segment was dumped from the RaceDay show so resources from the NASCAR Media Group could be used for a new NASCAR cooking series.

The strength of Race Hub is the ability to have guests drive a short distance to the studio. It didn't take NASCAR types long to grasp that with the big new SPEED studios, a driver could bring a show car or two along for the interview. Tuesday, that is exactly what Ryan Newman did.

Following a poignant interview with Jack Roush on Monday, Byrnes led Newman through topics from on-track anger to the upcoming birth of his daughter. Confirming that Thanksgiving was the due date, Newman talked candidly about his thoughts on fatherhood. Once again, Byrnes' experience in the sport made the interview click.

With an hour each day, Byrnes and the SPEED staff have begun to truly grasp that they have the ability to provide a valuable service to the sport with each program. Airing two hours after NASCAR Now, the challenge for Race Hub is to deal with breaking news and eventually live reporting from the field with Trotta.

While SPEED has backed off its original commitment to re-air Race Hub at midnight Eastern, the current 11PM Pacific timeslot is better than nothing. Eventually, as the program matures, it may also find a morning home just like SportsCenter on ESPN.

There may be some NASCAR TV problems to address this off-season, but the success of both these daily shows is a tribute to the hard work of the production staff and the commitment of ESPN and SPEED to keep NASCAR fans updated away from the track.

Perhaps you could share with us your views on these two shows. 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.

Your Turn: Sprint Cup Series From Dover On ESPN (Update - Read Fan Comments)

Sunday afternoon the NASCAR on ESPN team presented the second race in the 2010 Chase for the Championship. The Sprint Cup Series started the day on ESPN2 with a one hour pre-race show.

Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty appeared from the Infield Pit Studio. Bestwick interviewed Richard Childress and Mike Helton about the issues associated with the penalties handed down to the #33 team of Clint Bowyer.

Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree called the race in the TV booth. Down on pit road were Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch, Dave Burns and Jamie Little. Tim Brewer was in the Tech Garage.

The day was long due to the lack of real racing and the inability of the cars to pass each other on the track. The normal tight Dover racing never happened, but teams instead struggled with changes made by the pit crew on stops.

The TV pictures were fine and there were no technical problems. The race ended at 4:20PM ET with no red flag periods or extended cautions. There was weather in the area, but no rain halted the race at any point.

This post will host your TV-related race wrap-up comments. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for stopping by The Daly Planet.