Motorsports Media Notes

There are a lot of tidbits flying around today involving various kinds of motorsports media types. Here are some items crossing the TDP desk.

Peter Windsor is back on SPEED's Formula 1 coverage. You may remember his ill-fated US-based F-1 team effort. SPEED promoted it endlessly and then slowly crept away as it fell apart. Windsor is now based in London and will be contributing to the SPEED.com website expansion of F-1 content. He will not be a pit reporter. Will Buxton remains in that role.

Click here for a link to the Jalopnik.com story on Adam Corolla. He is currently fronting the new Car Show series on SPEED. This is the network's attempt to clone the popular Top Gear franchise. Unfortunately, Corolla is still stuck in his Man Show character and his sexist behavior toward women on the program is amazing. Now, he may just have a little bit more to deal with after his most recent rant.

Back on the NASCAR trail, two items are being discussed today. First, after perhaps the most memorable interview on NASCAR Now in years, ESPN executives made the incredible decision to cancel the only re-air of that show and instead re-air the entire Watkins Glen Sprint Cup Series race.

Greg Biffle had called into NASCAR Now live at 6PM Monday and proceeded to unleash his feelings on Boris Said. Biffle referenced incidents from the previous year's race and also explained what went on during and after the race with Said. This interview featured some of the most memorable NASCAR quotes in recent memory.

Since the re-air of the Biffle interview was cancelled, SPEED was quick to get Biffle into the RaceHub studio today where he will be speaking with Steve Byrnes on the 7PM ET show. Byrnes has a good interview style that gets the most out of guests, so it should be interesting to see what Biffle has to say now one day after the fireworks.

ESPN has confirmed it will be sending Rusty Wallace and Ricky Craven to Montreal this Saturday to team with Marty Reid on the Nationwide Series race. As usual, there will be no coverage of practice or qualifying. ESPN certainly has a love/hate relationship with the Nationwide Series once the network's Sprint Cup coverage begins.

I'm a fan of Jayski.com and the dedication of the small group working on that website. Big honor today as Time included Jayski.com on the list of the 50 best websites of 2011. Click here to read the story.

The full three hour scheduled re-airing of the Sprint Cup Series race from Watkins Glen will be on SPEED, as usual, at noon ET on Wednesday.

More items will be added to this post throughout the day, please check back later and make sure to give us your comments on these topics.

Post-Race Comments: Sprint Cup Series From Watkins Glen On ESPN

Rain delayed the Sprint Cup Series race on ESPN from Watkins Glen until Monday morning.

On this delayed coverage, ESPN does not have the Infield Pit Studio and Tech Garage. The telecast was simply the trio in the TV booth and the pit road reporters.

Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree called the race. On pit road were Dr. Jerry Punch, Shannon Spake, Vince Welch and Dave Burns.

The race coverage was straightforward and basic. The early laps featured a wet track and foggy conditions. Once the fog lifted, the real racing started after the halfway mark when the race was official.

ESPN stayed focused on the battles and stories within the field. There were few distractions as the sequence of green flag pit stops and lead changes was the order of the day.

A crash involving Kurt Busch featured ESPN using an in-car angle of the accident, including the impact on the driver. The producer waited until Kurt was out of the car and walking around to show this angle. Busch was also interviewed.

Denny Hamlin had a hard crash while coverage was in commercial break. Hamlin's accident was replayed numerous times and a follow-up interview was done.

The final lap of the race featured a large crash in the back of the field that involved at least one car rolling over. ESPN stayed with live coverage of the race for the lead until the caution flag was displayed.

Replays documented how the final lap accident occurred. This was one of the hardest road course crashes involving multiple cars in years. ESPN interviewed the winner of the race and also the drivers involved in the accident.

A skirmish in the pits involving Boris Said was also documented. ESPN remained live on-site and provided very complete post-race coverage.

This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Watkins Glen. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for stopping by.

Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series from Watkins Glen (ESPN - 10AM)

Update: Here we go again. The rain delayed race is now set for 10AM on Monday. Click to the comments section and join us for live chat.

There is rain in the area and Watkins Glen is a big road course that takes a long time to dry. The good news is that the race itself has the potential to really make some good TV.

Nicole Briscoe hosts the Infield Pit Studio with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. No doubt these three will be talking about rivalries and the points leading up to the Chase. ESPN has an hour to fill, so keep an eye on the mix of pre-produced features vs. live interviews.

Jamie Little is off working the IndyCar race today from Loudon, NH for ABC. Shannon Spake is working pit road at the Glen with Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch and Dave Burns.

Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree worked the Nationwide Series race on Saturday which produced very little excitement. Luckily, the handful of Sprint Cup Series drivers who dominated the Saturday event cannot do the same today.

Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage. The normal road course issues include fueling the cars on the passenger side, pitting with driver's side away from pit wall and stopping early to get a break late. It's a road course.

ESPN had a tough time on Saturday telling the stories of anyone except the cars in the front of the pack. Sometimes, the current leader means nothing as fuel will not allow that car to finish. The stories are who can go the distance and what strategies are unfolding for teams throughout the race.

The network has a wonderful aerial shot mixed with all the normal angles we see at the Glen. Saturday's finish was shown from the camera at the far end of the frontstretch. While viewers did see the lead lap cars finish, it was tough to tell who was who at that distance.

While the Nationwide Series has rain tires and wipers, the Sprint Cup Series does not. Rain at this track could well delay the race until Monday. There is no information yet, but ESPN2 would probably be the destination. NASCAR would likely not make that decision until late afternoon. There are no lights at the Glen.

This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below.