Weather Story Looms As Friday TV Coverage Begins

It's a scenario that fans, teams and officials dread. While Friday signals the beginning of the TV coverage from Talladega, Saturday is on the minds of many.

Strong storms that have already produced severe weather across the Midwest are moving into the Southeast. Talladega is right in the path of this system.

When NASCAR gets together for a big weekend, there is a lot of equipment and manpower that is positioned at the track. Between the staff operating the facility, the crews working on the race cars and the large contingent of TV folks, there are a lot of people to take care of if severe weather threatens.

The Friday coverage begins at 11:30AM with Nationwide Series qualifying. This is another weekend where ESPN just covers the race, so SPEED will handle this session. Steve Byrnes, Jeff Hammond and Hermie Sadler have done a solid job again this season of covering a series where all the actual races are telecast by ESPN.

The Sprint Cup Series practice sessions are at 2 and 3:30PM ET. The NASCAR on FOX team will handle that coverage on SPEED with NASCAR Live programs before, between and after the two practices. There is usually a lot to talk about when practice is going on at Talladega.

5PM brings the ARCA race on SPEED with Rick Allen and Phil Parsons on the call. Wendy Venturini and Jim Tretow will handle pit road duties. This is always a time when lots of deep breaths are taken as many of the ARCA drivers are not very experienced with a speedway the size of Talladega.

The TV day ends with Trackside at 7:30 and another new Hall of Fame biography program at 8:30PM. This time, it is Bill France Jr. who is the subject of the show. This series from the NASCAR Media Group has been outstanding.

The weather today at the track is sunny skies with temps in the high 80's. As we mentioned earlier, all that will be changing quickly as the storm front approaches on Friday night. While the ARCA teams will be gone, that will still leave about eighty Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams at the track.

This post will host your comments about the Friday TV coverage from Talladega. 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.

Your Turn: Monday NASCAR Doubleheader From Texas

What a Monday of NASCAR TV. FOX got the day started with the Sprint Cup Series race. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond stayed in the Hollywood Hotel although there was no pre-race show. Mike Joy, Larry McReynold and Darrell Waltrip were in the TV booth.

The telecast followed the formula that we have seen from FOX this season. Mike Joy was low-key with Larry McReynolds providing the excitement. Darrell Waltrip offered his opinions and sometimes needed a little help on the specifics.

There was no rain delay, but there was a major accident that caused a red flag. The action was typical of the Texas track, focusing on several laps of racing after restarts until the field gets strung-out. The Hendrick cars were featured for a large portion of the race and the FOX announcers spoke extensively about the Hendrick organization.

The FOX pit reporters were Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Dick Berggren and Krista Voda. After being on the air for several hours on Sunday, they had a full-length Cup race to do on Monday. FOX is the network that under utilizes the pit reporters and did again in this race.

The FOX telecast concluded with almost an hour of time left for post-race. FOX used about twenty minutes and left before 4:30PM ET. Most viewers reported local shows inserted by the FOX stations. No explanation was given when FOX did not fill the timeslot or at least remain on the air until the half-hour.

ESPN2 was next and blasted onto the air with the Nationwide Series race. Marty Reid, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree were in the broadcast booth. Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch handled the pit road reporting duties.

Reid has changed the ESPN coverage and never let down his high energy style. Wallace is a bit awkward in this role, since he is an NNS owner, but held his own. Petree has been solid for ESPN since this TV package began in 2007.

The race was the normal parade of the Cup drivers vs. the Nationwide regulars. Credit ESPN for keeping the pictures wide and searching for the racing on the track. The pit road reporters provided recaps during the race and followed the pro-active style of the "new" NASCAR on ESPN team.

These two races began at 12 and ran through 7:30PM ET. There was about a 45 minute break between races for TV viewers and NASCAR fans. There were no technical problems, which is a big credit to the networks and the NASCAR Media Group who maintain the TV compound.

This post is your opportunity to offer your comments on both the FOX and ESPN coverage of the Monday doubleheader. 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 hanging in there and stopping by The Daly Planet.

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Texas (5PM - ESPN2)

Here we go with the second half of the Monday NASCAR doubleheader. The Nationwide Series is on ESPN2 at 5PM from the Texas Motor Speedway.

Marty Reid will call the race with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree alongside. On pit road are Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch, Jamie Little and Dave Burns. Tim Brewer has packed the Tech Garage up and gone home.

This race is also in hurry-up mode, trying to get finished between 7 and 7:30PM when both SPEED and ESPN2 have TV shows scheduled to review the races.

The familiar scenario should be in place of Cup drivers vs. the Nationwide regulars. ESPN did a tremendous job of promoting the series during the rain delay on Saturday.

Hopefully, that momentum will translate into a telecast that chases the racing on the track and stays away from the bells and whistles. ESPN has been hit or miss with the directing lately, but very good with the commentary.

This post will serve to host your comments on the Nationwide Series coverage on ESPN2 from Texas. 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. Thanks for taking the time to live blog with us today.