Musburger Leads ABC's Red Sox Love Fest

When Brent Musburger was added to the ABC Sports line-up for the Busch Series race in Loudon, no one really paid attention. Musburger had been "the telecast host" on ABC before this season. This time, however, Musburger was personally hosting NASCAR Countdown, the pre-race show.

Over the past several races, when the coverage was on ESPN2, Allen Bestwick and Mike Massaro had been hosting. Now, on broadcast TV, those two apparently were not good enough for the big time. Suzy Kolber, who will host both the Cup and Busch pre-race shows for ESPN/ABC eventually, was nowhere to be seen...once again.

Musburger's famous line, "you're looking live at...Loudon, New Hampshire" led into the rocking opening of the show, which served to recap the last several races and the season. ESPN's pre-produced features and opens continue to be outstanding.

Then, a strange thing happened. The Red Sox love fest began. On Sunday, in the NEXTEL Cup race on TNT, Carl Edwards will be racing a car with a Boston Red Sox logo on the front hood. Back in February of this year, Roush Racing merged with the Red Sox parent organization. But this was the Busch Series, and Edwards drove a car with lawn care products on the hood. Apparently, that did not matter.

ABC showed Jack Roush and Carl Edwards throwing out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. Musburger talked about the pitches and the funny things that happened, including the fact that the Red Sox catcher missed the ball. Edwards then drove a NEXTEL Cup show car onto the outfield warning track at Fenway Park. With the NEXTEL Cup race on TNT, and no Red Sox car in the field on Saturday, what connection this had with the Busch Series was not clear.

Later in the show ABC ran a feature on Roush's "Fenway Day," complete with first pitch footage again. To say the least, for NASCAR fans who could care less about the Red Sox, this entire topic was awkward. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Busch Series race at hand, or the track in New Hampshire. I bet there were many Busch teams in the garage that would have loved this type of free publicity for their sponsor.

Musburger then recapped the Denny Hamlin "non-story" of last week, and actually tried to hype as an "issue" what was really a sponsor obligation. Luckily, Hamlin was interviewed by Allen Bestwick, who straightened things out. A telephone follow-up from Aric Almirola was nice, but certainly not necessary seven days later.

On the set, both Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree put things into perspective in about two minutes. It was about sponsors, obligations, and money. Nothing about personal relationships or drivers was ever an issue. Petree said if not for a car parked on the helipad, there would have been no issue. Now, that's a summary.

Jamie Little has been enjoying her first year as a pit reporter on the ESPN NASCAR package, but she should not have been given the assignment of speaking with Tony Stewart in this show. Tony ate her naive and timid line of questioning for lunch, with a smart-aleck smile on his face...as usual. Make sure you have your ducks in a row before you wander into Tony territory.

Since the start of the season, The Daly Planet has been asking ESPN and ABC to put one or both of the "booth analysts" down on the infield set for the pre-race show. This week, Brad Daugherty was missing from the set, and both Jarrett and Petree were alongside Musburger. This made all the difference in the world, and gave Musburger the kind of credibility and firepower that Daugherty and a weekly on-set guest could never match. Once Suzy Kolber hits Countdown, she is going to need every bit of support she can get.

The big problem with NASCAR Countdown again this week is that ESPN/ABC is just obsessed with NEXTEL Cup. In the field at Loudon was young Stephen Leicht, fan favorite Marcos Ambrose, and veteran Bobby Labonte. There was also Ward Burton, Scott Wimmer and Jason Keller all trying to re-kindle their racing careers.

Perhaps, more attention to the Busch Series drivers would allow fans to re-connect with this series that has often times become nothing more than NEXTEL Cup practice with a checkered flag at the end. Fans deserved much more eighteen races into the Busch season than the ESPN crew fawning over the Red Sox NEXTEL Cup car. But, I guess that all depends on where Musburger's box seats are located.

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Tony's "Prelude" Coming To SPEED Channel

A while back, Tony Stewart and his sidekick Matt Yocum pulled off a pretty amazing night of live TV. You may remember The Daly Planet column entitled "Tony Stewart and HBO are about to make history." Now, slightly over a month since it originally aired live on Pay-Per-View, Tony has pulled-off another TV deal destined to change the racing landscape.

First, let's recap things. Tony owns the Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Its a dirt bullring one half mile in length, and its fast. Tony decided to get some NASCAR buddies to race a charity event on a Wednesday between Cup races. The proceeds would go to the Victory Junction gang camp, and Tony's own charitable foundation.

What started out with Kenny Wallace, Kenny Schrader, and a couple of "guys" has grown into a mid-week media event. This year, Tony got a cast of characters together that you just had to see to believe. Therein lies the problem. The only way to see the original telecast was to psych one's self up to pay the twenty five dollars for one telecast...and hope it was worth it.

The goal was to really make a lot of money for charity, and NASCAR fans (like me) love that kind of thing. To that end, Tony invited a bunch of A-list NASCAR drivers and several NHRA drivers to come out and play. Surprisingly, everyone that was asked said yes to this event. Those in the know understood as the event date drew close that things were going to get interesting in TV land.

There were no million dollar RV's in the infield. There were no covered garages with high-profile crew chiefs. There were no "PR guys" in khaki pants whisking drivers away in golf carts. There was just a bunch of NASCAR guys who could not wipe the grins off their faces waiting to go out and "hot lap" on dirt.

NASCAR on Fox's Producer Pam Miller and Director Artie Kempner lent their services for free to produce the live PPV telecast. Upstairs, in the booth, was Mike Joy, Kyle Petty and Darrell Waltrip. Downstairs, pit road was patrolled by veteran Dick Berggren with Matt Yocum acting as the show's host. The all-star line-ups were not only on the track.

All of a sudden, everything just kind of came together for one night. The weather was great, the track was fast, the cars were sharp looking, and and the strangest things began to happen. People began to see that these carefully "packaged" drivers away from NASCAR were really people who just loved to race. They were, as Wendy Venturini would say, the "real deal."

I am not going to ruin the show for the fans who did not see it the first time, but let me tell you...it was fun. Now, SPEED Channel President Hunter Nickell has swung a deal to re-broadcast the entire event on SPEED. Great idea for the fans. This will serve to put a program out there that does not present these drivers as whiny little millionaires. That sentiment is very popular with some "other" TV networks who try to portray anyone in the sport in a negative light.

The first airing of "The Prelude to the Dream" is on Sunday July 8th at noon Eastern Time. Set your DVR or VCR to record this event, and you will find yourself playing it back again with your friends. For NASCAR fans who have never seen dirt racing, it may come as a shock that this sport exists nationwide and is simply a blast.

As any adult knows, TV likes to imitate itself. Whether it is about law and order or forensics, one hot TV show breeds another. TV most likes to do that when it can make money simply by expanding, or even copying, an existing idea. Right now, Tony and his media company are not releasing the PPV numbers that this telecast drew. I hope that information is released after the show airs on SPEED.

With the success of this project, I am sure we will see more mid-week and off-season events begin to crop-up around racing. Especially with IROC gone, there is a need to show different types of drivers competing for fun with each other. Well, as much fun as these guys can have till the first wheel turns and the race begins. Then, it always gets very interesting. At Eldora, it certainly was.

Big thanks to SPEED Channel, Tony Stewart, and everyone involved in making this re-air happen. Hopefully, SPEED will carefully screen the show and maybe even add-in some production elements to allow new fans to understand the dirt world. This event was lots of fun on TV, but I have already told myself that next year...I'm going.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email editor@thedalyplanet.tv if you wish not to be published. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.

Will TNT's Problems "Hinder" NASCAR?

There are only three races left in TNT's summer "mini-season" of NASCAR coverage. This small package of races bridges the gap between Fox Sports and ESPN/ABC. Once ESPN kicks back in for The Brickyard 400, that company stays with the NEXTEL Cup schedule all the way to the championship. The final eleven races will be on ABC Sports, but produced by the same ESPN bunch.

TNT's contribution to this NASCAR season has been a memorable one. Off-balance since the start, this group of admittedly "cross-bred" TV production folks is a smorgasbord of personnel who normally work for other networks and production companies. TNT might know drama, but with NASCAR its been an uphill climb this season. The TNT team of television "freelancers" had its roughest day last Sunday in Sonoma.

One of the things that people may remember most about TNT this season is the fact that the network is shameless in promoting its own entertainment products. This often comes with little regard to the subject matter of the promo, or the time of day it is shown.

The Daly Planet got a bunch of email from NASCAR parents shocked at the subject matter of a TNT promo that included actress Holly Hunter. Apparently, it was a wonderful promo for kids to see on a Sunday just home from church and watching racing. But, what do you expect for a network with six races to promote itself and absolutely nothing to lose? When they are gone from NASCAR, they are gone.

This weekend, at New Hampshire, TNT is once again going to test the patience of NASCAR fans in a very big way. The fans at the track and on TV get to hear the rock band "Hinder" perform live. This is the group that recorded the version of Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" that fans have heard on the TNT coverage. Let me re-phrase that. The version that fans have heard over-and-over-and-over again on the TNT broadcasts. Did I mention over-and-over again?

"A performance by 'Hinder' is the perfect instrument to get race fans revved-up to watch the dramatic action of NASCAR racing," says Jenny Storms from Turner Sports Marketing. This week on the one hour NASCAR Live on TNT fans will actually get "Hinder" in concert. Since Turner Interactive runs NASCAR.com, that site will replay the performances and have other "Hinder" things.

A hard rock band playing in front of a NASCAR grandstand in New Hampshire on a Sunday afternoon. Can't you just feel the vibe coming from that crowd?

Despite the hype and the attitude, TNT has some serious explaining to do to the fans during their pre-race shows. They left the air Sunday without final results, never had a clue as to what was going on in the last twenty laps, and put Kyle Petty in a bad spot by airing an obscenity during a replay. Add to that the fact that Larry McReynolds, struggling with his voice, was placed in an open air set adjacent to the track during the race. To say the least, things were not good.

This week, Bill Weber's article on the NASCAR on TNT website is entitled "Picturesque New England Could Turn Ugly For Some." Truer words were never said by Mr. Weber, who has struggled to maintain a friendly on-air persona during the entire TNT coverage. Message boards and chat forums around the Internet are full of fans screaming for his head. They are annoyed by his style, his attitude, and his lack of play-by-play experience. Mike Joy he is not.

When the TNT crew comes on-air in Loudon, fans will quickly see if the adversity of Sonoma has caused them to gel, or continue to splinter into even more uncomfortable on-air relationships. With the positive press that DirecTV's Hot Pass has been getting, the pressure to deliver a thorough and professional race will be greater than ever. Thankfully, the flat track of Loudon will make it tough to pass, and keep the potential chaos to a minimum.

The odd man out of TNT's coverage is Wally Dallenbach. His Wally's World ride-a-long feature has been obliterated into a TNT promo. All the good information and track descriptions he used to give viewers while terrifying a celebrity are gone. With Kyle Petty on board, his status as the veteran driver in the booth is gone. After Sonoma, and his inability to relate anything relevant or accurate in the closing laps, his credibility is gone. What's left?

Hopefully, the TNT crew will take the adversity of Sonoma as a challenge to nail both the pre-race shows and race broadcast at Loudon on Sunday. Maybe the inside jokes and the put-downs will be put on hold until the ride to the airport in the rental car. Maybe the "happy" Bill Weber will be able to remain that way for four hours. Maybe Kyle will have his best race as an analyst just when he needs it most.

The bottom line is that fans just want on TV what they have been getting on the radio for decades. Good exciting NASCAR racing presented to them...as if they matter. We shall see if that message sinks in.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email editor@thedalyplanet.tv if you wish not to be published. All email is held in confidence. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.