NASCAR On FOX Limps Into Darlington

This past weekend, ESPN delivered a solid Nationwide Series telecast from Richmond International Raceway on Friday night. Then, SPEED delivered a great Camping World Truck Series telecast from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon. In between the two, there was another race on TV.

After failing to profile the disabled soldier for whom the race was named during the pre-race show, FOX then struggled though what should have been a simple telecast on a short track that the network had visited many times before.

Here are the TV results from Sports Business Daily:

Overnight ratings for the Sprint Cup Series race from Richmond dropped from last year's already subpar level. FOX drew a 3.4 overnight for the race on Saturday night, down 8% from last year (3.7) and down 19% from 2008.

This marks the lowest overnight rating ever for this race on broadcast television.

Additionally, the 3.4 is tied as the second-lowest overnight ever for a NASCAR race on FOX, ahead of only last year's Subway Fresh Fit 500 (3.3).

Once the race was underway, the first round of green flag pitstops put NASCAR in an interesting position. Only nine cars were on the lead lap. Our friend Phil Allaway over at Frontstretch.com did a good job of describing what happened next on TV:

Jimmie Johnson, running in ninth, was fighting with leader Kyle Busch to stay on the lead lap. Just as Busch got a fender in front of Johnson, the caution came out for debris. No one ever found that debris and showed it to us. Now, it could be assumed that there was none, meaning that the whole yellow was a sham. Maybe there was some, but they never found it. I don’t know how many cameras FOX had at Richmond last weekend, but they probably should have been able to pick up something. Or, at the very least, notify the audience that they could not find the debris.

Allaway went on to reference two other popular topics. Those were the continual focus on the race leaders and the extensive use of in-car cameras. Fans stopped by after the race and left these comments:

Again we were "treated" to a very poor mixture of camera shots giving neither the experienced racing viewers or the NASCAR newbies in my home Saturday night a full sense of what was happening during the race. (KoHoSo)

I could not follow what was going on whatsoever. Confused broadcast, confusing the fans. Sure, I can read that tracker at the top and miss the action that should be on TV. But they never explained what was going on to make those movements happen. (JohnP)

Fox refused to establish any kind of flow or provide context for what the cameras were showing. They must have a bingo caller in charge of switching cameras, surely no one with any broadcast experience could do that bad of a job. (bevo)

I always look forward to the short track races, and Richmond is one of the best. Last night, I had no clue as to what was actually taking place on the track. The in car cams and isolated shots of one car running alone gave no insight as to how the race was developing. No full field rundowns, no explanations of why so many cars had gone laps down so early...it was a mess. It made me realize why my interest in NASCAR has been waning the past couple years. If I can't watch on TV and get caught up in the excitement, there's not much point in watching. (Sally)

Toward the end of the race, FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip offered several different versions of what he thought would happen and who would win. Waltrip and Larry McReynolds have been set free this season to talk overtop of TV veteran Mike Joy. Once again in Richmond, three voices tried to call the action down the stretch.

After being called out by several mainstream journalists for poor post-race coverage, FOX has twice made a last minute switch to the SPEED cable network for additional programming. That was again the case in Richmond.

We have been told this decision is made on the fly according to the circumstances of the race. This Saturday in Darlington brings yet another night race. It seems a bit ironic that SPEED is on location taping the Victory Lane show for a delayed Sunday broadcast while the SPEED network is used by FOX for the live post-race show.

After years of asking, we will repeat the question. On the Saturday night Sprint Cup Series races, why not do Victory Lane live after the race for the full hour and then replay it Sunday in the scheduled timeslot? Fans can simply change channels whenever the race ends and SPEED will get a solid TV rating.

The format for Darlington is the same as last week. A two-hour RaceDay show on SPEED at 5PM, followed by a thirty minute pre-race show on FOX and then the live race. This Saturday SPEED has an AMA Supercross Special on at 10PM for several hours. It will be interesting to see if the powers at FOX decide to cut into this high-profile program with the live NASCAR post-race show.

TV news updates: SPEED has no comment, but it looks like Jimmy Spencer's What's the Deal show seen on Monday nights has been cancelled. Also, it has been confirmed that Darrell Waltrip will join NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED for the six summer races televised by TNT. Kyle Petty will be gone to the TNT booth as a race analyst.

Please join us on Saturday night for the live TV blog. You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter with continually updated content anytime. We also welcome your comments on this topic. 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.

Wednesday TV/Media Notes

All kinds of things are going on in the NASCAR TV world. Here are some notes:

Tuesday afternoon, Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Utter said on Twitter that he heard SPEED had cancelled What's the Deal? with Jimmy Spencer and Ray Dunlap. As you may recall, this program struggled from the start with a bad set, a rough timeslot and a horrible format. Official comments from SPEED should come Wednesday on both the TV series and Spencer's future role with the network.

On Monday, SPEED confirmed that entertainment director Roger Goodman had been brought in to coordinate production of the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony. David Hill, who is Chairman of the FOX Sports Media Group, made the call. Hill is now actively involved in the decision making at SPEED since his responsibilities were expanded to include SPEED, FoxSportsNet and the FOX regional sports networks nationwide.

This week has featured the duo of Steve Byrnes and Krista Voda co-hosting the NASCAR Race Hub programs on SPEED. These are the network's two top pro's when it comes to studio shows. Last week, Byrnes said on Twitter that he would be hosting a lot more of Race Hub. That's got to be a tall task for a guy who already hosts Trackside and NASCAR Live, as well as Nationwide Series qualifying and practice sessions. Did we happen to mention Byrnes is also a pit reporter for the NASCAR on FOX races? Yikes!

Fast Track to Fame, SPEED's rather unique Monday night talent show, is drawing to a close. The last scheduled episode is June 7. So, the Monday night 8PM Eastern timeslot is apparently going to see some new program offerings in June. Since This Week in NASCAR was cancelled, the email and comments from fans have been steady. There still seems to be a strong desire to have a one-hour Monday evening review show. Bringing something like this back is made even more tempting by the fact that ESPN2's NASCAR Now continues to be a 5PM ET show with a late night re-air.

"The Weekend Starts on Wednesday" was a book recently released by Andrew Giangola. In it he profiles colorful NASCAR fans. ESPN is featuring select fans from this book on the weekend edition of NASCAR Now. This Saturday at 10AM ET, the feature is on a University of South Carolina professor who is an avid mountain climber. He timed his Mt. Everest effort so that he reached the summit on May 24. You might be able to guess his favorite driver and the flag he planted on the mountain top.

Even after a rough outing in Richmond, ESPN is returning Rusty Wallace to the TV booth this Friday night to work with Marty Reid and Andy Petree in Darlington. Rusty is a multi-car Nationwide Series owner who is often put in the position of dealing with on-track issues that involve his team members. His face-off with Kyle Busch during a recent rain delay should have been a sign to ESPN. It's time for Ricky Craven in the TV booth when Dale Jarrett is away.

The trailer for the film Racing Dreams is now available by clicking here. This documentary will be screened at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 18 before being released nationwide. It's a family film with a very good buzz that centers on three youngsters racing go karts.

Wednesday should see updated news from SPEED about talent assignments, new shows and what is next for Monday night. There are also suggestions that major NASCAR sponsor news may break over the next couple of days. Whether that is team, series or race track has not been passed along. It should be interesting.

Whatever happens on Wednesday, we will update this post as well as the TDP Facebook fan page and the TDP Twitter page. We welcome your comments on the topics above. Add your opinion by clicking on the comment button below. Thanks for stopping by!

ESPN Has One Eye On July

It will be July 25 when ESPN takes a fourth swing at televising the final seventeen Sprint Cup Series races. To say the previous three seasons have been an adventure would be an understatement.

Contained in this package is the ultimate prize for the NASCAR TV networks. That would be the Chase for the Championship. The NASCAR playoffs consist of the final ten races of the season with only a select field eligible to win the Sprint Cup.

It's not uncommon to see top NASCAR teams struggle. Sometimes, it's for an entire season. Often the issue is not the engines or the cars or the race strategy. It's not the guys in the shop, on the pit crew or even the sponsors. Sometimes, it's all about chemistry.

Over the years, we have seen a single change of a driver or crew chief serve as a rallying point for an entire organization. Just one change and suddenly the skies brighten and the momentum shifts. As it often turns out, the potential was there all along. It just needed a jump start to emerge.

After three seasons, ESPN was down on its luck. In late 2009, the huge media company had just struggled through the roughest stretch of Sprint Cup Series telecasts in recent memory. As we say in TV land, there was no joy in Mudville.

ESPN had given Dr. Jerry Punch an opportunity to grow into a major role on TV that anyone would cherish. Punch had jumped at the chance to call the play-by-play for the new NASCAR TV package that started back in 2007. Then, all hell broke loose.

Instead of simply calling the races, Punch found himself dealing with Brent Musburger and his magic podium as the "host" of the telecasts. After several disasters in the infield, Suzy Kolber was inserted as Punch's partner for the pre-race and updates. ESPN's Bristol, CT-based management had decided to use "in-house" talent whenever possible. It was a total disaster.

Once the action got underway, Punch turned to his right. There was Rusty Wallace. You have to wonder if Punch struggled for composure as Rusty used the Draft Tracker and its colored air flow gizmos to try and tell fans about the aero push at Richmond. After one season, Wallace was headed to the infield.

Despite the chaos surrounding him, Punch had chance after chance to carve out his niche in the NASCAR TV booth. It never happened. Last year, ESPN actually telecast several Nationwide Series races without a play-by-play announcer. "Backseat Drivers" the network called it. In reality, it was the handwriting on the wall.

Click here to review the story we reported back in December. ESPN had decided to bring TV veteran Marty Reid in to call the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races for 2010. After three seasons, Punch was out.

In what may go down as one of the best decisions in ESPN's NASCAR history, cooler heads prevailed where Punch was concerned. He was not given his walking papers. As Reid came into the TV booth, Punch simply headed back to pit road. Click here to review what happened when ESPN opened the season in Daytona. It was like Punch was home again.

Just like a team finally winning a race after a tough year, the entire ESPN on-air vibe has changed. Reid turned out to be just what Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree needed in the booth. A veteran play-by-play guy who can turn up the excitement, direct the traffic and let the analysts shine.

Suddenly, the pit road reporters had to step-up their game when Punch was dumped into their laps. Antagonizing questions and hyped agendas had led to bad feelings in the garage where ESPN was concerned. Punch's presence this season has gone a long way toward changing that. His recent rain delay interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a case in point.

Into this mix gets tossed solid TV professionals like Allen Bestwick and Dave Burns. Gizmos like Draft Tracker are long gone. Gimmicks like music videos and celebrity interviews have been retired. In the blink of an eye, ESPN is a contender. Viewers can feel it, hear it and see it. The ESPN of old has returned.

Sure, Tim Brewer will still be pointing at fuel cells as if we all just landed from Mars. Brad Daugherty will still be sitting in the infield stating the obvious and getting "fired up." If that is the worst part of the ESPN stretch drive this season, I'll take it.

With the way the NASCAR on ESPN gang has performed this year, we may be getting ready for the type of dynamic and exciting TV coverage that The Chase has deserved. One little change has led to very big things. Credit goes to the ESPN executives for having the courage to start the ball rolling in the right direction.

Marty Reid returns with Bestwick anchoring the infield and Punch reporting from pit road on Friday night at 7PM ET as the Nationwide Series races in Darlington, SC.

We welcome your comments on this topic. 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 stopping by The Daly Planet.