Wednesday NASCAR TV Updates

Here are the Wednesday TV/media updates posted as they come in:

SPEED has adjusted the Monday line-up again for next week. Here is the program schedule for May 17:

7:00PM - NASCAR Race Hub: No host announced, but the show will be one hour in length.
8:00PM - NASCAR Hall of Fame Biography Series: Dale Earnhardt Sr. is profiled.
9:00PM - Fast Track to Fame: Amateur talent show hosted by Michael Waltrip.
10:00PM - The Racing Chef: Chef Nicky whips up recipes with NASCAR guests.
10:30PM - Sounds of NASCAR: Great show profiling one personality or team on a race weekend.

What this means is Spencer's show What's the Deal is gone and also the Monday version of NASCAR in a Hurry seems to be a casualty of the changes at SPEED. More info when it comes out.

Meanwhile, we have reached out to NASCAR.com about their choice of a single raw camera feed and the microphone on the stage as the Hall of Fame opening ceremony webcast on Tuesday morning. NASCAR.com and SPEED are partners. SPEED was on site and produced a full three hour outstanding TV program. No response yet from Turner, the company that owns and operates the NASCAR.com website.

Reminder that tonight's NASCAR Now on ESPN2 at 5PM has Dr. Jerry Punch's sit down with Larry Pearson, who is pictured above. Discussion centers on Pearson's accident in Bristol in the charity race and the challenges he has faced since that time. Punch is the perfect person to deal with this subject. Mike Massaro is hosting.

Update: ESPN also reminds me Kyle Petty will be a NASCAR Now Wednesday guest on the anniversary of his son's tragic death. Kyle's charity motorcycle ride ended on Sunday as well.

Tonight's Race Hub on SPEED has Travis Kvapil and Denny Hamlin as guests. Rick Allen hosts at 7:30PM ET. Show re-airs 8:30PM Pacific Time.

We have also confirmed that Race Hub will be expanding to one hour in length for next week, but SPEED has not yet informed us if this will be permanent. Expanding at least the Monday show to one hour would be a great idea. It has been apparent since February that thirty minutes is not enough time for all the information, interviews and guests that SPEED can get from their new studio that is right in NASCAR's backyard.

More items will be added to this post as the day rolls on!

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Tuesday TV/Media Notes

It has been a whirlwind week already on the NASCAR TV and media scene. Here are some news, notes and updates on topics that may be of interesting to you this week:

The Hall of Fame TV begins on Tuesday morning at 9AM ET on SPEED. Three hours of live programming will cover the official opening of this new facility in downtown Charlotte, NC. Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds will anchor the telecast. Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Jeff Hammond will be interviewing the NASCAR personalities on hand. Ken Squier and Kyle Petty will be offering commentary. The entire show will re-air at 9PM ET as well.

ESPN2 will have a presence in Charlotte and offer an expanded one-hour NASCAR Now program on Tuesday at 5PM hosted by Mike Massaro. On Wednesday's show, Dr. Jerry Punch will be feautured in an in-depth interview with Larry Pearson. Punch will talk with Pearson about his recovery from injuries suffered in a charity race at Bristol, TN.

Viewers may have noticed the changes in the Monday night line-up on SPEED. Jimmy Spencer's What's the Deal show has been cancelled. After Race Hub, SPEED inserted an hour of PINKS All Out before returning to other shows with NASCAR connections. This is a very clear signal that more changes will be coming as SPEED continues to recover from the ill-timed cancellation of This Week in NASCAR.

Big network news this week was the upcoming launch of SPEED2. With all the different motorsports programming available from around the world, SPEED has decided to put together an online broadband channel that sounds a lot like the old SpeedVision. Touring cars, FIA series, FIM motorcycles, rallys and endurance races are going to be featured. The other use of this channel will be to stream live news events and media announcements. This is going to be an "authenticated broadband channel." What the means simply is that you must already be a SPEED subscriber to access it online. There will be more on this topic next week as the details emerge.

The Sprint Cup Series coverage on FOX from Darlington saw a slight increase in the TV ratings. Here is that info from Jayski: NASCAR on FOX had a 3.9/8 overnight rating Saturday night for racing from Darlington Raceway for the Showtime Southern 500, an 8% increase over last year's 3.6/7 for the same race. The Sprint Cup race ran second for the night to ABC's NBA Playoff game.

Finally, the Inside NASCAR on Showtime gang will be focusing on the Hall of Fame for the Wednesday 10PM ET show. This program is actually taped at the NASCAR Media Group studios in the Hall of Fame building complex. Chris Myers hosts with Brad Daugherty, Randy Pemberton and Michael Waltrip on the panel.

Let's use this post for your comments on this topic, including the Hall of Fame ceremonies. 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 taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Your Turn: NASCAR On FOX From Darlington

Well, it certainly was a long day's journey into night. The Sprint Cup Series night race at Darlington kicked-off with the Hollywood Hotel at 7PM and ran for more than four hours on FOX.

Chris Myers started the telecast with a 30 minute pre-race show. Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond joined him for updates, news and comments. Mike Joy took over the call of the race with Waltrip and Larry McReynolds. Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren were the pit road reporters.

The Cup Series did not experience the tire blowout problems that plagued the Friday night Nationwide Series race on ESPN2. Instead, the racing was good with passing into the corners and at the end of the straights.

FOX started with energy and focus. Mike Joy was energetic and called the action on the track. After using a lot of cameras and following the action, the familiar FOX routine returned. Tight shots of one or two cars mixed with in-car cameras became the order of the day. Late in the race, FOX showed us that the DirecTV blimp was above the track. This perspective was rarely used and really missed.

The best pit reporters on TV were used sparingly with no field rundowns and regular updates. Instead, FOX took a page from ESPN and used endless in-car radio replays.

This is just a post to let you offer a race recap of the TV coverage from your perspective. To add your opinion on the NASCAR on FOX telecast, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.