Who Does the Best Job Broadcasting the NASCAR Races?

We are now in what could be called the third trimester of the racing broadcast season. FOX carried us through basically the first half of the season. TNT took over for a few races. Now ESPN is going to carry us to the finish of the 2009 season. Sure, the Chase races themselves will be broadcast on ABC, but ESPN will be doing all the leg work on those broadcasts.

To be honest with you, I find strengths in all 3 of the broadcast teams. FOX has remained largely unchanged since their start in 2001. They've enhanced their coverage by adding gimmicks over the years, some of which are good, and some of which are not. Digger, oh, boy, don't get me started on Digger. Digger was cute for about 10 seconds, but now that little varmint is on my top 10 list of things I want to shoot. He's about as annoying to me as Barney the purple dinosaur was a few years ago. But then, I'm not a kid. FOX probably was putting younger audiences in mind when they brought Digger up to bat. In other words, FOX is probably being proactive with Digger, cultivating tender, young fans to watch their race broadcasts. I would think that the racing itself would be enough to draw kids to the TV on Sundays, but FOX apparently feels the need to go the extra mile.

Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds do an adequate job of providing color comments for the broadcasts. Both have matured in their second careers as broadcasters, and both bring a lot of humor to the show. People either like Ole DW or they don't. I watched him as a driver basically all of his career in that endeavor, and I have a lot of respect for Waltrip. Early on, DW was hated much as Earnhardt was during most of his career. Darrell was the 1970's version of Kyle Busch. Darrell had tons of attitude, but he also had the ability to win races. He could talk the smack, but he could back it up on the track.

As much as I appreciate FOX's efforts to bring racing to my TV, I was somewhat relieved when they handed off the broadcast duties to TNT. Ole DW and Digger are too much for me to take for an entire race season.

TNT became a much improved team this year when Ralph Sheheen was put on play by play duties, due to an apparent meltdown by veteran Bill Weber midway through TNT's tenure as the broadcasters du jour. Personally, I've never had much use for Bill Weber. It's nothing personal, but he just grates on my nerves. Ralph Sheheen's obvious enthusiasm for anything racing was apparent from the beginning, and I was actually entertained by his work on the broadcasts. If the management at TNT as half a brain, they should make sure Ralph doesn't get away from them.

To me, what set TNT's broadcasts apart from the rest is the veteran driver and racing pundit, Kyle Petty. As much as I appreciated Kyle's driving ability, I appreciate him much more when he has a microphone in front of him. Kyle has a no nonsense style about him that is priceless in the world of racing color commentary. Kyle will tell you what happened. You can trust Kyle. That's the way I feel, anyway.

Wally Dallenbach has been doing these broadcasts on TNT from the very beginning, and to tell you the truth, I didn't like him much in the beginning, back in the old NBC days. Wally has impressed me in recent years though. Wally and Kyle Petty seem to work well together, and to me, provide the best color commentary in the racing world. I have missed TNT, and personally wish they had more races to broadcast.

Larry McReynolds also joined the TNT broadcasts, jumping ship from FOX, I suppose, but he does great work on the TNT broadcasts. To be honest, I appreciate Larry Mac more on the TNT shows, even though he has a lesser role there. Larry was a great crew chief back in the day, and he provides a ton of technical knowledge to any broadcast team. Larry is a great foil to DW's wit at FOX, but he truly shines in his role as a crew chief on TNT's broadcasts.

ESPN is currently at the reigns when it comes to putting NASCAR on TV. Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree do great work bringing the race to us, color wise. Unfortunately, they are also doing most of the play by play work as well.

Don't get me wrong. I love Dr. Jerry Punch. He's been in the sport a very long time, and he's more than deserved his shot at being in the booth. Brutal honesty requires me to say that Jerry should probably be back on pit road though, because, in all honesty, he's at his best in that role. During the latest Nationwide series race, Dr. Punch was not in the booth, and was replaced by the venerable Marty Reid, and I thought, personally, that Marty did a great job calling the race. Marty also seemed to be a natural fit with Dale and Andy.

ESPN does try to keep the fans informed on what's going on back in the field, but they seem to be silent about cars that drop out after a few laps. Yes, I'm talking about start and park cars, mostly, but as a fan, I'd like to know who they are and why they claimed they couldn't continue to race. Many camera shots so far this season have shown cars going down pit road on restarts with no explanation from the booth. They don't have to tell us what's going on with the car that quit the race when a restart is on, but at least tell us later, when they have a chance to.

Dale Jarrett is a jewel in the broadcast booth. Like Kyle Petty, Dale tells it like it is. Dale, like his dad Ned, seems to have taken to broadcasting like a kitten to milk. Andy Petree is no slouch either. Andy has been both a crew chief and a team owner, and he has the ability to tell it like it is as well.

OK, enough of the talk. Here's my grades, and I'm a tough grader.

TNT - A-
FOX - B
ESPN - C

ESPN, and of course ABC, is still a work in progress. I'll grade them all again in November, God willing.

Rainy Days and Mondays

For the second consecutive week, NASCAR finds itself moving the Sunday show to Monday because of rain. Thanks to NASCAR's presence in Pennsylvania and New York these last two weeks, people in that part of the country must be rejoicing that the drought is over, if indeed there was one in that area to begin with.

Last week at the Pocono race in Long Pond, PA, we actually saw some pretty exciting racing. Watkins Glen has long been circled on my schedule, because with the new car that the Cup series is using, and the resulting lack of handling and ease of passing other cars, I've been looking forward to the Sprint Cup's second road course race of the season. At Watkins Glen, we're almost guaranteed hard racing and some excitement in terms of spins. I don't want to see anyone have a bad day at Watkins Glen, but inevitably, someone will.

Someone will have a great day though. Come hell or high water, NASCAR is going to try to get this race in today. If they can at least run half the posted distance, that will be good enough. Hopefully, we'll all see a full race today.

NASCAR hates rain delays. The show that's supposed to take place on Sunday gets pushed to Monday, when many people will be working. A lot of fans who bought tickets for the event were forced to travel home on Sunday evening without having the benefit of seeing what they came to the track to see. TV ratings will drop for much the same reason. Dedicated NASCAR fans will TIVO the race or tape it, or will watch the replay later in the week, but it's just not the same. We plan to see the show, and when the show is postponed, we're all disappointed.

As for me, I will be watching the race, since I have little else to do anyway. I hope to see a full race, with lots of hard driving, passing, and strategy. I also hope to see maybe a new winner today, someone whom nobody gave a ghost of a chance of being in the front when the checkered flag waves.

I, for one, will be hoping for drought conditions in the Greater Elmira, New York area for at least a few hours this afternoon.

Rain, rain? You can come again some other day.

Back to Road Course Racing. And I'm Glad

Don't like the road courses in NASCAR? Once upon a time, I didn't either. I've changed my mind on that over the last few years though.

Many NASCAR purists have never thought much of the so-called 'road ringers' that inevitably show up at Infineon in California and Watkins Glen in New York every year. Many of these drivers are seldom heard from during the rest of season. Some of them have no interest in running oval tracks at all. Some of them would love to be full time NASCAR drivers, but don't have the backing to run anywhere else besides the road courses. I suppose it's always better to showcase your talents when you have few opportunities to show what you can do.

Most of the regular drivers in NASCAR seem to look at the road courses as a challenge, in a few cases, an unwanted challenge. Success on oval tracks does not always translate to success on road courses, but a surprising number of drivers primarily known for their success at tracks such as Daytona, Bristol, Darlington, or Martinsville have been successful on the road courses over the years. For some reason, the reverse seems to rarely be true.

For instance, Robby Gordon is considered a serious threat at any road course, and has indeed won at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen in his Sprint Cup career. Robby's first win came, however, at New Hampshire. Robby's only other NASCAR win was in the Nationwide series, of all places, at Richmond.

Of todays current Sprint Cup drivers, Mark Martin has won at the Glen 3 times, so the driver with the most wins currently in 2009 shouldn't be counted out here. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have each won 4 times at Watkins Glen. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch each have a win here.

In the Nationwide series, Ron Fellows has won 3 times since 1998. Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Marcos Ambrose have also won the Nationwide race at the Glen. Believe it or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the Glen in 1999 in the then Busch series.

Some drivers attempting to make the field at this years Cup race at the Glen include P.J. Jones, Boris Said, Ron Fellows, Max Papis, Brian Simo, Tony Ave, and Andy Lally. In all, there will be 11 cars not in the top 35 in points attempting to make the field, a total of 46 cars on the entry list, so 3 of these 11 cars will not make the race.

Probably the main thing I'm personally looking forward to this weekend is the fact that the races will likely not be boring. There will be spins and passing. There will be tempers flaring.

In other words, there should be good racing at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Correcting My Mistake

Yesterday I wrote about ESPN's policy regarding social networking sites, and I have apparently erred, and I wish to apologize for that.

I received an e-mail today from Andy Hall, who is a manager of media relations for ESPN Communications. Mr. Hall was kind enough to pass on some more information on the matter, in the form of an article which appears on USA Today's website regarding ESPN's policy. You can read the entire article here.

I will quote from the article:

Take ESPN's latest "Guidelines for Social Networking" that were slated to be announced Wednesday but Tuesday leaked via Twitter. ESPN's Ric Bucher tweeted ESPN "prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN." ESPN's Kenny Mayne followed with a timely international analogy: "was informed 2nd hand of Taliban-like decree against further Twitter."

If only there was such foul play afoot. Instead, the policy suggests ESPN staffers shouldn't tweet what they "wouldn't say" on-air or write online. Which should be pretty obvious, given that if ESPN staffers communicate something deemed offensive, nobody cared about the specific venue. ESPN'sDana Jacobson was suspended last year for foul comments she made at the podium of a celebrity roast in Atlantic City — it wouldn't have mattered if she'd delivered them by carrier pigeon once they became public.

The ESPN policy suggests tweeting should be just one more product, meaning no "discussing internal policies," no "disparaging colleagues or competitors" or defending "your work against those who challenge it."

Companies like the idea of their tweeting to hype company stuff, but not having them send online traffic to other websites. Now, all ESPN tweets need to appear simultaneously on ESPN.com and Twitter.com. Says ESPN.com editor Rob King, "Twitter is evolutionary, not revolutionary."

I wish to apologize for jumping to the conclusions that I did concerning ESPN's policies. I neglected to wait until ESPN had a chance to respond to all the buzz going on yesterday. I was using the information that I had at that time, and I appreciate Mr. Hall for taking the time to point out the fact that I had not head all the facts when I wrote the piece yesterday.

Thanks, Mr. Hall. It appears that nothing from the fans' point of view will change regarding NASCAR fans getting their news.

ESPN Shoots Self In Foot, NASCAR Suffers

The news has probably been reported elsewhere, but I first read it on John Daly's excellent site this morning. ESPN has cracked down on the use of Twitter and other social networking sites by its employees.

That's nothing new, right? Many companies who have employees who use computers have done much the same thing, and for productivity's sake, it's probably not a bad decision.

But for ESPN to do so is not a good decision at all.

As you can probably tell, I am on Twitter. I'm a relative newbie on the site, but I've come to enjoy it and depend on it. Many who do not understand what Twitter is all about consider it to be a site from which rumors are spread by people posing to be people they are not.

Well, actually, there is a lot of that on Twitter. The site is not without its faults. For instance, there are several 'Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s on Twitter, but none of them are real. NONE of them. Dale Jr. has said he does NOT tweet, and doesn't have a presence on Facebook or Myspace. Anyone who claims to be Dale Jr. on these sites is a fake.

Twitter does, on the other hand, have real people. A lot of NASCAR journalists post there. Several drivers do as well. If you log on to Twitter and follow Kyle Petty, Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, and Juan Pablo Montoya, you will be entertained. Believe me, it's well worth the price of admission, which of course, is free.

Watkinds Glen driver have a great presence there as well. I currently follow Max Papis and his wife Tati. Did you know Max partially fell through the ceiling in his house last week? I did, because he and his wife posted pictures of the event on Twitter. By the way, did you know that Tati Papis is the daughter of Emerson Fittipaldi? Well, now you do!

Delana Harvick, wife of driver Kevin Harvick is also a frequent tweeter on Twitter. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but it's true. Delana and Kevin often banter among themselves in a good natured way on Twitter.

ESPN, in its infinite wisdom, has decreed that no one in the organization, including on air talent, shall participate in this great experiment called social networking. Why is that bad? Let me 'splain.

Way back when Al Gore invented the Internet, he obviously had social networking in mind. OK, maybe I joke here, but the point I'm trying to make is that social networking was bound to happen. It probably all started with e-mail, then advanced to IM, or Instant Messaging. Message boards and then chat soon ensued. Now we've got sites like Facebook, Myspace, and a ton of others.

Twitter, on the other hand, came up with a concept. "What Are You Doing?" is the prompt, and you have 140 characters or less to say whatever it is you're doing. Or, you have 140 characters or less to say whatever you want to say. You may ask why 140 characters? I don't know, but that's the way Twitter is.

I do not have a degree in journalism, but I've taken a lot of writing classes. One of the things that was always drilled into me was don't be too 'wordy'. 'Wordy' means don't use more words than necessary to say what you want to say. That made sense to me, because I'm usually a quiet person, until you get to know me, at which point I tend to babble, because other than my cats, I don't have a lot of people to talk to. But that's another story for later. By the way, I know cats aren't people. They do listen well, however. Most of the time. OK, maybe they don't listen at all, but they look at me when I'm talking, which gives me the illusion that they're listening. Okay? Oops, I'm babbling again. Too wordy.

Anyway, Twitter makes every participant a chance to become a journalist to some degree. You have to condense your thoughts into a small space to put your ideas out there. Some people accomplish that by abbreviating words, which sometimes makes the tweets unreadable, or cryptic, to say the least.

In these days of bad economy, less money to spend, and all the other woes that face all of us each and every day, NASCAR has been hurting. Rarely are the stands full for even the biggest races of the year. People are having to cut back on their spending for items like race tickets, motel rooms, fuel to get to the races, fuel to get back home, tee shirts, hats, die casts, and all other things NASCAR related. Remember, fans are what support NASCAR, ultimately. Sponsors support the teams and the various series themselves because they believe the fans will buy their products. NASCAR has experienced a downturn in business this year because a lot of people are just like me. We just don't have much money to spend on anything but shelter, food, and clothing. Some of us are having a hard time just keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table, and decent clothes to wear. I know I am.

I wish I could go out and buy the latest die cast of the 14 Tony Stewart 'Swagger' paint scheme he ran at Pocono. I can't afford it. A lot of other people can't either. For those of you who can, I am glad that you have the ability to do so.

I'm simply going to quote a portion of John Daly's great article from this morning to show you all how I feel about ESPN silencing some of the greatest tweeters ever. It means a lot to a racing junkie like me to get the news from the tap, so to speak. John Daly can say it much more eloquently than I can.

ESPN has dropped the hammer on NASCAR reporters, anchors and production staff using Twitter. Unfortunately, they have done it during one of the most critical times of the NASCAR on ESPN season.

Throughout this year, ESPN's NASCAR efforts have been better off due in no small part to the contributions of many ESPN folks who use Twitter on a regular basis. Ryan McGee, Marty Smith, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and even Allen Bestwick all use this form of social media to present a mix of professional and personal messages.

This often drove Twitter users to the ESPN.com website to follow-up on a message or a link that had been posted. The entire idea of Twitter was to allow the closest thing to a short conversation to be sent anywhere to anyone who wanted to listen.

This hurts NASCAR, and its fans in an almost indescribable way. ESPN's ruling on the issue denies fans of up to the moment news, and will certainly drive NASCAR fans away from ESPN to get their racing news. This could be a sad, sad day for NASCAR. Just when they needed the boost they were getting from Twitter users, they lose it. So far, the only main affiliate of ESPN who has not been silenced on Twitter is Jay Adamczk, better known as Jayski. For many years, Jayski has run the best information site about NASCAR, and so far his news stories are picked up and posted on Twitter via RSS feed.

Long live NASCAR. Long live people like John Daly and Jayski.

I Was Watching The Fight When A Race Broke Out

The rain delayed Pocono race took an unexpected turn on Monday. It turned out to be an exiting race!

I, for one, was surprised.

Pocono certainly has had its exciting moments in the past, but the last 50 or so laps of the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 turned out to be some of the best racing I can remember ever seeing at Pocono.

The fight of which I speak in the title was between David Stremme and Robby Gordon. Both drivers ended up wrecking each other to some extent, and NASCAR gave each of them a 5 lap time out. At that point in the race, I figured that was probably the most exciting thing I would see in the entire 500 mile race.

I was wrong.

Watching Jimmie Johnson overcome a 3 lap deficit to finish 13th on the lead lap, after changing plug wires, carburetor, and spark plugs on pit road was quite a site to see. Denny Hamlin's spectacular, if somewhat foolhardy dash to the front was also exciting to watch. Seeing a very emotional Hamlin emerge from his car in victory lane only 2 days after his grandmother's death provided more than enough drama for me.

Losing a family is tough for anyone, and though I'm not a Denny Hamlin fan, my heart goes out to Denny and his entire family.

Watching Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s free fall through the field in the closing laps was also heart breaking. After managing to work his way into the top 10 near the end, he was bumped by Ryan Newman, causing him to collide with the wall. Dale Jr. stayed out, but obviously had some tire problems and dropped from 10th to finish in 28th place. Unfortunately, the Earnhardt Nation will have to wait yet another week for tangible evidence of the 88 team's improved performance. The communication between Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Lance McGrew seems to be an improvement over what transpired earlier this year between Dale Jr. and Tony Eury Jr., and the team has been building some new cars, but the finishes have been nothing short of dismal. A blown engine here, a bump into the wall there, and that's all it takes to put a top 5 car into 20 somethingth place.

As frustrating as a rain marred race weekend at Pocono can be, the racing itself was exciting on Monday. In years past, I've often been one of those who wonders why Pocono has 2 race dates on the NASCAR schedule.

If all Pocono races were like the one we watched on Monday, I'd be all for keeping 2 dates at the track.

I wouldn't mind if they shortened the races to 400 miles though.