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Jimmie Johnson wins the Sprint All-Star race.....again
posted by Mike Neff
Sunday May 19, 2013
Five-time is now four-time when it comes to the Sprint All-Star race. Coming into Saturday night’s race, Johnson was tied with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt for most wins in the annual event with three wins. Johnson bided his time, restarted the last segment in the second spot, dueled Kasey Kahne for two laps to secure the lead and pulled away to a convincing win. Joey Logano started the last segment in the seventh position, took advantage of a slip up by Kyle Busch on the start of the final segment, and ultimately came home in the runner-up spot. Kyle Busch rebounded from his slip up to muscle his way back to third. Kahne started the final segment on the pole but couldn’t hold off Johnson on the first few laps of the restart and ended up fourth. Kurt Busch won two segments, was the first on pit road for the money pit stop, but finished the event in fifth place. Jimmie Johnson summed up his results in two words, “we’re lucky”. It was tongue in cheek but Johnson was poking fun at the people who continue to accuse the No. 48 of preferential treatment, fixed races, and a blind eye to cheating. Johnson has one of the highest winning percentages in NASCAR history and it comes from natural talent and chemistry with his crew. This race also now ties Johnson with Davey Allison as the only two drivers to win the race in back-to-back years. Logano and Busch visited with the media after the race to speak about their runs. Logano was understandably upbeat about his second while Busch was quite dejected, having another All-Star race slip out of his grasp. Kahne spoke about the elephant in the room that is the length of the segments in the race during his post race availability on pit road. He noted that the inherent problem with the format is that the car is designed with downforce, on a track that is cool and has a bunch of grip. The only way to make the races exciting after the first couple of laps of racing would be to extend the segments to the The first 20 lap segment was won by Kurt Busch. Segment two went to his brother Kyle. That segment win allowed Bruton Smith to breathe more easily since he put up a $1,000,000 bonus to anyone who won all four of the segments. Segment three also went to the younger Busch, while the fourth segment win was tallied in brother Kurt’ s account.
Kyle Busch wins the North Carolina Education Lottery 200
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 17, 2013
‘Rowdy’ Busch was back in his familiar No. 51 truck at his favorite track on the Truck schedule. Busch led 80 laps and thought he should have led more but had a fuel issue on pit road that resulted in him having to battle back through the field. The race was slowed by eight cautions that helped him work his way back through the field. Busch beat Brendan Gaughan to the finish by .488 seconds, while Max Gresham chased them both to the line for his first top three finish of his Truck career. Matt Crafton came home in fourth place after having to battle through a couple of tire mishaps during the event. Ty Dillon rounded out the top 5 for his first finish that high this season. Busch led the race three times for his 80 laps. Miguel Paludo was second on the laps led board with 33. Gaughan, Gresham and Dillon also scored bonus points for leading laps. There were two cautions in the first 72 laps of the race while 29 of the last 62 laps were completed under the yellow flag. Jeb Burton started the race on the pole but did not lead a lap. He did however end the race as the Rookie of the Race for his 13th place finish. Matt Crafton leads Burton by 22 points in the season standings after five races this season.
Matt Kenseth Snatches Victory from the Jaws of Defeat at Darlington
posted by Mike Neff
Sunday May 12, 2013
Kyle Busch appeared to be headed for another weekend sweep after winning the Nationwide race at Darlington on Friday night. However, a funny thing happened as they were bringing out the dustpan. Matt Kenseth chased down the dominant car of the night, passed him with relative ease and then strolled away to a 3.165 second victory. Kenseth led the final 13 laps after Busch had held the point for 265 of the 354 laps leading up to Kenseth’s race winning pass. After Kenseth worked around Busch, the No. 18 slid rapidly backwards over the final eight laps to fall from second to sixth place. Joe Gibbs Racing did manage a 1-2 finish after sweeping the podium in Friday night’s Nationwide tilt. Denny Hamlin, in his first full race back in the car since his vertebrae fracture at California, soldiered through the pain of his arms, neck and shoulders more than his recovered back to wrestle a second place finish away from the Lady in Black. Coming home in third was Jeff Gordon, who turned his 700th career start into a top 3 finish. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 5 in the Bojangles Southern 500. Kurt Busch started the race on the pole and led the first 51 laps before coming to the pits for a green flag stop. After the stops cycled through Busch was back at the point for 18 more laps before his brother began his domination. The race went green for the first 302 laps save a seven lap caution stint from lap 125 to lap 131. The final 65 laps saw four more cautions that flew for accidents involving Regan Smith, Brad Keselowski, Casey Mears, Kurt Busch, Josh Wise, David Reutimann and Kasey Kahne. The race saw four leaders including Jeff Gordon in addition to the Busch brothers and Kenseth. The win is Kenseth’s 27th of his career and breaks a tie between himself and his teammate Kyle Busch. The win is Kenseth’s third this season which is the most among all of the competitors in the Cup series. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the Rookie of the Race. Jeff Gordon’s top 5 finish was his 300th of his career. He joins Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison as the only four drivers in the history of the sport to accomplish such a feat.
Busch Dominates at Darlington as JGR Sets Nationwide Series Record
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 10, 2013
Kyle Busch dominated the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 on Friday night en route to his 56th career Nationwide Series victory and fifth series win of 2013. Joe Gibbs Racing in general was the class of the field all night at Darlington Raceway, claiming four of the top 5 finishing spots, with only fourth-place Joey Logano keeping them from sweeping the top four spots. It was a historic night for JGR, as no team has ever before placed four cars in the top 5. Elliott Sadler finished second to Busch and Brian Vickers third, with Logano and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top 5. Busch led 107 of 147 laps on the way to the win. Sadler was the best among the Nationwide Regulars, finishing second despite an early spin in Turn 2, and gained points on leader Regan Smith, who finished seventh. Kyle Larson continued to impress at the Lady in Black, posting a sixth-place finish in his first Darlington start as he runs for rookie honors. Sam Hornish, Jr., who remained second in points, finished eighth while Kasey Kahne and Justin Allgaier filled the top 10. Smith now leads Nationwide Series points by 28 over Hornish. Sadler jumps two spots to third on his second-place run as Justin Allgaier fell one place to fourth. Vickers gained three sports and is now fifth, 49 behind Smith. Austin Dillon, Parker Kligerman, Brian Scott, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson round out the top 10.
Joe Gibbs Racing Penalties Reduced Following Appeal
posted by Summer Bedgood
Wednesday May 8, 2013
Joe Gibbs Racing had many of their penalties for the No. 20 team reduced during the appeal process on Wednesday. Driver Matt Kenseth and owner Joe Gibbs had their points penalties reduced from 50 to 12 points. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff’s suspension has also been dropped from seven races to one, though he will still be forced to pay the $200,000 fine. Not all of the penalties were reduced, however. Toyota Racing’s manufacturer points penalty was increased from five points to seven. All other penalties were dropped, including the suspension of Joe Gibbs’ owners license, the loss of bonus points for the Chase earned at Kansas Speedway, and the loss of eligibility into the Sprint Unlimited garnered from the pole at Kansas Speedway. JGR has accepted the penalties and will not appeal further. Following a dominant win at Kansas Speedway a few weeks ago, Kenseth’s car failed post-race inspection when it was found that a connecting rod was 2.7 grams below the minimum weight. Toyota Racing Development accepted the blame for the incident. The reduction moves Kenseth up to fourth in points, 66 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. JGR has not announced who will replace Ratcliff this weekend in Darlington. The appeal was heard by Mark Arute, Dennis McGlynn, and Jack Housby. NASCAR cannot appeal the revised penalties.
Penske Has Suspensions Reduced On Appeal
posted by Thomas Bowles
Wednesday May 8, 2013
Roger Penske’s team got some relief Tuesday from NASCAR’s Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook, as he chose to reduce penalties assessed to that organization at Texas Motor Speedway in early April. Middlebrook, after hearing the evidence from both sides Tuesday chose to reduce all suspensions in the case from six to two weeks, plus NASCAR’s All-Star Race on May 18th. That means the final consequences for both teams are the following: No. 2 car No. 22 car Other Middlebrook’s official statement was short, simply stating, “After looking at all the facts, data, and interpretations from the rule book, I have decided to uphold the original fines and points penalties. However, I have decided to reduce the suspensions of the seven team members involved from six points races and the All-Star race to two points races and the All-Star Race.” However, it seemed both sides, after presenting their cases were far more pleased with how the case was handled during this portion of the appeal. “We were able to talk about areas we worked in,” said Roger Penske, referring to the “gray area” of the NASCAR rulebook officials ultimately felt stepped over the line. “I’m very happy with the outcome. This sport has been built on innovation. All of us have tried to innovate in areas not defined in the rulebook. We were in that area.” In conversations with the parties involved, it was clear the controversy surrounded parts designed to increase the rear-end angle at the back of both cars. In past years, with innovation limited through the Car of Tomorrow templates teams have played around with suspension systems designed to make the rear end of the car easier to “move.” The more the car skews in the corner, the easier it can be to handle and gain extra speed. However, NASCAR had made rules designed to curb those types of innovations this year and made the determination Penske parts to build the rear suspension were unapproved. Why they had gone undetected in previous inspections was never addressed, along with claims someone else in the garage had alerted officials to possible inappropriate car construction. One thing Penske did admit, though is had this decision been issued by the initial appeals panel, he would not have pressed his luck with Middlebrook. “All of us,” he said. “Have lost points for certain infractions over the years. The key thing is to have people back at the racetrack operating in full control.” The end results leave Logano 18th in points, 146 behind championship leader Jimmie Johnson and 43 outside a Chase position. Keselowski is far more stable; fifth in points, he’s 69 behind and 45 ahead of 11th-place Matt Kenseth. Neither of the Penske cars have won a race this season. “Moved on from last few weeks,” Keselowski tweeted Wednesday morning. “And ready to focus on @TooToughToTame (Darlington Raceway).” The next round of NASCAR penalty appeals, focusing on Joe Gibbs Racing and Matt Kenseth will be heard on Wednesday morning. Connect with Tom!
Penske Racing LOSES Penalty Case, Will Appeal To NSCRC John Middlebrook
posted by Thomas Bowles
Wednesday May 1, 2013
A three-member panel Wednesday unanimously upheld penalties assessed to Penske Racing after pre-race inspection at Texas Motor Speedway. Comprised of Pocono President Brandon Igdalsky, Bowman-Gray President Dale Pinilis and former NASCAR VP Paul Brooks, the trio determined the sanctioning body’s evidence was enough to “convict” Penske to the tune of points lost, suspensions given and $200,000 in fines. Roger Penske, in response has pledged to send a final appeal to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner John Middlebrook. That hearing will occur Tuesday, May 7th at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center. Here’s a quick list of what penalties are pending (everything but the points deductions will be deferred, pending Middlebrook’s approval until after the final appeal): No. 2 team No. 22 team Both teams NASCAR’s representation included Sprint Cup Director John Darby but not Vice President Robin Pemberton, who was whisked away to Florida on jury duty. Owner Roger Penske was in attendance to defend the allegations along with Team Manager Travis Geisler, Tim Cindric, Walt Czarnecki, Joey Logano’s crew chief Todd Gordon along with several other key principles. UPDATE: The National Stock Car Racing Commission issued a brief statement, reviewing the penalties and then explaining the following. “Upon hearing the testimony and carefully reviewing the facts, it was a unanimous decision by the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR.” “The Appellants have the right under Section 15 of the rule book to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer.” Connect with Tom!
Kyle Busch Wins Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown
posted by Thomas Bowles
Friday April 26, 2013
Who says Joe Gibbs Racing teammates don’t get along? Kyle Busch is certainly receiving gifts, from Denny Hamlin in the form of shiny trophies from winning the latter’s annual charity event. Rowdy was romping through the field again at Richmond Thursday night, taking control at the race’s midpoint and cruising during the latter stages to win the Showdown for the third time in the past six years. In a race that benefits the Denny Hamlin Foundation, created to help those with cystic fibrosis Busch had his late model hitting on all cyilnders down the stretch. Pulling away from fellow Cup driver David Ragan, in the final segment of the 75-lap race the outcome was simply never in doubt following a 5-minute break for pit stops prior to Lap 47. Ben Rhodes, Ronnie Bassett, Jr., and Garrett Campbell rounded out the top-5 finishers. Other Cup drivers, including defending race champion Tony Stewart were in the field but never a factor up front. Smoke, actually extending his slumping start to 2013 into this race got wrecked before the halfway point and wound up 28th. Matt Kenseth, still distraught after a midweek penalty virtually negated his win at Kansas was never truly competitive, either; he finished 22nd. Also on Thursday night, African-American driver Ryan Gifford won the first K&N Pro Series East race of his young career. Surviving a five-lap shootout, following a red flag he cruised home over Brandon Gdovic. Connect with Tom!
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Penalized As Engine Fails Kansas Post-Race Inspection
posted by Thomas Bowles
Wednesday April 24, 2013
Until the end of time, Matt Kenseth can say he crossed the finish line first at Kansas Sunday. NASCAR Record Books will say the same. But after a harsh series of penalties announced on Wednesday, should they stand that’s about the only thing Kenseth can hang his hat on after a successful weekend turned sour. According to multiple reports, officials at the NASCAR R & D Center in North Carolina discovered a connecting rod on Kenseth’s engine, brought in for Kansas post-race inspection weighed three grams less than the minimum weight of 525g. The consequences, announced today are crippling for both driver and team. Kenseth, along with car owner Joe Gibbs have been docked 50 driver and owner points, actually reducing their overall totals heading into Kansas even though the No. 20 car won the race. That lost chunk of points drops Kenseth from eighth to 14th in the standings. More importantly, the win “won’t count” for either bonus points in the Chase or determine postseason eligibility; that means the driver, now in “Wild Card” position is considered to have one win so far this season instead of two. That’s just the tip of the iceberg on these consequences. Crew chief Jason Radcliffe, fined $200,000 based on the infraction has also been suspended for the next six Sprint Cup points events, along with the All-Star Race. Toyota, whose TRD engine department ultimately supplies the JGR powerplants has had five points deducted from its total in the manufacturer’s championship. And finally, Joe Gibbs himself, already docked 50 owner points has had his license suspended by NASCAR, which means he’s ineligible to accrue owner points for the No. 20 until the next six Sprint Cup Series points races are completed. Gibbs, NASCAR has clarified will still be able to travel to the racetrack despite a suspended license. In a tersely worded statement, the owner says he’ll appeal the ruling, which violated three parts of the series rulebook. The one most pertinent is Section 20-5.5.3(E) which states only magnetic steel connecting rods, with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted. Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 12-4J, which gives officials the right to penalize for parts they claim do not conform to NASCAR rules were also cited in the sport’s official release. Toyota Racing Development’s Lee White, in a statement released early this afternoon took responsibility for the violation. During NASCAR’s routine post-race tear down of Matt Kenseth’s race-winning car and engine from Kansas Speedway,” he stated, “One of our engine connecting rods weighed in approximately three grams under the legal minimum weight of 525 grams. None of the other seven connecting rods were found to be under the minimum weight. We take full responsibility for this issue with the engine used by the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team this past Sunday in Kansas — JGR is not involved in the process of selecting parts or assembling the Cup Series engines. It was a simple oversight on TRD’s part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage. Toyota is a company that was built on integrity, and that remains one of the guiding principles of the company. The goal of TRD has always been — and will continue to be — to build high-performance engines that are reliable, durable and powerful, and within the guidelines established by NASCAR.” Kenseth, who has led 482 laps this season, two higher than his total last year has been one of the strongest competitiors on the Sprint Cup track in 2013. His engines have also passed several previous inspections.
Johnny Sauter Penalized For Fuel Cell Infraction At Kansas
posted by Thomas Bowles
Wednesday April 24, 2013
Thorsport Racing, along with former Truck Series point leader Johnny Sauter are reeling this Wednesday after a major penalty involving their No. 98 Toyota. On Wednesday, NASCAR announced the team was fined $10,000, crew chief Joel Shear has been suspended for four races and 25 owner points were taken away as a result of a faulty fuel cell, confiscated during pre-race inspection at Kansas. Driver Sauter was also hit was a loss of 25 points, completely reshaping the championship Chase heading into the next race of the season at Charlotte May 17th. According to NASCAR officials, the team violated multiple sections of the rulebook. The key ones involve Section 20B-16 and 20B-16.1B, regarding the proper size and functioning of fuel cells. “Once a fuel cell or fuel cell components have been certified,” the rules say, “Modifications of any kind will not be permitted.” The 16.1B portion refers to black safety foam, with a minimum height of eight inches that must be used as a safety mechanism when putting together the fuel cell itself. By violating that rule, NASCAR is insinuating the team modified or enhanced the cell in some way by cutting back / replacing that foam. Section 12-1, actions detrimental to stock car racing was also listed as a rules violation along with 12-4K, which gives NASCAR Officials the leeway to penalize teams when they feel previously legal equipment was modified, in any manner after being initially inspected. Thorsport, as of yet has not said whether they plan to appeal. The penalties mean Matt Crafton becomes the new Truck Series point leader, by 13 over Jeb Burton while Sauter gets pushed back into a tie for second place. |
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Phil Allaway · Tuesday October 5, 2010
Hello, race fans. It’s that time of the week once again. Welcome back to Talking NASCAR TV, the piece where I take a look into race telecasts and critique their value to you, the people who watch. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were at Kansas Speedway. Meanwhile, the Izod IndyCar Series held their season finale Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Before I start, South Park Studios announced on Sunday that the second-half season premiere of South Park will cover NASCAR for the very first time. The episode, entitled “Poor and Stupid,” will cover Cartman wanting to race in NASCAR and fearing that he cannot reach the level of other drivers. The episode premieres Wednesday night at 10 PM ET on Comedy Central. I would be watching this show regardless of whether it was covering NASCAR or not, but since they are, I plan on critiquing this episode in the future. All I know so far is that some of the paint schemes on cars are based off the real thing – including the one Cartman will be driving.
Cafes do Brasil Indy 300
As always, the telecast on Versus started with IndyCar Central. Lindy Thackston was situated in the infield this week instead of out in the concourse behind the grandstands. The main reasoning for this change appeared to be a very small crowd, although that was never mentioned specifically on air.
The coverage started with a recap of the Kentucky Indy 300, then followed into interviews with Helio Castroneves and Will Power. Later interviews included Simona de Silvestro, Alex Lloyd, Dario Franchitti, and Power. A “Professor B” segment with Jon Beekhuis talked about shock absorbers, also known as dampers.
Executive Director of Marketing for Phillips-Van Heusen (parent company of Izod) Mike Kelly joined Thackston on the set for an interview. I do not understand why they did not use wireless mikes for the interview subjects. Instead, Lindy pointed her mike. That works for pit road interviews, but here it looks low-rent on a set.
Mike Conway also joined Thackston for his on-camera interview with Versus since his massive crash at the end of the Indianapolis 500. This interview served as more or less a “catching up” task. OK, but very bland.
Versus dispatched Danica Patrick (under the title Danica Talks…) to interview IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard about the major issues surrounding the series. This segment included info on the new car for 2012, as well as the aero kits designed for it. On paper, it sounds interesting because Danica can be quite fiery at times. In practice, this probably would have looked similar if any of the Versus pit reporters asked the questions, or even if posters on the IndyCar Series section of the MySpeed Forums asked them. We also didn’t learn much.
Versus kept the camera zoomed in on this handsome mug for much of the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300… congratulations, Dario!
The race coverage was most definitely centered on the championship battle between Will Power and Dario Franchitti. Versus had a drop-down box from the scroll that showed the margin between the two drivers and made prodigious use of it throughout the race. Coverage of the event was also centered upon the two contenders. Simply put, unless you were one of those drivers, or you found yourself up front at some point, you weren’t getting on TV.
I can understand a certain amount of focus on championship contenders in a race, but what we got Saturday night was absolutely loony. Versus missed incidents on pit road because of their tunnel vision. During a green flag pit stop sequence, Ernesto (E.J.) Viso left the pits with his fuel filler still connected. Half a lap later, the broken filler part fell off the car and came to rest in the backstretch grass. Versus caught the bouncing filler part on camera live and noted that since it came to rest in the grass on the backstretch, there would be no caution. No replay was ever shown of the incident.
Milka Duno also managed to hit a tire at one point on pit road. Of course, Milka has been enough of an embarrassment this season that Versus takes great pains to not show her during races. That doesn’t excuse Versus from their job of covering the whole event, though. At least a replay should have been shown, because there was never a mention of this incident on-air.
Finally, during a round of pit stops under caution, Tony Kanaan nearly repeated what Viso did earlier in the race. As this incident happened during the caution for Will Power’s wall contact, however, his gaffe was only touched upon by one of the booth commentators until after they finished covering Power’s issues. After what seemed like ten minutes, Versus showed a replay of what happened.
The broadcast seemed to take its toll on the on-air personalities. On Lap 147 (still under caution from the Power incident), an argument broke out on-air between Jon Beekhuis in the booth and Jack Arute about Helio Castroneves’ pit strategy. Arute accused Beekhuis and Robbie Buhl of being “tardy” in the booth. The arguing continued until Versus abruptly cut both Beekhuis and Arute’s mikes, leading to a very awkward silence. This can be seen at the 3:40 mark of this clip. This verbal sparring is the type of stuff that (if it ever occurs) happens during commercial breaks. Their fight was crazy to watch live; in fact, I’ve never seen anything like it during a race before. I guess the crew’s worn out from a long year and all, but the resulting confrontation was basically unprofessional, bush league and a whole bunch of other things, with blame more or less lying with Arute here.
Speaking of the Power caution, it was 15 laps long for what could best be described as minor wall contact. It was well over ten laps before Jenkins explained to viewers that the caution was extended due to the fact that the light showing whether pit road was opened or closed was malfunctioning. If this reason’s the only one why this caution was longer than four or five laps, then it needed to be voiced out much earlier – simple as that.
The end of the race annoyed me as well. The last eight laps were run with a split-screen, one on the leader (Scott Dixon) and the battle for second between Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan. The other was on the in-car camera in Franchitti’s car. This method of covering the championship was annoying; Franchitti was running in eighth, all alone. There was nothing to see, and Versus’ redundant graphic notifying viewers that they were on board with Franchitti covered up the lap counter.
Post-race coverage was fairly substandard given the amount of time that Versus had. There were interviews with the top three finishers (Dixon, Patrick, and Kanaan), along with two interviews involving champion Dario Franchitti. A technical issue during the trophy ceremony saw Jack Arute’s microphone not working at the start of the presentation. He was visibly upset and stormed off the stage, but returned after a ten-minute delay and performed his duties immediately after the race podium ceremony (almost completely blocked for the few fans in attendance by the temporary stage set up for the championship trophy presentation).
This telecast was a very rough race for Versus, and I hope that this type of coverage does not continue in the future. I severely doubt that the network, and parent company Comcast, would be happy about two of their on-air personalities arguing like that. It would make them look bad. Changes could very well be in store for Versus’ on-air crew in 2011.
Kansas Lottery 300
Meanwhile, in Kansas, college football once again played a role in ESPN’s coverage of the Nationwide Series. The game between Clemson and Miami ran long by over 40 minutes on Saturday. This event pushed all of NASCAR Countdown and the start of the race to ESPN Classic. I understand the issue at hand here, but let’s face some facts: ESPN Classic’s audience has shrunken by a significant margin over the past two to three years.
Needless to say, that means a lot of people missed the beginning of Saturday’s action. When ESPN 2 joined the race at the end of Lap 12, Marty Reid recapped what had happened in the first segment before getting down to the current action. This method is a fine way to re-acclimate viewers, but I wish it didn’t have to happen in the first place.
After the race, I sent an e-mail to ESPN’s Andy Hall asking about Saturday’s schedule setup on ESPN2. The reply I received stated that the Clemson-Miami game started on time and somehow just lasted longer than normal. In addition, the fact that Saturday’s game was Clemson’s homecoming had no bearing on the actual length of the game. I don’t know about that. In closing, Hall iterated that “…it is ESPN’s policy to stay with an event to its conclusion.”
Race coverage was fairly decent. Unlike last week, there were no glaring issues with the telecast. No one running 35th got undue coverage just because of what they’re known for outside of racing. Nothing stood out at all. Perhaps that’s good in the long run that there isn’t anything for me to openly gripe about.
Post-race coverage was relatively brief. Before any post-race interviews were shown, there were replays of Logano’s pass for the win and Parker Kligerman’s crash in Turn 1. There were interviews with winner Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Carmichael, and Martin Truex Jr. The unofficial results stayed in the scroll and no point standings were shown before ESPN left the air.
This race was an average one to watch on TV. There was nothing really objectionable about the broadcast. However, there was also nothing that really stood out, save for the issues before the race even started with scheduling.
Price Chopper 400
Once again, technical problems hampered ESPN’s pre-race programming on Sunday. Five minutes before NASCAR Countdown was due to begin, an unfortunate audio problem popped up. Audio was…kaput. This issue was fixed, but half of NASCAR Countdown was unwatchable for viewers without HDTV’s. When the technical difficulties started happening, the aforementioned Andy Hall took to Twitter to explain the situation. He said “We had problem with entire standard def ESPN2 network out of our HQ in CT and apologize for the inconvenience.” Thank you for keeping us posted, Andy. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again.
Luckily for us, I have other means to see coverage other than a Standard Definition feed on TV. NASCAR Countdown started off with a short recap of September 26th’s AAA 400. This flowed directly into an interview with Jimmie Johnson. Other interviews included Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and Jeff Gordon.
There was another rehashing of the whole Clint Bowyer penalty since the ruling came down on Wednesday that the appeal was denied. This discussion came right after the Bowyer interview.
Continuing with the offbeat pieces from last week, ESPN ran a word association segment where they asked random drivers the first thing that came to their mind when they heard one of nine terms. This questioning led to some interesting answers, like everyone claiming Kyle Busch is NASCAR’s villain except for Kyle himself, who gave it to Brad Keselowski. I like these types of segments. I like a good laugh.
Close competition was seen rarely on Sunday…if you blinked, well, you probably missed it.
On a more serious note, there was a feature centered around the Dream Racer, a car made from the same materials as regular race cars, but loaded with a Sony PlayStation 3 and NASCAR games. These setups, which include steering wheels and pedals, are custom made for purchase at a cost of $9500. Rick Hendrick donated several of these Dream Racers (painted up in Hendrick colors, of course) to the Levine Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. It also includes the touching story of six-year-old Lauren Turner, who suffers from Leukemia.
Another feature was centered upon Denny Hamlin, an avid basketball player, visiting the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City with Brad Daugherty. While there, Denny talks about his season, specifically the knee surgery in April and the conflict with RCR at Dover. It could be argued that the only reason Daugherty was there is because he used to play basketball professionally. This piece could have been conducted by anyone with ESPN, not just Brad.
Tim Brewer made a brief appearance from the Craftsman Tech Garage to talk about overall balance and clean air. Little did we know how much of a role clean air was going to play in the race.
The race had plenty of long green flag runs, including a 100-lap run that lasted until just after the halfway point. When the field gets that spread out, races for position are rare. ESPN did do an Up to Speed during this segment of the race towards the end of it. However, the all-Chaser Up to Speed segments were back in play again. This annoys me. Other drivers essentially get no respect this time of year.
There was quite a bit of surprise for A.J. Allmendinger’s top-10 finish at the end of the race on Sunday, but that is only because he wasn’t shown very much on the broadcast. The only time he got a significant amount of coverage Sunday was when he sandwiched the No. 43 Dodge in a three-wide battle with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Johnson early on.
It appears that ESPN definitely got the message from viewers not to pull the commercial in the final eleven laps of the race move again after last weekend. Writers on Twitter noted that the final 23 minutes of the event were shown without commercial interruption. This move is very rare for any network, especially one that usually goes somewhere between three to six minutes between commercial breaks. It shows a renewed commitment to showing the action from ESPN after spending the last week or so being dragged across the coals by fellow writers and fans.
Post-race coverage was decent. There were interviews with winner Greg Biffle and his crew chief Greg Erwin, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, and David Reutimann. Before ESPN interviewed Kyle, there was live footage shown of an argument between Busch and car owner Joe Gibbs. Kyle was still very angry over the incident with Reutimann earlier in the race. However, when he did the interview a couple of minutes later, he was actually quite chipper, leading people to say that “The New Kyle Busch showed up.” The point standings were also displayed on screen before ESPN left the air.
This broadcast was OK to watch, but once again, it was stuffed heavy with emphasis on the Chasers. ESPN is seemingly making an effort to improve their telecasts, though, which is definitely good to see in the face of ratings that are down 20 percent from last year. However, they do have a ways to go.
That’s all for this week. Next weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series return to Auto Club Speedway for a doubleheader weekend. Meanwhile, the ARCA Racing Series presented by Re/MAX and Menards will hold their season finale Saturday at the 1.017-mile Rockingham Speedway. Also this weekend is the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the V8 Supercars in Australia. This race will be shown in a two-hour slot on SPEED on October 17th. Here’s your listings for this week:
Friday, October 8
Time Telecast Network
1:00 AM – 2:30 AM Formula One Grand Prix of Japan Free Practice 2 SPEED
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Nationwide Series Practice SPEED
3:00 – 4:30 PM Sprint Cup Series Practice ESPN2
4:30 – 6:00 PM Nationwide Series Happy Hour SPEED
*6:30 – 8:30 PM * Sprint Cup Series Qualifying ESPN2
Saturday, October 9
Time Telecast Network
1:00 AM – 2:30 AM Formula One Grand Prix of Japan Qualifying SPEED
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Nationwide Series Qualifying SPEED
1:00 – 3:30 PM ARCA Racing Series American 200 SPEED
4:00 – 4:30 PM NASCAR Countdown ESPN2
4:30 – 7:30 PM Nationwide Series Camping World 300 ESPN2
Sunday, October 10
Time Telecast Network
1:30 AM – 4:00 AM Formula One Grand Prix of Japan SPEED
9:00 – 10:00 AM NASCAR Now, Pre-Race ESPN2
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM NASCAR RaceDay Built by The Home Depot SPEED
2:00 – 3:00 PM NASCAR Countdown ESPN
3:00 – 6:30 PM Sprint Cup Series Pepsi Max 400 ESPN
7:00 – 8:00 PM The SPEED Report SPEED
8:00 – 9:00 PM NASCAR Victory Lane SPEED
10:00 – 11:00 PM NASCAR Now, Post-Race ESPN2
Note that there is no coverage of qualifying for the Nationwide Series, or the first practice session on Saturday for the Sprint Cup Series due to the Petit Le Mans coverage from Road Atlanta.
If you have a gripe with me, or just want to say something about my critique,
feel free to post in the comments below, or contact me through the email address provided on the website in my bio. Also, if you would like to follow me via Twitter, you can go to my Twitter page here. And if you would like to contact the ESPN or SPEED Channels personally with an issue regarding their TV coverage from last weekend, please click on the following link:
As always, if you choose to contact the network by email, do so in a courteous manner. Network representatives are far more likely to respond to emails that ask questions politely rather than emails full of rants and vitriol.
Tuesday on the Frontstretch:
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5 Points to Ponder: The Franchise Gets Rowdy, The Rookie Kiss Of Death, and Start The Damned Race at Noon
Desperate Times Call ‘4’ Desperate Measures: The 4-Car Rule Needs To Go
No Bull: What Constitutes Bad NASCAR Attendance? How Capacity Changes Perception
Who’s Hot / Who’s Not In NASCAR: Kansas-Fontana Edition
Wednesday on the Frontstretch:
Did You Notice? … The Evolution Of An Ending, Double Duty’s Drought And Charlotte Controversy
Side by Side: Daytona Or Indy — Which Race Is More Important?
Life at the 55: How Engineering and Technology Brought Billy Scott into NASCAR
Top Ten Ways Drivers Entertain Themselves During A 600-Mile Race
Open-Wheel Wednesday: The History of the Indianapolis 500
A Good Friend Mourns: Dick Trickle Remembered
Happiness Is… Racing, Racing, Racing
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