By Phil Allaway

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where TV criticism (and praise) is the object of the day. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series raced at the newly-repaved Michigan International Speedway. Meanwhile, the IZOD IndyCar Series raced at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin.

*Before we begin,* there’s some news to mention. Sports Business Daily reported on Monday that “FOX Sports is most definitely interested in continuing to cover the Sprint Cup Series”:https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2012/06/18/Media/Fox-NASCAR.aspx beyond the end of their current deal. In fact, they’ve already started serious negotiations with NASCAR a full year early on an extension. Such a move would allow FOX to avoid a likely bidding war with NBC that would drive up costs. For reference purposes, FOX’s current deal to cover the Sprint Cup Series is through the 2014 season.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast criticism is the name of the game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup Series made their first trip of the season to Pocono Raceway for the newly shortened Pocono 400. This race also marked the return of Turner Sports (via TNT) for their 30th season of covering Sprint Cup races (yes, they’ve been around since 1983). Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck Series and Izod IndyCar Series took on the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race critique is the name of the game. For those of us who just cannot get enough racing on television (like myself), this past weekend was likely pretty sweet for you. The action was fast and furious in Indianapolis, while NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were in Charlotte.

*Before we start,* a couple of big announcements pertaining to TV were made last weekend. First, Dick Berggren announced that he is leaving NASCAR on FOX after next weekend’s race in Dover, ending a 31-year career on telecasts. He claims that he’s not retiring, but that he’s stepping back and relaxing a little more for now. Good luck to Dick in his relaxation.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday. We’ve got a pretty busy weekend of racing to cover. The Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series were both at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of Sprint All-Star Weekend, while the Nationwide Series was at Iowa Speedway, with a combination K&N Pro Series East and West race for support which still hasn’t aired, yet.

*Before we start:* Firstly, I was somewhat unsatisfied with NBC Sports Network’s coverage of Indianapolis 500 Pole Day Qualifying on Saturday. In the past, they have had on-screen graphics depicting position as they run and time behind. For some reason, that didn’t come out during the entire first segment of qualifying (Over three hours). I have no clue why. All I know is that its weak.

*VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200*

On Friday night, the Nationwide Series returned to action at Darlington Raceway. With Travis Pastrana coming back for his second try in the No. 99, ESPN expanded what was supposed to be a 45-minute edition of _NASCAR Countdown_ into a full hour.

During that time, the primary feature shown was yet another piece on Pastrana. This time, the focus was on his upbringing and family in particular.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where breaking down broadcasts is the name of the game. Last weekend was Talladega, oh, that large bowl of restrictor plate goodness (or badness, depending on who you ask). The Sprint Cup Series was joined by the ARCA Racing Series and the Nationwide Series.

*International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250*

Friday evening brought the ARCA Racing Series back to SPEED for their second telecast of the year from Talladega Superspeedway. Between Daytona and Talladega, there have been two races run (Mobile, Alabama and Salem, Indiana). These races were effectively glossed over.

*- If it can be found, it must be shown. If not, the viewers must be notified that it cannot be found.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where TV critique is the name of the game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were at Richmond International Raceway for some short track action (that supposedly was more comfortable to watch than Lebanon Valley Speedway’s Saturday night card in windy, 40-something degree weather). Meanwhile, the IZOD IndyCar Series made their third trip down to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecasts are the name of the game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series traveled out to Kansas Speedway for their spring race weekend. Also, the Formula One World Championship basically screwed themselves this weekend by going forward with their date in Bahrain despite all of the protests.

*Grand Prix of Bahrain*

If you’ve watched the news over the last year and change, then you likely know why Sunday’s Grand Prix of Bahrain was so controversial. SPEED’s on-air crew never really mentioned their opinions of the whole mess (aside from noting that the Sahara Force India team’s explanation of “already learning everything we needed to know from the first practice” for skipping Free Practice No. 2 on Friday didn’t hold water). However, they did make it unclear to anyone who follows them on Twitter that they weren’t really feeling Formula One racing in Bahrain and the series being used as a political tool.

*Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200*

I’m not sure how this reference will go over with my readers, but here it goes. Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Warner Home Video put out what they called the Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection. They were a series of video tapes that contained eight Looney Tunes and/or Merrie Melodies shorts pertaining to a particular character or characters. I have one of Foghorn Leghorn and one of Speedy Gonzales from when I was little. Why am I referencing classic cartoons here, besides the fact that I can? Each tape started out with this bit where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were singing, “On with the show, this is it!”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-t8PngHgWY That is how I felt about Sunday’s race in Rockingham.