Talking NASCAR TV: Race Coverage at Fontana Improves… But Digger Still Lurks in the Shadows
Before we begin, as you may remember I was quite critical of FOX’s broadcast of the Daytona 500 – most notably the lack of any mention of rain up until seemingly lap 85 or so. Well, I’ve had an email exchange with Mike Joy since then, and Joy’s take on the issue was that they didn’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly. In Joy’s own words, he said that the announcing booth “…weren’t trying to jinx ourselves with ‘what-ifs.’ [as to what might happen if the rain would shorten the race].” While not all fans might agree with that take, it’s definitely a plausible explanation that makes sense. Also, Joy reassured me there was no gag order on the weather information imposed by anybody – a fact always notable for those NASCAR fans insistent on conspiracy theories to understand.