Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: Thoughts on NBC Sports’ Indianapolis 500 Debut

Simon Pagenaud 2019 Indycar Grand Prix Winner

(Photo: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar Media)

Last weekend was very, very busy. We had hot weather in Charlotte to the point of drivers requiring attention after the race on Saturday, late race action in Indianapolis and a very long Coca-Cola 600. As you know, NBC went all out for Indianapolis. Mike Tirico, who has more or less assumed the role formerly …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: All-Star Race Brings Action, Enthusiasm & Unclear Fight Causation

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Monster Energy All-Star Weekend is always a bit of a toss-up each year. Coming out of Saturday night, the most notable thing that happened was Clint Bowyer going after Ryan Newman after the race. FOX did not air the post-race bumping match between the two drivers live (that was replayed, though). Bowyer going after Newman …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Kansas Provides a Bunch of Action for Viewers

2019 Dover Cup Zach Catanzareti Clint Bowyer

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Kansas Speedway put on a very interesting couple of races last weekend. We got a first-time winner Friday night in Ross Chastain and a very interesting Cup race that looked unlike any race seen so far this year. Digital Ally 400 Saturday night’s 400-mile race was somewhat unexpected. It was a competitive race… whenever Kevin …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Postponed Races Are Nightmares to View

2019 Dover Cup Zach Catanzareti Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Rainouts are always difficult for anyone to deal with. NASCAR (and seemingly every major sport) pitches it as an opportunity for fans to use mobile solutions in order to follow the race if they can’t watch at home. In reality, a good percentage of workplaces have cracked down on those types of solutions in recent …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX’s Last Lap Coverage Leaves Much to Be Desired

2019 Talladega Cup Mencs Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Talladega brings a lot of interesting things to NASCAR.  Some of the sport’s loudest and rowdiest fans.  Shenanigans.  Stomach churning.  Maybe that last one’s just me. Normally, a superspeedway race in which everyone more or less stays close to each other all race long should not be that difficult to cover.  After Sunday, I’m not …

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Santino Ferrucci Is Experiencing a New Adventure in the IndyCar Series

2019 Long Beach Indycar Santino Ferrucci Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

For Santino Ferrucci, 2018 was a year that he’d likely rather forget.  He started out the year at Trident Racing, competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.  In addition, Ferrucci served as a test driver for the Haas F1 Team. After some decent runs, such as a sixth-place finish in the Sprint race in Azerbaijan, …

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The Life of a Racing Pit Reporter: Kelli Stavast

2019 Daytona Iwsc Kelli Stavast Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

Back in September, I had the great pleasure to sit down with some of NBC Sports’ on-air personalities.  We’ve already covered the point of view of play-by-play commentator Rick Allen and booth analyst Jeff Burton.  Today, we’re going down to pit road with the help of Kelli Stavast. For me, personally, the first time I …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Puts on Low-Key Cup Broadcast from Richmond

2019 Cup Richmond Zach Catanzareti Kyle Busch

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Aside from the race Saturday night, one of the biggest stories in NASCAR recently is Jimmie Johnson running the Boston Marathon.  As we know now, he did it in three hours, nine minutes and seven seconds. Note that Boston’s course is considered to be one of the more difficult marathons. However, Johnson is not the …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Bristol Provides Good Racing, Decent Coverage and Bad Luck

2019 Bristol Zach Catanzareti Cup Clint Bowyer

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Bristol Motor Speedway always seems to provide some interesting action.  The usage of PJ1 TrackBite on the concrete banks has led to mixed results over the years.  This past weekend just might have been the most competitive at Bristol since the 2007 reconfiguration. Food City 500 Sunday’s 500-lap race was a relatively quick affair by …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: What Is The Future of FOX NASCAR’s On-Air Team?

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This week is likely going to be a busy one, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.  Last weekend, NASCAR’s National Series were all in action at Texas Motor Speedway.  The weather was not exactly ideal.  That was something that I was actually a little worried about in regards to the Truck race moving from …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Sports 1 Hits the Curb in Martinsville

#2: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Reese/drawtite Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Martinsville is normally a pretty exciting weekend.  A lot of race fans and media members are typically jacked up about it.  We had seven people at the track last weekend.  Then, the racing started.  The new rules and a strong effort from Brad Keselowski resulted in one of the least competitive Cup races at Martinsville …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: The Kyle Busch Show Takes Center Stage in Fontana

#18: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Interstate Batteries Celebrates After Winning Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

For seemingly all of last week, much of the coverage surrounding NASCAR had to do with Kyle Busch’s quest for 200 wins in NASCAR’s National Series.  Admittedly, this is more or less a made-up stat.  I don’t recall any real discussion of this (outside of Nick Bromberg’s “what a time to be alive” Twitter posts …

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