Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Knows How To Explain NASCAR

2015 Indianapolis Cup Kyle Busch Racing Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Welcome back, race fans. This past weekend saw the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series travel to Indianapolis to race on the infamous 2.5-mile oval. Rule changes and heat were the name of the game. Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 On Sunday, the Sprint Cup Series returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Doesn’t Give the Heat Its Proper Due

2015 Loudon I Cup Michael Annett Car Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Last weekend, the Sprint Cup and Xfinity series returned to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for 501 laps of action. High temperatures on Sunday and dew points in the low 70s created rather taxing conditions for the drivers. Later on, the weather taxed NBC Sports as well. 5-hour Energy 301 Sunday afternoon brought the Sprint Cup …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC’s Early NASCAR Coverage Excels

Kyle Busch and Joey Logano race for position in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)­­

Welcome back, chaps. I had a pretty good time in Florida. Got a couple of good interviews and covered a couple of interesting races. Also, here’s an insider fact about NBC broadcasts: when they go to commercial, the feed that we saw in the Media Center constantly played the NBC chimes through the whole break. …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Deservedly Welcomed With Open Arms

2015 Daytona Ii Cup Jimmie Johnson Pack Racing Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

It’s hard to get NASCAR fans to agree on everything, and it’s even harder for them to all agree on something positive. Between the Chase, the competitors, and the various racetracks, everyone has an opinion and the only thing everyone agrees on is that it could always be better. Then NBC comes along, returning to …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Does Well in Parts; NBCSN Excels in Fontana

2015 Sonoma I Cup Martin Truex Jr Pack Racing Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Last weekend was pretty crazy in the racing world. You had the Sprint Cup Series on a road course, always a good time. You also had the Verizon IndyCar Series at Auto Club Speedway in what turned out to be just about the wildest race in the history of open wheel racing. Crikey. Toyota/Save Mart …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Xfinity Must Be Incensed

2015 Iowa Cwts Erik Jones Wins Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Welcome back! Last week saw the Sprint Cup Series take the weekend off. In the past, these weekends used to be the most boring time of the summer. Nothing would be going on. Not so much these days. The Xfinity Series was the primary show for the weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. Meanwhile, the Camping World …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: A Closer Look At Danica Patrick’s FOX Debut

2015 Michigan I Cup Danica Patrick Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Welcome back, race fans. I have to tell you, last weekend was frustrating as heck. Rain bites; it’s as simple as that. Here in Upstate New York, local racing was rained out Friday night due to severe thunderstorms. Sunday saw downpours in Michigan and Saturday saw the same in Illinois. Weak. Quicken Loans 400 Sunday’s …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Grading FOX’s Grid Walk

2015 Pocono I Cup Alex Bowman Spin Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Welcome back, race fans. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup Series was at Pocono Raceway, traditionally one of the more spread-out tracks on the calendar. However, we ended up with a closer, more competitive race than at Dover. Funny how those things work out. Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 After a rather unsatisfactory 400-mile tilt …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Can’t Fix Boredom

2015 Dover I Cup Jimmie Johnson Confetti Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Welcome back, race fans. After the insanity of Memorial Day weekend, last weekend brought a tripleheader at Dover. We saw wrecking, track surface issues and Jimmie Johnson winning again. In other words, it was just like last year. Things never change. Due to time constraints, Saturday’s running of the Buckle Up 200 will be covered …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Missing the Forest While Staring at the Wrong Trees

2015 Charlotte I Cup Kurt Busch Racing Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Well, Memorial Day weekend is over now. We were treated to over 1,500 miles of racing last weekend between a number of series. Today, we’re going to focus in on 1,400 of those miles and the broadcasts that brought those races to us. Last week, the big story in TV land was Jeff Gordon‘s move …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Provides Stripped-Down Broadcasts

Greg Biffle Cup Sprint Showdown 2015 Charlotte Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

This past weekend was the first part of “10 Days of Thunder” for FOX Sports. Weekend No. 1 featured racing in Charlotte and in Iowa. Thankfully, rain did not play a factor. The action was interesting, though. How FOX handled the situations that arose would ultimately affect how fans perceived the issues. Sprint All-Star Race …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Erik Jones’s Debut Brings Unsavory Booth Behavior

2015 Kansas I Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Car Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Photo Credit: NASCAR Via Getty Images

Welcome back, folks. Hope you had an excellent Mother’s Day Weekend. Last weekend, the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series were both at Kansas Speedway. The week was up and down at best. SpongeBob SquarePants 400 Looking back, I should have seen what happened early Saturday night coming. The Braves-Nationals baseball game ran long. …

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