After last night’s full moon madness on the track, from the ARCA race to the Sprint Cup Pace Car fire, Sunday has dawned sunny and beautiful. Today the Sprint Cup drivers will set the front row for the Daytona 500. Several drivers had to change engines yesterday (Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, and Danica Patrick) they will have to start from the back no matter where they qualify today.
The broadcast day begins with NASCAR Live. JohnnyTV and Kenny Wallace have to accommodate Petty Kyle. Get well DW! Since we have Kenny Wallace on for the driver’s point of view why is Petty Kyle there? Of course other than being the son of a great driver and having ridden around in many races, why is Kyle Petty there? He doesn’t seem to actually know much more about NASCAR than I know and is so bitter that he can’t seem to relay that knowledge. Maybe its because he can be loud; that seems to be popular on FOX Sports *. Those bimbos who shout the headlines in commercial breaks exemplify that.
I’d love NASCAR to have the opportunity to get out of this deal with FOX Sports. I miss SPEED channel. I am hearing about other channels – Velocity TV and MAV TV – that offer better racing coverage, but they aren’t offered on my television service – and checking out their websites it appears they are more hype than programming I’d be interested in. Maybe things will get better. Maybe NBC will usher in an age of quality NASCAR programming that dwarfs SPEED.
Okay, is it just me? Michael Waltrip is sitting there asking Carl Edward strategy questions. Michael Waltrip – who is trying for a spot in the race AND has multiple drivers running the race – is asking Carl Edwards STRATEGY QUESTIONS???? Get this guy off the desk!!! It and He are thoroughly inappropriate!!!
Sadly, unsurprisingly, Austin Dillon got the pole. Its sad, because he’s the big ‘storyline’ of the race therefore was virtually guaranteed the pole. It was going to be him or Kyle Larson, the other boy wonder/future of NASCAR. It would be nice if they were the future, not the present. According to the folks on NASCAR radio the drivers often know they need to progress more slowly, but the sponsors insist on their moving up to the next level and the drivers move. Often this impedes their development as a driver and when they don’t produce, the sponsor insists on swapping them out for the next big thing to repeat the cycle.
I think if there were fewer ‘storylines’ and more seemingly legitimate racing the fans wouldn’t be leaving. Big Bill France may have always manipulated the results. I don’t know and don’t really care. Brian France seems to be listening to the marketing people and they’ve turned it into a marketing exercise instead of a sport. I know in reality its a product – so are most things seen on television. The difference is how things are presented. Infomercials are presented as product demonstrations with testimonials. They are obviously about the product. A network programming’s aim is to make money by getting you to watch the advertisements between the laugh-track. But these programs aren’t presented as products themselves. NASCAR needs to present itself as a sport and keep the marketing talk in the conference rooms. I heard a host on NASCAR radio say a driver wouldn’t win early then loaf around the rest of the season with his guaranteed spot in the Chase (under the new rules) because the sponsor likes to see the car up front. The first thing she said was that because a driver is beholden to the sponsor he wouldn’t slack on his job. She is simply echoing the message we consistently hear from the NASCAR talking heads. Everybody wants to talk about the importance of the sponsors and then mention the fans, but they make it clear the people with money count most, the fans are of secondary importance. I’m not even going to begin the rant about the fact that ‘the fans’ actually means people on social media and calling into NASCAR radio. I do neither and consider myself an avid fan. Since Dustin Long disbanded his Backseat Drivers Council people like me who choose not to participate in the marketing tools known as Facebook and Twitter are invisible to NASCAR.
You know I am typically all hyped up about the coming race season waiting breathlessly through the dark winter months for action on the track. This year, I waited, but without regularly scheduled NASCAR programming to keep me updated on the sport and upcoming race programming I found myself surprised when testing occurred. Yes I listen to NASCAR radio, but mostly only to the interviews on Moody’s show or the morning show, or to Buddy Baker’s and Choc’s shows. Since I’m not a big fan of arguing, I turn to music when Bagley or Moody begin their self-aggrandizing rants. Since those comprise much more of the air time than interviews with drivers or relevant crew chiefs, I spend a lot more time listening to music on other SiriusXM stations. I need a program like the regularly scheduled Race Hub with Steve Byrnes as host. Quality broadcasting – that’s all I’m asking for, but it feels I’m asking too much to expect professional broadcasters to have talent, training, ethics, standards, and professionalism.
New rules. New drivers. Let’s see if we end up with a ‘better product’. NASCAR 2014.