STOP SHOUTING!!! What is this new thing with people shouting on television? Am I supposed to believe volume equals excitement? In my experience when people are shouting for no apparent reason I find that their sanity is usually someone else’s memory. I understand some allowances have to be made to raise the intensity after Matt Clark stumbles and mumbles his way through belaboring a point already thoroughly discussed, but the shouting just sounds a bit too, well, a bit too FAKE. The Race Day guys standing in a cheering crowd and shouting above the noise is just dumb. Kenny Wallace works the crowd just fine from the stage. John Roberts doesn’t want anything to do with the crowd. I have no problem with that. KP just want to argue with them. He can easily accomplish that from the stage. Larry Mc wants to ‘splain things to them. He can do that one-on-one or from the stage. Putting them in the crowd does not translate into accessible, nor fun. It does not increase my excitement level, nor get me revved up for the show. It just aggravates me. I’m glad the folks in front of the stage are loudly enjoying themselves. I’ve been in front of that stage and did the same. BUT I did NOT tune in to watch the crowd. I tune in to get ready for the race. The folks at the track are already READY. They’re excited – as well they should be – they’re at the track – just a few hours short of the green flag. Who wouldn’t be excited? That’s not relevant to me though. I want some analysis, some interviews, some gossip from the garage, NASCAR news. I have no choice but to sit through Matt Clark’s meanderings – some brain surgeon decreed that he’s ready for public viewing – and I have to deal with Larry Mc repeating everything he’s heard as though it was his original thought – along with KP’s antagonistic rants – and Rut’s attempts. That’s the price I pay these days for Kenny Wallace’s fun, and Wendy, Hermie & Bob’s interviews. Those bits provide some much insight and race day fun I sometimes tolerate the rest (though lately I find I turn down the volume until I see an interview). The people in charge are so busy trying to manufacture excitement (and change) they are taking away from the quality and value of the shows on Speed. I learned NASCAR from watching Speed and listening to the talent. Most of those folks (and shows) are just memories now – either the show no longer airs, the talent is no longer part of the broadcast team, the broadcast team has been split up, or the show airs, but the format and people involved make it seem like a different (and inferior) show.
Smoke wins at Vegas. Jimmie finished second. I think it shows the difference in the mentality that Smoke was sarcastically asking how much the current lap paid because Jimmie and Kenseth were actually bothering to race instead of just laying back and riding around like Smoke. I am one fan who is grateful that at least two drivers are interested in driving the entire race instead of racing early, riding around through the middle, then racing at the end. I will welcome the return of the classy champ – Go 48 Go!!!
Overall, the race was boring. Long green runs without a lot of passing and/or action during the long green flag runs. Johnson vs Kenseth was fun, but a short portion of the duration of that race. I’m pleased it was not a fuel mileage race in the end. Vegas is frequently a bit boring to me, so this race lived up to the track’s reputation; that said, I didn’t hate it.
I would like ot add that while I enjoy Mikey I had reservations about his inclusion on the NASCAR on FOX broadcast and so far his performance has borne out my concerns. Mikey doesn’t add anything to the broadcast. We already have a championship driver named Waltrip who’s pretty good on a mic. We have Mike Joy who is a wonderful, knowledgeable broadcaster. We have Jeff Hammond, a champion crew chief with great technical knowledge and the ability to adequately explain the technical stuff to the non-gearhead casual fan. We have Chris Myers booming his way through each show. We have Larry Mc – not sure why, but we do. Mikey doesn’t bring anything we don’t already have except he’s green on the mic and in the booth. I’ve watched him for quite a few seasons on Speed doing the truck races, but the FOX broadcast is on a different level and he’s not there yet, nowhere near.
Next week Bristol. YAWN…