O Thank God!!! RaceDay on Speed with DW, Kenny Wallace and Hammond!!!! A dream come true!!!! Why Oh Why can’t we have this combination weekly?????? I miss watching this show before each race with these guys telling me everything I need to know, getting me fired up for NASCAR Sunday. This seems to go against the SpeedTV plan of operations, but as a fan, it makes me so happy.
Kurt Busch arguing with Marty Smith? I HATE WORKING SATURDAYS!!! I miss too much racing on Saturday. I have a sneaking suspicion though that Marty had more than a little to do with that particular issue. Oh well, apparently there won’t be any punishment by NASCAR for it, so all’s well that ends well in this case.
It is raining in Brooklyn Hills, Michigan, so the start of the race is delayed. Sometimes I love rain delays, because we get more driver interviews. Apparently the interviewer has more than a little to do with how interesting those are. TNT does not have the ‘best in the business’ working on their race broadcasts, so the rain delay interviews are okay, but not as much fun as they are during the FOX or ABC broadcasts. Fortunately, I’m still in a good mood from RaceDay.
I have been really bummed the past few weeks that I’ve not been able to watch it, so this week was such a delight. I turned to Speed to see if the 24 Hours of LeMans had concluded and started watching RaceDay because DW was saying something interesting. When he finished talking and Hammond began I had to take another look at the tv screen. I had only glanced at it from time to time while DW was talking, because I expected to see the usual crew of losers. Suddenly there’s no Rutledge and no Matt Clark and no Larry Mc and no Petty Kyle! Life is SWEET!!!! I will practice Buddhist non-attachment though and not expect the RaceDay goodness to continue.
Congrats to Joey Logano on his win in the Nationwide Series yesterday. Joey should never have moved up to the Cup series as early as he did. I thought it was a bad idea at the time for all the reasons it has proven to have been a bad decision. It was wonderful that he had the opportunity. I loved Joey as a driver before he made it to Cup. His talent amazed me. I looked forward to his development as a driver. But I also felt the move to Cup at that time, in that car, would stunt his development and it has. He is finally starting to hit his stride in the Nationwide series. I believe he would already be a champion (or two time champion) of that series if he had only raced that series. It is said the Sprint Cup drivers participating in the Nationwide races gives those guys the opportunity to race the best and learn from the best. If Joey would have only run NNS for the past four years, he would probably have a better record in Cup at this point. He is a very talented driver. He is also a very, very young man. He was not prepared for the pressure of Cup racing and for the toll that pressure takes on the body. Owners should groom their drivers a bit more carefully, so they will last longer and perform better. Right now I feel like I’m seeing the Vince McMahon’ing of NASCAR. Vince, owner of the WWE, has a history of taking a talented performer and driving him into the ground, breaking his body and his spirit. It seems most of the owners are doing the same thing these days in NASCAR – trying to shortcut the learning process. There are several Sprint Cup drivers in the series right now who would be better drivers, and have more wins if they had been handled better. Of course, this phenomenon is occurring in all sports. We see it in the NFL, MLB, NHL and even in horse racing. It is a trend that needs to change course before all sports are as staged as the WWE in order to allow the athletes to participate long-term.
After a 2 hour rain delay DALE EARNHARDT JR. WINS!!!! He had a dominant car and did a masterful job. Great crew-chiefing from Steve Letarte. Congratulations to the 88 team!
Cringe-worthy moment of the weekend: “Yeah, it was definitely a Chinese fire drill…” DOH!!!! Jimmie Johnson!!!! That’s not cool dude!
I listened to the race on the radio while driving to see Daddy for Father’s Day. I tried to watch on RaceBuddy, but the On Tuesday I’m watching the recording of the race. So far, at lap of , it is an okay race. Long periods of nothing much with occasional wrecks that are missed by the TNT crew. Adam Alexander calls the televised race like he’s calling the race on the radio broadcast, so he ends up talking too much. It doesn’t help that he tosses open-ended questions to Wally & Petty Kyle and gets absolutely no response. They are a terrible team. Petty Kyle is trying to start an argument on every point. Adam is blabbing incessantly. Larry Mc is doing his impression of number one on-air hick. Wally is trying, but has a tendency to get lost at times. The pit road reporters are trying so hard it shows. They end up sounding like amateurs trying hard to look like professionals. It has been a relief to not have Michael Waltrip and Chris Meyers blabbing, but I’m already looking forward to Bestwick, Doc Punch, Petree, and the ABC broadcasts.
Poor Denny – that fire totally freaked him out (understandably). His first fire and it was a big one. I’m just glad he got out of the car without injury.
I’d like to tell Larry Mc where to put his Tool Box. Gimmicks, gimmicks, and more gimmicks. The only way he can add value to a broadcast is to absent himself from a broadcast.
Typically lots of people complain about the number of commercials during the TNT broadcasts. In the past I’ve not really noticed, but so far this season, it has been quite noticeable. I expect commercials, but TNT seems to have oversold the broadcast.
I’m not sure if the race is actually boring, or the broadcast. Michigan used to be one of my favorite races. It has been boring fuel-mileage races the last couple years, but I always hold out hope that it will get better. The radio broadcast was pretty good, but I was also a bit hyped up about the trip I was taking. Of course the last couple of races I’ve watched after listening to the radio broadcast were not nearly as good as the radio broadcast. Somehow the camera angles make me sleepy. They change them a lot. Sometimes their camera selection is questionable – or slow – but they don’t seem to increase the level of excitement (or drama).
That ‘Around the Track’ segment coming out of commercial is aggravating. TOO loud and rarely are they telling us anything substantial. The broadcasts resemble radio air-checks more and more often. Danielle Trotta ought to be a part of this so she can create more material for her ESPN air-check reel that’s useless to the audience.
I appreciate Petty Kyle’s enthusiasm for Jr’s win. It was a momentous occasion and it was nice to hear him try to relay the excitement at the track to the viewing audience since the broadcast itself did nothing to highlight the chaos that was occurring in the stands during the final few laps. It’s a beautiful thing to see Dale Jr. receive congratulations from the members of the various pit crews.
It is SOOOOOO good to see Jr and Steve Letarte and the 88 team in victory lane. They earned it. It’s good to see Jr genuinely, unconditionally happy for a change.