Weekend Wrap: NASCAR On FOX From Richmond

That's a Paul Menard crew member making sure the NASCAR official knows Jimmie Johnson's crew incurred a penalty on a pit stop. It was part of a great replay from the NASCAR on FOX crew. They also documented Johnson's pit issue and Carl Edwards apparently jumping the restart.

Last week I offered my opinion of the NASCAR on FOX telecast before giving you an opportunity to comment. This week, you get the first word now that the race is over.

Please leave us your opinion of the FOX telecast and update us on just how you feel about the Sprint Cup Series TV coverage this season? As always, we appreciate your honest comments as passionate fans.

The race was on FOX. Chris Myers hosted the pre-race show with Michael and Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip then moved upstairs to join Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds to call the race. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter.

That's a Paul Menard crew member making sure the NASCAR official knows Jimmie Johnson's crew incurred a penalty on a pit stop. It was part of a great replay from the NASCAR on FOX crew. They also documented Johnson's pit issue and Carl Edwards apparently jumping the restart.

Last week I offered my opinion of the NASCAR on FOX telecast before giving you an opportunity to comment. This week, you get the first word now that the race is over.

Please leave us your opinion of the FOX telecast and update us on just how you feel about the Sprint Cup Series TV coverage this season? As always, we appreciate your honest comments as passionate fans.

The race was on FOX. Chris Myers hosted the pre-race show with Michael and Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip then moved upstairs to join Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds to call the race. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter.

Sprint Cup Series From Richmond On FOX

It's a cold and rainy night in suburban Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond International Raceway has the jet dryers going and it looks good to get the race in tonight. Nothing official yet, but things look like they will be delayed a bit.

Chris Myers has Michael and Darrell Waltrip in the Hollywood Hotel. Mike Joy calls the race with Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds. Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren are on pit road. Jeff Hammond is the roving reporter.

Richmond is fun to watch when TV viewers can see the field and the racing. Keep an eye on just how tight FOX decides to shoot the race and how much of a "zoom-in" factor we will see tonight. ESPN had a rough outing last night with "hyper-tight" shots and blown coverage at the finish.

We will be running the  #TDP1 live stream on Twitter beginning at 7PM ET. There will be a post up immediately after the race for your full-length comments. Thanks.

The Two Car Tango ESPN Style

Despite the predictions of more action on the track, the Nationwide Series race from the Richmond International Raceway was all about horsepower and handling. The field behaved and the antics we have seen at RIR races in the past never materialized.

Instead, the final laps became the pursuit of Kurt Busch, driving his brother Kyle's team entry, by Denny Hamlin. The final lap was great and the pair managed a side-by-side finish that featured a little rubbing but no wrecking. It was a super victory for the Busch brothers.

On this night, there were also other stories. Travis Pastrana joined the series after his most recent X-Games injury. Danica Patrick and Johanna Long both made the race. Steven Wallace returned to action after the closing of his father's racing operation. Dave Blaney's 18 year-old son Ryan was racing in a one-off effort. Update: The Blaney ride is actually a 6 race Nationwide Series deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing. Thanks to reader Melissa for the update.

Ultimately, Pastrana fell victim to a late pit road speeding penalty. Patrick never got the car's handling right and Long again had inferior equipment. Only Long cracked the top 20 when it was all said and done.

The story of the race turned out to be Blaney. He never put a wheel wrong all night and finished a strong 7th. Steven Wallace also kept his nose clean and scored a solid 11th place. Even Sam Hornish Jr. conquered his personal short track challenges and got a top 5 finish.

The ESPN coverage from the start consisted of tight-shots of small groups of cars, even on the restarts. Two or three cars on the TV screen were common as the race went along. Mixing those shots with in-car cams and low angles comprised the vast majority of the coverage.

Allen Bestwick worked hard to get the excitement going, but it was tough as the director continued to show two or three cars racing in very tight camera shots. There was rarely an aerial shot and except for the green flags on a restart there were no wide shots of the field or large groups of cars racing.

What ESPN did do was track their X-Games superstar Pastrana all night long. Just like the treatment Danica got last season in her appearances, Pastrana was featured instead of other drivers whose storied needed to be updated. Once again, the cult of celebrity was more appealing to ESPN than the NASCAR racing.

Once Hamlin caught up to Busch in the final lap, the cameras stayed with that battle until the two crossed the finish line. But then, a funny thing happened. Instead of staying on the start/finish line or moving back to catch the next lead lap cars the director chose to show Busch slowing down and then his pit crew celebrating. None of the other lead lap cars were shown racing to the line.

This race only featured a battle for the lead on the final two laps. It only featured two cars side by side for the final lap. This actually got the ESPN crew so excited that the entire rest of the field was never seen after the leaders finished.

My contention has long been that TV is at the track to show the viewers at home what the fans in the stands are watching. The best battles, the big wreck, the fastest speeds are all part of the NASCAR experience. This all comes back to a statement made many times over the past few seasons.

There was not one fan in the stands at Richmond who only watched the winners finish the race. As the rest of the field raced toward the finish, the attention of the fans went back to the cars at speed and the stories still unfolding. ESPN stepped in and made a decision for the fans watching at home that they would see something else.

There was some drama in Kyle Busch's team winning the race. He would be interviewed along with his driver in Victory Lane. But this was not the Indy500, the Daytona 500 or the Super Bowl. It was a Nationwide Series race in Richmond. Once Kurt won, the TV viewers deserved to see the other cars race to the finish line.

What is your opinion on this topic? To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

ESPN2 Returns In Richmond

Kevin Harvick is on the pole as the Nationwide Series hits the Richmond International Raceway track under the lights on ESPN2. Danica is getting upstaged by the new mullet king Travis Pastrana.

ESPN gets back in the mix with Marty Smith in the Infield Pit Studio for the pre-race show as Rusty Wallace has the weekend off. Smith has been great and his opinions and comments are exactly what this telecast has needed. Wallace has his son Steven running at RIR in a Roush-prepared car, so it should be interesting to keep an eye on how much air time Steven gets, despite his position on the track.

Allen Bestwick is going to be a welcome voice as he leads Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree through this telecast. This race has all kind of drivers in the field and the action may be much more intense than the Cup race. Remember, those drivers seem to be "points racing" this season in almost every event.

ESPN has struggled with production on short tracks and Richmond's action is intense. We will use this post for your TV comments on this telecast. Just click the comments button to add your opinion. Thanks!

NASCAR TV Talk Heats Up

As the Sprint Cup Series heads toward the beautiful Richmond International Raceway, the talk about the TV coverage of the sport is heating up. Things got very interesting this week on Twitter.

It started innocently enough late Sunday night with these Darrell Waltrip posts:

"If you watched our telecast today I hope you enjoyed the coverage, thought we did a really good job of finding the action all over the track."

"The Digger shots were amazing, I bet he has a headache after today's race, this was another record setting day, fastest race at Kansas."

"Our entire team, director, producer, pit reporters, worked hard today to be sure we didn't leave anything on the table, emptied the bucket!"

After some fans and media members blasted the FOX coverage, Waltrip continued his Twitter posts on Monday:

"If someone says we covered the race yesterday like we do all the time, they didn't watch the race, from top to bottom we did it differently!"

"We focused on battles thru out the field all day until the end when Truex and Hamlin were battling for the win, pit reports were awesome."

Waltrip is certainly entitled to his opinion and has put in a decade of working on TV in the sport after his long Hall of Fame career as a driver.

Last March, after some TV stumbles early in the season, we offered a post that reviewed some of the fundamental issues fans have been discussing about the TV coverage for the past five years. This is a repost of (click here for the 2011 post with fan comments) a portion of the original column.

After all the changes that Waltrip mentioned, it should open an interesting discussion as to whether FOX has moved toward or away from some of these topics. Thanks to all the readers who helped to compose the original post.

This from March 8, 2011:

Active owners of Sprint Cup Series teams should not be on the air as network TV announcers. Despite the best intentions of those involved, the opinions expressed by those with a significant financial and professional commitment to the sport simply draw too much skepticism.

The pre-race show is to inform viewers of the ongoing stories involving the teams about to race. It is not for features designed to sell a product, promote a cause or advance a TV network's own agenda. "Face time" on national television should be for athletes, not announcers.

The driver starting on the pole of every Sprint Cup Series race should be interviewed during the pre-race show. This right comes with sitting on the pole and makes an impression on the national TV audience that this is an accomplishment for the driver, the team and the sponsor.

Speaking to a driver and/or crew chief via the team radio during the pace laps makes no sense. Asking the driver a random viewer question is ridiculous. Once again in 2010, this practice provided no new information, resulted in awkward moments and was openly despised by some drivers.

There is not one "new fan" watching the telecast. The entire NASCAR TV audience has a favorite driver and knows who is who. Showing a prerecorded "bumper" of a driver posing and grinning or trying to look tough or playing the drums while going to commercial under green flag racing is a travesty.

Updates on the basics of NASCAR should be reserved for specialty TV shows. Inside the live telecast of a Sprint Cup Series race there is no need to review the basics of tires, fuel cells, shock absorbers or any other car part that will be used in every event.

A driver who starts a Sprint Cup Series race and suddenly pulls off the track and heads to the garage should be identified on TV immediately. It is not the role of the TV networks to edit "start and park" cars from the telecasts. The responsibility is to report what is happening to those who are watching on TV and are not at the track.

No NASCAR TV network covering a live race should go to commercial under green flag racing in the first ten laps or the final ten laps of the event. Any driver transported to the infield medical center should be interviewed. Each one has fans and it is not the role of the TV network to use popularity or points standings to determine whether an athlete is worthy of TV time.

The scoring ticker is on the screen to help with information, not to be the primary source of scoring information for TV viewers once the race is underway. A key role of the play-by-play announcer is to update positions on the racetrack. What TV seems to be unable to do, the NASCAR radio broadcasters do on a regular basis. 

Prior to every restart in a Sprint Cup Series race TV viewers should be told what cars got a wave-around, who is the Lucky Dog and if there were any pit road penalties. Coming to the green flag, viewers should know at least the top ten cars (first five rows) and whether the leader chose the inside or outside.

Full field recaps within a race should be done through the complete field at regular intervals and not just include the top ten or twenty cars. Television often misses the real stories of the race by continually focusing on the front of the race and the current leaders. All the drivers on the track have fans.

After a multi-hour race, TV viewers deserve to see all the cars on the lead lap finish the race live. The race winner, pit crew and crew chief will have TV time in Victory Lane. Watching the rest of the lead lap cars racing to the finish is often much more exciting than seeing the winner cross the line.

The issues added by fans after the original post included showing debris for every caution flag, not using an in-car camera for a pass for the lead and having side-by-side TV commercial breaks. 

This post was a composite of the coverage of all three TV networks involved in the Sprint Cup Series. As we have said many times since 2007, the NASCAR TV networks paid the money to show the races and have the total right to present them however they please.

What may be important to remember in this world of DVR's, online streaming and social media is that the NASCAR fan base now has an incredible amount of real time information available during a race. What TV chooses not to show or include in a telecast may be interpreted as incomplete coverage.

This discussion is as much about digital technology, the Internet and the changing expectations of the fan base as it is about announcers, camera angles and commercial breaks. Either way, it's a fascinating time to continue the discussion of how to get the TV viewers to return to the live telecasts.

We invite your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Day Two: NASCAR On FOX From Kansas Speedway

The weather was the story in Kansas as cold temps and a green track from rain Saturday night made things pretty interesting. Teams were fooled on gas mileage and set-ups early on, while favorite son Clint Bowyer suffered engines woes and ultimately retired.

NASCAR on FOX began with a pre-race show that featured a focus on the promotion of the speedway, the sport and the series. It was a tough sell. The truck series race on Saturday showed fans exactly the issue facing the Sprint Cup Series today. Passing was going to be at a premium and "aero" was a word that was going to dominate.

Michael and Darrell Waltrip are exactly what FOX ordered. They invite controversy with their statements and together on the pre-race show are a walking conflict of interest. It gets TV viewers riled up and that is what the FOX executives enjoy doing.

The downside of all this pre-race gushing about the sport is that the kind of content presented by Jeff Hammond is missing. Darrell and Michael are from different eras, but both speak primarily from a driver's perspective. What has been lost is the crew chief perspective. Michael cannot provide this even when speaking as a current Sprint Cup Series owner.

Hammond once again tried to present a variety of interesting reports from different locations, but since there were few caution periods it was awkward at best. This new role has proven to be tough to integrate into a telecast. Surprisingly, Hammond is rarely seen in the garage following up after a key competitor has engines woes.

Mike Joy had an opportunity to flash the magic he used to show regularly on the older FOX telecasts. His calls of the restarts were stellar, but eventually the familiar routine of Waltrip dominating in the booth returned. TV commentary is now conversational instead of exciting, it's just the nature of the beast.

The pictures told the story. Tight shots were so frequent that when one aerial shot was used on a restart it was almost shocking. FOX has a style, they are going to stick with it and once again they did. Pit reporters were stellar, but again not used down the stretch. That is Waltrip time.

FOX continues to use the wideshot at the finish and ended the coverage with some of the lead lap cars finishing the race. There were no technical problems and once again the pictures and sound were solid. In many ways, this was just a repeat of a familiar formula that is being used for the TV coverage of this series.

We invite your comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Kansas Speedway. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button. Thank you again for stopping by.

Post Race: NASCAR On FOX From Kansas Speedway

The weather was the story in Kansas as cold temps and a green track from rain Saturday night made things pretty interesting. Teams were fooled on gas mileage and set-ups early on, while favorite son Clint Bowyer suffered engines woes and ultimately retired.

NASCAR on FOX began with a pre-race show that featured a focus on the promotion of the speedway, the sport and the series. It was a tough sell. The truck series race on Saturday showed fans exactly the issue facing the Sprint Cup Series today. Passing was going to be at a premium and "aero" was a word that was going to dominate.

Michael and Darrell Waltrip are exactly what FOX ordered. They invite controversy with their statements and together on the pre-race show are a walking conflict of interest. It gets TV viewers riled up and that is what the FOX executives enjoy doing.

The downside of all this pre-race gushing about the sport is that the kind of content presented by Jeff Hammond is missing. Darrell and Michael are from different eras, but both speak primarily from a driver's perspective. What has been lost is the crew chief perspective. Michael cannot provide this even when speaking as a current Sprint Cup Series owner.

Hammond once again tried to present a variety of interesting reports from different locations, but since there were few caution periods it was awkward at best. This new role has proven to be tough to integrate into a telecast. Surprisingly, Hammond is rarely seen in the garage following up after a key competitor has engines woes.

Mike Joy had an opportunity to flash the magic he used to show regularly on the older FOX telecasts. His calls of the restarts were stellar, but eventually the familiar routine of Waltrip dominating in the booth returned. TV commentary is now conversational instead of exciting, it's just the nature of the beast.

The pictures told the story. Tight shots were so frequent that when one aerial shot was used on a restart it was almost shocking. FOX has a style, they are going to stick with it and once again they did. Pit reporters were stellar, but again not used down the stretch. That is Waltrip time.

FOX continues to use the wideshot at the finish and ended the coverage with some of the lead lap cars finishing the race. There were no technical problems and once again the pictures and sound were solid. In many ways, this was just a repeat of a familiar formula that is being used for the TV coverage of this series.

We invite your comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Kansas Speedway. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button. Thank you again for stopping by.

Truck Series On SPEED From Kansas Speedway

Tim George Jr. is on the pole and the trucks are ready for an afternoon battle at the Kansas Speedway. The track surface is worn and will be repaved once the NASCAR teams depart on Sunday.

SPEED has the usual cast of characters ready for the race. 1:30PM ET for pre-race with race coverage starting 30 minutes later.

We are hosting a live Twitter stream using the #TDP1 hashtag starting at 1:15PM ET. This will be the final live stream for the trucks this season, although the Sprint Cup Series coverage will continue.

Thanks as always. Please feel free to leave a comment on the TV coverage here by clicking the comments button .

Sprint Cup Series On FOX From Kansas Speedway

The burden of being Dale Earnhardt Jr. will once again be on display at the Kansas Speedway. This race seems to be yet another aero-dependent track that may feature pit road and track position as the keys to winning. NASCAR would love nothing better than if Jr. finished high enough in the race to take the points lead.

The sport needs a shot in the arm and it will be a surprise if this track can provide it. FOX rolls out the usual suspects today with no changes in the starting line-up. The weather is windy and cold for this late in the season and there was heavy rain last night that will result in a green track for the drivers.

Pre-race will again feature the Waltrip brothers. FOX loves controversy and these two have been providing it for fans. Darrell has been in full salesman mode repping the sport while Michael has been dropping sponsor mentions for his teams while avoiding the sponsors of others. It's just what FOX wanted.

Mike Joy will call the event with Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds. Pit road will feature Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren. Jeff Hammond will be the roving reporter.

"Hyper-tight" production has been in full swing. FOX famously showed only the first and second place cars finishing at Martinsville while missing Junior and a snarling pack battling for 3rd and beyond. This week, unless there is a late restart, may feature a single-file finish and perhaps a strung-out field. Keep your eye on the finish coverage.

We will be hosting a live stream on Twitter using the hashtag #TDP1. Just type that into the Twitter.com search box to see our live stream and add it to the end of your tweets to be included. There will be a  post here for comments immediately after the race and new columns all this week. Thanks.

Social Media Continues To Force Change

It certainly has been an interesting couple of years in the digital world as social media has gone from being called a fad to now dominating NASCAR's media coverage.

From Brad Kesewloski tweeting during the red flag at Daytona to Shane Wilson's wife Dana showing us the $100 bill stuck to Kevin Harvick's bumper, there is no doubt that instant communication via Twitter, Facebook and other up and coming social media applications is here to stay.

When we started this blog in 2007, there was little in the way of communication between the sport and the fans. Radio call-in shows served that purpose, but calls were screened in advance and the personalities in the sport who called-in seemed to always have a purpose related to a sponsor.

The true power of social media is that it gives any citizen with a cell phone, tablet or laptop the ability to make their voice heard on an equal level with anyone else. Suddenly, your Twitter question for Jimmie Johnson gets answered by him directly. Personalities in the sport offer information, online links and glimpses into their true personalities never seen before on TV or radio.

One new twist to this is that the NASCAR TV partners have now embraced social media. SPEED has the Social Garage and numerous Twitter and Facebook accounts. ESPN, TNT and FOX all run multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts related to each network's NASCAR activities.

In the past, we have worked very hard to update the program listings for the NASCAR TV partners on TDP with specific announcers, guests and interviews. Now that same information that was forwarded to us is available on Twitter, Facebook and the TV network's own website.

Since it does not make much sense any longer for us to just repeat the same content, we are making some changes to the TDP format and activity list. We will continue to have a full NASCAR TV listing on the front page, but without the specific information updated in the past. The networks want to handle that themselves, basically so you will follow their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

We will continue to host a live stream on Twitter during Sprint Cup Series races, but no longer for Nationwide or Truck Series races. The truck race from Kansas will be our last. SPEED and ESPN both host their own live chats and want fans to come to their own locations for social media interaction.

The Sprint Cup Series live stream on Twitter will continue to be focused on the TV presentation of the race and the programs airing before and after the event. The original purpose of this blog was to simply discuss the performance of the NASCAR TV partners during this eight-year multi-billion dollar TV contract.

There will be a post-race blog for every Sprint Cup Series race, as well as weekday news updates and columns. This blog also auto-opens on both Android and iPhones. Our twitter account is located at twitter.com/thedalyplanet and sign-up for Twitter is free. Click here to view our Facebook page, which has recently been converted to the new Timeline format.

Thanks for listening to these updates, happy to have your feedback on these changes and the push toward social media by the NASCAR TV partners. Just click the comments button to add your opinion.

White House Visit: Updated

Updated: We are being informed by the White House that the live streaming will begin at 4:50PM ET today. Thanks to them for taking the time to update us.

Tuesday is the annual visit of the NASCAR Chase drivers to the White House. NASCAR chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton will also be attending as will other personalities in the sport.

Last year, five Chase drivers turned down the invitation pointing to scheduling issues. This move blossomed into a political football that turned a simple promotional opportunity for the sport into partisan politics. The national media headlines were not about who was there, but instead who was not and why.

This year all hands are on deck as the entire cast of Chase drivers lead by Tony Stewart will assemble for some casual conversation, a photo opportunity and some words from the President that he will most certainly not have written himself. It''s just another day at the White House, regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office.

Several years ago, ESPN's NASCAR Now originated from the White House lawn as Nicole Briscoe and Brad Daugherty sat down live with President Obama. The trio talked about why a healthy NASCAR is good for the economy. It made a statement that the President took the time for the interview.

NASCAR and ESPN both got good mileage out of having the President on TV and since that time he has kept his relationship with the network going strong. Rarely has the NCAA basketball tournament had a more celebrated bracket than the one unveiled by the President live on ESPN. While his wife has attended a NASCAR race, the President has yet to make the trip.

This year things are a little different. There is no live TV from the lawn. The White House visit is not even mentioned on the weekly ESPN Motorsports update. Shannon Spake will host NASCAR Now at 3PM from the network's Connecticut studios.

Race Hub on SPEED is now on the air Monday through Thursday. The White House visit is not listed on the rundown of features or news reports for the 6PM show. There is no other NASCAR TV that day.

A check of the NASCAR.com website late Monday night reveals no story promoting the White House visit. There is also nothing listed on the SiriusXM NASCAR website about coverage.

It seems ironic that in a sport that relies heavily on the electronic media for promotion, the only live coverage will be streaming of the event on the White House website. Instead of NASCAR's TV, radio or digital media partners it will be the federal government  offering live coverage to any fan with a laptop or smart phone.

Click here for the live streaming link. The coverage should start shortly after 4PM ET.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

White House Visit Works Well For NASCAR

Tuesday was a big day as the entire 2011 Chase for the Championship field along with Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart headed to the White House. As with the other championship sports teams from across the country, the NASCAR gang put on a good show during this meet and greet with President Obama.

After a tour of the White House, the Chase field assembled behind the President as he delivered prepared remarks. He joked that he was going to take some lessons in dealing with the media from Stewart. Obama acknowledged Jimmie Johnson's past championships and that Carl Edwards was a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

He also spoke about NASCAR's efforts to support the military, including the annual visit to the Walter Reed Army Hospital in the DC area and the efforts to bring awareness to the Wounded Warrior Project.

The White House provided a live video stream that was very professionally done and showed the ceremony and then the President and Stewart chatting next to the #14 championship car. The drivers all looked great and many of them provided pictures and comments via social media. We thank NASCAR's David Higdon, Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing PR for the images.

It was a nice photo op and NASCAR did a good job to get all the competitors in the same place for this moment. Happy to have your opinions on this White House visit.

Trucks Return To The Rock On SPEED

Andy Hillenburg pulled it off when most said he was just plain crazy. He bought the unused Rockingham Motor Speedway and single-handedly revived it with some very strategic business moves.

He positioned the track as a testing facility, used it for some regional racing series and all the while quietly restored it to the level of safety required by today's NASCAR. His wish for a national series race has now come true. As Hillenburg entered the driver's meeting today, he got a standing ovation.

SPEED will televise the Camping World Truck Series race beginning with the pre-race show at 12:30PM. Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will be joined by Hermie Sadler and Ray Dunlap on the race telecast.

We will have a live Twitter stream starting at 12:15PM ET. You can join use by typing the #TDP1 hashtag into the Twitter.com search box. My account is located at twitter.com/thedalyplanet if you would like to view who I follow to build your own timeline. Hope to see you there today.

Post-Race: NASCAR On FOX From Texas Motor Speedway

The NASCAR on FOX gang stopped at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night for a windy race on the fast track. It was a weird night as teams had to deal with a howling wind that was constant from start to  finish.

Chris Myers was back with Darrell and Michael Waltrip. Martin Truex Jr. started from the pole in an MWR entry. Darrell was focused on talking about personalities of the drivers in the pre-race show. It was dominated by on-camera conversation between the Waltrip brothers.

Race coverage was affected by the wind in terms of the camera positions shaking and the effects on the tight shots called by the director were horrible early in the telecast. The director chose once again to slowly get tighter and tighter as the race progressed. This is the mode of production for FOX and they are proud of it.

Long green flag runs and no RaceBuddy online application made the commercial placement tough because fans only had the PRN radio broadcast to keep them informed during the 3 minute breaks in the action. FOX again used recorded "bumpers" to break under green of drivers making funny faces and acting cool leading into commercial.

Pit reporters provided solid information, but the energy in the booth was just not there. Joy's race call was nonexistent and Waltrip dominated McReynolds. It's been a long time, but I still miss FOX turning Joy loose to just call the race and direct traffic. Joy made a lot of classic NASCAR TV earlier in his career.

Give a lot of credit to the technical staff for keeping pictures and sound humming without an issue during the telecast in very difficult conditions. It was very clear the camera operators were just getting pounded by the wind. That was the story of the race.

The character of the race as defined by the TV coverage was of long green flag runs and drivers struggling with car control. There was no attempt to show cars racing anywhere on the track, but the telecast observed and focused on single cars as they raced and talked about that team. Replays of key passes were common.

In the end, there was no drama and the race ended with a thud. Waltrip was once again talking in the closing laps constantly instead of letting Joy call the race. The lead lap cars were shown crossing the finish line and it was over.

Fans were very vocal about the coverage and this post is your opportunity to speak about the NASCAR on FOX telecast from start to finish. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hateful speech or political references in order for your opinion to be posted. Thank you for stopping by The Daly Planet.

White House Visit: All Hands On Deck

Tuesday is the annual visit of the NASCAR Chase drivers to the White House. NASCAR chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton will also be attending as will other personalities in the sport.

Last year, five Chase drivers turned down the invitation pointing to scheduling issues. This move blossomed into a political football that turned a simple promotional opportunity for the sport into partisan politics. The national media headlines were not about who was there, but instead who was not and why.

This year all hands are on deck as the entire cast of Chase drivers lead by Tony Stewart will assemble for some casual conversation, a photo opportunity and some words from the President that he will most certainly not have written himself. It''s just another day at the White House, regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office.

Several years ago, ESPN's NASCAR Now originated from the White House lawn as Nicole Briscoe and Brad Daugherty sat down live with President Obama, The trio talked about why a healthy NASCAR is good for the economy. It made a statement that the President took the time for the interview.

NASCAR and ESPN both got good mileage out of having the President on TV and since that time he has kept his relationship with the network going strong. Rarely has the NCAA basketball tournament had a more celebrated bracket than the one unveiled by the President live on ESPN. While his wife has attended a NASCAR race, the President has yet to make the trip.

This year things are a little different. There is no live TV from the lawn. The White House visit is not even mentioned on the weekly ESPN Motorsports update. Shannon Spake will host NASCAR Now at 3PM from the network's Connecticut studios.

Race Hub on SPEED is now on the air Monday through Thursday. The White House visit is not listed on the rundown of features or news reports for the 6PM show. There is no other NASCAR TV that day.

A check of the NASCAR.com website late Monday night reveals no story promoting the White House visit. There is also nothing listed on the SiriusXM NASCAR website about coverage.

It seems ironic that in a sport that relies heavily on the electronic media for promotion, the only live coverage will be streaming of the event on the White House website. Instead of NASCAR's TV, radio or digital media partners it will be the federal government  offering live coverage to any fan with a laptop or smart phone.

Click here for the live streaming link. The coverage should start shortly after 4PM ET.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.