0 It Started With A Cheer

As Trevor Bayne crossed the finish line of the Daytona 500, some of the media folks credentialed for the race cheered. In journalism circles, this is a big mistake. Reporters are neutral. That is what makes them good reporters.

At Daytona, the media center is now a mix of online journalists, TV and radio reporters and writers for various NASCAR blogs.

Tom Bowles was a freelance reporter for Sports Illustrated working the NASCAR beat and had been for several years. He also operates the Frontstretch.com NASCAR website. Basically, his money was made with SI and his passion is Frontstretch.

Bowles was one of the folks who applauded when Bayne crossed the line. In subsequent articles and tweets he expressed that his passion as a fan witnessing a major upset got the best of him. Bowles also reported Bayne got an ovation later in the media center when he conducted post-race interviews.

On Twitter, Bowles went at it with several of the top NASCAR reporters in the sport about the issue of applauding in the media center. Twitter is read by tons of NASCAR folks, including the high-ranking management. Bowles did not back down and things got pretty personal between himself and several reporters.

Today, Bowles was fired by SI.com for his actions in Daytona. The issue is a culture clash, plain and simple. The problem for NASCAR is how to handle the repercussions. There will be many.

Bowles was not one of the Citizen Journalists, he was not a blogger and not an amateur working on a website as a hobby. He has been an SI.com NASCAR reporter for years. Perhaps, that is the criteria on which he was judged and ultimately dismissed.

Folks on all sides of the issue have strong feelings. Some applaud SI.com for standing up for journalism. Some believe passion for a sport can be overwhelming when a unique event occurs. Still others point to TV and the way some of the on-air personalities move back and forth between journalism, analysis and commentary.

Click here to read Tom's article at Frontstretch.com talking about this issue. In my email contacts with Tom he has always been a good guy and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

If you would like to leave a comment, just click on the comments button below.

Detail: It Started With A Cheer

0 TV Police: Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix On FOX

Here are the TV facts and just the facts about the coverage from PIR:

Chris Myers anchored the pre-race show from a new set on the end of pit road. There were no guest on the set and after Darrell Waltrip left for the TV booth, Myers and Jeff Hammond moved into the Hollywood Hotel for the remainder of the race. This duo appeared several times during the race as accidents and a red flag paused the action.

Mike Joy called the race from the TV booth with Waltrip and Larry McReynolds alongside. These three appeared on-camera from the roof of the PIR tower prior to the race and then moved inside for the remainder of the telecast.

Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum were the pit road reporters. Several accidents in the event resulted in garage interviews. Pit stops involving damaged cars that had returned to the track kept this group busy for the entire event.

FOX experienced no weather delays and the telecast featured significant sponsorship from Subway. That appeared in the form of large logos before select race graphics. After the big accident, the field settled down into a rhythm that limited the passing.

A late restart allowed for some racing to develop and the Kyle Busch vs. Jeff Gordon story to emerge. Mike Joy called the run to the finish without interruption. The director chose to show only the winning car cross the finish line on TV and then follow the celebration. No other cars were shown finishing the race.

FOX interviewed the top five drivers in the post-race show, reviewed the entire field finishing order and then the season points. The telecast left the air at 6:50PM ET, running 20 minutes past the scheduled off time.

We are providing this post with only facts and without opinion so you will be able to post your comments about the FOX coverage without being influenced. We would like your opinion of the total telecast. We are looking for the good, the bad and what you would suggest could be changed as the season moves on.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, we do this for every Sprint Cup Series race once the live telecast is over. As always, this is a family-friendly website so please keep that in mind when posting.

Detail: TV Police: Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix On FOX

0 Nationwide Regulars: TV's Wooden Indians

It made absolutely no difference that Kyle Busch dominated the Nationwide Series race in Phoenix on Saturday. It made absolutely no difference that his only competition came from fellow Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards. NASCAR had taken a bold step during the off-season and made this a non-issue.

The big boys could come over from the Cup side and race in as many events as they wished. There was no problem with them winning, but the days of scoring driver points and snatching the Nationwide Series championship using superior financial resources were gone.

Now, only the Nationwide Series "regulars" could run for the prize and publicity. This season, there would be a race within a race. While the Cup drivers might be leading, there would be a snarling pack of "regulars" battling for the driver points and the championship.

Just like in the Chase for the Cup, there would be two stories to cover from the drop of the green flag in every Nationwide Series race this season. That would bring added exposure for the "regulars" as well as new story lines for the media covering the sport.

Theory met reality in Daytona a week ago when ESPN put the TV focus squarely on the Sprint Cup veterans and Danica Patrick. It's an old song that ESPN knows how to hum all too well. When the race was over, ESPN interviewed some Cup drivers and Danica before rudely departing. What was on next? A Daytona 500 preview show, of course.

In Phoenix the TV pre-race show was shortened by live college basketball. The emphasis was once again on the Sprint Cup Series drivers in the race and Danica. A Trevor Bayne Daytona 500 review was the big feature. Even as Bayne stood in front of his sponsorless Nationwide Series car, the questions were about the Daytona 500.

Since 2007, ESPN has been slowly driving a stake into the heart of the Nationwide Series. Click here for a classic TDP article describing the ESPN/ABC pre-race show for the 2007 Busch Series race at Talladega. There was one little problem. The announcers never mentioned the Busch race.

ESPN is basically livid that it is playing second fiddle to FOX and TNT during this part of the Sprint Cup Series season. On weekends, that anger is exposed by the constant use of Sprint Cup Series drivers and Sprint Cup story lines on the Nationwide Series telecasts.

On weekdays, the network takes out its frustrations by refusing to include the Sprint Cup Series races on its NASCAR Now motorsports TV calendar for the week until ESPN starts producing them. This has been the case since the new TV contract began in 2007.

ESPN takes the first seven months of the racing season to express its righteous indignation and then dumps the Nationwide coverage like a hot potato when the Cup series comes calling. Suddenly sandwiched between Saturday college football games on a stick-and-ball TV network, the Nationwide Series limps to the finish with a resounding thud.

Over the last four years ESPN has offered Nationwide Series fans live races without a play-by-play announcer, races called by pit reporters debuting in the TV booth and on-air line-ups featuring a "wide variety" of personalities. The Nationwide Series is the TV testing grounds for ESPN.

In Phoenix, the new points saga continued to unfold with neither of the top two finishers in the Saturday race competing for the driver championship. Luckily, there was plenty of time on the TV clock and ESPN would be able to work through the top finishers in the post-race show.

Reed Sorenson led the "regulars" with a fifth place finish. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was seventh, Justin Allgaier was eighth and Brian Scott was ninth. Two of the best stories of the night included Kenny Wallace running tenth after a rough 2010 and former start-and-park king Joe Nemechek finishing fifteenth.

The network worked through the Sprint Cup Series drivers and Danica. Then, Reed Sorenson was interviewed. The tone was as if the interview was forced on ESPN because Sorenson was now the points leader. Then, things got even stranger.

With the "regulars" still standing on pit road, ESPN went back into the studio and began to wrap-up the coverage with about six minutes still left in the TV time. It quickly became apparent that a choice had been made when Allen Bestwick signed-off.

Instead of offering the "regulars" TV time for sponsors and fans, ESPN had decided to go five minutes early to the college basketball studios for highlights. In a flash Stenhouse, Allgaier, Scott and Wallace had become wooden Indians standing along pit road. Everyone knew they were there, but no one acknowledged their presence.

Thirty seconds of national TV time in a post-race show is a bonanza for "regulars." Thirty seconds of TV after a good finish with a sponsor mention is a dream. Instead, the NASCAR TV partner that carries every single race decided to pass those drivers by and run.

The unsponsored cars, the short field and the start and parkers who towed all the way to Arizona tell the tale of Nationwide Series reality. Without a viable TV partner actively interested in supporting the teams and sponsors, the outlook for the "regulars" is bleak.

ESPN has four more seasons of exclusive Nationwide Series coverage in the current NASCAR TV contract. It makes one wonder what the network's motives really are when events like this unfold. It certainly should make NASCAR wonder.

We invite your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Detail: Nationwide Regulars: TV's Wooden Indians

0 Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix (FOX - 2:30PM ET)

The real season starts this week as the ten month grind begins at the Phoenix International Raceway. FOX starts with a thirty minute pre-race show, then opening ceremonies and race coverage.

Chris Myers, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond are first up. It should be interesting to see if FOX keeps the new smaller outdoor set used in Daytona. That put the trio out among the fans and gave the pre-race show a very different vibe.

Waltrip joins Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds in the TV booth for the race. Waltrip took away Joy's final lap call last week by talking over top of the TV veteran. We will see if Waltrip learned anything from the criticism he received or if he continues to be the primary voice in the booth.

Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren are the pit reporters. Unlike Daytona, this group should be busy today with tires, fuel and pit strategy being the big stories. We still have to see how long the tires last on a green track scrubbed by rain overnight.

While Daytona and the lovebug style of racing demanded wideshots and special coverage, PIR will tell the tale of whether the TV director is going to continue this style or return to the classic FOX approach of single car shots and in-car cameras.

The weather looks good and the scenery from PIR is outstanding. With some good racing, PIR has the potential to erase a lot of the bad memories of the lovebug push show seen at Daytona.

This post will serve to host your comments on the FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from PIR. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Detail: Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix (FOX - 2:30PM ET)

0 Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Phoenix (ESPN2 - 5PM ET)

Nothing can describe the post-race chaos that happened to the NASCAR on ESPN team last weekend in Daytona. The audio failed on the Nationwide Series winner interview, then the network suddenly started a Daytona 500 preview show.

There were no interviews of key Nationwide finishers and a long delay of almost twenty minutes before a replay of the Nationwide winner interview with sound this time. It was just awful.

The icing on the cake was veteran broadcaster Marty Reid calling the wrong car dramatically crossing the finish line as the winner. Channeling his best Rick Allen, Reid tried to call the side-by-side battle, but wound up being embarrassed on national TV once again.

ESPN returned the same cast in front of the camera with the exception of Ray Evernham, who left to work on a project with Rick Hendrick. Jamie Shiftan is the new line producer and was a popular choice with the crew. Ultimately, the network returned to exactly the same type of coverage and ended the first telecast with a thud.

Phoenix is going to be a challenge for the ESPN TV director who likes to shoot the races tight and show only one or two cars at a time mixed with in-car camera views. PIR demands keeping a perspective for the TV viewers and that can only be done by effectively mixing wideshots with low-angle camera views.

The race off pit road is going to be key all night long and it will be important to use and hold the triple-split until all three cars are done with service. Otherwise, the viewer perspective will be lost. As we know from past telecasts, pit road at PIR both on the way in and the way out can be tricky.

Reid needs to rebound with a strong performance and cut-out the nonsense and hype. The Nationwide Series race looks to be dominated by three or four Cup drivers who are crossing-over and racing despite getting no driver points for a win this season.

It should be very interesting to see how ESPN handles two stories. The first is Danica Patrick, who is at her home track (Arizona resident) but struggling in the series and secondly keeping viewers up to date on the driver points race. That is, focusing on the drivers who have declared to run for the championship.

There is no catch-can man on pit road, so watching teams make adjustments on cars will be important. With the gas man busy, it will be up to one of the over-the-wall gang to get it done. It may be that the rear tire changer carries the first tire with him to free-up a crew member. Hope we see this on camera.

Allen Bestwick will handle the pre-race with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Wallace is feisty already, mixing comments that are clearly motivated by his own perspective as a team owner with items like sponsor mentions. Daugherty has nothing to add except his enthusiasm and without Ricky Craven things may be a little less exciting in the pit studio.

There are plenty of good names in the field, which was short so no one went home. Several are still expected to start and park, while there are some new faces in the rear of the field who might make it interesting once lapping begins.

PIR makes for a beautiful aerial shot and has a ton of scenery. Hopefully, ESPN makes use of this for bumpers into and out of commercial instead of pre-packaged content. Dr. Jerry Punch, Dave Burns, Vince Welch and Jamie Little should be busy with pit stops but little else unless a multi-car incident happens. The red comes out quickly here as the track can be blocked instantly.

This post will serve to host your comments about the ESPN2 coverage of the Nationwide Series race from PIR. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Detail: Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Phoenix (ESPN2 - 5PM ET)