Here we go with what may be the highest-rated Sprint Cup Series race of the season. The high banks of Talladega are calling and FOX is the network for the race.
Chris Myers opens the show with Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip alongside. Myers is a mess this season. He plays the fool on FOX while being the sophisticated host on Showtime's Inside NASCAR. The recent rain delay he hosted was just awful.
Talladega is a race that calls for a cool head when things go bad. The speeds are approaching 200mph with the new spoiler package and Myers needs to set the right tone. The element of danger has returned and kidding because you care does not have a place here today.
Darrell Waltrip spilled the beans on Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving the #3 car in the Nationwide Series race in Daytona. Waltrip has a new Twitter account and he had been typing like a man possessed. The Earnhardt and RCR camps were none too happy with "ole DW." Should be interesting if he uses the pre-race show to apologize.
Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds are waiting in the TV booth for Waltrip to call the race. Joy has been decidedly low-key this season. At times, he seems almost uninterested. Whatever the reason, there has been a big change to the way the FOX play-by-play announcer calls a race.
Many fans have suggested that Joy is merely tired of Waltrip and McReynolds talking overtop of him. That may be the case, as both men have left their traditional analysts roles and routinely stop Joy as they offer random comments and emotional outbursts. Waltrip calling for Junior to win at Daytona is still fresh in the minds of many.
The best pit road reporters on TV will be fighting to get on the air once the green flag flies. Waltrip and McReynolds talk more than any other analysts on TV and the FOX pit reporters are often a lonely bunch. Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Dick Berggren and Krista Voda should have a very interesting day.
Look for the battle between wideshots and the excessive use of in-car cameras to be going full steam today. This race can be covered in a variety of ways by the TV Director, so what the FOX guys choose to show today will go a long way in either exciting or frustrating the viewers.
Weather is clear, there have been no TV problems reported and the crowd is huge. This has the potential to be the best and highest-rated Cup race of the season.
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