Here we go with the first of six Sprint Cup Series races on TNT, but the story of Sunday is not the TV network, it is the weather.
Thunderstorms are expected in the area all afternoon and the teams are ready for a very long afternoon. TNT is perhaps the network that may have the toughest time filling a rain delay. They have no other NASCAR programming and if lightning shuts the TV compound down, it may be movie time for NASCAR fans.
It will be Lindsay Czarniak hosting the telecasts from the infield stage with Larry McReynolds. Joining that duo for the pre-race show will be Kyle Petty. McReynolds has the same cutaway car back for this season.
It will be Adam Alexander, Petty and Wally Dallenbach Jr. in the TV booth. This trio worked a session of practice on Saturday and sounded quite good. This is the first time calling play-by-play for Alexander and TNT really took a leap of faith on his selection.
TNT will return the online RaceBuddy application. Jim Noble, veteran PRN reporter, will be the dedicated online pit reporter working only for RaceBuddy users. There will be multiple cameras and online Twitter and social media feeds as well as live chat.
Kyle Petty has lead the way in social media interaction with fans and Adam Alexander told me this week he expects Petty to handle the live tweets in the TV booth. It should be interesting to see how year number two of this direct fan interaction works.
TNT has a history of showing NASCAR in a very different way than FOX. While FOX concentrates on one or two cars and the announcers talk about the video, TNT uses wideshots and follows the racing on the track all the time. Last season, this "old school" approach worked very well for the network.
TNT is integrated with the NASCAR.com website. Each race morning, a member of the TV team will host a live chat with fans. For post-race, the TNT gang will use NASCAR.com for live video coverage and reports.
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