All eyes are on the ESPN TV team this weekend in Charlotte. Two key production personalities are no longer working on the NASCAR telecasts. The Sr. Coordinating Producer has moved into the chair and will be line producing tonight's race.
After the problems with college football, the Nationwide Series finally gets some primetime TV on ESPN2 with no scheduling issues. The TV pictures in Charlotte under the lights are wonderful and the field is fast with lots of diverse personalities and agendas represented.
Allen Bestwick has a full house tonight with Ray Evernham, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace. Evernham is always a welcome presence and certainly deserves a bigger role in ESPN's future coverage. Daugherty and Wallace have been working on their act for several seasons. TV viewers know the drill.
Marty Reid is on his first full NASCAR tour of duty for ESPN and he has been having a tough time since the Sprint Cup Series coverage began. ESPN has Reid double-up on both Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races. He also handles practice and qualifying. Even with some relief provided by Allen Bestwick, it's been a struggle.
All the regulars are on pit road. Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Dave Burns are covering both races this weekend. ESPN puts the emphasis on the stars of the Cup Series that cross-over to race in on the Nationwide side. That often leaves some key stories of the race untold.
Tonight in Charlotte the racing is going to be fast and furious. The ESPN approach of zooming into one or two cars racing is simply not going to work. Reid is often caught watching the TV monitors, especially when something happens on the track out of camera range.
This is going to be a great opportunity to see if ESPN is going to change their style of coverage after the change in production personnel and the struggling ratings. CMS is a great track for TV to step back, show the racing and let the drivers worry about putting on a show.
Commercials are tough at Charlotte, especially under green flag racing. Pit stops are key, so it's going to be a challenge to get the commercial breaks in without missing some key racing moments.
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