THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
June 5th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition LXXXVI
----------------
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
June 5th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition LXXXVI
----------------
What to Watch: Thursday
- Today is the official start of on-track activities from Texas Motor Speedway. The Camping World Truck Series teams will be out on the track for two practice sessions. They are from 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Neither of these practice sessions will be televised.
Today's TV Schedule
Today's TV Schedule
Time Telecast Network
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1*# (from June 4)
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks FOX Sports 1*/# (from June 1)
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM NASCAR America NBC Sports Network
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
9:00 PM - 9:30 PM How It's Made Science Channel
10:00 PM - 11:00 PM Isle of Man TT: June 5
DVR Theater (Late Thursday Night / Early Friday Morning)
2:30 AM - 3:00 AM NASCAR Now ESPN2* - Tape-Delayed
/ - Highlighted Coverage
# - Repeat Telecast
Top News
by Phil Allaway
Yuengling Light to Sponsor Austin Dillon
On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that the team's No. 3 will return to the Camping World Truck Series in a one-off during the Pocono Mountains 125 on August 2nd. Pottsville, Pennsylvania's D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., via the Yuengling Light brand, will serve as the primary sponsor, with 2011 Camping World Truck Series Champion Austin Dillon getting behind the wheel.
Dillon is very happy to return with RCR to the Camping World Truck Series.
"I spent a lot of time racing in the Truck Series so it's like a homecoming anytime I get to go race with those guys," Dillon said. "I'm truly thankful to Yuengling for the opportunity and I hope I can bring them to Victory Lane in their home state of Pennsylvania. Truck racing is some of the best racing out there and we're going to have some fun in the Poconos this August."
"We are proud to be represented at The Brewery's local track in our first Camping World Truck Series race," the beer company's CEO, Dick Yuengling added. "We enjoy working with RCR and Ty Dillon, and as a sixth generation family business we look forward to adding Austin Dillon to our racing family."
The one-race sponsorship from Yuengling Light is in addition to the existing eight-race deal in the Nationwide Series that was announced late last year. That partnership is with Ty Dillon, Austin's younger brother.
by Phil Allaway
Yuengling Light to Sponsor Austin Dillon
On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that the team's No. 3 will return to the Camping World Truck Series in a one-off during the Pocono Mountains 125 on August 2nd. Pottsville, Pennsylvania's D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., via the Yuengling Light brand, will serve as the primary sponsor, with 2011 Camping World Truck Series Champion Austin Dillon getting behind the wheel.
Dillon is very happy to return with RCR to the Camping World Truck Series.
"I spent a lot of time racing in the Truck Series so it's like a homecoming anytime I get to go race with those guys," Dillon said. "I'm truly thankful to Yuengling for the opportunity and I hope I can bring them to Victory Lane in their home state of Pennsylvania. Truck racing is some of the best racing out there and we're going to have some fun in the Poconos this August."
"We are proud to be represented at The Brewery's local track in our first Camping World Truck Series race," the beer company's CEO, Dick Yuengling added. "We enjoy working with RCR and Ty Dillon, and as a sixth generation family business we look forward to adding Austin Dillon to our racing family."
The one-race sponsorship from Yuengling Light is in addition to the existing eight-race deal in the Nationwide Series that was announced late last year. That partnership is with Ty Dillon, Austin's younger brother.
Despite currently racing full-time in the Sprint Cup Series, Austin has competed in two Camping World Truck Series races this year for NTS Motorsports in their No. 20. Both races resulted in top-10 finishes with a best result of fourth at Kansas. Austin's previous Camping World Truck Series races at Pocono nearly mirror those races this year with NTS Motorsports. He has two top-10 performances in two starts at the "Tricky Triangle," with a best finish of fifth in 2011.
Penalties Announced from Detroit Announced
On Wednesday, IndyCar Announced a couple of penalties stemming from the Chevrolet Duals at Detroit, held last weekend at Belle Isle Park.
Team Penske has been fined $5,000 due to a weight violation found on Juan Pablo Montoya's No. 2 Verizon-sponsored entry. The violation was found following qualifying for Dual No. 1. In addition, Don Oldenburg, who works for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, has been placed on probation for two months. That penalty stems from a violation of IndyCar's Social Media Policy.
The IndyCar Series will have their fourth race in three weeks this weekend at Texas.
Entry List Update:
Note: These entries are accurate as of Wednesday night. However, they are still subject to change.
Sprint Cup Series Pocono 400: 43 cars entered
Drivers Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 40 - Landon Cassill for Hillman Racing
No. 44 - JJ Yeley for Swan Racing/Xxxtreme Motorsports
Driver Changes:
No. 32 - Travis Kvapil returns to the seat, replacing Blake Koch. Kvapil is the team's full-time driver when funding isn't brought to the program.
No. 33 - Alex Kennedy is in the seat, replacing David Stremme. Kennedy has brought sponsorship from Dream Factory to the team in a three-race deal.
No. 66 - Timmy Hill is in the seat, replacing Brett Moffitt. Joe Nemechek was originally entered in the car but will run the Truck Series race in Texas instead.
Since there are only 43 cars entered, no one will fail to qualify.
Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 400k: 27 trucks entered
Driver Ineligible to Earn Points:
No. 0 - Ryan Ellis for JJC Racing
Driver Changes:
No. 07 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Jake Crum.
No. 8 - Joe Nemechek returns to the seat, replacing his son John Hunter Nemechek. John Hunter, at age 16, is still ineligible to race superspeedways.
No. 20 - Justin Lofton is in the seat, replacing Gray Gaulding. Lofton is doing double duty this weekend, racing both in the Camping World Truck Series and SST.
No. 32 - Tayler Malsam returns to the seat, replacing Ben Rhodes. Rhodes is also ineligible to run superspeedways.
No. 51 - Erik Jones returns to the seat, replacing Kyle Busch. Jones, who is now 18, is also doing double duty, splitting time between Texas and Milwaukee, where he will compete in the Howie Lettow Memorial 150.
Since there are only 27 trucks entered, no one will fail to qualify.
Not Entered:
No. 00 - Cole Custer for Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 33 - Brandon Jones for Turner Scott Motorsports
No. 36 - Blake Koch for MB Motorsports
No. 39 - Ryan Sieg for RSS Racing
No. 40 - Todd Peck for Peck Motorsports
No. 42 - Charles Lewandoski for Young's Motorsports
No. 56 - Raymond Terczak, Jr.
No. 92 - Scott Riggs for RBR Enterprises
Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600: 22 cars entered
Driver Change:
No. 20 - Ed Carpenter returns to the seat, replacing Mike Conway. Carpenter is running all oval races this season for the team.
Entries:
No. 2 - Juan Pablo Montoya for Team Penske
No. 3 - Helio Castroneves for Team Penske
No. 7 - Mikhail Aleshin for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
No. 8 - Ryan Briscoe for NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 9 - Scott Dixon for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 10 - Tony Kanaan for Target Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 11 - Sebastien Bourdais for KVSH Racing
No. 12 - Will Power for Team Penske
No. 14 - Takuma Sato for A.J. Foyt Enterprises
No. 15 - Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 17 - Sebastian Saavedra for KVAFS Racing
No. 18 - Carlos Huertas for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 19 - Justin Wilson for Dale Coyne Racing
No. 20 - Ed Carpenter for Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 25 - Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport
No. 27 - James Hinchcliffe for Andretti Autosport
No. 28 - Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport
No. 34 - Carlos Munoz for Andretti Autosport/HVM Racing
No. 67 - Josef Newgarden for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
No. 77 - Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports
No. 83 - Charlie Kimball for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 98 - Jack Hawksworth for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
ARCA Racing Series Pocono ARCA 200: 32 cars entered
Driver Changes:
No. 06 - Steve Fox is in the seat, replacing Tim Viens.
No. 0 - Don Thompson is in the seat, replacing James Swanson.
No. 4 - Kyle Larson returns to the seat, replacing Mark Thompson. Larson is making his Pocono debut this weekend.
No. 7 - Brent Cross returns to the seat, replacing Scotty Hubler.
No. 10 - Ed Pompa returns to the seat, replacing Matt Tifft.
No. 17 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Kyle Benjamin.
No. 55 - Cody Coughlin returns to the seat, replacing Brian Wong.
No. 66 - Tom Berte is in the seat, replacing Michael Self.
No. 68 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Michael Lira.
No. 69 - Will Kimmel returns to the seat, replacing Raul Orlandini.
No. 86 - Nick Igdalsky is in the seat, replacing Bobby Grewohl.
No. 99 - An unknown driver will be in the seat, replacing Steve Fox.
Not Entered:
No. 06 - Peterson Motorsports
No. 24 - Steve Minghenelli for Minghenelli Racing
No. 34 - Darrell Basham for Darrell Basham Racing
No. 53 - Andrew Ranger for NDS Motorsports
Have news for Phil, Summer and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip. Comments can also be sent to frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com.
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Got NASCAR-related questions or comments?
Send them Summer Bedgood's way at summer.bedgood@frontstretch.com; and, if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when she does her weekly column answering back to you – the fans that keep Frontstretch afloat. Frontstretch Fan Q & A will run on Thursdays with a whole new set of Fan Questions and Answers!
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Today's Featured Commentary
Potts' Thoughts About Detroit
Potts' Shots
by John Potts
Our Frontstretch Roundtable on open-wheel racing pretty well dissected things in regard to the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race this week. Sorry I didn't get to participate, but I seem to be still having problems with this new technology. You know, the thing they call a computer.
I agree with what most of them said, that the first race after Indy should be an oval, and they should have an open week in there. Years ago it was Milwaukee, and that was always a great race.
I can't add much to what they've said, and I'm fairly new in my return to the open-wheel scene. True, I do have a LOT of memories from my earlier years when I followed the 500 and the Championship Trail very closely. Back when they had to run pavement and dirt to earn their points.
Now it's ovals and road courses, but that's progress, I suppose. I recall a few years back when somebody asked A.J. Foyt if he thought anybody in the old CART series could handle a championship car (now known as Silver Crown) or a sprint car on a mile track. If my memory serves me correctly, he replied, "Mario. He's the only one who's done it. These other guys would need some practice at it."
The Detroit race was pretty interesting. Lots of contact, and a couple of drivers had their chances at winning completely scrubbed by some of that. A few penalties handed out, too.
On a message board I frequent, somebody wanted to know how much the roughness of the course had to do with the "occasional" contact. I'm not sure, but this phenomenon isn't a new thing with Detroit. Moving the race to Belle Isle kept the tradition of a rough course.
When they were running on the old course downtown, Pancho Carter used to rent Indianapolis Raceway Park for a day to practice in the week before Detroit. The first time he came in the office, I got out the map of the road course and asked if there was anything special he needed.
"I don't need the whole course, John," he said. "Just the south end. Give your safety crew some cones and I'll show them how to lay it out."
Turned out Pancho had designed his own short "road" course in the east staging lanes, parts of Turns 6, 7, & 8, and the professional dragstrip pit area we called Lot 2.
I went down there to see it before he started testing, and he pointed it out the similarities to Detroit's street course. He had rough spots before and after corners in the same places where he was going to find them the next weekend. Gotta like the preparation of a guy like that.
Pancho wasn't the only guy who did "specialized" testing. Mario Andretti used to come out on the Friday before the 500 and do some work with his brakes. He'd just use the drag strip.
Later, Emerson Fittipaldi and his Penske team did the same thing. I had the pleasure of watching him do it, and the first time he came balling down the strip at over 180 miles an hour it scared me. I thought he was bound for the sand trap. I'll still swear that he was less than 100 feet from the sand when he hit the brakes, and came up short enough to turn down the return road.
I mentioned this to the crew chief, and he said, "Yeah, and this is our speedway setup. We don't have the killer road course brakes on there."
Maybe getting a little far afield, I'd like to mention something about how sophisticated even local racing has become…
One thing I am absolutely sure of is that the rising level of sophistication in racing has filtered down to the local level, and that ain't necessarily good. On Facebook last week, somebody posted a note last week that struck a chord with me. It looked like something Joyce Standridge might have written. I'm going to paraphrase it, add some words of my own, and you can see if you agree.
Somewhere in America, after a racing program, a racer will load his car into a double-decker trailer, help his crew button things up, then climb up in his motorcoach. He'll grab a beer from the refrigerator, settle onto a leather couch, and start complaining about the high cost of racing.
Somewhere else in America (and possibly at the same track) after a racing program, a racer will load his car onto a battered open trailer, pull a cold one or two out of the cooler in the back of his old pickup truck, sit down on the tailgate, and talk about what a blast he just had racing.
No doubt in my mind which I'd rather be. Or be having one of those cold ones with.
Our Frontstretch Roundtable on open-wheel racing pretty well dissected things in regard to the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race this week. Sorry I didn't get to participate, but I seem to be still having problems with this new technology. You know, the thing they call a computer.
I agree with what most of them said, that the first race after Indy should be an oval, and they should have an open week in there. Years ago it was Milwaukee, and that was always a great race.
I can't add much to what they've said, and I'm fairly new in my return to the open-wheel scene. True, I do have a LOT of memories from my earlier years when I followed the 500 and the Championship Trail very closely. Back when they had to run pavement and dirt to earn their points.
Now it's ovals and road courses, but that's progress, I suppose. I recall a few years back when somebody asked A.J. Foyt if he thought anybody in the old CART series could handle a championship car (now known as Silver Crown) or a sprint car on a mile track. If my memory serves me correctly, he replied, "Mario. He's the only one who's done it. These other guys would need some practice at it."
The Detroit race was pretty interesting. Lots of contact, and a couple of drivers had their chances at winning completely scrubbed by some of that. A few penalties handed out, too.
On a message board I frequent, somebody wanted to know how much the roughness of the course had to do with the "occasional" contact. I'm not sure, but this phenomenon isn't a new thing with Detroit. Moving the race to Belle Isle kept the tradition of a rough course.
When they were running on the old course downtown, Pancho Carter used to rent Indianapolis Raceway Park for a day to practice in the week before Detroit. The first time he came in the office, I got out the map of the road course and asked if there was anything special he needed.
"I don't need the whole course, John," he said. "Just the south end. Give your safety crew some cones and I'll show them how to lay it out."
Turned out Pancho had designed his own short "road" course in the east staging lanes, parts of Turns 6, 7, & 8, and the professional dragstrip pit area we called Lot 2.
I went down there to see it before he started testing, and he pointed it out the similarities to Detroit's street course. He had rough spots before and after corners in the same places where he was going to find them the next weekend. Gotta like the preparation of a guy like that.
Pancho wasn't the only guy who did "specialized" testing. Mario Andretti used to come out on the Friday before the 500 and do some work with his brakes. He'd just use the drag strip.
Later, Emerson Fittipaldi and his Penske team did the same thing. I had the pleasure of watching him do it, and the first time he came balling down the strip at over 180 miles an hour it scared me. I thought he was bound for the sand trap. I'll still swear that he was less than 100 feet from the sand when he hit the brakes, and came up short enough to turn down the return road.
I mentioned this to the crew chief, and he said, "Yeah, and this is our speedway setup. We don't have the killer road course brakes on there."
Maybe getting a little far afield, I'd like to mention something about how sophisticated even local racing has become…
One thing I am absolutely sure of is that the rising level of sophistication in racing has filtered down to the local level, and that ain't necessarily good. On Facebook last week, somebody posted a note last week that struck a chord with me. It looked like something Joyce Standridge might have written. I'm going to paraphrase it, add some words of my own, and you can see if you agree.
Somewhere in America, after a racing program, a racer will load his car into a double-decker trailer, help his crew button things up, then climb up in his motorcoach. He'll grab a beer from the refrigerator, settle onto a leather couch, and start complaining about the high cost of racing.
Somewhere else in America (and possibly at the same track) after a racing program, a racer will load his car onto a battered open trailer, pull a cold one or two out of the cooler in the back of his old pickup truck, sit down on the tailgate, and talk about what a blast he just had racing.
No doubt in my mind which I'd rather be. Or be having one of those cold ones with.
John Potts is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at john.potts@frontstretch.com.
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by Phil Allaway
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to another edition of the Critic's Annex, where we take an additional look at motorsports-related programming. This past weekend, while NASCAR was holding their tripleheader in Delaware, the Verizon IndyCar Series was back in action at Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan for two 70-lap races in consecutive days. Were they able to retain any of their additional audience from Indianapolis? Unfortunately, no. The ratings were reportedly flat with last year.Before we start, ARCA and the CBS Sports Network have announced their broadcast team for their ARCA Racing Series telecasts that are scheduled to begin at Elko Speedway on June 21. Rick Benjamin and Andy Hillenburg are back from last year, as is the Carolinas Production Group, which Benjamin heads. Todd Lewis will work the pits, but only at Elko. The surprise is that Dick Berggren will be coming out of retirement to work the pits at Winchester Speedway on July 6 and at Madison International Raceway on August 24. Should be very interesting. Also of note is that these three races, unlike last year, are live telecasts. I will be bringing you a critique of one of those three races here in the Annex. More than likely, it'll be Madison. Normally, I would be covering the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 in that space, but that race will not be aired live this year. Instead, it will broadcast delayed by 11 days and cut down into a (likely) one-hour timeslot, much like the K&N Pro Series telecasts. Go right ahead and boo because I don't like that much either. On that note, let's get to Detroit.
Saturday's telecast started with a nice overlook of the Detroit River. Yes, it looks very nice. Believe me. Pre-race consisted of a recap of the Indianapolis 500, followed by pre-race interviews. For something that only lasted about ten minutes, it wasn't a terrible way to spend the time.
During the race, it seemed that the "concrete canyon" environment led to ESPN missing some things. The collision on the last lap between Jack Hawksworth and Justin Wilson is just one example. I'm guessing that Simon Pagenaud ended up out of the race early not because of hitting eventual winner Will Power, but brushing the wall as a result of that contact. However, viewers couldn't see that contact either from the exterior camera shot, or the in-car camera.
Post-race content was actually quite substantial. ESPN gave viewers seven driver interviews, plus an interview with the winning strategist (Tim Cindric, for Will Power). There were also checks of the unofficial results and point standings before ESPN left for the six o'clock news.
Sunday started off in a somewhat similar fashion. There was a recap of Saturday's race, followed by a couple of interviews. What was different was that there was also a SportScience feature. This piece concerned the recent run that Sam Schmidt, a quadriplegic, made at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Corvette Stingray. The piece mainly concerned the massive computer systems that made the run possible. It was quite the system. Schmidt steered the car and activated the accelerator using head gestures. Meanwhile, he would activate the brake using a bite sensor. Knowing that Schmidt was a former racer in his own right before the crash that caused his paralysis, I'm not really surprised that he was able to achieve 100+ mph so quickly.
ESPN just seems to provide a different kind of race telecast as compared to NBC Sports Network. In many ways, what NBC Sports Network delivers is better than ESPN, but the Worldwide Leader does have its moments. For example, it seems like NBC Sports Network all but ignores whoever is in Dale Coyne Racing's No. 18 unless something bad happens (wreck, mechanical issue, etc.). At least part of that is Coyne's fault since he is prone to not even naming a driver for the seat until days before a race, leaving the media partners little time to scrounge up information on that driver. However, Sunday's telecast saw ESPN actually talk more about Huertas than I think NBC Sports Network has all season. It's partially because Huertas finished a career-best eighth in the first event, but it was good to see Huertas get some airtime.
Eddie Cheever, meanwhile is still too dismissive in the booth. As I've said previously, it is impossible to follow up that kind of attitude. Statements like that stop commentary. However, when he isn't being dismissive, Cheever can add things to the conversation, and I've definitely seen some improvement since St. Petersburg.
A somewhat new quirk is that ESPN used a small drop down tab from the scroll in order to show that Marco Andretti had been assessed a penalty by IndyCar Race Control for avoidable contact with two laps to go. That actually looked quite clean. However, I would expand it width-wise in order to explain what Andretti was being penalized for instead of the tab just saying "Penalty Assessed." Perhaps the drop down tab for penalties will get some use when Sprint Cup returns to ESPN next month. It wouldn't be a bad move.
Like Saturday, post-race coverage was pretty good. Viewers got to see five driver interviews, an interview with the winning car owner/race promoter (Roger Penske) and checks of the point standings and unofficial results before ESPN left for the news.
Overall, the race telecasts were, at times, quite focused on the very front of the field. Well, there was not exactly a lot of action at the front of the field last weekend. Yes, we had a couple of battles for the lead, but most of the actual passes occurred as a result of pit stops.
ESPN did drop back a few times to take a look at battles further back in the field, but it appeared that they had a few drivers that they wanted to focus on for the weekend, similar to the Nationwide races from this year. Those drivers included Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves as the primary guys, then the next group down included Will Power (points leader) and James Hinchcliffe. If you were outside of those two groups, your ticket to exposure on the broadcast was to exceed expectations, like Huertas did. Otherwise, you could wreck, drop out for some reason, or get penalized.
With last weekend's action in Michigan, we've already reached the end of ESPN's IndyCar broadcast schedule. The remaining three months' worth of races will be televised by the NBC Universal family of networks. It's now time to review ESPN's IndyCar coverage for the year.
The main draw for ESPN's broadcasts this year was the replacement of Marty Reid (released last year due to a slippage in job performance outside of his IndyCar responsibilities) with Allen Bestwick. Bestwick had never called an IndyCar race prior to St. Petersburg in March (and he let viewers know at first that he wasn't the most experienced man out there when it came to IndyCar). However, Bestwick is a consummate professional and now likely has the same volumes of notes for the Verizon IndyCar Series as he does for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide events. Yes, there was a bit of an adjustment period for him, but he seemed to do just fine. Admittedly, I didn't expect anything less out of Bestwick. He's a pro, at home covering all kinds of sports, despite NASCAR being his bread-and-butter.
ESPN's analysts, Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever, were holdovers from past years. Despite the improvements for Cheever that I mentioned above, Goodyear is still the stronger of the two. Also, Cheever and Goodyear's careers in CART and IndyCar overlap a great deal, so a lot of times, they end up in total agreement with each other. At least they aren't afraid to point out aspects of the race they don't like, which is good to see.
On an unrelated note to this week's coverage from Detroit, there was a fair amount of confusion as to what channel this Saturday night's Firestone 600 would air on. The Firestone 600 was teased on Sunday's broadcast as airing on the NBC Sports Network. However, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles appeared on CNBC a couple of weeks ago to promote the Indianapolis 500 and right after the host essentially pleaded with Miles to get Baltimore back on the schedule (this happened, believe me), CNBC put an ad on screen that indicated that they were planning on airing the Firestone 600 this weekend. However, it has since been switched to NBC Sports Network.
The NBC Sports Network was originally supposed to air live coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers during the race (the current ten-year TV deal that NBC has with the NHL mandates two Stanley Cup Finals games air on NBC Sports Network each year). That game has since been moved to NBC. Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals from Madison Square Garden next week will air on NBC Sports Network.
I hope you liked this look at ESPN's coverage of the Chevrolet Duals at Detroit. Next week, I'll be looking at Kurt Busch: 36, which follows Kurt Busch around during his attempt at the Indy-Charlotte double. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action from Pocono, Texas and Montreal.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Justin Tucker
-- In Case You Missed It by Staff
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Saturday's telecast started with a nice overlook of the Detroit River. Yes, it looks very nice. Believe me. Pre-race consisted of a recap of the Indianapolis 500, followed by pre-race interviews. For something that only lasted about ten minutes, it wasn't a terrible way to spend the time.
During the race, it seemed that the "concrete canyon" environment led to ESPN missing some things. The collision on the last lap between Jack Hawksworth and Justin Wilson is just one example. I'm guessing that Simon Pagenaud ended up out of the race early not because of hitting eventual winner Will Power, but brushing the wall as a result of that contact. However, viewers couldn't see that contact either from the exterior camera shot, or the in-car camera.
Post-race content was actually quite substantial. ESPN gave viewers seven driver interviews, plus an interview with the winning strategist (Tim Cindric, for Will Power). There were also checks of the unofficial results and point standings before ESPN left for the six o'clock news.
Sunday started off in a somewhat similar fashion. There was a recap of Saturday's race, followed by a couple of interviews. What was different was that there was also a SportScience feature. This piece concerned the recent run that Sam Schmidt, a quadriplegic, made at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Corvette Stingray. The piece mainly concerned the massive computer systems that made the run possible. It was quite the system. Schmidt steered the car and activated the accelerator using head gestures. Meanwhile, he would activate the brake using a bite sensor. Knowing that Schmidt was a former racer in his own right before the crash that caused his paralysis, I'm not really surprised that he was able to achieve 100+ mph so quickly.
ESPN just seems to provide a different kind of race telecast as compared to NBC Sports Network. In many ways, what NBC Sports Network delivers is better than ESPN, but the Worldwide Leader does have its moments. For example, it seems like NBC Sports Network all but ignores whoever is in Dale Coyne Racing's No. 18 unless something bad happens (wreck, mechanical issue, etc.). At least part of that is Coyne's fault since he is prone to not even naming a driver for the seat until days before a race, leaving the media partners little time to scrounge up information on that driver. However, Sunday's telecast saw ESPN actually talk more about Huertas than I think NBC Sports Network has all season. It's partially because Huertas finished a career-best eighth in the first event, but it was good to see Huertas get some airtime.
Eddie Cheever, meanwhile is still too dismissive in the booth. As I've said previously, it is impossible to follow up that kind of attitude. Statements like that stop commentary. However, when he isn't being dismissive, Cheever can add things to the conversation, and I've definitely seen some improvement since St. Petersburg.
A somewhat new quirk is that ESPN used a small drop down tab from the scroll in order to show that Marco Andretti had been assessed a penalty by IndyCar Race Control for avoidable contact with two laps to go. That actually looked quite clean. However, I would expand it width-wise in order to explain what Andretti was being penalized for instead of the tab just saying "Penalty Assessed." Perhaps the drop down tab for penalties will get some use when Sprint Cup returns to ESPN next month. It wouldn't be a bad move.
Like Saturday, post-race coverage was pretty good. Viewers got to see five driver interviews, an interview with the winning car owner/race promoter (Roger Penske) and checks of the point standings and unofficial results before ESPN left for the news.
Overall, the race telecasts were, at times, quite focused on the very front of the field. Well, there was not exactly a lot of action at the front of the field last weekend. Yes, we had a couple of battles for the lead, but most of the actual passes occurred as a result of pit stops.
ESPN did drop back a few times to take a look at battles further back in the field, but it appeared that they had a few drivers that they wanted to focus on for the weekend, similar to the Nationwide races from this year. Those drivers included Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves as the primary guys, then the next group down included Will Power (points leader) and James Hinchcliffe. If you were outside of those two groups, your ticket to exposure on the broadcast was to exceed expectations, like Huertas did. Otherwise, you could wreck, drop out for some reason, or get penalized.
With last weekend's action in Michigan, we've already reached the end of ESPN's IndyCar broadcast schedule. The remaining three months' worth of races will be televised by the NBC Universal family of networks. It's now time to review ESPN's IndyCar coverage for the year.
The main draw for ESPN's broadcasts this year was the replacement of Marty Reid (released last year due to a slippage in job performance outside of his IndyCar responsibilities) with Allen Bestwick. Bestwick had never called an IndyCar race prior to St. Petersburg in March (and he let viewers know at first that he wasn't the most experienced man out there when it came to IndyCar). However, Bestwick is a consummate professional and now likely has the same volumes of notes for the Verizon IndyCar Series as he does for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide events. Yes, there was a bit of an adjustment period for him, but he seemed to do just fine. Admittedly, I didn't expect anything less out of Bestwick. He's a pro, at home covering all kinds of sports, despite NASCAR being his bread-and-butter.
ESPN's analysts, Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever, were holdovers from past years. Despite the improvements for Cheever that I mentioned above, Goodyear is still the stronger of the two. Also, Cheever and Goodyear's careers in CART and IndyCar overlap a great deal, so a lot of times, they end up in total agreement with each other. At least they aren't afraid to point out aspects of the race they don't like, which is good to see.
On an unrelated note to this week's coverage from Detroit, there was a fair amount of confusion as to what channel this Saturday night's Firestone 600 would air on. The Firestone 600 was teased on Sunday's broadcast as airing on the NBC Sports Network. However, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles appeared on CNBC a couple of weeks ago to promote the Indianapolis 500 and right after the host essentially pleaded with Miles to get Baltimore back on the schedule (this happened, believe me), CNBC put an ad on screen that indicated that they were planning on airing the Firestone 600 this weekend. However, it has since been switched to NBC Sports Network.
The NBC Sports Network was originally supposed to air live coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers during the race (the current ten-year TV deal that NBC has with the NHL mandates two Stanley Cup Finals games air on NBC Sports Network each year). That game has since been moved to NBC. Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals from Madison Square Garden next week will air on NBC Sports Network.
I hope you liked this look at ESPN's coverage of the Chevrolet Duals at Detroit. Next week, I'll be looking at Kurt Busch: 36, which follows Kurt Busch around during his attempt at the Indy-Charlotte double. Until then, enjoy this weekend's action from Pocono, Texas and Montreal.
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer at Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
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Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond The Cockpit: A Chat With One Of NASCAR's Big Surprises In 2014
"I feel like it didn't really matter. I felt like we got right in there and started racing. It's like riding a bicycle. It all comes back. It's what we've done since we were all kids, and at the end of the day, it's our job to get it done and I feel like that's what we did. The people behind me made the transition easier. Talking to Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer a lot, that helped mentally preparing me for the race. And we had a great day." - Brett Moffitt on returning to the driver's seat after essentially not racing for eight months, running 22nd in his Cup debut
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Frontstretch Line of the Week
From Beyond The Cockpit: A Chat With One Of NASCAR's Big Surprises In 2014
"I feel like it didn't really matter. I felt like we got right in there and started racing. It's like riding a bicycle. It all comes back. It's what we've done since we were all kids, and at the end of the day, it's our job to get it done and I feel like that's what we did. The people behind me made the transition easier. Talking to Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer a lot, that helped mentally preparing me for the race. And we had a great day." - Brett Moffitt on returning to the driver's seat after essentially not racing for eight months, running 22nd in his Cup debut
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
by Tom Bowles
Beyond The Cockpit: A Chat With One Of NASCAR's Big Surprises In 2014
as told to Tom Bowles
Going By the Numbers: Calculating NASCAR's "Biggest Loser"
by Kevin Rutherford
as told to Tom Bowles
Going By the Numbers: Calculating NASCAR's "Biggest Loser"
by Kevin Rutherford
as told to Mike Neff
by Greg Davis
by Vito Pugliese
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 1998 Pocono 500 is best known for Jeremy Mayfield claiming his first Winston Cup victory by vanquishing his own hero, Darrell Waltrip. For Ken Schrader, the weekend went very well for him. He qualified his Skoal Bandit Chevrolet fourth and had high hopes. However, his day was over within minutes. What happened?
Check back Friday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Wednesday's Answer:
Wednesday's Answer:
Q: The 1994 UAW-GM Teamwork 500 at Pocono is best known for the crash that ultimately ended Chuck Bown's tenure with Bobby Allison Motorsports. However, Ward Burton's race only lasted a couple of green-flag laps before it was over, too. What happened?
A: Just a couple of laps after the yellow-green segment that started the race completed, Burton spun out in Turn 3 and went hard into the outside wall, right rear first. The hit broke the rear suspension, resulting in a very unusual bouncing that nearly put the Hardee's Chevrolet on its roof. The crash can be seen here.Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming tomorrow in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Justin Tucker
-- In Case You Missed It by Staff
-- Keepin' It Short by Mike Neff
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, trivia, and more!
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Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Mirror Driving by the Frontstretch Staff
A collection of your favorite writers are back to discuss a number of pertinent issues in NASCAR. Topics include Jimmie Johnson's lack of respect amongst fans, whether NASCAR should have let Jamie McMurray's team work on his car during the red flag for track repair, what FOX could improve in 2015, and more.
IndyCar Preview: Texas by Toni Montgomery
Toni previews Saturday night's Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Holding A Pretty Wheel by Amy Henderson
Amy returns this week with another intriguing Friday commentary.
Amy returns this week with another intriguing Friday commentary.
Frontstretch Foto Funnies by the Frontstretch Staff
Pictures can lead to a thousand laughs; join us in our weekly dose of humor that comes from those candid moments at the track.
Pictures can lead to a thousand laughs; join us in our weekly dose of humor that comes from those candid moments at the track.
Nuts For Nationwide by Kelly Crandall
Kelly returns to bring us up-to-date on NASCAR's second-tier series as they take a week before returning at Michigan.
Happiness Is... by P. Huston Ladner
Don't let your life sink into the pits. Huston takes a look at the racing stories from the last seven days that should leave you smiling.
Don't let your life sink into the pits. Huston takes a look at the racing stories from the last seven days that should leave you smiling.
IMSA Interview: Ryan Eversley by Phil Allaway
Phil takes a look at Ryan Eversley's ascension in the IMSA ranks as the sports car season settles into its summer rhythm.
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©2014 Frontstretch.com
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2014 Frontstretch.com
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