Oh boy, we’ve got a double dose of Waltrip this week in Couch Potato Tuesday. That’s never a great sign.
Duck Commander 500
Even with the Robertsons hanging around Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, and everything that comes with them hanging around, the Waltrips once again stole the show in Texas. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
During FOX NASCAR Sunday (or in this case, FOX NASCAR Saturday night), Darrell Waltrip sat down with Danica Patrick for another one of his “shoot the breeze” interviews. Naturally, Darrell’s not exactly a trained journalist, but you can get some interesting answers in these segments. The first half of it was standard fare. Darrell asked Patrick about her great run at Martinsville and her temper, which manifests itself at times (Note: There are plenty more examples of Patrick’s temper from her time in INDYCAR than in NASCAR). That’s fine. I’d expect those types of questions. Heck, they’re pertinent to Patrick’s 2015 season so far.
Then, the piece took an unusual turn. Darrell outright asked Patrick if she would marry Ricky Stenhouse Jr. I believe Patrick was taken aback by the question, but later indicated that she would. Let’s just state for the record that likely no other credentialed NASCAR journalist could get away with asking her that question without some kind of repercussion. It’s out of line. Heck, we remember what happened when Bob Pockrass asked Kurt Busch about who the woman he kissed in Victory Lane at Sonoma in 2011 was (Patricia Driscoll). Yes, Busch read what appeared to be a prepared statement during the press conference, but it looked more like he wanted to get out of the chair, walk across the room and smack the writer. Pardon the Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser blasted Darrell for asking the question on Monday during their Big Finish. Afterwards, he gave Patrick a gift basket. If that isn’t some blatant violation of professionalism, I don’t know what is. What the heck, man? If I tried any of that stuff, I’d be fired tomorrow.
If you thought Michael Waltrip was any better during pre-race, you’d be wrong. By now, you probably know that Michael walked up to Denny Hamlin during his grid walk and offered him a taco out of a purse. Said taco ended up on the back window of Hamlin’s No. 11. I guess that’s a new one. Holy cripes, man. The silence from Hamlin and everyone around him was rather deafening. In case you missed that stupidity, a clip of it can be seen at Jalopnik’s Black Flag sub-blog here. Afterwards, Michael talked about it on Twitter, joking that Hamlin would have to go to the rear for “adjustments” due to the taco.
Breaking news. @dennyhamlin to the rear for the start. Unapproved adjustments. Removing taco from from rear window. @NASCAR
— Michael Waltrip (@MW55) April 11, 2015
Luckily, that penalty never happened. If it did, Michael should have been fired on the spot by FOX Sports. In addition, he should have been suspended by NASCAR because it would have constituted a form of sabotage against a rival team).
I just don’t see what Michael brings to the Sprint Cup broadcasts. At this point, I might prefer having Michael replaced on the FOX NASCAR broadcasts by Jose Macho Vanado. Heck, Vanado would probably be less ridiculous than Michael.
Much of the race was centered upon long green-flag runs. As a result, there really wasn’t all that much battling among the drivers outside of times around the cautions. Sad, but true. A number of the drivers finished the race around where they had been running nearly all night. Exceptions include drivers like Jamie McMurray, who gambled on two tires on the final stop.
For FOX, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson were the big story coming into the race and a good amount of the coverage was centered on the two drivers. Other stories on the evening included the high number of vibrations endured by drivers, which was covered quite well. Both Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne got lucky that their entire nights weren’t ruined by the vibrations. Others, like Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier, weren’t so lucky.
Post-race coverage was relatively brief since the race ended right up against the end of its scheduled time slot. As a result, the post-race analysis was more or less kept to a minimum. There were still a decent amount of interviews and a check of the points before FOX left the air to get viewers (at least in the Eastern portions of the country) to the late local news.
Overall, Saturday night’s race at Texas Motor Speedway wasn’t all that great to watch. It was relatively boring. FOX’s telecast really didn’t do all that much to make the race better for the viewers. The issues in regards to debris from earlier races returned as well, which disappoints me. I suppose it was easy to keep track of it in Martinsville because it’s Martinsville, but Texas is a whole new frontier. I’ll be keeping an eye on that aspect of the telecast for the rest of FOX’s season. Also, the Waltrips give me a complex.
O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
Friday night’s Xfinity Series race will be best known as the coming out party for Erik Jones. Or alternatively, David Ragan’s burden. FOX Sports 1’s broadcast will be remembered as the debut race in the booth for Jeff Gordon.
When FOX Sports announced that Gordon would be one of a number of drivers to take a turn in the booth this season, I was a little surprised. I figured that there would be a number of drivers currently in Sprint Cup that would make decent analysts. I didn’t figure Gordon to be on that list. Heck, I was thinking that Johnson (who did some commentating for ESPN in his off-road days) would make a better analyst than Gordon. Why did I think that? I guess I just couldn’t imagine him doing it at the time. Then again, he’s no different than me. He admits to critiquing race broadcasts from his couch.
Ultimately, booth work looks like it’s going to be a work in progress for Gordon. Gordon more or less stated my actual opinion of his performance during the telecast. He stated that he was nervous. Early on in the race, it showed. However, as the race continued on and he got used to working in the booth, his performance improved. I think that given the proper amount of time, Gordon could blossom into a decent broadcaster. However, I think he spent a chunk of Friday night’s race in a shell. Being next to Michael Waltrip probably doesn’t help.
Pre-race coverage was headlined by a nice feature on Chris Buescher that shows the extent that drivers are willing to push themselves in order to succeed. Buescher’s family is not rich. Yes, they have season tickets to Texas Motor Speedway and those cost a pretty penny, but they don’t have unlimited funds. It says a lot about Buescher’s drive that his parents agreed to let him move to North Carolina at age 15 by himself and live with the Ragans in order to further his driving career. It sounds more like the story of someone like Derek Jeter when he was playing for the A-C Yankees as opposed to a racer (also, it explains the sponsorship from the David Ragan Fan Club when Buescher was driving for the Roulo Brothers in ARCA).
Despite the great feature, NASCAR RaceDay – Xfinity Edition is a pre-race show at heart. It needs to prepare viewers for the race. One of the biggest stories at the beginning of the race was Brad Keselowski having to go to the rear due to changing fuel system parts. When was that mentioned to viewers? By Gordon, right before the command to start engines. Priorities, chaps. That’s important to the race. It should have been mentioned earlier.
Overall, the coverage that viewers got Friday night was OK. We got a decent amount of racing for position during the race, but I feel like we missed a few things. For example, a caution was thrown at one point because Ryan Sieg clipped the grass in the quad-oval. There was no video of it, but Sieg seemingly punched a hole in his nose doing it. Yes, there was some grass on the track, but I don’t feel that the yellow was necessary.
Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana
Last week, I stated here that all I wanted was for Sunday’s race at NOLA Motorsports Park to be better than the ridiculousness that was the IMSA Grand Prix du Mardi Gras in 1991 in downtown New Orleans. What we got was marginally better than that. Not much, though.
With both Formula 1 and the Verizon IndyCar Series in action, Leigh Diffey was forced to choose between the two series. He chose to stay back in Connecticut and work the Grand Prix of China. As a result, former IndyCar driver and current jack of trades Brian Till took over the play-by-play. With Wally Dallenbach Jr. having left NBC Sports Network to serve as a studio analyst on FS1’s NASCAR RaceHub, Paul Tracy looks to be in the booth for the full season along with Townsend Bell. Look for the lineup in the booth to be quite fluid since Bell’s still full-time in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for Scuderia Corsa and Till is switching back and forth between NBC Sports and FOX Sports (remember, Till is also the backup play-by-play commentator for Camping World Truck Series races). Short-term, that’s OK, but it’s not great in the long term.
Since the race start was pushed up due to the rain, pre-race coverage started during a five-minute systems check. We got hurry-up mode because of the circumstances: no interviews and really next to no buildup for the race. Given what was going on, I can understand no interviews. Heck, everyone was already in their cars when the telecast started. However, the booth needed to do a better job in actually previewing what we were going to see. The best answer I could give you is that they really didn’t know.
On the plus side, NBC Sports has changed up their side-by-side setup. Now, the scoring bar at the top of the screen stays on-screen during the side-by-side commercials and continues to give viewers full-field rundowns. That’s definitely an improvement over the previous version and better than what ESPN has right now.
The way the race was set up, there was barely more than a lap and a half of green flag racing at a time beyond the first restart. It was ridiculous. Who do I blame for that? It’s a combination of INDYCAR and NOLA Motorsports Park. While yes, the onus was on the teams to pick and choose the proper time to change to slicks, the sanctioning body should have sent crews out to take care of the puddles during the first full-course caution. I don’t recall seeing crews out there until the third one. For next year’s race, NOLA Motorsports Park must be proactive about improving drainage on their road course. Knowing the low elevation of the area around the track, it might be easier said than done.
Since so much of the race was run under caution (slightly over 55%, although it seemed more like 66), there wasn’t that much racing for position to be had. Sad, but true. We did get to see some in and around the wrecking, though, so I’m grateful for that. In regards to the pit incident where Francesco Dracone hit his chief mechanic/tire changer, it appeared that NBC Sports Network did not have the footage to show viewers. There is video of the incident from the Dale Coyne Racing pit box. It is crazy. They chose to not speculate on the situation, which was the right way to go. Robin Miller identified the struck crew member and reported on his position, and that was about it. I wish they had added in an update later on, though. Luckily, Todd Phillips escaped from that nasty hit with a cut on his leg.
Post-race coverage was actually quite good. NBCSN broke down the crash that caused the race to end under caution and got interviews with all three drivers involved (which I believe to be quite the feat knowing how angry Simon Pagenaud was), plus the top finishers. However, the general attitude on the broadcast was downbeat. It’s as if everyone was seriously bummed out that the weather essentially killed any chance for a good race and no one could do anything about it. Heck, I wish it had just rained lightly for the whole race. We would have gotten more action.
That’s all for this week. Next weekend, the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series will return to the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway for what will hopefully be a much more comfortable weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee. Meanwhile, the Verizon IndyCar Series travels to Long Beach for one of their crown jewel events with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship as primary support. Here’s your listings.
Tuesday, April 14
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. | NASCAR America | NBC Sports Network |
| 5 a.m. - 6 a.m. | AMSOil Arenacross: Austin | FOX Sports 1*# |
| 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. | XFINITY Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 11) |
| 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 1 |
| 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 2*# |
Wednesday, April 15
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 a.m. - 3 a.m. | Verizon IndyCar Series Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana | NBC Sports Network*/# (from April 12) |
| 5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. | NASCAR America | NBC Sports Network |
| 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 1 |
| 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 2*# |
| 8 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. | The 10: Greatest Bristol Moments | FOX Sports 2# |
| 9:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. | British Touring Car Championship: Brands Hatch Indy | CBS Sports Network*/ (from April 5) |
| 10:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. | Blancpain Endurance Series: Monza | CBS Sports Network*/# (from April 12) |
Thursday, April 16
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 a.m. - 2 a.m. | British Touring Car Championship: Brands Hatch Indy | CBS Sports Network*/# (from April 5) |
| 5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. | NASCAR America | NBC Sports Network |
| 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 1 |
| 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 2*# |
Friday, April 17
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 a.m. - 2 a.m. | K&N Pro Series West King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 | NBC Sports Network*/ (from April 11) |
| 2 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. | NASCAR's The List: Memorable Moments | NBC Sports Network# |
| 2:30 a.m. - 3 a.m. | NASCAR's The List: Rookie Seasons | NBC Sports Network# |
| 3 a.m. - 6 a.m. | AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Houston | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 11) |
| 7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain Free Practice No. 1 | NBC Sports Live Xtra$ |
| 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain Free Practice No. 2 | NBC Sports Network |
| 5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. | IndyCar Countdown | NBC Sports Network |
| 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Practice No. 1 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | XFINITY Series Practice No. 1 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 2:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 1 |
| 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | XFINITY Series Happy Hour | FOX Sports 1 |
| 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Qualifying | FOX Sports 1 |
Saturday, April 18
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 a.m. - 2 a.m. | Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 | NBC Sports Network*/ (from April 12) |
| 2 a.m. - 3 a.m. | K&N Pro Series West King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 | NBC Sports Network*/# (from April 11) |
| 3 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. | Sprint Cup Series Practice No. 1 | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 17) |
| 4:30 a.m. - 6 a.m. | Sprint Cup Series Qualifying | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 17) |
| 7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Sprint Cup Series Qualifying | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 17) |
| 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. | Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain Free Practice No. 3 | NBC Sports Live Extra$ |
| 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. | Sprint Cup Series Practice No. 2 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. | XFINITY Series Qualifying | FOX Sports 1 |
| 11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | NASCAR RaceHub: Weekend Edition No. 1 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour | FOX Sports 1 |
| 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub: Weekend Edition No. 2 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | NASCAR RaceDay - XFINITY Edition | FOX Sports 1 |
| 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | XFINITY Series Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 | FOX Sports 1 |
| 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. | Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain Qualifying | NBC Sports Network |
| 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. | Verizon IndyCar Series Qualifying | NBC Sports Network |
| 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. | AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Santa Clara | FOX Sports 1 |
Sunday, April 19
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 a.m. - 2 a.m. | British Touring Car Championship: Brands Hatch Indy | CBS Sports Network*/# (from April 5) |
| 3 a.m. - 4 a.m. | British Touring Car Championship: Brands Hatch Indy | CBS Sports Network*/# (from April 5) |
| 3 a.m. - 5 a.m. | XFINITY Series Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 18) |
| 5 a.m. - 6 a.m. | Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 18) |
| 10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. | F1 Countdown | NBC Sports Network |
| 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. | Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain | NBC Sports Network |
| 12 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. | NASCAR RaceDay | FOX Sports 1 |
| 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. | FOX NASCAR Sunday | FOX |
| 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | F1 Extra | NBC Sports Network |
| 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer | FOX |
| 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. | Indy Lights Long Beach 100 | NBC Sports Network |
| 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. | Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | NBC Sports Network |
| 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | AMSOil Arenacross: Spokane | FOX Sports 1* |
| 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. | motoGP World Championship Grand Prix of Argentina | FOX Sports 1 |
| 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. | TUDOR United SportsCar Championship: Long Beach (Prototype and GT Le Mans only) | FOX Sports 1* (from April 18) |
| 6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | NASCAR Victory Lane | FOX Sports 1 |
| 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | Moto3: Argentina | FOX Sports 2* |
| 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. | Moto2: Argentina | FOX Sports 2* |
| 9 p.m. - 10 p.m. | motoGP World Championship Grand Prix of Argentina | FOX Sports 2*/# |
| 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. | AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Santa Clara | FOX Sports 2*# (from April 18) |
Monday, April 20
| Time | Telecast | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 2 a.m. - 3 a.m. | GP2 Series: Bahrain | NBC Sports Network*/ (from April 17-18) |
| 2 a.m. - 3 a.m. | AMSOil Arenacross: Spokane | FOX Sports 2*# |
| 3 a.m. - 6 a.m. | AMA Monster Energy Supercross: Santa Clara | FOX Sports 1*# (from April 18) |
| 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer | FOX Sports 1*/# (from April 19) |
| 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. | Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer | FOX Sports 2*/# (from April 19) |
| 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. | NASCAR America | NBC Sports Network |
| 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 1 |
| 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | NASCAR RaceHub | FOX Sports 2*# |
Key:
* – Tape Delayed
/ – Highlighted Coverage
# – Repeat Coverage
$ – Available via password-protected online streaming. Check with your internet and/or programming provider for availability.
I will provide critiques of the Sprint Cup, Xfinity and Verizon IndyCar series race telecasts for next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here on Frontstretch. For the Critic’s Annex in the Newsletter on Thursday, we’ll have the delayed critique of Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville. Also, check out NBC Sports Network’s broadcast of the K&N Pro Series West King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 (held on Saturday night) at Irwindale Speedway Thursday night at 10 p.m. PT (1 a.m. ET). That was a good one. There are a couple of other airings as well.
If you have a gripe with me, or just want to say something about my critique, feel free to post in the comments below, or contact me through the email address provided on the website in my bio. Also, if you want to “like” me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, please click on the appropriate icons below. Finally, if you would like to contact FOX Sports personally with an issue regarding their TV coverage, please click on the following link:
At this point, there is still no public contact email for NBC Sports. When they finally get around to creating a new link, I will post it for you.
As always, if you choose to contact the network by email, do so in a courteous manner. Network representatives are far more likely to respond to emails that ask questions politely rather than emails full of rants and vitriol.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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At best, Fox’s continued failure to show debris or the attempt to clean up said debris is poor broadcast production.
We saw more replays of the taco on the back of the 11 car than anything to do with debris.
At worst, it gives life to the conspiracies that the field needs to be bunched up or the caution flag flies or doesn’t fly depending on who is leading or who is about to be put a lap down.
It’s not poor production. It means that either there was no debris or the debris was so questionable that showing it would confirm that it was just an excuse for bunching the field back up because it wasn’t producing a compelling television program.
Serious question. Do you consider in race manipulation to be fixing?
Yes, but normally when i think of “fixing” it usually applies to the competitors, not to the sanctioning body.
I consider manipulation and fixing the same thing, although traditionally “fixing” has implied that it is the end result being “fixed”.
In this case they are manipulating/fixing the race from beginning to end. In most cases it seems NASCAR isn’t trying to “fix” the end result, it is trying to “fix” the probability of higher ratings. Too bad they are failing at that miserably.
they have to throw ‘debris’ cautions because that’s the only time there is racing for the restarts to bunch up the field. what is called ‘racing ‘ fits into the non-fans idea of ‘a bunch of cars driving around in circles’.
I agree, I thought the Texas Cup race was boring. I mute the tv so I don’t have to listen to the addled audio provided by DW & Mikey. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have watched the xfinity race but I did want to see Gordon in the booth. I agree, he was nervous and I think that is understandable since it was a new thing – not just answering questions for doing color commentary but he’s a smart, well spoken guy (unlike Mikey) and I agree that I could see him doing well at it, if he chooses to do it. My thought is that his plan right now is to get off of the merry go round that is NASCAR to spend more time with the family, so I can’t see him doing the broadcast gig full time until his kids grow up.
I won’t watch any more xfinitity races – too many cup drivers and too much Mikey – until the next time Gordon guests in the booth.
Debris? Ha, was there debris? The whole caution flag farce is beyond logic. NASCAR manipulates the races and wonders why people don’t take what they say seriously.
I am not surprised to hear that DW asked inappropriate questions in his interview with Danica. He’s been guilty of that before and that old dog isn’t going to change.
I thought the taco gate was funny and judging from the reaction on Hamlin’s face and everyone on social media the only one that had a problem with it was you…he was practically smiling.
You also missed the question DW had on Danica’s contract. I guess that doesn’t count as a real question.
But you write what you wanna write.
Friday night Jeff could not get a word in for Mickey rambling on about strategy , which he repeats the same thing each week.
Saturday night he made a fool of his self again on his walk of shame.
Positive, people, positive. Since NASCAR refuses to remove the Cup drivers from the second tier series nobody bothers to watch thus no one hears Mikey’s weekly idiocy. And, since NASCAR refuses to just let them race in the Cup series without constant in race manipulation fewer and fewer watch every year, thus fewer and fewer are exposed to Ol Dipsh!t W buffoonery. Then there is the DVR, mute button and Fast Forward. See, positives, those Ol Frances sure know how to run a bidnes. Thanks NASCAR for giving so many of us more time for Baseball.
This Waltrip stuff is past getting old. There must be something in the water in Owensboro that turns grown men into blatant fools. DW is the most biased announcer I’ve ever heard and he does it week after week. Right now his fav is happy Harvick or which ever buddy has just won a race. His mooning over Danica has gone on from day one and may the Lord have mercy on us if she ever wins a race, because all we’ll hear is how he told us so. The way he talks down to the viewers, acting as if we know absolutely nothing, is totally overlooked by the network.
Mikey is a complete fool. He is so smart in the booth or on his stupid walks and yet his own team is a failure. He’s a proven cheat and liar and yet week after week he is forced down our throats. What’s with this constant bro touching between him and Meyers? Every three or four words and it’s touchy feely time.
This year we now have the total pleasure of DW and Mikey bantering back and forth during the race. At what point do we begin the throwing up?
DW is long past any redeeming value to the sport or the broadcast. Mikey has never had any other than being the sports clown. Isn’t it past the time for the networks to find good announcers and analysts? NASCAR and the networks all seem to forget far too easily that although the sponsors write the big checks, it’s all done on the backs of the fans whose wallets carry the show and we deserve the very best they can give us. While the sponsors have their big hospitality wing dings, the fans are still breaking into their wallets for over priced hot dogs and drinks. There are damn few freebies for those that made the sport and it’s millionaires.
I agree with everything you said! Amazing to me that the Fox NFL broadcasts can be done so well and professionally but NASCAR continues to have to suffer thru the nonsense of having unprofessional people in the booth.
You can dress them up but you can’t make them act professional.
Michael Waltrip’s “grid walk” is the worst thing in the history of NASCAR broadcasting. One, it’s a rip off of Robin Miller during IndyCar broadcasts. Second, this is just Mikey riding his brother’s coattails again. I am surprised that Denny didn’t grab something and beat Waltrip unconscious for doing that. Michael Waltrip is such a baffoon. I can’t believe he won 2 Daytona 500s, definitely a product DEI equipment in those days.
Actually atheist grid walk was started by the F1 broadcasters. Peter Windsor most notably.
I saw the clip of Mikey dropping the taco on Hamlin’s car…really…I mean really???? I am sure FedEx was none to pleased if they were paying attention! That was messed up…why don’t the networks listen to the fans about him and his brother…what am I thinking…just like NASCAR!