NASCAR on TV this week

Couch Potato Tuesday: Daytona Brings Differing Events, Questions for FOX Sports

Speedweeks is now complete.  You ended up with three very different races at Daytona International Speedway.  Some of it was enjoyable, some not so much.  Regardless, we have a number of different things to look at this week.

Daytona 500

The good news coming out of the event dubbed The Great American Race by Ken Squier, is that the overnight ratings are up eight percent.  Swell.  I’m happy that more eyeballs watched the race.  With the combination of NASCAR RaceDay with the race coverage, there were nine hours of live Daytona 500 coverage.  Overkill?  You betcha.  Then again, it was also 4.5 hours between the start of the race and the checkered flag.

Knowing that the race ended in a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3, the idea of the JGR organization getting a fair amount of coverage during the day did make some sense, in hindsight.  On NASCAR RaceDay, there was a special feature where drivers that both have or havenʻt driven for JGR gave their memories of JD Gibbs.  In addition, Joe Gibbs talked to Lindsay Czarniak about JD being the impetus for the creation of Joe Gibbs Racing in the first place (remember, at the time the team was formed, Joe Gibbs was the head coach of the Washington Redskins and the team’s first race was three weeks after the Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI).

A lot of fans don’t realize that JD Gibbs raced himself.  He ran late models in the Southeast back in the 1990s before advancing up to the then-Busch Grand National Series.  He started five races there, four of which in a Carolina Turkey-sponsored entry that was the basis for the throwback car Denny Hamlin raced in the Xfinity Series race last September at Darlington (the one you might remember being voted as the ugliest scheme of 2018).  He then split a Truck Series ride with his brother Coy for a couple of years.

The whole feature on JD Gibbs was well done.

Clearly, Joe Gibbs is still grieving, though.  Giving tribute to JD on Lap 11 was a great gesture and you could tell that Joe Gibbs was touched by it.

As compared to normal races, there appeared to be a bit more in the way of explanations of things.  Not so much with the virtual car, although that did get some usage, but more with the procedural aspects of the race.  Much of that is likely because of the fact that the Daytona 500 gets the biggest audience of the year for any race.  Thankfully, it was not too distracting.

The overall production of the race was excellent.  My main production gripe was when Kyle Larson cut his left rear tire and spun on Lap 181.  FOX had a great shot of it, then switched away.  They effectively missed the crash live when it was all but right in front of them.  Not great.

Since the race went long by nearly an hour, there wasn’t much time for post-race coverage.  Viewers got two Hamlin interviews – although the second one in Victory Lane went sideways quickly due to a technical issue that forced the booth to do the interview.  The lack of post-race coverage meant that deserving drivers such as Michael McDowell didn’t get their proper due.

MASSIE: Ford Follies: Michael McDowell Miffed With Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer Despite Top 5 Finish

One of the more interesting TV-related tweets I saw about the race on Sunday came from Shane Huffman, who briefly drove for JR Motorsports in 2007 and 2008 before transitioning to a career as a crew chief in ARCA and the now-Gander Outdoors Truck Series, most recently with MDM Motorsports.  At the end of the race, he posted this tweet.

Honestly, I do not like advocating for firings in this column, especially when I started writing it since we were in the middle of the Great Recession at the time.  That said, Huffman makes some decent points here and in subsequent tweets where he further explains himself.  When Darrell first joined the broadcast in 2001, he was a breath of fresh air.  Former FOX Sports president David Hill told him that he needed to explain to viewers why things happen in NASCAR.  He took that to heart when he first started.

Darrell was excellent in the booth for his first couple of years, bringing a very different perspective to television.  Now, his offerings have dropped off.  Today, he’s probably best known for his Boogitys and seemingly dominating broadcasts, while not really offering all that much to viewers.

Huffman advocated dumping Darrell immediately in his tweet.  Given contractual obligations, that would be messy and expensive.  That said at this point, having Darrell in the booth doesn’t give a ratings boost anymore.

With the recent hiring spree that FOX Sports has gone on, they currently have what amounts to an embarrassment of riches when it comes to on-air talent.  They still have Larry McReynolds who they could easily plug back into the regular booth.  They also have Ricky Craven, who did very well on then-Nationwide Series broadcasts for ESPN.  They have just added Jamie McMurray, who hung up his helmet and done well in his brief appearances.  Huffman seems to like Regan Smith, who did the Iowa 250 presented by Enogen Xfinity Series race at Iowa race in the booth last year.

If they wanted to really make a splash and venture into the unknown, they could even promote Jamie Little from the pits.  She’s worked on practice broadcasts in the booth in the past but hasn’t really commentated on a race in the booth that I can remember.  Honestly, if Darrell Waltrip left FOX Sports tomorrow, they have half a dozen different people already on the payroll that could easily replace him.

Do I expect FOX Sports to make such a move?  Heck no.  They love Darrell.  Unless you become an outright PR disaster due to some off-track instance, the threshold is pretty high for an on-air personality to get dumped mid-season.  Marty Reid got fired from ESPN in 2013 after a series of screw-ups, capped off by messing up the lap count during the standalone Xfinity race at Kentucky in September of that year.

Regardless, it’s worth keeping an eye on Darrell during the FOX Sports portion of the season, not just for how he works with Jeff Gordon and Mike Joy, but what he truly brings to the broadcast.  If he can’t provide more than “Golly” and “Geez” like he’s the late Jim Nabors on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., then we’ll have to revisit it.  For the last crash that set up the Green-White-Checker, he described the wreck thusly: “I’d like to be able to explain all this to you, but there really isn’t any explanation for it.”  Of course, there is!  Even if it’s as simple as staying that the drivers got too aggressive, you have to say something of consequence there.

NASCAR Racing Experience 300

Before we get into the Xfinity Series race itself, FOX Sports announced their full lineup of guest analysts Thursday (Feb. 14) for their 2019 Xfinity Series broadcasts.  There are a number of returning drivers (the previously announced Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, etc.), along with some new analysts (Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Darrell Wallace Jr.).

Kevin Harvick has expanded his role beyond that of a guest analyst.  He’s now going to serve as a regular analyst on seven races, starting this weekend at Atlanta.  Michael Waltrip will appear on only six Xfinity broadcasts this season, including this past Saturday.

The move is a solid one in that Harvick is a far better analyst than Waltrip.  He also doesn’t come to the broadcast with the same bias issues or ridiculous schtick that we’ve come to expect out of Waltrip.  Obviously, Harvick cares about how well he does in the booth because he actually takes the time to prepare for his job.  However, you don’t see the surliness that you sometimes get out of him because the stakes aren’t quite as high.

Finally, the Drivers Only broadcast returns for the third year in a row.  This time, it will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

By any measure, Saturday’s race was the most boring of the three.  You had the freight train in motion, something that everyone feared would be the norm on Sunday.  Michael Annett winning, under those circumstances, does not shock me at all.  When Annett was in ARCA, he dominated a couple of plate races in a Pilot Travel Centers-sponsored Toyota.  Everyone was glued to the yellow line back then as opposed to the wall, but the strategy was similar.

There was a near-complete lack of action in the race and FOX Sports 1 really didn’t do much to make the race exciting.  Also, they never took their eyes off the front of the field.  For most of the race, only about 13-18 cars could even stay in the lead pack.  Yes, there were some underdogs like Ryan Sieg and Caesar Bacarella, but these were mostly strong drivers from strong teams.

Logano was the guest analyst for the day and really wasn’t given much to work with, to be honest.  He chipped in when he could, but where there really isn’t much to talk about, there’s only so much you can do.

Since the race had so little action, there was plenty of post-race coverage.  Viewers got more than 10 post-race interviews.  I honestly believe that a number of fans turned the coverage off before it was over because I saw a bunch of people ranting on Twitter that Sieg hadn’t gotten his proper due.  They did, in fact, interview Sieg after the race.

NextEra Energy Resources 250

Friday night saw the season debut for the newly-dubbed Gander Outdoors Truck Series.  While the change here is really not much more than SprintNextel switching the Cup Series from NEXTEL to Sprint in 2008, Gander Outdoors went all out.  By all indications, Marcus Lemonis is putting his money where his mouth is this season with the new Triple Truck Challenge and $10,000 bonuses for race winners.  I’m unsure of what winner’s checks are these days in the series, but for many races, adding $10,000 to the winners’ share of the purse is likely a significant bump.

FOX Sports made a couple of changes to their on-air staff for this year.  Kaitlyn Vincie is now Charlotte-based as host of NASCAR RaceDay – NGOTS Edition.  Terrible name for the show, but that’s more or less outside of FOX Sports 1’s control.  That said, I have no worries about Vincie.  She’s had years of experience working on NASCAR RaceHub and did just fine on Friday night with Todd Bodine and Jeff Hammond.

In addition to hosting NASCAR RaceDay – NGOTS Edition, Vincie also conducted a one-on-one interview with defending series champion Brett Moffitt.  Here, the topics included the championship last year with Hattori Racing Enterprises, the ongoing funding issues that ultimately resulted in his release from the team and more.

Last year, the team put up a front and tried to play like these issues either weren’t affecting them at all.  Based on Vincie’s interview, the money issues likely permeated the very fabric of the team’s existence.  Moffitt came off as a bit frustrated with the experience, but understanding.  It’s hard not to get frustrated when you effectively get kicked in the family jewels right after winning the title.

A number of race fans tried to make out Austin Hill to be nothing more than a pay driver, using his big bucks to score a top ride, essentially like Jean-Denis Délétraz back in the mid-1990s in Formula 1.  While he likely did bring some backing to the team, the Chiba Toyopet sponsorship on the truck Friday night (a Toyota dealership in Japan, I believe) was acquired by team owner Shigeaki Hattori.  Obviously, Hill at least had some luck on his side as he avoided the wrecks to win.

Also, Jamie Howe made her NASCAR debut as a pit reporter.  In my case, I’m used to seeing her on broadcasts since she’s worked the pits on sports car broadcasts for years.  The environment’s different for her and that means a slight learning curve.  I have no reason to believe that she won’t work out fine.

The opening couple of laps of the race were a mess.  I’m a bit unclear as to the order of what happened.  Bryan Dauzat hit the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 2 and took Robby Lyons with him.  Then, DGR-CROSLEY teammates David Gilliland and Natalie Decker both cut left front tires.  Gilliland was ahead of Dauzat at the time of his crash.  Decker qualified 11th, but apparently chose to voluntarily drop to the rear.

It appeared that the cut tires were caused by either the trucks bottoming out so much due to qualifying on race setups, or that the track wasn’t fully clean prior to the race.  If it was the latter, the dudes in Daytona had plenty of time to take care of that between qualifying and the race.  Regardless, it looked bad and viewers never really got an idea of what was going on.

There were some aspects of the on-track issues that were covered well.  The crashes were pretty comprehensively covered.  Having said that, there was some frustration that began to creep in.

I’ve already touched on the tire issues.  An exception to that rule was Harrison Burton pitting as the green came out on Lap 8 with a cut tire.  We got a good shot of the cut fairly quickly there.

Before he was eliminated in a crash on Lap 28, Tyler Dippel had dropped multiple laps down.  It was never discussed on the broadcast (other than to note that he was a couple of laps off the pace), but it was due to an engine issue.  This was noted on his Twitter feed, but I cannot link to that.  Sometime after the race, Dippel’s Twitter was hacked and previous posts erased.  His account is currently suspended as a result.

During the races from time to time, we’ll discuss the event on our Slack feed (a site where co-workers can communicate with each other).  A number of my colleagues noted that the booth was being a little hard on Cory Roper.  Roper had an excellent first half of the race and had put his No. 04 Ford squarely in contention.  However, his truck was unstable as heck.  As a result, there was a bunch of commentary making note of it.  While it seemed like they were picking on Roper to a certain degree, there’s a reason why that was said.  In a restrictor plate race where vehicles are separated by small distances, stability is key.  Roper simply didn’t have it and it ultimately came back to bite him.  It’s sad, but the whole thing ended up being justified.

Post-race coverage was relatively short since the broadcast had already run long by more than 15 minutes.  Viewers got interviews with Hill, along with ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger after the race.  That was it before FS1 left for the premiere of The Adventures of Janet Guthrie (which was decent and I highly recommend the book that is referenced in it).

Generally speaking, this race was a mess.  Then again, that wasn’t FOX Sports 1’s fault.  It was the fault of the drivers being impatient as heck.  Regardless, you came out of the race with some interesting stories.  Angela Ruch scoring a top 10 finish despite an engine problem and an apparent complete inability to save fuel.

Niece Motorsports walking out of Daytona with two top 10s.  Spencer Boyd earning his first top 15 finish in any NASCAR series.

Broadcast-wise, the broadcast seemed decent.  The new pieces in new places worked out just fine.  What FOX Sports 1 needs to work on for Atlanta is to be more inclusive and be able to answer more questions that viewers might pose?  Why were these failures happening a minute into the race?  Why did the crewmember on Decker’s team get a nice spray of flame-retardant material to the face?  What happened with Ruch’s engine?  That was never fully explained on the broadcast.  I just don’t like unanswered questions and I feel that other race fans are similar.

That’s all for this week.  Next weekend, all three of NASCAR’s National Series make the roughly seven-hour haul up to Atlanta Motor Speedway for 950 miles of racing.  The weather Friday is forecast to be dicey, but Saturday and Sunday look decent.  There’s a bunch of unknowns for the Cup race.  I’ll spare you the Press Your Luck-based explanation to refute whether or not I would notice slower speeds with the new rules.  TV Listings are in the Television tab above.

I will provide critiques of the Cup, Xfinity and Gander Outdoors Truck Series races in next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here at Frontstretch.  For The Critic’s Annex in the Frontstretch Newsletter Thursday, we’ll cover Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon.  It’s self-explanatory what that’s about.  It premiered after the Gander RV Duels Thursday night to an audience of over 800 thousand viewers.  Generally speaking, it’s been well-received to this point.

If you have a gripe with me, or just want to say something about my critique, feel free to post in the comments below.  Even though I can’t always respond, I do read your comments. Also, if you want to “like” me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, please click on the appropriate icons. If you would like to contact either of NASCAR’s media partners, click on either of the links below.

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As always, if you choose to contact a 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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Bill B

Imagine that,,,, someone thinks Darrell Waltrip should be retired, immediately. I’ve never heard any fans complain about him (rolling my eyes).

Fed Up

Great column Phil. Your synopsis is spot on. Fox would do well to get rid of Waltrip, as well as Artie Kempner.
His direction and gadgets have become very stale. One can count on switching to an in-car shot (see the ad box in the bottom right…$$$$) when the racing is no where near. Who really wants to look at the driver’s perspective when it shows no racing. Any one car shot is nothing more than an advertisement, not racing. Also the fish-eye and the backwards flying camera might add aesthetics, but doesn’t show any racing. One would think that the NA$CAR “geniusry” would try to better depict the sport, but that won’t happen as long as the network and advertisers keep spending big bucks.

Keep up the great writing.

Andy

I’m thinking FOX should probably have a plan for a Waltrip-less broadcast season in 2020. Darrell just needs to retire…but Mikey never should have been allowed behind a mike…..a TOTAL ass-clown…

kb

People have been complaining about the Waltrip clowns for years, I don’t get the love from Fox. Most be a bunch of old farts making decisions. I did not watch the race but I did see the WHATEVERYOUCALLIT “WALK” Mikey does. My mind right away went back to a few years ago when that clown (Mikey) dropped taco fixings (a lot) on the hood of Hamlin’s car, the look on Hamlin’s face said WTF…he was mad. Rightfully so. I just busted out laughing thinking of that moment. I am still laughing.

Bob

Well I’ve been saying for years that the waltrips need to be replaced watched the race but listened to MRN. it’s a few seconds behind actual race but don’t have to listen to Darrell. I was a Jeff Gordon gan when he was racing but he is now trying to be waltrips comedian standup Iplease Jeff bring ur own lines. Talk racing instead of trying to be funny.

djrichiep

Stream MRN. It’s behind the TV broadcast. Then,if you have a DVR, pause until the MRN broadcast catches up in sync. We greatly enjoyed listening to the MRN gang. Can’t stand the FOX HMS crew.

Geowebster

D. Waltrip’s current performance in the booth reminds me of the number of embarrassing years he had in rhe car during the last several years he races (remember his “Victory Tour” final year in which he scored only one finish higher than 20th? Some may have found him amusing on television for a while but the joke has gone far too long. And boot his brother while they are at it …

Randy C.

Darrel needs to go. When he first joined, he still had recent experience behind the car and could provide ‘recent and relevant’ explanations and analysis. The past few years have been awful, he manages to hit the nail on the head once in a while but that trails into comparison to what he does week after week. Always been a fan of Mike Joy and hope he continues until he can’t no more. Jeff Gordon isn’t terrible, was a huge fan of his while he was still driving. He knows the cars better than DW, he still works with Hendrick and is pretty updated with the way the cars handle and get built. DW? Not so much. I have sensed over the past 2 years that DW and Gordon butt heads during the broadcasts in subtle ways. I don’t know if anyone has noticed that as well. I think Jamie Mac would be a good replacement and to also keep Larry for rules analysis.

Johnny Cuda

I agree Randy. I have also noticed how DW and Jeff butt heads subtly. I think Jeff has to tolerate it because DW is the senior guy in the booth to Jeffy. I think Jamie McMurray would be a great replacement for DW.
Funny to see that during Mikey’s gridwalk, even the drivers don’t want to interact with him. It is truly embarrassing.
Dump the Waltrips.

KU

Phil,
I have been down on DW for a number of years, but this year it has been even worse. After the Clash and the Twins, I had enough. The straw was how he was making excuses for the 48 both races, clearly favoring. Jeff Gordon had to set him straight both times and Gordon is the owner of the 48! So Sunday, I found the MRN satellite feed and synced it up the TV and I was in heaven. Sorry, but I am definitely watching it this way during Fox’s time with the races. I love Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon is good too, it is a shame.

Interesting idea putting Jamie Little in the booth, that would be a nice mix. I still am old school and think the booth should be made up of announcer, relevant driver and relevant crew chief.

Charlie

You would score more points dumping DW and MW than keeping them. Problem is they are NASCAR shills. If NASCAR devised a manure sandwich and recommended eating it, those two would be grinning and munching away. DW has tried to cling to some type of relevance at the end of his driving career and now is a train wreck in the booth. I can’t wait until NBC takes over. Mentioning David Hill further cheapens this as he is partially responsible for the demise of the sport.
Move McMurry or Craven into the booth. Maybe replace the play-by-play with someone with some credibility, not Mike Joy, who I would not believe if he said those were cars on the track. Jeff Gorden is the best analyst ever. Shannon Spake would be good in the booth as well and Adam Alexander would be a great play-by-play. Just my thoughts as a 50-plus year NASCAR fan.
By the way, people said Darrell became popular when Rusty Wallace spun him in the All Star race. No, (the sport has a tendency to revisionist history), it was when he had to exercise numerous Former Champion Provisional slots to make races. He was struggling. He stayed too long.