Week No. 2 for Amazon Prime Video brought the NASCAR Cup Series to Nashville Superspeedway for a Sunday (June 1) night of action on the concrete. A schedule move by NASCAR meant that the race ran a month earlier than the past four years in an attempt to make things more comfortable for everyone involved.
The result was that temperatures were far more comfortable for the sellout crowd and drivers. The downside was that the racing wasn’t quite as competitive as last year.
As compared to Charlotte Motor Speedway, the race was less competitive. That meant that you didn’t get as many split-screen battles, but they still did a decent job of showing the on-track action.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data, there were 4,093 green flag passes Sunday night. That was 206 fewer passes than last year, despite there being 13 more laps under green. Extrapolating the amount from last year to 265 laps under green, it constitutes a 9.5% decline in passing overall.
Based on the discussions that I’ve seen online since the race, you’d think that it was much less than that, but the cooler weather effectively locked the cars down. As the race continued, the groove moved downward, making the race less competitive. That’s why it was so difficult late in the race for the leaders to get past lapped traffic.
The moving of the groove was acknowledged on the broadcast and was viewed as the result of the cooler temperatures, which I generally agree with. Nashville is in something of a middle zone between a short track and an intermediate track. Back on Saturday, our own Caleb Barnes wrote about how Nashville is perhaps more important than you think regarding the championship.
Probably the strangest part of NASCAR Live is the inclusion of a piece where Steve Letarte talks about race strategy to a bunch of puppets. I’m not the only person who feels that way.
It appears that the segment will be a part of pre-race coverage for the entire Amazon Prime Video portion of the season. It’s weird and off-putting, but relevant to what’s going on. Sunday night’s piece had Letarte discussing how tire wear was not likely to be a big issue Sunday night. Sure enough, he was accurate. One of the reasons that Ryan Blaney was able to get to the front was due to the fact that he ran long on his first stop (70 laps compared to 41-47), then was able to short-fill his tank at the end of stage one to get the lead.
In addition to the puppets, Carl Edwards hosted a piece on how to race on concrete. In all honesty, you couldn’t have found a better person to do that given Edwards’ success at places like Nashville, Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway. Also, the piece had the feel of an instructional video from 1988, which put a smile on my face.
The more I watch the Amazon Prime Video broadcasts, I think of these races like they’re NBC Sports races. It’s not just because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is there, although I’m sure that he plays a role in it.
I see a lot of the hallmarks of what we’ve seen from NBC Sports in recent years on these broadcasts. For example, Prime broadcast a restart using audio from Joey Logano’s spotter Coleman Pressley, which happened a bunch last year.
There are other cues as well, such as on-screen graphics and booth dynamics that make me think of the NBC Sports broadcasts. I don’t know if Adam Alexander is big on retreats with his colleagues to foster congeniality like Rick Allen was, but you’re already starting to see a somewhat similar dynamic to what you had when Earnhardt was still with NBC Sports.
As compared to Charlotte, it was a little tougher to fully keep up with everything that was going on. For instance, Ty Gibbs had a decent evening for much of the night. Then, all of a sudden, he was 31st. No idea what happened to get him there, and I know he wasn’t penalized because he doesn’t show up in the penalty report.
Post-race coverage was rather extensive but hit the same marks as it did in Charlotte. For the amount of time that Amazon Prime Video is giving NASCAR Live from Victory Lane, they’re not interviewing enough people. Sure, they talked to a half-dozen people (including winner Blaney twice), but that was in 50 minutes.
Instead, it seems they want to make the show more of a post-race version of NASCAR RaceDay from 2010 with fan interaction and such. Back in those days, I remember checking out one of those shows in progress at Daytona International Speedway the first time I went there for Frontstretch. I don’t know how that’s going to work unless NASCAR eases its rules about access since the stage for post-race coverage is usually right behind the pit lane.
Also, Prime is just not going to be around long enough for it to truly catch on. Only five races are on Amazon Prime Video and Nashville was No. 2.
The broadcast is also doing things that you couldn’t do on broadcast or cable TV. For example, the broadcasters are pouring beers and imbibing during the show. That led to a party foul when beer was spilled on Earnhardt’s notes.
Now, I know that they’re not trying to be like the first few months of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, when there was an open bar for everyone. Back then, an audience member got drunk and threw up, ending that perk. However, I’m not sure what it adds to the show.
Overall, this race in general was a downgrade from Charlotte. Not as much action and not as inclusive as I’d like. There were some coverage issues as well. With the lack of action at the front later in the race, I would have liked to see a bigger focus on other action. It was clear that the announcers were hoping that Carson Hocevar was going to run down Blaney, but it didn’t happen.
That’s all for this week. Next weekend is a little quieter. Michigan International Speedway will host a tripleheader weekend with the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. Meanwhile, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will headline a standalone weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. TV listings can be found here.
We’ll have a critique of Sunday’s broadcast of the FireKeepers Casino 400 in next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here at Frontstretch. We’ll have a look at Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 in The Critic’s Annex.
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 Amazon Prime Video about the race, go to the link for Sunday night’s race, click on the Send us feedback link at the bottom of the page and leave your feedback there. To contact either FOX Sports or NBC Sports, click on either of the links below.
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.
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.