Even though Chicagoland Speedway had hosted 19 previous NASCAR Cup Series races prior to last weekend, there were a lot of unknowns entering Sunday’s (July 5) eero 400. A good chunk of the field had limited experience on the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Also, only a couple of events had been held there since the last Cup race in 2019, so the status of the track surface itself was uncertain. Let’s look at how the race unfolded through the lens of the broadcast coverage on TNT.
Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway in the then-NASCAR Winston Cup Series’ first visit back to the circuit after Dale Earnhardt’s death. During TNT’s NASCAR Nation Pre-Race, the primary feature of the show was a look back at that night with thoughts from Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. It was interesting in that no one is left racing in Cup who competed in the event that year.
Apparently, this piece was put together quietly without the knowledge of Earnhardt Jr., then presented live on-air as something of a surprise for him. That’s an interesting way to go about it but the end result worked out well.
Sunday’s eero 400 will probably be best remembered for questionable wrecks. First off, you had Zane Smith getting into the back of Carson Hocevar, resulting in both drivers getting into the wall. Later on, you had Austin Hill crashing out after contact from Shane van Gisbergen.
The broadcast booth came to the conclusion that both these crashes were intentional wrecks, especially the Hill-van Gisbergen incident in turn 3. As you’re likely aware, Sunday was not the first run-in between Hill and van Gisbergen. Heck, just a couple of weeks ago, Hill triggered a big crash that put both drivers out at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
It was pretty obvious the wreck was intentional based on the replay. Watching the incident back, it almost made me think the audio was de-synced since van Gisbergen stayed on the throttle for more than a half-second longer than normal.
However, that throttle response was real. SVG really drove it in there like that. After the race, during NASCAR Nation Post-Race, they showed the SMT data from van Gisbergen’s car and overlaid the previous couple of laps.
Yeah, it was pretty obvious that something was up there. In a situation like that, you might as well dot the i’s and cross the t’s. If NASCAR were going to penalize van Gisbergen for this (given their track record, they probably won’t), the first thing they’d do would be to check SVG’s radio chatter. He apparently didn’t say anything about it. This data would be stop No. 2. Pursuing this line of thinking was a great move by TNT and the production crew.
What didn’t make the broadcast was Hill retaliating under yellow. Despite knowing that he was done, Hill went back on-track, passed a number of drivers on the apron (against the rules) and hit van Gisbergen in the left front corner. That might result in a penalty later this week; it was the biggest miss from the telecast itself.
Normally, retaliation at intermediate tracks is a no-no in NASCAR since it’s significantly more dangerous than at slower tracks. But it seems like there are some notable people that are for this retribution (Note: I’m not one of them), so who knows what’s going to happen going forward. I just know one thing for sure. NASCAR sure as heck won’t tolerate that contact this weekend in Georgia.
Another issue that happened this past weekend is the heavy rains screwing up the parking and egress situation at the track. There were long lines of fans still trying to get into Chicagoland during the break at the end of stage one. Those people had been sitting in traffic jams for more than three hours.
Footage of the traffic did not make the broadcast on TNT (or TruTV, for that matter since that is only a simulcast this year). Apparently, the international feed did have that footage, and I saw a picture of it during the race. It likely would have aired during a TNT commercial.
Speaking of commercials, when TNT was talking about their five-race schedule, they touted that they would not have full-screen commercials under green this year. Unfortunately, they went back on that promise with full-screen ads for the film Supergirl and an upcoming fight, among others.
I know that we didn’t really miss anything there, but TNT went against their word. That’s not a good look.
Racing-wise, the on-track product was excellent. With the track only hosting a SuperMotocross World Championship race since 2019, I feared a litany of tire issues would crop up. Luckily, that was not the case.
Instead, we got some good action Sunday night. The leaders were fighting hard and no one really got far away from each other. TNT made prodigious use of the split-screen setup in order to show multiple battles.
Things spread out a bit on the final run of the race, but there was still some good action to be had.
Tyler Reddick’s issues were also covered quite well. We had replays of the fluid coming out of his nose and the hood vents, along with a shot of the radiator with a hole in it.
Did they actually note what caused this issue on the broadcast? Not that I can remember. However, Frontstretch knows what caused it. We have the evidence.
Big hat tip to our own Tanner Marlar for being in the right place to get this shot. That skinny rod in the first picture is what ruined Reddick’s day.
I have no idea why TNT thought that this race was going to be done by 9 p.m. ET Sunday night. I knew going in that regardless of what happened, this race wasn’t going to fit in a three-hour slot. Sure enough, it ended about 30 minutes late.
In addition to the above deep-dive on van Gisbergen’s move, NASCAR Nation Post-Race had a decent amount of post-race interviews and analysis. I was greatly satisfied. And while SMT data isn’t for everyone, when it can help prove your point, it can be beneficial for everyone watching.
Overall, I thought that the race was pretty good, better than most of the previous Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway. The broadcast had great moments (the Hill-van Gisbergen coverage during and after the race) and some not-so-great. The good moments outweighed the bad.
That’s all for this week. Next weekend is shaping up to be a busy one. The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will make their second visit of the year to EchoPark Speedway for another Sunday night affair down in Atlanta. I’m not a fan of these events, but running this race during the daytime is not for the faint of heart this time of year in Georgia. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be at Lime Rock Park with the ARCA Menards Series.
In sports car racing, you have a split weekend. IMSA will be at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the LMP2 class as the headliners. Meanwhile, the FIA World Endurance Championship will be at Interlagos in Brazil in the first half of a doubleheader on TruTV. TV listings can be found here.
In next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here at Frontstretch, we’ll have a critique of TNT’s broadcast of the Quaker State 400. The Critic’s Annex in the Frontstretch Newsletter will cover the long slog that was Saturday night’s Cuervo 300.
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Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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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