Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: I Missed So Much in Daytona

Denny Hamlin leads the pack during the 2021 O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

A second straight weekend in Daytona Beach was not originally on the schedule, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic necessitated it. With that, you ended up with a tripleheader weekend on Daytona International Speedway’s road course. Compared to last year, these races were ridiculous. The most looney of all was Friday night’s Truck race. I’ll be …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: The Daytona 500 Was Exhausting

NASCAR racing action in the 2021 Daytona 500 Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Oh man. Nothing quite like 13.5 hours of coverage for one race. I will fully admit that I was really tired by the time Sunday’s Daytona 500 finally ended. Regardless, there is a lot to discuss about what we saw Sunday. With this broadcast, it’s hard to figure out where to start. I suppose the …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Welcome to My 13th Year of Critiquing

The NASCAR Cup Series in action at Daytona, 2020 Photo Nigel Kinrade Photography

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The offseason is now over. I have no doubt that you’ve done something to pass the time over the past three months. Some of you engaged in hobbies, spent time with your families, watched movies and TV shows. A bunch of people probably got addicted to new shows such as WandaVision. Others spent time watching …

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Couch Potato Monday: NBC Sports’ Sebring Coverage Expansive, But A Bit Distracted At Times

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

(Photo: Courtesy of IMSA)

Today, we’re going road racing.  Unlike NBC Sports’ NASCAR and INDYCAR coverage, the IMSA broadcast booth never went to the track after the shutdown.  The only difference here is that it was likely the plan all along, even without a pandemic. Given that this was a 12-hour race, NBC Sports did not use the same …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Makes Some History With Jamie Little

2019 MENCS Sonoma Jamie Little Wendy Venturini

Photo: Danny Peters

With the offseason underway for most (but not all) series, we’re starting to hear about a number of driver changes and teams moving around. TV is not immune to that type of action. Monday saw FOX Sports announce that Jamie Little will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the ARCA Menards Series races that will air …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: There Is No Way the Championship 4 Doesn’t Hurt the Sport As a Whole

NASCAR Cup Series

#9: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro NAPA Auto Parts, celebrates after winning the 2020 Nascar Cup Series Championship

It seems so weird to actually be home for the final race weekend of the NASCAR season. For me, this was the first time since 2014 that I’d actually been home for it. The last five season finales were spent in Homestead, dodging rain showers, hiding under souvenir trailers and sweating. We also got interesting …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Martinsville Brings Heavy Playoff Focus, Constricted Broadcasts

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

For the most part last weekend, it was dry in Martinsville (Sunday morning being the exception). Thankfully, that meant that everything got in on time. It was also cutoff weekend, which brought problems in its own right. Xfinity 500 Sunday brought the NASCAR Cup Series back to Martinsville for their second visit of the year. …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Trucks at Texas on FOX Sports 1 — What a Doozy!

2020 Texas II truck Christian Eckes crash II NKP

This is an interesting time for us. It is very rare that you get a double postponement due to weather. In the Cup Series, I can only recall this happening a couple of times in the last 20 years. It’s happening now as NASCAR officially pulled the plug at Texas Motor Speedway Monday after working …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Made the Hollywood Casino 400 the Joey & Kevin Show

2020 Kansas II Cup Joey Logano trophy NKP

We’re getting deep into the playoffs now. All three of NASCAR’s national series started the Round of 8 last weekend at Kansas Speedway. Cup and Truck races each had different things going for them. The Trucks got a rare over-the-air broadcast while the Cup race displayed the current rules package, for better or worse. Hollywood …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Splashes About in Charlotte

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Charlotte was … drier than expected. I was convinced that it was going to rain all day Saturday and all day Sunday. We ended up with two races in the rain Saturday and the Cup race starting on a drying track. It made for some interesting television, to say the least. Bank of America ROVAL …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Ticks Off the Fanbase at Talladega

Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron and Denny Hamlin race three-wide at Talladega Superspeedway, October 2020. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Talladega Superspeedway is an interesting place. You can have wild races, or you can have races like the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500, where Stewart-Haas Racing turned the race into their own bash that was completely designed to allow Aric Almirola win. Sunday’s race (Oct. 4) was the former, but that created problems for NBC. Outside of …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Jimmie Johnson’s Tire Failure Flips the Script on NBCSN

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This time of year, the only guarantee that you’re going to get in Las Vegas is hot weather. They got that last weekend. What you also got was strategy and luck playing huge roles. That affects how a race is covered. Sunday brought 96-degree weather and wind into the equation. It also brought an unexpected …

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