Race Weekend Central

Talking NASCAR TV: Action Overload for TNT

Greetings, race fans. This past weekend brought two fairly interesting races at the Milwaukee Mile and one very racy 350-kilometer event at Infineon Raceway. I, for one, thought that the double-file restarts were going to create chaos on Sunday (June 21) since this was completely uncharted territory for restarts on road courses. However, this actually …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Bill Weber, You Lied To Us

Hello, race fans. Last weekend was a busy weekend, with the ARCA Re/Max Series, Sprint Cup and Truck series at Michigan while the Nationwide Series raced in front of a near-sellout crowd in Kentucky. However, I’ll keep things relatively brief with the support series to start, because I’m going to bring on the vitriol towards …

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Talking NASCAR TV: TNT’s 1st Effort of the Year Promising, but Issues Remain

HEY FANS! I’VE GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU TODAY! THERE ARE NO GOPHERS IN THIS REVIEW! THAT’S RIGHT, NO STINKIN’ GOPHERS IN THIS REVIEW! Note: This is a reference to a YouTube video by the user UrinatingTree. It is adapted from his review of NHL Stanley Cup for the Super Nintendo. I do warn you, …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Grading FOX’s 2009 Season & What’s Stopping the Scrolls?

Greetings, readers. The three races held at Dover International Speedway were quite interesting in their own ways. I enjoyed them all, though – especially that race to the finish between Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart on Sunday. Sunday also marked the 13th and final points race on FOX’s schedule for the season, a milestone that …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Impartiality Needs to Be Worked on Across All Fronts

Hello, race fans. The Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the busiest racing weekend of the year. In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600, the IndyCar Series has their revered Indianapolis 500 on the same day… or at least they normally do. But because of rain in Charlotte, the Sprint Cup event was pushed …

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Talking NASCAR TV: 2009 All-Star Race Not the Best Showcase for SPEED

Hello, fans. While the All-Star Race highlights the best drivers the Cup Series has to offer, the rest of the weekend itself has always been relatively lean on actual official racing. The Nationwide Series took the weekend off, along with Formula 1, while the Camping World Truck Series raced a support race Friday night. But …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Some Thoughts About in-Car Cameras in Between Spotty Darlington Coverage

Hello, race fans. Hope you enjoyed this weekend’s racing from Darlington Raceway. I thought it was pretty good as well. Maybe a few too many cautions for my taste, but that’s OK. I cannot control that facet of races. I’m still kind of surprised that Sam Hornish Jr.’s spin late in the race did not …

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Talking NASCAR TV: FOX Forgets Important Pit-Road Injury During Kyle Busch Coronation

Hello, race fans. Hope you all enjoyed the action last week from Richmond. I enjoyed the competition – that much is clear – but did the coverage do justice to the race? Let’s find out. Friday night was the Lipton Tea 250 for the Nationwide Series from Richmond, televised on ESPN2. Our own Bryan Davis …

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Talking NASCAR TV: FOX “Back of the Pack” Battles No Laughing Matter for Fans

Hello, race fans. I don’t know about you guys, but I was real scared watching that wreck that Carl Edwards had Sunday at the end of the Aaron’s 499. Not so much for Edwards – but for the fans themselves. After the race ended, I thought back and realized that the crash looked a little …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Jump the Shark

Race fans, the title says it all for me. However, for those of you who may not be familiar with the term… let me explain. The term “Jump the Shark” was created by Jon Hein and a group of his buddies at the University of Michigan in 1987. Apparently, they spent a Saturday night watching …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Creative Approach to Practice Makes ESPN Shine at Nashville… Until Nemechek’s Flip

Last weekend was Easter Weekend, a traditional week off for the Sprint Cup Series for as long as I can remember – and probably before that as well. However, the Nationwide Series has not always stuck with that tradition. In the past, the division has actually held races on Easter Sunday at tracks like Hickory …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Digger Returns… But That’s Not the Only Problem with Texas Coverage

Hello, race fans. Texas provided us with long green-flag runs on both Saturday and Sunday’s races. Usually, this means that the field gets extensively stretched out, and Texas was no exception to the norm. So, how did this weekend’s television coverage add up? Let’s take a look. On Saturday, the Nationwide Series, back from a …

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