NASCAR on TV this week

Couch Potato Tuesday

Overhyping and Individual Coverage Mars ESPN at Brickyard

by

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, the weekly piece here at Frontstretch where TV coverage is placed front and center. This past weekend, we had “mini-Speedweeks” out in Indianapolis. The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, along with Grand-Am’s two series. Meanwhile, the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards raced Friday night at nearby Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis with USAC’s three big divisions (Midgets, Wingless Sprints and Silver Crown) as support.

Chicagoland Coverage Decent, but Networks Keep Viewers Guessing

by

=Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where critiquing of race broadcasts is the name of the game. The Sprint Cup Series took their final weekend off of the year, but unlike the last time, there was plenty of action to make up for it. Both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series were each in action at Chicagoland Speedway. The ARCA Racing Series also raced Saturday as the tertiary show.

*Before we start,* ESPN stuck a little nugget into their “press release”:http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2012/07/nascar-sprint-cup-racing-coming-to-espn-for-second-half-of-season/ about their upcoming Sprint Cup coverage. Tucked in there nice and tight is the news that Marty Reid will be returning to the broadcast booth to do play-by-play for the remaining Nationwide Series races. This will allow Allen Bestwick to focus on the Sprint Cup races.

How Do TNT’s Commercials and Peter Griffin Compare?

by

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where TV critiques are the name of the game. I’m back after a one week hiatus, which was brought on due to my trip to Daytona to cover the Coke Zero 400. This week, we’ll be reviewing the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series race telecasts from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and the Camping World Truck Series telecast from Iowa Speedway.

*Before we start*, I want to mention a couple of things. Firstly, as you are likely well aware of, ESPN’s Jamie Little is currently eight months pregnant and is now officially on maternity leave. However, this leave might not be as long as you think. On her Twitter page Sunday night, Little tweeted that she’s “…sad I’ll miss some races but I’ll be back for [the] final 11!” This means that she plans on returning to pit road at Richmond in September. Until then, Shannon Spake will likely take her place in the pits.