Race Weekend Central

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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Couch Potato Tuesday: Which Bristol Race Had More Cutoff Coverage?

2020 Bristol NXS Vinnie Miller wreck car NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series had cutoff races this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. In recent years, Bristol has either provided very exciting or very dull races. It was literally all over the place Friday and Saturday night. You had drivers running away and hiding at times, while there was side-by-side racing …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Richmond Provides Interesting Action If You Look Closely

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Richmond Raceway in recent years has taken on a different look. Yahoo! Sports’ Nick Bromberg made note of this on Twitter after the race Saturday night. From 2001-2010 there were 14 Richmond races with 10 or more cautions From 2011-2020 there have been 3 Richmond races with 10 or more cautions Since the start of stage …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Darlington Brings Wall Contact & Horses to Play

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Oh yes, Darlington. On Labor Day weekend, this is where NASCAR fans go to sweat gallons of fluid and take in some interesting racing. Viewers had three very different races on the schedule on the egg-shaped oval. Cook Out Southern 500 The centerpiece of Throwback Weekend was 500 miles at Darlington Raceway. I don’t think …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Daytona Brings Overpowering Cutoff Coverage, More Desire for Inclusiveness

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Daytona is always an interesting race weekend. This one was shocking for two reasons. One, I was actually home for it. This was the first time I’ve actually been home for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 since 2009. The previous 10 years, I was either at the race, in Watkins Glen for the Sahlen’s Six …

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