I want a nice, clear picture of DE and MW on top of their cars, or else of
DE standing on his window sill with MW’s car in the foreground.  Anybody
seen one?  I usually grab great wallpaper from thatsracin.com but they don’t
have the shot I’m after this week…

-Russ.

Thought I would wait till this morning to pass verdict on NBC’s first
effort. What a race to have for your first effort — a real storybook
finish. Coverage aside, it was by far the most enjoyable race I have seen
this year. Chocolate Myers and Mikey Waltrip, I salute you.

Now to the coverage. I was a little worried with the Britney-fest at the
beginning, but I’m not going to blame NBC 100% for that. I haven’t even
given her much thought until now because she really isn’t the type of act
I pay much attention to, but I have to admit she is (a) cute and (b) hot.
So I’m not going to complain about her.

The announcers: I was pleasantly surprised. The only exposure I’ve had to
Bestwick until now was on Speedvision last year. This was the first race I
heard him call. Is he as good as Mike Joy? No, at least not yet. Is he OK?
Absolutely. Once they settle in as a team I’m sure he’ll be fine. It was
great to hear BP again, and I was pleasantly surprised by Wally D. In the
beginning he seemed a little unsure of hinself, but as the night went on
he got into it and he and BP made some good comments. The biggest plus was
the time they spent not saying anything. It was great for them to just lay
out and let us hear the racing. Overall, I liked them. And I thought the
pit reporters were good choices; all 4 seemed solid.

The production: I know a lot of folks have been complaining about all the
commercials and there did seem to be a lot in the middle of the show. I
didn’t record the race but I remember thinking that they stayed with it at
the start for a long time — seemed like 15 or 20 laps — and that they
would have to make up for that later on, and they did. My recollection is
that Fox went to commercial every 10 laps at the big speedways so this
wasn’t all that far off, but I’d be happier if they weren’t there so much.
OTOH, it was a first as far as I can recall to see Houston hit the wall
live, without the "7 second delay" Fox seemed to use. And though they were
a few seconds late getting to the big wreck, they had lots of replay
angles afterward.

The presentation: maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see many pit times. On
my set, the sound seemed a little more balanced than Fox’s which I found
heavy on car sounds to the point that you couldn’t make out the guys in
the booth. The best part for me: no sound effects. OTOH, I was
disappointed to see their version of the ticker — let’s call it the
clicker — in pretty much the same format at the top of the screen. I
still don’t like it but it seems we’re stuck with it. I do think NBCs is
less intrusive because it’s not constantly moving, but I could do without
it. OTOH, it didn’t seem to be there as much as Fox’s. It got out of synch
quite a bit, and I wonder if either of these can ever be made real-time
with a direct connection to the cars somehow. Right now in a race with a
lot of passing it is never right. Aside from that, the show seemed to have
the right balance of graphics that were unobtrusive, but they botched the
starting lineup rundown by letting the graphics get out of synch with the
announcers. It was like the graphics were on a fixed timer that the
announcers had to keep up with.

On that subject, they really did botch up the placings after the pit
stops. Nobody knew who was in front. Finally they just gave up and went to
commercial to sort it out. They need some work on their production
support. I won’t blame them for the green screen and loss of sound; it
happens, but if it becomes a habit I’ll be unhappy. Also, I suspect they
are using the same in-car camera technology as Fox, and it seemed equally
uninspired. Overall, it seemed they had a few bugs that need working out
to get rid of the somewhat sloppy feel parts of the broadcast had.

All in all, it seems promising. I give them a B, and think they will get
better as the year goes on. I enjoyed watching it as much or more than
Fox, though the race itself probably had a lot to do with that. If they
can work out the bugs they will be fine.

–
Greg Beaulieu    ab…@chebucto.ns.ca    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
         My Homepage: http://sites.netscape.net/ab348/homepage

Cal Ripken’s retirement at age 41 has me asking the question; why don’t
the over 40 drivers in NASCAR retire and make room for new blood.  Oh,
silly me, it all about the money…

We watched the NBC coverage of the Pepsi 400 yesterday.  Awful.  The race
ending was great though.
Afterwards, we watched the NASCAR special  on NBC.  At one point they showed
the guys glueing the lug nuts to the hubs on the extra sets of tires.  Now,
when the tire guy puts the new tire on the car, and starts tightening the lug
nuts, why don’t the other lug nuts fall off?  Tightening the first lug nut will
pull the hub tight to the axle, and I would think the bolts would push through
the nuts and loosen the glue?  Or the vibration from tightening the first would
loosen the others?

Any insights on this would be greatly appreciated.

Judy Schroeder, cheering for Greg Biffle at Watkins Glen right now!
Go local racer!

Im looking for a picture of all 5 DEI and RCR cars taking the caution flag on
lap 87 of the Pepsi 400.

It’s probably pretty damn hard to fix races, I think given all that goes on
today.  Is it impossible?  I doubt it.  Did it happen this weekend?  I also
doubt it.  Not sure we’ll ever know, for sure.  It’s very hard to prove
something is impossible.

But you know what?

I don’t even care.

If this result was fixed, and it helped heal a man who lost his father,
helped heal his widow, and millions of fans who miss him… I’ll take it.
No race result ever felt as good, even DE winning the 500 in ’98.  I love
driving and I love racing, but I don’t care if it was a fix or not.  Not
this time.  I don’t care what that makes me, either.

You know what else?

I bet a lot of the other guys out there on Sunday night wouldn’t care
either.

My 1.5 cents.

-Russ.

Can anyone tell me if there are any pictures of all the DEI and RCR cars all in
a row takeing the caution flag on lap 87 of the Pepsi 400

<snipped>  from
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports_day/auto/398864_0621blount.html
 (rest of article talks about 2nd dates for races towards west *jumps for
joy*)

Lowe’s vs. Home Depot

Lowe’s officials admitted last week that they want to find a driver who can
compete with the popularity and success of Tony Stewart, who drives the No.
20 Pontiac for their competition, Home Depot. Lowe’s officials have informed
Richard Childress, owner of the No. 31 Chevrolet, that they will pay
whatever it takes to get a top driver to replace Mike Skinner, who has not
won a Winston Cup points race in five seasons as the Lowe’s Chevrolet
driver.
Lowe’s and Childress would love to get Jeff Burton, who is under contract
with Roush Racing, but Burton says he’s staying with Jack Roush’s team. Greg
Biffle, who drives the Grainger Ford for Roush’s Busch team, was seen
touring the Childress racing facility last week.

Childress also is looking for a driver for the No. 30 AOL car, which he will
run on a full schedule next season. Jeff Green, the defending Busch series
champion who will turn 39 in September, withdrew his name from consideration
after AOL officials said they were looking for a younger driver.

<snip>

even though skinner has been in a slump lately, i hope RCR doesnt pull a
driver due to a sponsor, and i say a nascar fan boycot off AOL Jeff Green
would be good in the 30

It was great to see Robbie Gordon qualify so well (7th) today at Sears Point.
I’ve been a fan of Robbie Gordon since his off-road days.Whether you love him
or hate him, he almost always succeeds in upping the level of excitement in any
race he’s in. I for one woulkd love to see Childress pick him up for a full
time WC ride next year. After Gordon’s run for Foyt and Childress at the Indy
500, Childress  said there might be a place for Gordon with one of his teams,
possibly BGN.  

Anyone know where I can find/download a schedule for the NBC/TBS
NASCAR Busch/Winston Cup races, practices, qualifying, etc??  Could
not find anything at the NBC Sports site…  Thanks, Clay