Skinner wins battle in the broadcast booth

Commentary

In a battle of Winston Cup drivers, Mike Skinner earned his first victory of the season over Rusty Wallace at Richmond. In the television booth, that is.

Skinner, the 1995 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, joined announcers Dr. Jerry Punch and Phil Parsons in the ESPN2 booth during the NCTS Virginia is for Lovers 200. The next night, Wallace was in TNT's booth with Allen Bestwick and Benny Parsons to help give insight during the Busch Series Funai 250.

While at times, Wallace seemed to feel out of place and was awkwardly silent on TNT, Skinner shined throughout ESPN2's entire coverage.

	Mike Skinner's analysis of Friday night's Truck race was insightful.

From the moment Skinner got in the booth following the first caution on lap 7, he was busy analyzing why Bill Lester got spun out by Jon Wood. He speculated that the younger aggressive Wood might have been driving too hard early on in the race after a sub-par qualifying effort.

Skinner then compared it to his rookie season in Winston Cup when he stuck his nose in too often and ended up wrecking quite a few racecars.

"As you go along, you get a little more experience and you got to know that you have to keep the fenders on these things," Skinner said.

After that point, he blended in nicely with Punch and Parsons, interjecting often and giving his opinions at the right times.

It seemed as if he had been working in the booth with these two veteran announcers for years. His knowledge of the Truck Series as well as all the drivers involved allowed him to analyze the race accurately and objectively.

Skinner also showed an enthusiasm in the booth rivaling that of only Darrell Waltrip. He got real animated talking about Richmond and the racing he was seeing on the track. His excitement had to carry over to the viewer as well.

After pit stops and cautions, Skinner was quick to point out who had made the better adjustments and who had done what to bring out the yellow flag. After Wood was involved in another caution on lap 79 with Brian Ross, Skinner exclaimed, "There is no question that one there wasn't Jon Wood's fault."

Not only was Skinner commenting on the racing action, he would talk about the drivers as well. When Punch was discussing Rick Crawford's search for a sponsor, Skinner added that Crawford would be a perfect spokesman for anyone and that he deserved the best because he has raced well for the last two years.

In addition, Skinner was talking about his relationship with Dennis Setzer right before Setzer spun and hit the wall. Skinner immediately said, "Sorry, Dennis, sorry I said anything about you, buddy."

Later on in the race, when Kevin Harvick was battling for the lead, Skinner pointed out that "Harvick's truck looks so awesome on the bottom but I'm not positive that is the fastest line right now."

And sure enough, he couldn't pass leader Rick Crawford so he moved up to the top of the track, prompting Skinner to say, "This is the first time I've seen him off the bottom of the race track. Maybe he's kind of figured out this thing is pretty good up there."

Commentary and analysis like this from Skinner all night helped make ESPN2's coverage much more enjoyable for the fan.

On the other hand, Wallace did not stand out as much as he filled in for Wally Dallenbach.

During the pre-race show, he answered a couple of questions regarding the second groove on the track. While they were good, his answers seemed to have been prepared and scripted.

After the race started, several laps went by and Wallace did not say a word until the restart on lap 12. Following the first caution where several cars were caught up in a wreck, Bestwick initiated his first comment by asking, "Rusty, does this get any of this out of these guys' system?"

Wallace appeared to be a little more comfortable a few laps later when Greg Biffle sped through pit lane to avoid going down a lap.

Wallace spoke up and said, "That was a good idea. I have messed that part up many times leaving pit road and you keep thinking of that pit road penalty for speeding when you can just speed and go to the tail of the lead lap."

Not much was offered by Wallace again until Bestwick had to once again solicit some analysis from him by saying, "What are you seeing here, champ?"

That would be the norm for the remainder of the race. Wallace, not one to usually shy away from the mike, was relatively quiet throughout the whole broadcast unless Bestwick or Benny Parsons addressed him.

From the start, it appeared that he was uncomfortable and never felt at home in the booth. Compared to Skinner and Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart, who have been in the booth in the past, Wallace was a non-factor in the broadcast.

When he did talk, it was in response to a question or simply repeating something that had already been said.

One bright spot for Wallace was when he dialed up brother Kenny during a red flag stop to discuss the sealer and the second groove on the track. The dialogue between the two was genuine and helpful in understanding what the racing surface was like.

The second half of the race was much of the same. At times, Bestwick and Parsons talked so much that when Wallace did interject a thought on his own, it seemed way out of place.

In their second year on-air together, the TNT team of Bestwick, Parsons and Dallenbach has just begun to mesh and interact well on the air together. Replacing Dallenbach with Rusty Wallace seemed to disrupt this chemistry that had emerged the past few races.

Notes: ESPN2 did a much better job than TNT at showing quality replays of wrecks or key cautions over the weekend...

ESPN2 had instantaneous replays from several different angles so the viewer got the whole picture of how a wreck occurred. TNT often caught the cautions late so the developments leading up to the crash weren't seen. The announcers repeatedly said, "We kind of catch the end of it," when showing replays...

TNT's replays of Derrike Cope's hard crash into the wall during the Busch race seemed a little overboard when the status of Cope's injuries were uncertain...

TNT missed point leader Sterling Marlin's wreck entirely during the Cup race. All that was seen was Marlin's smashed-up car stopped on the track...

ESPN2 cut off the air immediately after Tony Stewart's interview in victory lane without following up on the last lap crash during the NCTS race where Bobby Hamilton broke his right scapula and left wrist...

When pit stops got confusing during the Cup race, I liked that TNT put the driver's names that had pitted in yellow on the ticker at the top of the screen.

Jeff Lam's broadcast analysis appears weekly on NASCAR.com. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.