By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
July 2, 2003
2:43 PM EDT (1843 GMT)
This weekend's Pepsi 400 at Daytona starts a 20-race stretch to the final Winston Cup championship. It also begins what will actually be a 21-race stretch for the NBC/TNT crew. They'll be in the booth for the final 20 races this year and they'll kick-off the first Nextel Cup Series season next year at Daytona.
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Obviously, there are good and bad things about both broadcast teams. As we look ahead to NBC and TNT taking over the helm this weekend, here's a look at some suggestions from users and a certain column writer that may make us all happy through the fall.
It's the big one, Elizabeth: Here's hoping that Benny Parsons will temper his excitement for the mundane this year. Parsons, usually a competent analyst, has a penchant for getting really excited over things that most folks wouldn't give a second look to.
Maybe we should name it, "The Fred Sanford Disease."
Ooooh, Kevin Harvick! He just got loose! Thank goodness he didn't hit anything! It's just so exciting! It's the big one, guys!
Uh ... ok
Look at everybody: One of the best parts of last fall's coverage was NBC/TNT's "Through the Field" feature. A Winston Cup race is not just about the five drivers in the front. There are 38 other drivers who are fighting to get into the top five.
More importantly, there are 38 other drivers, each with a decent number of fans who tune in each week to see their driver -- no matter where he finishes.
NBC/TNT did a masterful job of pleasing those folks each week. Let's hope there's more of that in store.
The Discovery Network: The "Dave Discovers..." feature last year was a good idea, but what about the notion of going outside the racetrack once in a while?
What does Talladega look like during a race weekend? What does it look like every other weekend? What do folks in Bristol do the other 50 weekends a year? Every town on the Winston Cup schedule has some kind of interesting characteristic. Why not explore what each town has to offer?
We love to see you smile: The chemistry between Allen Bestwick, Parsons and Wally Dallenbach certainly improved last year. You could see them starting to have a good time at the track and with each other. Let's hope that continues.
Here at NASCAR.com, we have access to the raw feed of many of the races (without commercials). Some of the barbs the three of them trade during the commercial breaks are priceless. Let the viewers in on some of the fun.
While we're speaking about commercials: With the amount of money the networks are paying for the rights to show NASCAR, it's unrealistic to hope for fewer commercial breaks. This is a business, above all. If you don't believe that, there's a bridge that you can buy very cheap.
The best we can hope for is that the networks follow racing enough to strategically place the commercial breaks. You can never plan for everything -- especially at 200 mph -- but there must be a way to minimize what fans are forced to miss.
The Golden Benny: To award non-drivers who had the biggest impact on the previous week's race is a good idea. But, if you're gonna do it, how about giving them an award they can at least keep?
While the No. 8 team taking the award hostage was treated as a joke last year, it may have spoken to a deeper issue. By giving these team members a "fake" trophy, it cheapens the award, thereby giving the impression that team members aren't as important as the drivers, a fact any race fan knows is far from the truth.
Wally's World: First, lose the name and the theme song. The movie they were patterned after came out more than a decade ago and now has the same impact as M.C. Hammer.
Second, why force people to try to make out what Wally is saying over an engine? If I have to work at it, I'm changing the channel until the green flag.
Instead, why not have Parsons and Dallenbach simply voice-over some race footage that illustrates the characteristics of each track. Watching Wally go around the track in a "race car" at half speed serves no purpose.
All that said, here's to a great stretch run.
On to this weekend's schedule...
Winston Cup Series: Pepsi 400
Site: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Track: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile oval, 31-degree banking in turns, 18-degree banking in tri-oval, 3-degree banking on straights. Length of Frontstretch: 3,800 feet. Length of backstretch: 3,400 feet.)
Race distance: 160 laps, 400 miles
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TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: TNT, 8 p.m. ET Thursday. Happy Hour: SPEED, 6 p.m. ET Friday. Race: NBC 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
Last year's race: Michael Waltrip scored his second Winston Cup victory by brilliantly holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace.
Last race: Robby Gordon led 81 of the 110 laps and held off a charge by Jeff Gordon to win the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 22.
Last time at Daytona: Waltrip was named the winner of the Daytona 500 when rain shortened the race to 109 of its 200 scheduled laps.
Potential Storyline: Dale Jarrett has one victory this season but is mired in the points, back in 29th. Jarrett -- the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion -- hasn't finished outside the final standings top 20 since 1990.
Point to ponder: Waltrip has won the past two races held at Daytona. All three of his Winston Cup wins have come there, as well. He also won the 2001 Daytona 500.
Next race: Tropicana 400, Chicagoland Speedway, July 13
Busch Series: Winn-Dixie 250
Site: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Track: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile oval, 31-degree banking in turns, 18-degree banking in tri-oval, 3-degree banking on straights. Length of Frontstretch: 3,800 feet. Length of backstretch: 3,400 feet.)
| Last year | | |  | Joe Nemechek earns his 12th career NBS victory.
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Race distance: 100 laps, 250 miles
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 3 p.m. ET Thursday. Race: TNT, 8 p.m. Saturday.
Last year's race: Joe Nemechek dominated the field and survived a late-race red flag to win the Stacker 2/GNC Live Well 250.
Last week's race: Jason Keller traded the lead with teammate Scott Riggs for about six laps before taking the lead for good on the 231st lap at The Milwaukee Mile. Keller hung on to capture his first win of the season.
Last time at Daytona: Dale Earnhardt Jr. successfully defended his Koolerz 300 title, winning the Busch Series opener in February.
Potential Storyline: Chevrolet has won 15 of the 23 Busch Series races held at Daytona, including six of the past eight.
Point to Ponder: Nemechek has won the past two Busch Series Bud Pole Awards at Daytona. As mentioned earlier, he won last year's Daytona summer race. He also started from the pole in the Koolerz 300 this past February. In that race, an illness forced him to be replaced by Jeff Green, who finished 36th.
Next race: Tropicana Twister 300, Chicagoland Speedway, July 12
Craftsman Truck Series: O'Reilly Auto Parts 250
Site: Kansas City, Kan.
Track: Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval, 15-degree banking in straights, 10.4-degree banking in frontstraights, 5-degree banking in backstraights. Length of frontstretch: 2,721 feet. Length of backstretch: 2,207 feet.
| Last year |  | An amazing lead change in the final laps.
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Race distance: 167 laps, 250.5 miles
TV: Race: SPEED, 2 p.m. Saturday.
Last year's race: Mike Bliss, with one of the fastest trucks on the 1.5-mile speedway all day, took the lead on lap 165 when leader Rick Crawford's Ford developed rear end problems after leading 127 of the 167 laps. He overcame a missing lug nut to get the victory.
Last week's race: Brendan Gaughan captured his second victory in the past three races Saturday when he won at The Milwaukee Mile. Jason Leffler finished second, denying owner Jim Smith a chance to become the all-time winningest owner in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Potential Storyline: Heading to Kansas, only 30 points separate the top five drivers in the series standings. Gaughan leads with Bobby Hamilton and Rick Crawford each one point back, Travis Kvapil 11 points back and Ted Musgrave 30 behind.
Point to Ponder: A Chevrolet has been in Victory Lane after both of the previous NCTS races at Kansas. Chevy also swept the top three spots in last year's race (Bliss, Dennis Setzer, Coy Gibbs).
Next race: Built Ford Tough 225, Kentucky Speedway, July 12
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