By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
October 16, 2003
2:41 PM EDT (1841 GMT)
Race fans all over the country have been asking the same question to our "Ask The Producer" feature since Saturday's UAW-GM Quality 500 went off the air.
Where was the post-race coverage?
Less than five minutes after Tony Stewart took the checkered flag, NBC's broadcast was over. There was no victory lane interview, no comments from the top finishers, just a quick talk with Joe Gibbs, a run through the results and the standings with a Stewart victory doughnut as background and a hearty farewell.
So what gives?
"We know how passionate NASCAR fans are and we understand their frustration," said a spokesman for the network. "In a perfect world we would have loved to provide our usual, comprehensive post-race coverage which we know is important to fans.
"We attempted to schedule the race so we could provide complete post-race coverage similar to the nearly 40 minutes of post-race coverage that followed the Pepsi 400 from Daytona, but the race took longer than anticipated. Before signing off the air, we interviewed Joe Gibbs, showed Tony Stewart's on-track celebration, showed the complete final order of finish and the updated NASCAR Winston Cup points standings."
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The spokesman added that while prime-time races have a definite upside, they come with a price.
"Airing a race in primetime is great for the sport, but there are many complications associated with night racing including additional network obligations such as late local news and on-time starts for other live programming," he said. "Hopefully fans will understand that we had to manage all of these different factors given the complicated situation."
Let your voice be heard: Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the NBC/TNT telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.
Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.
Looking ahead: The defending Winston Cup champion looked the part at Charlotte. On Sunday at Martinsville, he -- and his crew -- will tell us all about it.
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| Tony Stewart won last weekend's race at Charlotte. Credit: Autostock |
Tony Stewart, the winner of last weekend's UAW-GM Quality 500, is scheduled to be Bill Weber's guest on the NBC/TNT "War Wagon" during the pre-race coverage of Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
The win was the second in what has turned out to be an up-and-down season for the defending champ. After a quiet start, Stewart has been quite vocal of late, holding court on everything from tires to fuel mileage races. It should be interesting to hear if his success last weekend has calmed any of the strong feelings he's had no trouble expressing over the past few weeks.
Incidentally, Benny Parsons is also visiting the No. 20 crew during his returning "Benny and the Pits" segment.
Speaking of fuel mileage, pit reporter Dave Burns will explore Winston Cup fuel cells during his "Dave Discovers" segment. More specifically, Burns will clue us in on what fuel issues NASCAR officials look at during post-race inspection.
Is it possible to cheat, as many competitors have accused Ryan Newman's No. 12 team of doing recently? Hopefully, we'll get that answer Sunday.
 | VIDEO CLIPS |  | Kurt Busch spins, bringing out the first caution flag Saturday
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More thoughts from Charlotte: What was up with the separate command to start engines for Richard Childress in the No. 3 Chevrolet? What's more, what the heck was Carmen Electra doing there?
Why did Allen Bestwick feel the need to let us know that the crowd was going to be loud when the No. 3 car passed by. Didn't we all know that?
A lot of folks tear up NBC and FOX for going over the basics of NASCAR during a broadcast (they always seem to use the explanation of "loose" and "tight" as an example) but here's the thing -- in the past five years, the sport has seen amazing growth, which means more new fans that need to be brought up to speed.
Deal with it. It's the right thing to do.
Great call from Benny Parsons noticing that Kurt Busch was shifting gears in the midst of his tailspin. A tip of the hat also to the audio guys for allowing Parsons to catch it.
The guys in the booth had a really hard time deciding which car was which Saturday. Not sure why.
Lost in the controversy over the quick end to the broadcast was the fact that there was not a commercial for over 20 minutes leading to the checkered flag.
Quote of the week: "I start to wander off a little bit... I start wondering who's in the condo, what's going on in the pits..." -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaking to his pit crew about how hard it is for him to stay focused at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Apparently going 180 mph with 42 other cars on the road isn't enough to hold his attention.
On to this weekend's schedule...
Site: Martinsville, Va.
Track: Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile oval, 12-degree banking in turns, no banking in straightaways, Frontstretch: 800 feet, Backstretch: 800 feet.)
Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles
| Last year |  | Busch holds off a hard-charging Benson to win
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|  | Gordon makes contact with the outside wall
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TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 3 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: SPEED, 6 p.m. ET Saturday (tape). Race: NBC, Noon ET Sunday.
Last year: Kurt Busch overcame a 36th-place qualifying effort and held off a furious charge from Johnny Benson to earn his second career victory.
Last race: Tony Stewart, facing an eight-second deficit with under 40 laps to go, ran down Ryan Newman to win Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Potential storyline: Jeff Gordon, who won the Virginia 500 at Martinsville earlier this season, will be looking for his fifth career Martinsville win on Sunday. Gordon, currently 55 points out of fifth in the Winston Cup standings, has earned 890 points in the past six Winston Cup races. Only Newman has earned more (1,018).
Point to ponder: Rusty Wallace leads active drivers with six Martinsville victories. Wallace's last win at the Virginia short track came in the spring of 1996.
Next race: Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Oct. 26.
Site: Millington, Tenn.
| Last year |  | Wimmer holds off Hornaday in the closing laps
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|  | Biffle sees his dominant day come to an end
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|  | Scott Riggs has problems in the early laps
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Track: Memphis Motorsports Park (.75-mile oval, 11-degree banking in turns, 4-degree banking in straightaways, Frontstretch: 1,100 feet, Backstretch: 1,100 feet.)
Race distance: 250 laps,187.5 miles
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 4:30 p.m. ET Friday. Race: TNT, 3 p.m. ET Saturday (taped).
Last year: Scott Wimmer fended off late challenges from several contenders to snag his second career victory.
Last race: Greg Biffle led 118 of the 200 laps Saturday, pulling away from Michael Waltrip for the win in the rain-delayed "Little Trees" 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Potential storyline: Randy LaJoie hasn't driven in the NASCAR Busch Series since June 29 at The Milwaukee Mile, but he'll be back on track with Innovative Motorsports team owner George de Bidart at Memphis driving the No. 48 Chevrolet. LaJoie has a strong record at Memphis finishing fourth in 2000 and first in 2001.
Point to ponder: Of drivers entered in the Sam's Town 250, David Green has the most short-track top 10s this year, with four.
Scott Riggs leads drivers entered in the event in laps led on a short track this year, with 104.
Next race: Aaron's 312, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Oct. 25.
Site: Martinsville, Va.
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Track: Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile oval, 12-degree banking in turns, no banking in straightaways, Frontstretch: 800 feet, Backstretch: 800 feet.)
Race distance: 200 laps, 105.2 miles
TV: Race: SPEED, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Last year: Inaugural race.
Last race: Brendan Gaughan made history by winning the Silverado 350 on Saturday. It was his fourth straight victory at Texas Motor Speedway.
Potential storyline: Winston Cup regular Elliott Sadler will run the No. 84 Long Brothers Racing Ford in Saturday's race. The No. 84 team posted a top-10 effort in the NCTS with driver Scott Riggs in 2000.
Sadler and Long Brothers Racing have teamed together twice before at Richmond International Raceway in 2000 and 2001. Both of those events resulted in early exits thanks to engine and brake failure, respectively.
Darrell Waltrip will also run in Saturday's race, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet owned by his brother Michael. Darrell finished seventh in this season's spring NCTS race at Martinsville.
Point to ponder: Gaughan, the current series leader, finished 16th in the other Craftsman Truck Series race held at Martinsville Speedway this season.
Next race: Chevy Silverado 150, Phoenix International Raceway, Oct. 31.
Mark Spoor is an associate producer of NASCAR.com. The Domino's Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
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