By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
June 26, 2003
2:27 PM EDT (1827 GMT)
Last weekend's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma marked the end of FOX's third year of Winston Cup coverage. It's hard to believe that three years ago, many NASCAR fans were uneasy about what the network that brought us "the glow puck" would do with NASCAR.
Shame on us for worrying.
There always seems to be a battle in play-by-play booths to achieve a balance between fun and business. Some do it very well and some just think they do it well.
FOX's NASCAR crew does it very well.
The strength comes mainly from the fact that the network had the forethought to put a driver and a crew chief in the booth and another crew chief in the "Hollywood Hotel" manning the cut-a-way car. No matter what the situation, FOX has it covered.
Somehow, the crew gets across that they really love the sport and that they genuinely like each other. Last weekend's opening with the whole crew sitting outside talking racing was great proof of that.
That's a concept that sounds easy, but is very difficult to pull off.
Is their coverage perfect? In a word, no.
Some of the English that is thrown around during the telecast sounds like nails on a chalkboard, the sketch comedy sometimes borders on the absurd and the pit reporters could stand to ask some more of the questions that fans would ask if they were in the same spot.
Chris Myers also looks woefully out of place at a NASCAR event. Still, he is improving and as stated earlier, it appears he has a good sense of humor about his lack of NASCAR savvy.
Still, on the whole, FOX did an admirable job. Here's hoping they stay in the NASCAR biz long past their current deal.
On to this week's awards...
We kid because we care: Big kudos to FOX for an absolutely hilarious opening to the broadcast Sunday. Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took over the "Hollywood Hotel" and spent some time telling fans how easy Chris Myers' and Jeff Hammond's jobs were.
Particularly funny was Harvick pointing out the stack of cards on Myers' portion of the desk and saying "as long as you have these cards, you don't have to know anything about NASCAR."
Myers, showing he can dish it out as well as he can take it, responded by saying "Kevin, you and I have won the same amount of Winston Cup races this season."
That's gotta sting.
Was that live or Memorex: Mike Arning, the public relations contact for Tony Stewart, did a dead-on impression of Larry McReynolds during the pre-race show, so much so that if you weren't looking at the TV, you'd expect to hear the word, "hisself" at any second.
Nice foreshadowing: Nice job by FOX to get Richard Childress telling Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon to keep their tempers in check through the end of the race.
They did, barely.
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Jimi Hendrix, he's not: Ordinarily, we don't print e-mails in this space, but you have to check this one out. The following comes from Lou Gregory in Lexington, Ky. He wasn't very pleased with Joe Satriani's rendition of the national anthem Sunday, as you'll see:
Who the hell set up the singing of the national anthem and the playing of Star Spangled Banner for the opening of the Sonoma Race today? They ought to be fired, and all their NASCAR stuff taken from them. That was the most God awful opening ceremonies I have ever seen.
I don't know that I'd go quite that far, Lou, but I do have one question: What exactly was Satriani wearing on his head?
It's all about me: Speaking of e-mails, many of you have written in about Darrell Waltrip and his love of talking about himself. A perfect example came Sunday, when in a discussion about Matt Kenseth's stellar season, DW said, "There's just something about that 17 car ..."
Of course, DW drove the 17 in his racing career.
Note to DW: You're not a Winston Cup driver anymore. Your job is to talk about the drivers on the track, not those in the booth.
Invented Word of the Week: Hep (h p) v. To give assistance to; aid: I heped her find the book. He heped me into my coat.
High-tech toys: FOX gets high marks for their graphic illustrating where you can pass and where you can't pass at Somona. While they may have overused it a bit, it was a cool, well-done toy.
On to this weekend's light schedule...
Site: West Allis, Wis.
Track: The Milwaukee Mile (1-mile oval, 9.25-degree banking in turns, 2.5-degree banking on straights. Length of Frontstretch: 1,265 feet. Length of backstretch: 1,265 feet.)
Race distance: 250 laps, 250 miles
TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED 1:05 p.m. ET Saturday. Race: FX 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
 | Last year |  | Greg Biffle passes Scott Wimmer and defends his title.
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|  | Bodine has trouble during the day's sixth caution
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|  | Brian Vickers spins at the start/finish line on Lap 7.
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Last year's race: Greg Biffle dominated, leading 168 laps from the pole in becoming the first repeat winner in Busch Series history at The Milwaukee Mile
Last race: Bobby Hamilton Jr. overcame a pit-stop miscue and passed Jason Keller with three laps to go to win the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
Potential Storyline: Two consecutive DNFs, including a 31st-place finish at Kentucky, have dropped Mike Bliss from fourth to eighth in the series standings.
Point to ponder: In the past five years, the winner of the GNC 250 has started on the front row. In fact, three of the past four winners at Milwaukee won from the pole position -- Casey Atwood (1999), Jeff Green (2000) and Greg Biffle (2002).
Next race: Winn-Dixie 250, Daytona International Speedway, July 4
Site: West Allis, Wis.
Track: The Milwaukee Mile (1-mile oval, 9.25-degree banking in turns, 2.5-degree banking on straights. Length of Frontstretch: 1,265 feet. Length of backstretch: 1,265 feet.)
Race distance: 200 laps, 200 miles
TV: Race: SPEED, 3 p.m. ET Saturday.
Last year's race: Terry Cook took advantage of a race-extending caution, passing Jason Leffler with less than two laps remaining to win.
| Last year |  | Cook celebrates his third career NCTS victory
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|  | Terry Cook passes Leffler on a late restart to win
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Last week's race: Ted Musgrave won by an eyelash at Memphis, becoming the sixth different winner in six races at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Potential Storyline: Steadman Marlin, son of Winston Cup star Sterling Marlin, will make his NCTS debut Saturday. Marlin will drive the No. 9 VOKAL/FASSCORE Marketing Ford for Billy Ballew Motorsports.
Point to Ponder: Of the eight NCTS races held at The Milwaukee Mile, seven have been won from a starting position inside the top five. Jack Sprague was the only driver to buck that trend when he won from the eighth spot in 1996.
Next race: O'Reilly Auto Parts 250, Kansas Speedway, July 5
Mark Spoor is associate producer of NASCAR.com. Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
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