By Mark Spoor, Turner Sports Interactive
February 19, 2004
5:23 PM EST (2223 GMT)
FOX takes over the broadcast responsibilities for NASCAR this weekend at Rockingham, meaning roughly half of the NASCAR Nation is thrilled.
The other half, well, not so much.
Rupert Murdoch's network certainly has its differences with NBC as far as how to cover a race. Which network is better is certainly a topic that keeps the NASCAR.com inboxes continually full.
In the end, it's likely that most fans like at least a little bit of both. As FOX prepares to take the mike for the next 17 race weekends, here are three things we'd like to see more of and three we'd like to see, uh, less of.
We want more of...
Jeff Hammond: His in-race explanations of under-the-hood issues are consistently the highlight of each broadcast. He also seems to be the only person in NASCAR, other than maybe Kevin Harvick, who has any sort of chemistry with studio host Chris Myers (more on that later).
Crank it up: It's seemingly the most popular segment on any FOX broadcast. One of the things that hooks you when you're at the track is the horsepower. If you've never watched a FOX broadcast with surround sound, you're missing out.
Reports on drivers throughout the field: Everyone's got a favorite driver. Much to most of our chagrin, they aren't always running up front. FOX does a decent job at this, but it'd be hard to do it too much. You don't necessarily have to do it all in a heap -- like NBC does it -- but an extra sprinkling could go a long way.
Maybe a little less of ...
Larry McReynolds: Before you all fire up your e-mails, let it be shouted from the hilltops that Larry Mac is very knowledgeable. There's nothing the guy doesn't know. That said, he's tough to listen to.
Chris Myers: Ya just get the feeling that Myers would rather be anywhere in the world but at a racetrack on Sunday afternoons. He's very good on baseball and football, but there's got to be at least one more person in the vast roster of FOX announcers with a racing background.
It's not just that Myers is not a "NASCAR guy," either. Jeanne Zelasko, FOX's in-studio hostess for MLB on FOX, does an admirable job as a pit reporter and actually seems to be having a good time doing it.
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity: It's darn near impossible to go to a NASCAR event and not see Darrell Waltrip's signature phrase on a sign, a t-shirt or shaved into some guy's skull. For its part, FOX has done a tremendous job promoting it.
Still, it seems a bit beneath Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion, to be building his post-racing career off of a catchphrase rather than his vast knowledge of racing.
The rant: This week's rant comes to us from Wally Plumley of Acworth, Ga.:
While I love Benny Parsons and almost everything about his Nextel Cup race analysis, he does one thing that irritates me greatly. There are 43 drivers starting the race. During the pre-race pace laps, the broadcast team can quickly go through and set the field, giving one or two sentences to each car/driver. Instead, Benny does the hokey CB radio call to one driver, ignoring most of the field.
 | READY TO RANT? | | In "The Rant," we'll pick e-mails each week to argue both sides of a TV coverage issue, be it a commentator's comment, a driver's comment, a pre-race feature -- basically anything you want to spout off about. |
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In today's economy, it is really tough to get sponsors. If every sponsor could be assured of getting at least a couple of sentences at the start of the race, that might make the difference between getting sponsorship or not.
The broadcast team could very well have two short sentences on every car in the field, and I think that giving every team those two sentences is a lot more important than interrupting one driver for one more meaningless, "What's it like out there?" interview.
I must disagree slightly with Mr. Plumley. First, it's not the job of the network to try and get sponsorship for a driver. If you want to have more TV time, win.
Also, I would hardly call an in-car chat with a driver about to race 500 miles at 200 mph "meaningless." It does serve its purpose.
On to this weekend's schedule. As always, all times are eastern:
Site: Rockingham, N.C.
Track: North Carolina Speedway (tri-oval, 1.017 miles, 22 degrees banking in turns 1-2, 25 degrees in turns 3-4).
Race distance: 400 miles, 393 laps.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying (SPEED, 3:10 p.m.); Sunday, race (FOX, 1 p.m.).
 | Last year | |  | Jarrett and Kurt Busch have a fierce battle for the win
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Last year: Dale Jarrett won the 2003 Subway 400 in a brilliant battle with Kurt Busch. Busch led 150 laps but Jarrett passed him with 10 laps to go, then re-passed him with five to go.
Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500 on Sunday on the same track that took his father's life three years ago, barreling past Tony Stewart with 20 laps left with a maneuver that would have made Daddy proud.
What to watch for: Expect the week-long Earnhardt Jr. lovefest to continue. The guy was everywhere this week, although it was hysterical to see Junior attempt to parallel park an Impala on Letterman. If you missed it, find a tape.
You can also expect a lot of talk about tire wear, as The Rock, as it's affectionately called by most, is fond of tearing up tires.
Point to ponder: Bobby Labonte has scored eight top-10 finishes in his last 10 Rockingham races, including a February 2000 victory.
Site: Rockingham, N.C.
Track: North Carolina Speedway (tri-oval, 1.017 miles, 22 degrees banking in turns 1-2, 25 degrees in turns 3-4).
| Last year |  | Mike Wallace and Shane Hmiel bring out the caution flag
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|  | As McMurray dominates, the race is for second
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Race distance: 200 miles, 197 laps.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:30 p.m.); Saturday, race (FX, 1 p.m.).
Last year: Jamie McMurray led 192 of 197 laps to win the rain-delayed 2003 Rockingham 200.
Last race: Weary but happy Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. found enough energy to hold off charge after charge Monday and win the delayed Hershey's Kisses 300 Busch Series race.
What to watch for: McMurray will get loads of air time. He's won the past three Busch Series races at The Rock. That's one shy of Mark Martin's record of four straight Rockingham wins. McMurray has led a total of 325 laps there, sixth on the all-time series list.
Point to ponder: Busch Series regulars won six of the last nine companion races during the 2003 campaign, in which they went head-to-head with their counterparts from NASCAR's premier series.
Mark Spoor is an associate producer with NASCAR.com. His Domino's Pizza Viewer's Guide runs each Thursday during race weeks.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
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