Viewer's Guide: Dover

ATLANTA -- There are times when racing isn't the central focus at a racetrack. Just before Sunday's MBNA 400 "A Salute to Heroes" is one of those times.

The FOX crew will cover most of the pre-race activities at Dover on Sunday -- the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Scheduled events include a fly-over of World War II-era military aircraft, including the world's only B-29 bomber still in flight. D-Day veterans will participate in pre-race ceremonies and Peter Thomas, the former voice of the History Channel and himself a veteran of Omaha Beach, will read General Dwight Eisenhower's Order of the Day of June 5, 1944.

As Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Eisenhower issued this order on the eve of the D-Day invasion. The order includes the inspiring line, "We will accept nothing less than full victory."

Clay Aiken, who first gained fame as the 2003 runner-up on the FOX's American Idol, will also perform.

Ask The Producer: This week's question is asked by Dan Rochat of parts unknown:

"Can FOX please bring back the old starting lineup before each race and do away with the new scrolling bar just randomly going by during the pre-race?

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"FOX used to always talk about each individual driver (for the most part) as then went through the order. It always helped me learn more about how the driver was feeling about racing that weekend and see if they had a chance to win.

"Plus, that background music they used to play each time they went through the order was always a nice touch. Please bring it back."

NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg says the change was made in order to add depth to the broadcast.

"I appreciate your comments. In an effort to continue to advance our telecasts and serve our many viewers we always look to new techniques.

"Realizing viewers often join in the telecast at different time, the crawl allows us an opportunity to run it several times during the prerace and at the same time have our announcer set up the race stories.

"Up until that point we feel we do a pretty good job a telling the viewer about the race favorites as well as focusing in on them in the course of the 3 to 4- hour telecast.

"At the end of the season we review all these things and take comments like your under consideration. I will be sure to bring you comments to the table. Thanks for watching."

EMAIL Send Mark a question for "Ask The Producer" or your take for "The Rant"

Let your voice be heard: Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the FOX 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.

The Rant: This week, Andy Burton from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada voices frustration because he can't enjoy all the racing he wants to.

In Canada, we are lucky if we see one in four races shown on FX. We can't get the channel up here so we have to rely on a Canadian sports channel picking up the race.

NASCAR isn't a priority on any Canadian sports channel. Luckily, we do get to see most Cup races but see none of the Busch races that are on FX. I do not like missing any races.

Thank goodness for SPEED Channel's rerun of the race on Wednesday, but it is hard not to learn who won by then and it isn't much fun watching a race when you know who won.

	Robby Gordon

Get in on the action: In "The Rant," we'll pick e-mails each week to argue about 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.

Come with an intelligent, passionate argument and you may see your take on NASCAR.COM.

Quote of the week: "When Rupert of the 'Survivor' TV show stopped by my garage ...I joked that he should be my backup -- but I think we would have had to stitch two of my uniforms together to fit him!" -- Robby Gordon talking about his soggy attempt at running both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 last Sunday.

On to this weekend's schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: MBNA 400 "A Salute to Heroes"

Site: Dover, Del.

Track: Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,076 feet. Backstretch: 1,076 feet).

Race distance: 400 miles, 400 laps.

Last year Newman holds off all challengers in the closing laps Play video Johnson loses his chance for three Dover wins in a row Play video Several cars are involved in a second-lap crash Play video

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 2:30 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: FX, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday (tape-delayed). Race: FX, 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

Last year: Ryan Newman overcame a power-steering problem and powered away from Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart on a late restart to win for the second time this season.

Last race: Jimmie Johnson led a mind-boggling 334 of the 400 laps Sunday night as he won the Coca-Cola 600 for the second year in a row. Michael Waltrip finished second, and Matt Kenseth was third.

Potential storyline: Newman, who led NASCAR's top series with eight victories last season, is still looking for his first triumph this year. Dover has been kind to Newman. The driver of the No. 12 Dodge won both Dover races last season.

Point to ponder: The most recent Cup Series race at Dover, held on Sept. 21, 2003, set a track record with 19 cars finishing on the lead lap.

Busch Series: MBNA America 200

Site: Dover, Del.

Track: Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,076 feet. Backstretch: 1,076 feet).

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

TV: Busch Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 1 p.m. ET Friday. Race: FX, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last year Nemechek celebrates his victory at Dover Play video More trouble for Kenseth with 20 laps to go Play video Kenseth dominates from the drop of the green flag Play video

Last year: Pole-sitter Joe Nemechek got his third Busch Series win of the year by surviving a three-lap shootout to win a wild MBNA Armed Forces Family 200 at Dover.

Last race: Kyle Busch gave his sponsor reason to celebrate Saturday. His Lowe's Chevrolet dominated the Carquest 300 and took the checkered flag under caution at Lowe's Motor Speedway. What's more, the victory helped him regain the series points lead.

Potential storyline: Todd Bodine won the first race of his Busch Series career at Dover International Speedway back in 1991, and he added two more victories at the track in 1993. He has more wins and more top-five finishes –- seven –- at the track than any other driver, and now he has a ride beginning with the MBNA America 200.

He will drive Marsh Racing's No. 31 Whelen Engineering Ford beginning at Dover, and continue with the Old Lyme, Conn.-based team for the rest of their 2004 partial schedule.

Point to ponder: It was a bizarre turn of events that led to Todd Bodine scoring the first win of his NASCAR Busch Series career. Ernie Irvan was leading the June 1, 1991 Budweiser 200 with less than four laps to go when his engine let go on Lap 197.

Irvan spun, bringing out a yellow flag that would end the race under caution. Davey Allison, who had never won a NASCAR Busch Series race, took his turn at the point. Allison, however, dropped off the pace with a fuel pickup problem and came to a stop just short of the start/finish line on the next-to-last lap. Bodine eased by to post the victory.

Craftsman Truck Series: MBNA America 200

Site: Dover, Del.

Track: Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,076 feet. Backstretch: 1,076 feet).

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

TV: Race: SPEED, 4 p.m. ET Friday.

Last year: Jason Leffler got his first Craftsman Truck Series victory after dominant teammate Ted Musgrave blew his engine with 57 laps to go.

Last race: Dennis Setzer took the lead when Carl Edwards inexplicably slowed for what he thought was a caution with four laps left, and Setzer held on Friday night to win the Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Last year Leffler hangs on for his first Craftsman Truck Series win Play video Gaughan and Gordon make hard contact late Play video Musgrave heads to the garage with engine problems Play video

Potential storyline: Edwards will try to bounce back after NASCAR officials verified last week that the caution lights were unintentionally illuminated momentarily on Lap 130 of the Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Edwards took the mistake in stride.

"NASCAR officials, like officials in all other professional sports, have a tough job. I have personally seen how much goes on and how fast decisions must be made by race control officials.

"They made a mistake in the heat of the moment that turned out to be a critical one for me and I lost a race on account of the mistake."

Point to ponder: Ford leads the Craftsman Truck Series manufacturer standings by a single point over Chevrolet. Chevrolet is the only truck manufacturer to post a top-five finish in each of the season's first five races.

Mark Spoor is an interactive producer of NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewers Guide appears each Thursday during race weeks.