Viewer's Guide: Kansas

ATLANTA -- Since NASCAR docked Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25 championship points and fined him $10,000 on Tuesday, there's been one question that has been asked by NASCAR fans all over America.

Why didn't NBC use a delay?

Rest easy. The network announced Wednesday that it will institute a five-second delay for all of its NASCAR broadcasts, beginning with this weekend's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway.

What it involves, essentially, is delaying a live broadcast a few seconds to prevent expletives like the one Junior let slip last weekend from making the air.

It's important to note that a delay is not a "bleep." If an incident were to occur similar to last week's slip-up by Earnhardt Jr., fans at home would still see the subject say the questionable word, but all audio would be silenced.

ALSO •   NBC to use five-second delay starting at Kansas

It produces a jarring visual. Viewers will definitely know something is not right.

Typically, a delay is used on broadcasts like award shows and is commonly used on radio shows, but it is rarely used during sporting events. In fact, the only national sports broadcast that already uses such a system is "Monday Night Football" on ABC. That change was made just last month.

Victory Lane interview Victory Lane Dale Jr. lets a profane word slip

Of course, all of this started when federal regulators began an intense crack down on objectionable content on TV and radio since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during her halftime performance at the Super Bowl.

CBS was fined a record $550,000 by the FCC for Jackson's breast-baring incident.

Bestwick still injured: NBC play-by-play man Allen Bestwick, who broke his leg early last week playing hockey near his home in Rhode Island, will be absent from the booth for a second consecutive weekend. As he did last weekend, lead pit reporter Bill Weber will fill-in as play-by-play host.

Weber will host the pre-race show from a specially designed desk on the roof of the broadcast booth instead of his usual perch atop the NASCAR on NBC & TNT Wagon on pit road.

Mark Martin sits fourth in the Nextel Cup Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Razorback rap session: Mark Martin will be the subject of this week's main feature on Sunday afternoon's prerace show from Kansas. Weber traveled to Martin's hometown of Batesville, Ark. earlier this week to spend some time with Martin, who enters this weekend's action fourth in the championship standings, 98 points behind leader Kurt Busch.

Extra equipment: Also Sunday, Dave Burns will explore how crews are preparing differently on pit road thanks to the Chase. Many are bringing much more equipment to pit road, in order to be able to make more repairs without having to go beihnd the wall.

Sam Flood

Ask The Producer: This week's question comes from several users that want to know if any more races this season will be broadcast in high definition.

NBC/TNT producer Sam Flood said no other races this season will be broadcast in HD. However, the plan is for all of NBC's races next season to be available in high definition.

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.

The Rant: This week, Deana Craven takes the unusual stance of taking drivers to task and actually standing up for the media:

"If you don't want to deal with the media then maybe go to another form of racing -- maybe like ARCA. Maybe Frank Kimmel would like some competition! Or else we could trade salaries -- you take mine, I'll take yours and I will be more than happy to do 'post work' interviews everyday for that kind of money!"

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

Any e-mail that defends the media and works in a Frank Kimmel reference deserves to be in the spotlight.

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.

On to this weekend's schedule:

Site: Kansas City, Kan.

Track: Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval, 15-degree banking in turns).

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps

Last year Eight is enough Ryan Newman gets his eighth victory of 2003 Fire drill Kurt Busch's car catches fire after an engine failure Not again Sadler has trouble for the second consecutive week

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 4 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: SPEED, Noon ET Saturday. Race: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega, giving him the lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. However, he dropped to second after being docked 25 points and fined $10,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday for using inappropriate language in a post-race interview.

Last year: Ryan Newman drove the final 117 laps on one tank of fuel and held off a challenge from Bill Elliott to record his eighth victory of 2003.

Potential storyline: Sunday will mark Michael Waltrip's 600th career start in NASCAR's premier series.

Point to ponder: NASCAR's premier series got off to an exciting start in its inaugural Kansas appearance with the lead changing 19 times among 12 drivers in the first eight laps of the Protection One 400 (Sept. 30, 2001).

Earlier, then-rookie Jason Leffler surprised everyone by putting his Dodge on the pole with a speed of 176.499 mph. Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) sat on the outside pole. Leffler led the first eight laps and Gordon led five times for a total of 53 laps, including the last 22. His win -- by a margin of only .413 of a second over Ryan Newman -- was the 58th victory of his career.

Site: Kansas City, Kan.

Track: Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval, 15-degree banking in turns).

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps

TV: Busch Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 2:30 p.m. ET Friday. Race: TNT, 2 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last year Strange days Green celebrates after a wild finish at Kansas Dazed and confused Leader Hamilton Jr. wrecks on the last lap To the point Title contenders Vickers and Hornaday crash

Last race: Points leader Martin Truex Jr. took the lead with 12 laps to go and drove to an easy victory in the Stacker 200 at Dover International Speedway. It was Truex's fifth win of the year, tying him with rookie Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle for the most on the circuit.

Last year: David Green led just one lap -- enough to win the Mr. Goodcents 300. The race finished under caution when Bobby Hamilton Jr. crashed on the final lap.

Potential storyline: Emporia, Kan., native Clint Bowyer will drive the No. 21 Chevrolet this weekend at Kansas Speedway, his first Busch Series competition since Aug. 7 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Bowyer has run in 11 events this year -- the first 11 Busch Series races of his career --- splitting seat time with 2001 Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick in the Richard Childress entry.

Point to ponder: Two brothers who hail from Owensboro, a small Kentucky town known for producing racing champions, have won two of the three Busch Series races held at Kansas Speedway.

The Mr. Goodcents 300, run on September 29, 2001, was the first NASCAR national touring series event held at the 1.5-mile oval. Jeff Green, the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion, started 12th and took on Lap 172 of the 200-lap race.

Jeff's brother, David, qualified third in last year's edition of the race, and quickly moved around polesitter Michael Waltrip to lead the pack on Lap 3.

Green then chose to settle back in the pack, relinquishing the lead back to Waltrip on Lap 16. Green took the lead on the last lap, passing Bobby Hamilton Jr. for the win.

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