Guide: Darlington

NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg has read the e-mails. He's heard the criticisms.

Why do we miss so many restarts?

"Telling the complete story of the race is very important to FOX," Goldberg said. "There is green-flag racing, crashes that bring out cautions and that lead to pit stops, and restarts. The challenge is to get all these components in with out missing any action.

	NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg
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"The reality of it is that it is a balancing act that becomes increasingly more difficult the shorter the track becomes."

Goldberg says at the end of the day, the decision of when to go to break is his. However, there are many factors that play into those decisions.

"In order to get all of our commercials in by the end of the race, we must try to get in a certain number of breaks per hour," he said. "What that means is, if we stay longer to tell an important story, our break will backlog and we will have to get it in later. If we do that too often we will be forcing break in at the end of the race."

As a result, Goldberg says a priority list comes into play.

"As the producer, my first choice is to always try to get as many breaks in during caution periods. Should a caution come out due to a crash, I will try to show the replay of the incident and get to break in time to be back for pit stops.

"Once pit stops are completed we have a quick decision to make -- we either stay for a restart or try to get another break in. There is a quick evaluation to be made in this situation: Can we get back before the the restart and where are we with our commercial obligations?

Goldberg says he makes every intention of returning to air in time for the green flag, but sometimes it's just impossible, particularly on short tracks.

"Every time we go to that break it is with the intention on getting back for the restart. There are times when NASCAR gets the track cleaned up more quickly than expected, this results in a missed restart," he said. "You will notice it happens far less often at the longer tracks. A 50-second pace lap versus a 2-minute pace lap is the reason why.

"In the end we try to manage the commercial inventory so we can tell the complete story leaving as few breaks as possible for the end of the race so you the viewer can enjoy the run to the checkered flag with as few commercial interruptions as possible."

FX's first official Nextel Cup broadcast of the season, last Saturday's event at Richmond, earned a 3.5 rating and a 7 share. That's 3 percent higher than the 3.4/7 the race earned last year.

Richard Childress and Bobby Labonte are the guests scheduled for Trackside this week from Darlington (11 p.m. ET Fri., SPEED).

If you're going to Darlington, the show will be taped at !:45 p.m. local time on the SPEED Stage outside the main grandstand.

On to this weekend's schedule

Nextel Cup Series: Dodge Charger 500

Track: Darlington Raceway

• 1.366-mile oval
• 25-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2
• 23-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4
• Length of frontstretch: 1,229 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,229 feet

Race length: 367 laps/500 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)
• NASCAR Live: 3, 7:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET Fri., SPEED
• Final Practice: 6:30 p.m. ET Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 11 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: Noon Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: 5 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Pre-race: 6:30 p.m. Sat., FOX
• Race: 6:55 p.m. Sat, FOX

One year ago, a dominant Greg Biffle led 176 of 370 Laps on the treacherous 1.366-mile, egg-shaped Darlington oval, fell behind on a late pit stop, but got another chance when Mark Martin spun, bringing out the 12th caution flag just five laps from the scheduled finish. Some new tires gave Biffle the edge he needed to win.

2005 FlashbackWatch Greg Biffle cruise to his third win of 2005 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

The most recent checkered flag went to Dale Earnhardt Jr. held off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin on the final restart within the final 10 laps to win the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond, his first victory in 28 races.

Keep an eye on Terry Labonte. He'll make his final Darlington start Saturday night. Labonte's most recent win came at The Lady in Black when he won the 2003 Southern 500.

Busch Series: Diamond Hill Plywood 200

Track: Darlington Raceway

• 1.366-mile oval
• 25-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2
• 23-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4
• Length of frontstretch: 1,229 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,229 feet

Race length: 147 laps/200 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)

• Busch Pole Qualifying: 5 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Race: 8 p.m. Fri., FX

2005 FlashbackSee Kenseth roll to victory last year at Darlington Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Matt Kenseth took control in the second half of the race and pulled away to a convincing victory.

The most recent checkered flag went to Kevin Harvick, who celebrated his RCR contract extension a day early by winning the Circuit City 250 Busch Series race at Richmond on a late and rainy Friday night.

Keep an eye on Jeff Burton, who will attempt to make his 250th NASCAR Busch Series start at Richmond. A South Boston, Va., native, he will drive a third entry for Richard Childress Racing, sporting a new sponsor, Holiday Inn. His 21 career victories are tied with Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant for fifth all-time.