Moving the race to ESPN2 slap to the face of NASCAR

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- On the night that NASCAR all but officially crowned its 2008 Sprint Cup Series champion, on the night that Jimmie Johnson put himself on the precipice of becoming the first driver in 30 years to win three consecutive championships, much of America wasn't watching on network television.

That's because they couldn't. At 7:17 p.m. ET, with 39 laps remaining in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, some idiot at ABC decided the network needed to honor its obligation to switch from the race to an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos.

No one in NASCAR was laughing.

At least no one was laughing with NASCAR. Maybe at NASCAR, but not with them. You know how that one goes.

Told about it afterward, driver Jamie McMurray, whose rush to a third-place finish was picked up by ESPN2 after being dropped by ABC in the East and Central time zones (viewers in the West and Mountain time zones were spared), seemed incredulous.

"I didn't get that memo, no," McMurray said. "It seems a little odd to me, as big as NASCAR is and as many people as there are who watch the sport. I can't imagine being a race fan and being on the East Coast and trying to watch this and then [having the network] going to that.

"I mean, maybe if the President was going to talk; maybe if something big happened. But I can't believe that America's Funniest Home Videos would take priority over us. I mean, I like that show. But I'd rather watch the race."

A good show

Sunday's event definitely lacked the usual drama in many ways. But the fact is that even though some might argue Johnson's pursuit of a third consecutive title by Lap 273 had become something akin to a 47-3 blowout in an NFC championship game, and therefore made abandoning it on network TV make some sense, this is racing.

Racing is different than football, or baseball, or whatever. It is a sports animal all its own, which is part of its appeal. Never mind that a major network wouldn't have switched to America's Funniest Home Videos from Game 6 of the World Series -- or even Game 2, or any game -- even if it was a 15-2 blowout.

The other factor to be considered was that the only reason left for watching was to see if Johnson's engine blew up or some other unforeseen calamity struck the No. 48 team in the final 39 laps. It didn't happen, of course; it never was likely to happen.

But it could have happened. And that's the point.

More than anything, the unexpected Sunday night switch was a slap to the face of NASCAR. This not only was a playoff game -- it was possibly the clinching playoff game, with the winning team in position to secure something that hasn't been accomplished in three decades.

Told of the switch, of which he was not aware, winning team owner Rick Hendrick grimaced when asked what it says about NASCAR's championship playoffs.

"It doesn't say very much," he admitted.

Then he noted that his mother almost certainly was watching in the affected East Coast time zone.

"That's where my mother is," he said. "I'm glad my cell phone went dead at the end of the race." (Continued)