TNT’s Embarrassment To The Sport Coverage Needs To Go

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June 27, 2011

As I sat down ready to watch some of the road course action at Sonoma this past weekend, I was looking forward to a solid race where I could see the action. No doubt the action was heated on track with the feuds, though the coverage took away from that greatly.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]For starters, how much coverage was actually shown? Every seven minutes or so, it looked as though they were going to commercial. The statistics show that that there were 143 minutes of the race shown with 52 minutes of commercial. That works out to 26% of the race being commercials, instead of racing action. For the race at Michigan, it was 22% while Pocono was 27% commercials.

Of course, if you look back to FOX’s final race at Kansas where there were 52 minutes of commercials equaling 27% of the broadcast, I guess you could say that they’re on par.

Though even if they’re on par, they’re not doing a good job. FOX was good at showing different angles, keeping fans informed with what’s going on with a bunch of drivers and giving you the full recap of a wreck.

For the big wreck down in turn 11, TNT showed multiple angles of the wreck to show how Brian Vickers got shoved in there by Tony Stewart. However, the only damage they showed was the damage to Vickers. What about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick who were in that mess? We heard them say at the end how Harvick came back from the incident to finish well. How much do we know of that comeback when you don’t show each car involved with their damage? Then, when Earnhardt Jr.’s motor blows up later in the race, how are we to know that’s caused by the front end damage when we didn’t see how serious it looked?

TNT missed opportunities to report nuggets during the race that should’ve been discussed, including issues for points leader Carl Edwards. While watching the race, it was twitter first where I heard of Edwards having a crushed quarter panel and it causing him issues. Meanwhile, TNT was more focused on Kurt Busch and his lead and whether or not he could be caught.

Speaking of the lead, how many times did they come back just after a pass for the lead had been made? Or how many pit stops did they miss? There’s some key story lines right there as they help in telling the story of how the race is going to play out.

NASCAR keeps wondering why fans complain about the race coverage on TV and are turning away from watching it. They can’t be losing fans because of the racing action as any fan will tell you that Sunday is exciting. So until either TNT fixes their errors or NASCAR drops them off the wagon, the trend of losing fans is going to keep happening.

If you want an example of what coverage should look like, watch an IZOD IndyCar race as their coverage was beautifully put together and might I add, I got to see lots of action while knowing all the top story lines.

ARCA Winchester News and Notes: Venturini Motorsports, Tom Hessert and More

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SM Staff

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June 27, 2011

While the race was won by Dakoda Armstrong, a bunch of other drivers came home with solid finishes to be proud of.

This year, Venturini Motorsports has made it a habit of finishing in the top 10 with a variety of drivers. The latest driver to add his name to the list is Ryan Blaney.

Blaney drove the team’s No.25 Lauren Briant/Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet to a sixth place finish after suffering a flat right front tire on lap 162 in his ARCA debut.

“We were trying to take it easy in the race, just trying to save our stuff,” Blaney said, after leading 154 of the first 161 laps. “I think if we could have had 10 more laps after we blew a tire, we could have passed Ty for the lead and then we would have been one lap down and got that caution and been in business. It just wasn’t meant to be.

“I ran the same line I did 50 laps in a row. I was just taking it so easy, especially to help that right front and to keep it from doing what it did. I don’t know if our camber was off or what. But it was a great night. I’ve got to thank Venturini for letting me run this car and making it as good as it was. We’ll get ‘em next time.”

The son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney is hoping that he can make some more starts this season.

“It’s great to race in the ARCA (Racing) Series,” Blaney said. “There are really good guys racing, especially here, a place like Winchester.”

Venturini Motorsports also debuted John Blankenship, who finished 10th in the No. 55 Chevrolet, meaning that so far this year Venturini has 11 top 10s with nine different drivers.

Meanwhile, finishing fifth in front of Blaney was Tom Hessert, who was proud to impress numerous guests from Federated Auto Parts, who were on hand as the race’s sponsor.

“The guys in the pits did a really good job of getting us back out,” he said. “We didn’t have the best car; we had a couple issues that were keeping us from being better, but it was a good top-five for the Federated car at a Federated race. It’s good to have a good showing for them. It’s too bad we couldn’t get a win, but in a couple weeks we’ll go to Berlin and we always run really well there.”

For points leader Ty Dillon, it was also a solid day for him as he still finished fouth to pad his points lead despite bottoming out lap in the race.

“It’s unfortunate,” Dillon said. “It doesn’t happen to us often, but it’s still a good points day. We qualified well and led a couple of laps. I’m happy. I just like winning, so it’s a little disappointing to lead laps there at the end of the race and fall off so bad. We saved our stuff all day and rode and were hoping for what happened to happen, for guys to wear their stuff out and us be patient as usual to let the race come to us, but something happened there and we just got too loose.”

The next race for ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is July 9th at Berlin Raceway.

A TUMS’ “FIGHTS BACK FAST” MOMENT: DALE EARNHARDT JR. CLAIMS VICTORY IN HONOR OF HIS FATHER

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SM Archive

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June 27, 2011

The Numbers — Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

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SM Archive

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June 27, 2011

Elliott Sadler No. 2 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway

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SM Staff

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June 27, 2011

Elliott Sadler

No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 17 of 34 – Daytona International Speedway

TWO CARS, ONEMAIN FINANCIAL: At Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend, OneMain Financial will be on board not only the No. 2 Chevrolet Impala driven by Elliott Sadler, but also the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala piloted by his team co-owner, Kevin Harvick. The duo, both competing for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), will be sporting the colors of OneMain Financial in an effort to promote the new brand of the organization.

SADLER AT DAYTONA: Sadler has competed at Daytona in the NASCAR Nationwide Series four times, with a best finish of 15th in 1997. He has led a total of 30 laps around the 2.5-mile track, and looks to lead more this weekend. Sadler also has experience at the superspeedway across two other NASCAR series, making 24 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with four top-five and nine top-10 finishes at the track with 58 laps led. The Emporia, Va., native has made two starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with one top-five and one top-10 finish, and 56 laps led.

KHI’S FOUR HORSEMEN: KHI will field four entries in Friday night’s race with Nationwide Series championship contender Sadler in the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, KHI co-owner Harvick in the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala, Clint Bowyer in the No. 33 Menards Chevrolet Impala and driver Tony Stewart in the No. 9 TapouT Chevrolet Impala. These four powerhouse drivers have compiled an impressive set of series stats including 44 starts, seven poles, eight wins, 26 top-five finishes, 31 top-10 finishes and have led 542 laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

PROVEN RECORD: In February of 2005, Tony Stewart grabbed KHI’s first win in the Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the No. 33 car. The following year, Stewart not only claimed victory again in the season opener but also gave KHI its first one-two finish as the No. 77 KHI Chevrolet Impala came in second behind the No. 33. Since 2005, KHI has recorded three additional wins, two poles, eight-top five and 11 top-10 finishes and led 194 laps at Daytona.

DASH 4 CASH: In the first of four Dash 4 Cash events of the season, Sadler has the opportunity to compete as one of the top four drivers in the series for $100,000. The highest finishing driver of the four at Daytona will win the monetary prize and will automatically qualify for the next event at Iowa Speedway in August. The three-highest finishing drivers that receive Nationwide Series Championship driver points will also qualify for Iowa. The other events include Richmond International Raceway in September and Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

TO THE POINT: Heading into the race at Daytona, Sadler remains in the second position in the Driver’s Point standings for the third week in a row. Sadler sits five points behind leader Reed Sorenson, who took the victory at Road America last weekend.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team finished fourth in a wild event at the first road course race of the season at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Running in the top-10 for most of the day, crew chief Ernie Cope developed a fuel-mileage strategy with only two pit stops planned during the scheduled 50-lap event. After three green-white-checkered attempts, the field received the checkered flag under caution with the No. 2 in the fourth position, and just enough fuel to cross the finish line.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will bring chassis No. 073 to Daytona this week. This superspeedway car is the same chassis the team took to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April where Sadler grabbed his first pole of the season. The team led eight laps before finishing in the fifth position at the 2.5-mile track.

ARE YOU A CODE SPOTTER? This is the last week fans can play the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind Race Weekend Road Trip VIP Experience with Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 team at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Last month kicked off the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) segment of the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes and the segment ends this Sunday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To play, enter the code KHINC now at CodeSpotter.com.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler

How do you feel heading into this week’s race at Daytona International Speedway?

“At Daytona, it’s either feast of famine for me. We had a really fast car there in February, but got caught up in a wreck early and finished 38th. Of course, my team owner Kevin Harvick will be in another OneMain Financial car, so I’m sure that we will find each other and help each other throughout the whole race. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to help OneMain Financial to celebrate their brand launch this weekend, and I hope that we can bring home a victory for everyone! Daytona is a special place to a lot of people because it is the France family’s birthplace and where the roots of NASCAR started. I always look forward to going down there on the Fourth of July weekend. It’s a special race that kind of marks the middle of the season. When you leave Daytona, you have a feeling of how the rest of the season will go. It’s going to be a great race.”

CitiFinancial

CitiFinancial, soon to be OneMain Financial, is the premier community lender in North America. With more than 1,300 locations across the United States. CitiFinancial has been serving communities since 1912. Additional information may be found at www.citifinancial.com.

Citi

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.