This has been an unprecedented week for the NASCAR Cup Series. Running the 500-mile race at Texas Motor Speedway ultimately took four days to accomplish. They started Sunday, then got rained and fogged
out. Monday was a no-go. Tuesday was a no-go. Finally at 5 p.m. Wednesday, NASCAR was able to get the race restarted
The long delay also resulted in some changes for NBCSN. Dale Earnhardt Jr. flew back to North Carolina after Monday. The stated reason was that he wanted to spend more time with his family. After all, he does
have a newborn baby girl at home. While he was back in North Carolina, he recorded a special edition of The Dale Jr. Download with Kyle Larson, which just debuted on NBCSN last night. We're not here to talk about that podcast, but it should be very interesting how that works going forward.
Also, for those of you that did listen (or watch last night), here's an expansion on the longest dirt races question Larson took. Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway got cancelled this year. The Short Track Super
Series did have the Speed Showcase 200 at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago. This is the race Larson referenced and that Stewart Friesen skipped Kansas to compete in. In addition, Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y. held Eastern States Weekend last weekend, which culminated with a 200-lap race that was won by Mat Williamson. Orange County Fair Speedway is promoted by Chris Hansen of Halmar International and co-owner of Halmar Friesen
Racing.
Sunday's broadcast started out normal. You had a focus on those hovering near the cut line and those outside of it.
In addition, Kyle Petty had a one-on-one interview with Joey Logano. The topic here included Logano's mentality as a race car driver. He's naturally aggressive on the track and makes no apologies for that.
Obviously, that can rub people the wrong way (examples were shown of this). Off the track, he's a giving man.
Obviously, winning in Kansas means that he's locked into the Championship 4. He doesn't particularly care about those attacking his on-track demeanor. However, he does care about those attacking his character as a
person.
When the weather came in Sunday, the chaps at NBCSN showed the radar that NASCAR uses. Problem is, nothing was on it. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not unique to NASCAR. Current radar technology
really doesn't pick up mist very well. Either nothing displays, or it'll display as a bunch of randomness. That's what I saw when I looked at the RadarScope app. That is typically referred to as "ground clutter." It is ultimately interference and doesn't necessarily denote precipitation. I understand the frustration. I really do.
How did NBCSN handle the delay? Given the not so great scheduling, the red came out right as the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was finishing up (which was on NBC). So, they simulcast that. Then, they
did some interviews. About nine of 10. Then, they started airing alternate programming. Pretty much the entire Hollywood Casino 400 was re-aired. The TV premiere of Lost Speedways was moved up as well.
Monday was seemingly a marathon of The Dale Jr. Download, interspersed with brief updates from the track. Parker Kligerman did some outdoor standups as well. The coverage ceased at 1 p.m. when Premier
League soccer coverage began.
Tuesday was more of the same, minus the soccer. The plan was to come back with coverage at 8:30 p.m. because they thought they were going to start then. Of course, it rained before that could
happen.
Wednesday saw the coverage begin with news of Kyle Larson signing with Hendrick Motorsports in and around coverage of the FOX Factory 120 that was originally scheduled to air in that time slot. Finally, at 5 p.m., the
action began.
Earnhardt Jr. still chose to stay behind in North Carolina, so NBCSN had a three-man booth for the majority of the race with Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. This results in a different feel for the
broadcast.
Yes, Earnhardt Jr. is the most recognizable person in the broadcast booth. But, having four people up there can (and will) make for a crowded broadcast. It's difficult for everyone to get their thoughts in.
With a three-man booth, it's a bit more orderly.
Once the restart jitters went away, you saw a somewhat typical race for the situation. Get it done as soon as possible. The final 200 laps of the race saw two yellows, one for a Joey Gase spin and the other for the
end of stage two. Clint Bowyer and Chase Elliott never recovered from pit issues in stage two because there weren't any more yellows.
A big story during the race involved the tires. Teams weren't dropping off in speed very much, but they were wearing tires down to the cords. That seems like quite the disconnect. Usually, if your wear is that
substantial, you should lose speed. In the case of Texas Motor Speedway, the pavement is still very new (Wednesday was the eighth Cup race there since the repave/re-configuration).
Viewers saw a number of shots of corded tires all through the race. Honestly, I'm surprised that there weren't a bunch of tire failures during the event. Vibrations were everywhere. Problem is, no one could
tell the difference between a legitimate mechanical issue or just the natural flow of racing at Texas.
The actual on-track racing was very confined on Wednesday. You really needed to pay attention to the scoring bar/pylon to see who was really on the move. In the second half of the race, that man was Christopher
Bell. For much of the first half of the race, he was hanging around 20th. Then, he quickly started moving forward. I'd look up and he was 17th. 20 laps later, he'd be 12th, then 10th, and seventh.
In the final run of the race, Bell had moved himself up to fourth behind Bowyer (on an alternate pit strategy and out of the hunt for the win), Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. while on the freshest tires. He ran down Truex
and nearly got past him before fading late.
Post-race coverage was rather brief, mainly because everyone wanted to go home. Viewers got interviews with Kyle Busch and Truex. An additional interview with Bell is available at NBCSports.com.
Overall, the race seemed to be really low on action, likely due to the fact that everyone had been there for so long. I would have liked to see a lot more variety of coverage. Most of the last 100 laps saw maybe six
drivers covered. That's too little. Fans deserve more than that.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
