Pedal To The Metal – ESPN race coverage falls flat

I find it a little ridiculous seeing the money spent on foolish surveys.

I was scanning news items for interesting tidbits about racing to talk about, but all I could find was a survey studying why we have sex. I figured the answer was pretty obvious but I had better hide this information from my honey since there are 175 reasons listed before the one I have sold her on ‘ burning calories. I can only see problems on the horizon.

‘ Getting back to racing news, I hope NASCAR will soon get a TV package that awards only one provider for the race broadcasts. We were introduced to ESPN last week and, like every other sport that ESPN covers, we were treated to a lot of blowhard announcers trying to make the show seem like the opening of the Olympics.

Over-hyping is just putting it mildly. They seemed to think that with them covering the race, millions of new fans were tuning in to the broadcast. It also showed us that we need knowledgeable reporters to cover the race. One reporter, Eric Kuselias, asked Dale Earnhardt Jr., ‘If you don’t have the engine trouble, could you have won that race’?

I’m surprised Jr. even answered the question. Jamie Little, another trackside reporter, asked Juan Pablo Montoya how close he was to getting his first Nextel Cup victory. I guess he didn’t watch the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in June that was won by, you guessed it, Juan Pablo himself.

Rusty Wallace was one of the race commentators and seemed lost at times. ESPN developed a new technology called ‘Draft Track’ showing us how air affects the cars. As hard as Rusty tried to explain it, it still looked like cartoon lines flowing off the cars, making them look like they were moving fast.

Wallace also said about Montoya, ‘To come here, never run at this racetrack in his life, and be running second right now to a veteran like Tony Stewart ‘ Montoya may not have run at Indy in a Cup car, but in 2000, he won the Indy 500 in an IRL car, and he also ran at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Formula 1 race car. Fortunately we only have to suffer through five more races before ABC takes over.

‘ Tony Stewart is in championship form. Not only is he winning again, but he is taking on reporters by answering their idiotic questions with sarcasm. His latest episode cost him $25,000 and 25 Nextel Cup points.

During the post-race interview, Tony used the term ‘B.S.’ I don’t believe it was a slip of the tongue, I believe he was showing his disdain for comments made by ESPN reporters Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon. They concluded that Stewart is a bad role model for children because he said he was going to celebrate his first win of the season by drinking a case of beer.

Oh, the shame of it. NASCAR drivers don’t drink beer. They only accept sponsorships from beer manufacturers.

‘ Look for NASCAR to announce a change to its qualifying procedure for Cup races. It takes over two hours for qualifying to be completed at many tracks. Weather changes cause distinct advantages, or disadvantages, depending on when you go out to qualify. NASCAR is looking to group all the cars outside the top 35 into one grouping, hoping to make it fair to all.

Earnhardt Jr. is on the pole for today’s race. He needs a good finish to stay in the 12th and final spot in the race for the championship.