Rating The Race Coverage:FOX,TNT & ABC/ESPN

Go to any NASCAR message board and you’ll find NASCAR fans have opinions about the media coverage of the sport that are strong as they are about the drivers. Mention names like Darrell Waltrip, Wally Dallenbach or Rusty Wallace and look out! You’ll either find effusive praise or a torrent of expletives. There’s little middle ground.

I can tell you one thing, as one who’s worked in media nearly all my adult life- there’s more moving parts to a broadcast than there is a race car engine. It can be real easy to blame the guys in the booth for coverage you don’t like- but in reality, there are so many key coverage decisions made by people who have never sat inside a control room for broadcast booth. On top of that, graphics, effects and camera angles can either serve to enhance or detract from race coverage.

The discussion of cameras, graphics, production and other subtleties are another discussion unto themselves. Today, we’ll stick to the most visible element of the broadcast besides the race. the broadcast team…

FOX

FOX opens the seasonal coverage at “Speed Week” and carries it through the first race at Dover. When talking about FOX, the name Darrell Waltrip surfaces pretty quickly, but as you’ll read there is a lot more to the team, one that in my estimation is the deepest of the three.

The “Hollywood Hotel” Team- Like a leadoff hitter in baseball, Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond set the tone for the broadcast. Myers a smooth, seasoned pro. He has a knack for interjecting humor and personality without being over the top, though I admit the “I kid because I care” line might be getting a little old. Hammond brings gravitas with his championship experience as a crew chief for Darrell Waltrip. Hammond is not afraid to add a little light-hearted smack to the broadcast without coming off as a jerk.

The pit reporters are a solid bunch as well. Dick Bergrren is the dean of the pit reporters and keeps a positive demeanor that seems to have the respect of the drivers, therefore he gets the good answers. Among the ladies on pit road- I believe Krista Voda is the best. She asks good questions and strives for that professionalism that serves her well in what is still in many ways a man’s world. All that to say, she presents herself well without objectifying herself, as I believe others have. Steve Byrnes and Matt Yocum also perform their duties well under what are sometimes less than ideal circumstances when you consider they are often interviewing drivers who just wrecked their cars or just got into it with another driver.

As for the race team, Mike Joy is the anchor. Mike’s got a good voice and a good delivery, but what I’ll always remember is the emotion in his voice when Dale Earnhardt won the 1998 Daytona 500 on his 20th try. You could hear Joy choke up a little as the the crew on pit road all “high fived” “The Intimidator.” It humanized the guy whose role is generally one of being the “straight man” on the broadcast team. Joy also does an admirable job of playing traffic cop with Darrell Waltrip and Larry Mc Reynolds.

For many fans, Waltrip and Mc Reynolds are the face of FOX’s NASCAR coverage. “Ol’ D.W.” is a lot like country music- you either love him of hate him. Anecdotally speaking, it’s about a 50/50 split- which is pretty typical for sports coverage. Like Mc Reynolds, Waltrip’s insights carry weight as he’s lived the NASCAR trip. You may find him hokey, you may think he’s a little biased in favor of Kyle Busch and Dale Jr., but you can’t dismiss the 3-time champion’s opinions as someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Some people don’t care for his race -opening charge- “Boogity, boogity, boogity- let’s go racing boys!” Some deride the yell as sophomoric and I’ve heard of people muting the TV when he says it. For the majority of fans who love it- there’s the sentiment that Waltrip’s cheer adds spontaneous emotion, color and genuine love for the sport.

Mc Reynolds brings a lighter touch. Not quite as over the top as Waltrip, “Larry Mac” has a self-effacing sense of humor and brings knowledge to the booth as a former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd and Davey Allison. He doesn’t have a classic broadcaster’s voice and he sometimes butchers the English language- which sometimes does nothing to change NASCAR’s image as a bumpkin sport. By the same token, it’s who the Alabama native is, and he does a good job of offering insight without being a grating presence.

If giving a 5-star rating system- I’d give the team 4 stars. Sooner or later, FOX will need a fresh face for a more contemporary perspective, but no doubt some good, articulate, colorful driver will retire soon and offer that to the team.

TNT

Taking a turn at mid-season, Ted Turner’s network covers 6 of NASCAR’s 36 Sprint Cup races. To a certain degree, this team is a little harder to evaluate because they go away just as you really get to know them. In looking at the overall picture, it is my opinion that this team has some real strengths, while also possessing some glaring weaknesses.

Pre-race coverage is offered by Marc Fein and the ubiquitous Larry Mc Reynolds. Fein is a straight-up network guy, as one who’s also involved in TNT’s baseball coverage. I can’t say I have a strong opinion of Fein as I don’t remember anything he’s done to distinguish himself- but that may be a back-handed endorsement because he lets NASCAR and the newsmakers be the star, rather than interjecting too much of himself in to it. I’m not sure Mc Reynolds is as strong in this role as Hammond is for FOX, but once again, Mc Reyolds makes good points and offers smart insights without being an irritating presence.

Overall the pit reporters are solid. Again, I have a lot of respect for Matt Yocum and my opinion is favorable of Ralph Shaheen. Lindsey Czarniack is a well-rounded pro with a nice range of broadcast experience. While nothing outstanding in her work comes to mind, I can likewise not think of any negatives.

Marty Snider did something in a post-wreck interview with Tony Stewart that stands out in my mind as an example of what not do to as a sports reporter. Stewart had been wrecked out of the race, and Snider continued to ask questions that appeared to be baiting Stewart. In a rare moment of supreme self-control, Smoke shut Snider down and let him know that he wasn’t going to get the controversial answer he was looking for. It’s too bad because I know the two have had a good working relationship. Athletes often view reporters like this as trouble makers and they often don’t get much cooperation from the people they cover with a reputation like that.

It’s too bad because it taints Snider’s award-winning work as an interviewer.

From the booth, Bill Weber serves as the play-by-play man. While Weber is an experienced broadcaster, some of his gaffes are pretty unbelievable. Everybody makes mistakes, I speak from experience when I know how crazy it gets in the booth, but to habitually misidentify drivers? It doens’t look good- especially when you pretty much have the same roster of drivers on the track week-after-week. Incorrectly referring to the 2006 Chevy Rock ‘n’ Roll 400 at Richmond as “Bristol” not once, but TWICE during the race is behavior you expect from besotted rock stars who’ve lost track of their tour schedule.

Another pet peeve: Weber seems to feel the need to constantly apologize for “stepping on” the other announcers during the race. One of the first rules you learn in broadcast is not call undue attention to a minor mistake. Just take mental note of it and move on. Cross talking is going to occur during the flow of the race. If there’s a little too much of it, then someone needs to turn the yap off a little more often.

Mistakes aside, Weber does have a bit of flair with some identifiable “Weberisms”: “So and so has a good piece today,” “You don’t have to look it up because we already did,” and “The Countdown is at zero, it’s time to go racing.”

Joining Weber for analysis is former racer Wally Dallenbach and part-time NASCAR Cup veteran Kyle Petty. Dallenbach may very well be the Rodney Dangerfield of auto racing. An accomplished road racer, Dallenbach never got an honest to goodness chance to show what he could do in a stock car. Among analysts, Dallenbach is probably one of the least visible. The Coloradan picked up a little notoriety with his “Wally World” segments in days gone by, but generally speaking, seems to spend his life in somebody else’s shadow.

His partner in crime, Kyle Petty, knows a thing or two about living in the shadows. The son of “The King” has built more of a fan base for his charitable work than for his 8 career victories. In my opinion, Petty brings something different with a contemporary driver’s opinion. You can also tell by his analysis that Petty spends more than 5 seconds actually thinking about his craft- a refreshingly different approach for an old jock. Fortunately for Petty, all was forgiven for his big blunder at Sonoma last year when he dropped an “F bomb” when his car got spun out. Speaking of which, Petty, like Rusty Wallace falls back on certain pet phrases way too much (in Petty’s case “My God”)- but overall I view Kyle as a diamond in the rough.

Overall grade: 2 1/2 stars. This isn’t patently awful team, but it has huge room for improvement.

ABC/ ESPN

Before engaging in a critical analysis of the “World Wide Leader In Sports”- let us first remember we have ESPN to thank for playing a big part in the growth of NASCAR. I can remember a time when NASCAR coverage was limited to a few laps within major races. Sure, ESPN wasn’t the first to offer flag-to-flag coverage of Cup racing, but they certainly took coverage of well, pretty much all sports to the next level- including NASCAR. To this day, NASCAR still offers a range of great productions outside the race that offer a look at historic moments and history makers in the sport.

That said- I’ve run across a number of disgruntled fans when it comes to ESPN’s race coverage. Primarily it has to do with their on-air personalities and in-race revenues.

Opening the broadcast is the team of Alan Bestwick, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Bestwick is a stand-up guy. Many will remember him for his work at TNT and he lends a smooth presence to what can sometimes be a choppy broadcast. Daugherty- the former NBA star- gets a lot of heat for shi over-the-top pronouncements and his occasional displays of auto racing ignorance, but let there be no doubt the broadcaster/ car owner has a genuine passion for NASCAR- a passion which exceeds his love of the sport in which he excelled.

Perhaps Daugherty’s presence would be a little more palatable were it not for the fact he’s paired with another much-maligned announcer- NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace. Like Daugherty- Wallace can be a little overboard in his enthusiasm. The 1989 Cup champion’s reputation is further hurt by his shaky grammar, the use of “driving his brains out” and other similar verbal misadventures. I also hate ot say it, but it also seems obvious that Wallace possesses a certain bias against certain old rivals- namely Jeff Gordon. It’s too bad, because he does offer genuinely good insight for the most part. At least in the studio, we get a smaller dose of Wallace.

In the pits- the overall coverage is pretty good. Dave Burns and Mike Massaro are professionals, ask smart questions and for the most part avoid the temptation to ask leading questions that create unneeded trouble. Jamie Little- who’s also dabbled in a little bit of motor sports herself- does a solid job with interviews. My lone gripe with Little is how at times she has objectified herself by consenting to pose for photo shoots away from the track that give her the reputation as being in the pits mroe for the purpose of being “eye candy” than being the professional she is. Shannon Spake offers good reports, but some of her interviews are an embarrassment. An interview with Dale Jr. at Talladegae comes to mind. I’m not sure if she wasn’t prepared or what, but her line of questioning was lame and it didn’t seem like she was really listening to a thing Earnhardt said- and quite often an interviewee’s response can provide a road map to the next question if you are really paying attention.

The lap-by-lap coverage is handled by the team of Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett. Punch possesses a unique resume as a one-time emergency room physician whose expertise actually paid dividends after bad in-race crashes by Rusty Wallace and Ernie Irvan during his days as a pit reporter. Punch plays the part of the straight man well. I struggle to think of any real gaffes during the race and he has a wealth of history with the sport- including once having had a close friendship with one of NASCAR’s greats- Punch was a former schoolmate of the legendary Dale Earnhardt.

The main knock on Punch might be his lack of color. On a better team, this weakness- if you can call it that would be a little less glaring.

As a former driver, car owner and crew chief for the likes of Earnhardt and Harry Gant- Andy Petree is looked to for the strategic insights. Petree delivers and he also brings that “old school” perspective. Like many other race analysts lacking formal training, I do find Petree’s grammar and lack of polish a bit off putting.

The recently retired Dale Jarrett replaced Rusty Wallace trackside this year. He may be a diamond in the rough. It seems like Jarrett is still finding his feet and it is my hope that a greater comfort behind the mike will let more of his personality come through.

I’m not sure what’s missing from this team- whether its the fact that these good individual components lack chemistry- or what it is, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the fact that the really good broadcast teams in sports have at least one member who can lighten up a tense moment or bring humor to a bad race. You know, some kind of Dandy Don Meredith or John Madden type- someone who can be funny without being a buffoon.

Overall grade: 3 stars. Yeah, I know some of you think I’m being a little generous- but remember I’m not delving into frustrating channel switch decisions, commercial break timing or baffling personnel decisions. It may very well be ESPN is a victim of its own leadership status and they err by trying to be too many things to too many people.

At the end of the day- the potential to be great is there with a major tune-up.

Everybody has their own opinion, but this is mine. I know from experience, the job of putting together a sports broadcast that balances style and substance is no small task. When I get frustrated with how my beloved NASCAR is handled I remember the days when we didn’t have any race coverage to criticize. Yet it is always good to give the coverage a good long look and hope that someone, somewhere from the networks is listening and taking note of their customer’s input.