I’ve been upset after a race before. I’ve been pissed at some driver or another or just at the dumb luck that has befallen one (or more) of my drivers. But I’ve NEVER in my life been so pissed off and worked up as I was after today’s race. At one point I was even in tears because I was so upset.

The incident in question: lap 323 … Carl Edwards turns Brad Keselowski and sends Brad airborne after 3 attempts to do so on previous laps. Here are some pics of what Brad’s car looked like after the wreck: pic 1, pic 2, pic 3. It was a scary wreck and it took a while before they said if Brad was okay or not. The FOX broadcast showed replays of Carl gunning for Brad on earlier laps but missing. I guess he connected all right.

Why did Carl intentionally wreck Brad? Well, no one really knows except for Carl. But I’m pretty sure the incident on lap 40 had something to do with it. In that incident, Carl drifted down in front of Brad, Brad tapped Carl, and it sent Carl into Joey Logano and messing up both of their cars pretty bad while Brad kept going. Yes … I admit that Brad made contact with Carl, but it was a racing incident. Brad was pretty much on the yellow line. He held his line as Carl came down on him. Perhaps Brad could have let off the throttle and let Carl in, but you can’t stop a stock car going over 190 mph on a dime. Brad said he tried to let off the throttle, but he just wasn’t quick enough. Besides, Bobby Labonte was behind Brad. If Brad had let up, who’s to say that Labonte wouldn’t have run into him? Yes, it was early in the race, but Carl could have not tried to put his car where there was no room for it just as much as Brad could have let off the throttle and let Carl in. Neither were to blame or innocent.

NASCAR did park Carl for the rest of the race, but that didn’t really matter. There weren’t many laps left in the race and Carl was over 150 laps down. Carl didn’t deny that he wrecked Brad on purpose. Carl’s exact words:

Brad knows the deal between him and I. The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. I have a lot of respect for people’s safety. I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s OK.

Carl … the cars are going over 190mph at times around Atlanta. How can you not expect something bad is going to happen. And just because you didn’t “expect” him to go airborne, you still shouldn’t have hit him in the first damn place.

After the first incident, it almost sounded like (to me anyway) that Carl thought he was entitled or something … that Brad should have just rolled over and let him in because Brad is a rookie and Carl is a “seasoned veteran”. I don’t care who you are (even Dale Jr), no one is “entitled”. No one should have to move over and let another driver in a spot or let them pass without fighting for position as long as both cars are on the lead lap. Now, if you’re a lap car, yeah … get your ass out of the way. But Brad and Carl were on the same lap during the first incident. Why should Brad roll over for Carl?

Before anyone decides to flame me because I said that I am a Keselowski fan, I never said I wasn’t a Carl Edwards fan. No, he isn’t on my list of favorite drivers, but I didn’t hate him. I have actually cheered for him in a race or two. Not any more. His actions on the track today and his statements after the race have made me lose all respect for him. He had plenty of time to cool down after the first incident, and I believe the FOX pit reporter showed him a replay of what happened before they interviewed him. He consciously made the decision to go out and find Brad on the track and deliberately take him out (the replays showed that fact).

Now … if the tables had been turned … if Brad was the one who wrecked Carl intentionally, I’d be pissed at Brad. Same thing if Dale Jr or Martin Truex or any other driver did that to anyone else on the track (even Kyle Busch). When you’re going the speeds that they go at Atlanta, doing what Carl did was a very poor judgment call.

The other thing that has me pissed about all of this is the fact that there are a lot of people out there who say that Brad deserved what he got … that Brad had it coming … that Brad has taken out drivers in the past at other races. Some have even brought up Talladega last year when Carl flipped after Brad got into him and Brad when on to win (in that situation, Carl tried to block Brad and Brad held his line … Carl would have done the same if the situations had been reversed). I’ll admit that Brad is an aggressive driver. That’s one of the things I like about him. He had to be aggressive last year in the Nationwide series in order to be noticed with all the damn Cup drivers running full seasons (don’t even get me started on that front). But you can’t tell me that Brad is any more aggressive than Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin. The incidents that people have been mentioning have been “racing deals”. I can’t remember any incidents where Brad intentionally took out another driver (I could be wrong, but I’m sure if there have been any, they are few and far between).

We should find out Tuesday or Wednesday if NASCAR will penalize Carl any more than parking him for the rest of the race. Initially I was calling for NASCAR to park him. Now I’m backing off that. I do still think he should receive some sort of penalty. He should definitely lose some points and be fined some money … something harsh enough to prevent him (and any other driver) from doing something that stupid again. I have a feeling that NASCAR won’t do a damn thing though. If that’s the case, this will happen again, I guarantee it. It will keep happening until someone (driver, crew member, or fan in the stands) gets seriously hurt.

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Last year, Dale Jr had some problems in the practices. He also got in an accident during the race and finished 28th. Hopefully he’ll fair better this year (he needs it after how his season has gone).

It would be better if I was actually at the racetrack for race weekend, but it is cool that my name is on a racecar in the race. My Dad signed up too (copycat ). His name is on the truck deck lid. The race is Sunday afternoon. Hopefully at the end of the race Dale Jr will be in Victory Lane. Maybe Dad & I will be his good luck charms (along with the over 70,000 other people who have their names on the car).

To whom it may concern:

We need to talk about the quality of your coverage of the Nationwide series and Sprint Cup series race broadcasts. I can sum the broadcasts up in one word: POOR. You really need to improve the quality of the broadcasts. You are managing to piss off loyal NASCAR fans. They are turning the tv off and finding other means of following the races.

And believe me, there are numerous sources for race coverage out there on the internet: MRN/PRN coverage, Twitter, numerous racing blogs and message boards, just to name a few. I myself have not yet turned the tv off, but I have the volume so low that I barely pay attention. I listen to the MRN/PRN broadcast online as well as in-car audio. I also follow numerous NASCAR reporters on Twitter (who are actually tweeting from the race track) and visit The Dale Earnhardt Jr Pit Stop and The Daly Planet during the races. I receive more information from these sources than I do from the ESPN coverage.

I know that I am not the only person who feels this way about your coverage. I see numerous people on Twitter and the websites I mentioned above expressing their “displeasure” with the coverage race after race. There are numerous aspects of the coverage that people are discussing. I agree with the majority of them. There are way too many to discuss here, but I’ll give you a sampling of the most disturbing to me (in no particular order).

• Neglecting to reset the field after pit stops. You are consistently going to commercial after pit stops during a caution flag have been completed BEFORE resetting the field. The ticker doesn’t appear onscreen until the green flag drops. That is so completely unacceptable. I want to know who is running where BEFORE they go back to racing.
• Pit stops under green. For some reason, you insist on showing green flag pit stops full screen, focusing on a single driver. Do you not realize that there is still racing going on on the track? How hard is it to put 2 windows onscreen: one of the pit stop and the other focusing on the racing that is still going on?
• Pits stops under caution. There is rarely a pit stop cycle under caution where you don’t break away from the “triple pits” to show a single car’s stop as the cars are coming to the end of pit road. Stop doing that for crying out loud. The viewers lose all focus as to the cars coming out of the pits. The order out of the pits is an important thing you know. Jeez.
• Zooming in on a single car. There are so many times during a race that you are zoomed in so close on a single car that I can damn near see the driver inside the car. And numerous times, these zoomed in shots are of a car that is all alone on the track. Again, the viewers lose focus of the “big picture”. While you are zoomed in to the leader who has a 5 second lead, we’re missing passes for position elsewhere in the field. What gives?
• Spastic camera work. I’m talking about zooming in and out and switching between different camera angles in quick succession. You rarely stick with a wide shot of cars that are racing for position. There have been several times that you’ve had a wide shot of one driver setting up another for a pass, and then when the driver is beginning his pass, you switch to a zoomed in shot elsewhere in the field and we miss the pass altogether.
• Ignoring “Start & Park” cars. I do give Marty Reid props … he does call out the ’start & park’ drivers during the Nationwide races. But as for the Sprint Cup races, the ’start & park’ drivers are completely ignored.
• Ignoring racing for position deep in the field. You need to remember that there are 43 cars on the track during the races. I don’t care if they’re not passing for the lead, I still want to see the passes that are farther back in the field. Sometimes the best racing on the track is for 18th or 20th positions. Please show it to us.
• Forgetting about the rest of the field once the leader takes the checkered flag. I want to see ALL of the drivers cross the finish line at the end of the race. There are some good passes for position at the finish. So stop zooming in on the leader after he crosses the line.
• The pre-race show. I want to see more interviews with drivers during the pre-race show. Don’t show so many taped/pre-produced segments. The drivers and how they think their cars are going to handle for the race are more important to me that seeing some taped segment with Brad Daughtery that is basically a commercial for Bush’s beans.
• Showing anything at full screen during green flag racing. Nothing, I repeat NOTHING, should be shown at full screen during green flag racing expect for the racing itself. If you want to show a replay or a car going to the garage or a crew chief on the pit box or a “tech garage” segment, do it in a small secondary box on the screen with the green flag racing in a large box on the screen. Green flag racing is more important than anything else you think you need to show us.
• Too many in-car shots. As with the spastic camera work, showing too many in-car shots lead the viewers to lose focus of the “big picture”. You can show an in-car shot every now and again if it is important to the situation. Stop showing them just because you can.
• The ticker. The ticker should ALWAYS show the interval behind the leader. And the ticker should NEVER show the ‘points as of now’ during the race. For crying out loud, the race isn’t going to end now so that information is irrelevant.

I could continue, but you get the idea. All of these items are things that can easily be resolved. But you continue to do things the way that you want. I think you really need to start listening to the fans. If the fans quit watching, you’re going to lose money. Advertisers aren’t going to spend money with you because no one will see their ads. And no matter what you think, without the fans you are irrelevant. Without fans, there is no reason to even have a race. The fans are what bring the advertisers to you. Think about that for a while, why don’t you.

Think long and hard about things. Start giving a damn about what the fans think. Who knows, making changes that the fans suggest might even bring you more money. A race broadcast that the fans are actually excited about can bring more advertisers to the table because they know more people will see their ads. Hmmm … never thought about that, did you?

If things continue as they have been, pretty soon no one will even bother to watch the tv coverage. The MRN/PRN broadcasts have more energy and provide a more complete coverage of the action, and they have to rely on explaining things rather than showing the cars on the track. The radio broadcasts together with the numerous online sources have practically made YOUR coverage obsolete. [BTW ... the other networks don't seem to have the same issues that you do, so what's your excuse?]

I just thought I’d give you a chance to fix things before I wrote you off completely. But then again, who am I kidding. You don’t give a damn about the fans. You’re going to continue to show whatever the hell that you want. But in the end, that’s gonna bite you in the ass. I can’t wait for that day to come. I’ll be grinning ear to ear.

Sincerely,
A NASCAR fan who’s ready to give up on ESPN

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a NASCAR fan. I don’t miss a race unless there is absolutely no way to watch it (then I’ll record it so I can watch it later). This week’s race was on tonite. It was the first of 11 races (the last 11 of the season) where the races are on ABC. The race tonite was the last race before the “Chase to the Sprint Cup” or simply, the Chase. For those of you who don’t follow NASCAR, the Chase is basically the playoffs for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series … 10 races to determine the championship. Not all of the drivers in the series have a chance to win the championship. Only the top 12 drivers after this race make the Chase. So it was a very important race.

My local ABC station is WDAY (in Fargo, ND). For whatever reason, WDAY decided that the local news broadcast was more important than pre-race show. That was their first mistake. I was upset enough at WDAY’s programming decisions that I sent them an email via the form on their website. I was very civil in my email. This is what I sent them:

ABC is carrying the NASCAR race tonight at Richmond, VA. It is the first of 11 races that ABC is carrying (the last 11 of the season). Tonight’s race is the last race before the 10 race “Chase”. The “Chase” is NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Tonight’s race will determine who will be in the “Chase” and who won’t. There are several drivers that are very close to making it or falling out.

I am extremely disappointed that WDAY has chosen to air the local news at 6pm rather than the pre-race show. I understand that there are people who want to see the local news. But you need to understand that there are also people who want to watch the pre-race show. Since this is the last race before the “Chase”, there are lots of stories to be covered. I (and numerous other NASCAR fans in the region) will miss those stories. If this was an NFL wildcard game or a game that determines who makes the Superbowl, would WDAY show the news rather than the pre-game show? I find it hard to believe that they would. So why is WDAY not showing the pre-race show tonight?

WDAY could have aired the local news at 5:30pm. But instead, they have chosen to upset numerous fans by not airing the pre-race show. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. There is another race (a ‘playoff’ race) that will start at 6pm local time (on Oct 17). I hope that WDAY does not preempt the pre-race show for that race for the news like they are doing tonight.

I have more respect for WDAY than any other station in Fargo. However, I am extremely disappointed in their decision about the pre-race show tonight. Please do not make me lose respect for your station by doing this again.

Then, the Notre Dame – Michigan football game ran long … cutting into the NASCAR pre-race show by about 20 minutes or so. Rather than going into the NASCAR coverage, WDAY decided that they were still going to show the local news broadcast. That was their second mistake. The news broadcast wasn’t over until after the opening ceremonies began. They didn’t join the race coverage until the opening prayer had already begun. So I didn’t get to see the pre-race interviews with those drivers who were on the bubble for making the Chase … and it was a tight field this year.

Would WDAY preempt the pre-game for an NFL game that decided who makes it into the playoffs or the Superbowl? I find it hard to believe that they would. So why did that do that for NASCAR? Completely unacceptable. I didn’t send another email. I thought that the email that I had sent earlier was enough to get my point across about not showing the pre-race show.

Then WDAY made their third mistake … the one that “broke the camel’s back”, so to speak. They left the post-race coverage after the interview with the winner in Victory Lane was completed. The post-race coverage wasn’t done, but they decided to leave anyway to show the local news. Excuse me? What about those interviews with the drivers who made the Chase? From what I found out, ABC continued coverage until around 10:45pm central. That means that I missed 15 minutes of coverage … of interviews with those drivers who made the Chase. That’s completely unacceptable.

I called WDAY right after they left the ABC coverage for the local news. The lady I talked to had no clue what was going on. I highly doubt she passed anything I said along to the appropriate person. All she told me was that since the winner had been declared, they were free to leave the coverage. WTF?!? Are you freaking kidding me? That’s messed up. You couldn’t delay the news 15 stinking minutes?

Needless to say, WDAY got another email from me. I wasn’t quite as civil as the first one that I sent, but I wasn’t vulgar either. I just don’t understand how they can make decisions like this. The second email I sent is here:

I would like to know WHY WDAY left the NASCAR broadcast before it was done. Tonight was the last race before the “Chase” (or the playoffs for NASCAR) begins. There are a lot of stories about who made the Chase and who didn’t. Yet WDAY chose to leave after the Victory Lane interview for the local news.

This is completely unacceptable, especially since WDAY decided to NOT show the pre-race show. How can you not show the pre-race show and then leave the post-race show early? Would you do that for the NFL? I think not.

I really want to know who is making these programming decisions. How can you justify what was done tonite? I really want to know. Please send me a response explaining things. It has been at least 10 minutes since WDAY left the post-race broadcast, and I have been told that ABC is STILL on air with the post-race show. Completely unacceptable WDAY.

I have no idea if I’ll get any response from WDAY. I honestly won’t be surprised if I don’t get a response. That being said, I really hope that I do get a response. I really want to know why the programming decisions that were made regarding this race were made. There is one more nite race that will be aired on ABC, on October 17th. This race is scheduled to start at 6pm central. I am hoping that the decisions that were made tonite (skipping the pre-race show) will NOT be made for that race as well. I know that I am not the only NASCAR fan in the WDAY coverage area. I mean, we do have a dirt track in our backyard (the Red River Valley Speedway), so there are race fans out there, and I’m sure there are local race fans that are NASCAR fans as well. A race fan is a race fan is a race fan.

I’m still riled up about this. I need to find some way to calm down so that I can get some sleep tonight. I’m just glad that I was able to watch NASCAR Now on ESPN2 and Victory Lane on SPEED to see interviews with the drivers that I’m sure ABC interviewed during the post-race show that I didn’t get to see.

During the first practice today, he had engine issues, and they had to change the engine. Then after only 9 laps on the track during the second practice, his right rear tire exploded. And when I say exploded, I mean EXPLODED. It tore up the rear of the car, and several other cars were also involved. They had to bring out a backup for him. Luckily, the names are on the backup car too.

Hopefully all these issues for Jr during practice will mean he will have a good race on Sunday. He’ll have to start in the back because he’s in a backup car, but that boy knows his way around Talladega. He’ll be up front before the race even reaches halfway.

Those of you who know me, know what a HUGE NASCAR fan I am. And anyone who knows me knows that I’m a HUGE Dale Earnhardt Jr fan. He was the first driver I ever started cheering for.

A while back, I signed up for a chance to have my name on Dale Jr’s Amp Energy/National Guard car for the race at Talladega. I just found out today that my name is on the car. It’s on the roof … between the 8’s. How cool is that. I didn’t think I got my registration in on time because I never got an email about it. But apparently a lot of people didn’t. But I found my name on the ampenergy.com website, so it’s true.

The race is this Sunday (October 5th). When I watch the race, I’ll be watching myself go around the track … well, at least my name will be. I hope I bring him some good luck. I’d love to see him in Victory Lane. I just wish I could see the race in person rather than on tv. Maybe some day …

This weekend is the first nite of the 2008 NASCAR season. I was excited. I love nite racing. But the nite started off on a bad note. First, FOX decided to start the pre-race before it was even scheduled to come on. And then, they leave the broadcast right before the race was supposed to start to go back to the baseball game that had been under a rain delay.

I understand that the baseball fans wanted to see the completion of the game. But FOX royally screwed up. They were showing the baseball game on both FX and FOX. WTF?!?! I can understand showing the baseball game on one and the NASCAR race on the other. But to show the baseball game on both. What the hell were they thinking??

The baseball fans were able to watch their game on 2 DIFFERENT CHANNELS while we NASCAR fans missed the National Anthem (and Emerson Drive sang it this week ), the command to start engines, and the green flag. Yeah, FOX did switch back to the race, but not until AFTER the green flag.

I was so pissed off that I actually called our local FOX affiliate. I was surprised when someone actually answered. I asked why the race wasn’t on. I told him that the baseball game was on FX and FOX. He didn’t know that. He had no clue why the race wasn’t on. Apparently it was all the national FOX affiliate’s decision. I wonder if other people called in as well. There was a ticker scrolling across the screen saying that it was the national affiliate that made the decision to not show the race. I found that funny. That was either because of me or because of me and the other unhappy fans.

I also sent an email to FOX. I know that it won’t do any good. I doubt anyone will actually read it. But there’s always a chance. And I know there are several other fans who sent emails as well (according to a message board I’m on). Maybe they’ll finally get their heads out of their arses and actually make some changes. But I doubt it. This is the email I sent them …

I am completely baffled by the programming decisions that were made tonight, Saturday April 12th. I understand that the baseball game was delayed due to rain. But did you really have to air the baseball game when it came back on on both FOX and FX. Especially when the NASCAR race was due to begin. I understand that there are baseball fans that wanted to see the game. But there are NASCAR fans who wanted to see the race. And with the baseball game on FX, why air it on FOX as well? That is completely asinine. The baseball fans had the option of watching the game on FX. NASCAR fans had NO OPTION. We missed the National Anthem and the command to start engines, not to mention the green flag. Yeah, you switched over, but you missed the green flag.

And don’t think I’m the only person who is upset by this. I am seeing unhappy people all over the internet. You made a very bad decision tonight. I just don’t understand what you were thinking.

An UPSET NASCAR fan,
Becky R

Okay … I’m gonna get down off of my soapbox now. Time to go pay attention to the race. If FOX decides to break into the commercials with race coverage that is.