TNT announced last week its new programming lineup for the network’s upcoming NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series coverage, which includes coverage of six consecutive Cup races beginning with last Sunday’s Cup event from Pocono Raceway.
The NASCAR on TNT Summer Series will feature new race analysts, a new pre-race show that will provide extended trackside coverage prior to the start of each race, and a cutting-edge new television format called Wide Open Coverage which will make its debut Saturday, July 7th from the Daytona International Speedway. TNT’s first race telecast of the season included a tribute to the late Bill France Jr., who passed away last week.
The network’s summer 2007 race programming marks TNT’s 23rd year of televising Cup coverage, making it NASCAR’s longest running broadcast partner. TNT, along with former NASCAR broadcast partner NBC, won an Emmy for its 2006 NASCAR coverage.
TNT’s new NASCAR announcing booth will include seven-year veteran TNT announcers Bill Weber (play-by-play) and Wally Dallenbach (analyst), who will be joined by current Cup Series driver, Kyle Petty. Petty, as previously announced, will serve as an analyst for all six of TNT’s Cup races, calling the race in Sonoma, CA on June 24 from behind the wheel of his No. 45 Dodge. Veteran NASCAR crew chief Larry McReynolds will also join the TNT broadcast team, serving in a specialty role of analyst and reporter. From interviewing crew chiefs on pit road to conducting demonstrations on the TNT Ford Test Car, McReynolds’ unique role will take him from the infield set position to various locations around the track to help bring viewers closer to the action. The network’s roster of announcers is rounded out by veteran pit reporters Marty Snider, Matt Yocum, Ralph Sheheen and Lindsay Czarniak.
“For six straight weeks the NASCAR on TNT Summer Series is the destination for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series racing, and we’re looking forward to showcasing the best drivers in the world along with our talented on-air announcers and production capabilities that are second to none,” said Jeff Behnke, Turner Sports executive producer. “From our innovations in putting a race analyst behind the wheel during the race, to utilizing a mobile set, to introducing an innovative new TV format, we’re giving fans more race coverage than they’ve ever seen before and giving them six weeks of dramatic race action.”
Last weekend, preceding the Pocono 500, TNT launched “NASCAR on TNT Live!” Hosted by Marc Fein, the show included all of the TNT announcers and pit reporters who provided analysis and commentary on the NASCAR season to date. Additionally, the show had a segment from TNT’s six-part series on the roots of racing, entitled “The Pride of NASCAR.” The weekly features will spotlight six racing legends and their contributions to the sport, including Richard Petty, David Pearson and Junior Johnson, among others.
TNT’s 90-minute pre-race coverage will also include the “Allstate Countdown to Green” show, hosted by Bill Weber, which will include the show’s signature “Wally’s World” segment featuring various celebrities taking a ride around the track with Wally Dallenbach.
The network will utilize its new state-of-the-art mobile set for all of its pre-race coverage. Located in the track infield during all six TNT Cup telecasts, the fully-functioning rig features a retractable platform stage that can rotate a full 360-degrees and be raised seven feet off the base of the truck into the air. Once fully extended, the height of rig reaches a towering 26 feet tall.
TNT will also launch its highly-anticipated new NASCAR broadcast format, Wide Open Coverage, during the primetime NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race – the Pepsi 400 – on Saturday, July 7 from Daytona International Speedway. A groundbreaking new television format, Wide Open Coverage will provide continuous race coverage free of national commercial breaks and will feature animated national sponsor messages, including original branded content and distinct on-screen graphic elements. The unique sponsor graphics and vignettes will appear along the lower portion of the screen in place of traditional commercial interruptions, limiting the telecast to only three local commercial breaks per hour. In addition, the landmark production features 22 percent more unobstructed race action than that of a standard telecast. Autozone, Direct TV, Ford, Miller Brewing, Pepsi, Principal Financial, Sprint, Subway and Toyota are the initial sponsors for TNT’s coverage of the race.
2007 NASCAR on TNT Summer Series:
ALL TIMES EASTERN (ET)
June 17
12:30 – 2:00 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live! and Allstate Countdown to Green
2:00 – 5:30 p.m. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Racing from Michigan Intl. Speedway
June 24
3:30 – 5:00 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live! and Allstate Countdown to Green
5:00 – 8:30 p.m. Toyota/Save Mart 350 (from Infineon Raceway)
July 1
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live! and Allstate Countdown to Green
2:30 – 6:15 p.m. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Racing from New Hampshire Intl. Speedway
July 7
6:30 – 8:00 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live! and Allstate Countdown to Green
8:00 – 11:15 p.m. Pepsi 400 (from Daytona Intl. Speedway)
July 15
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live! and Allstate Countdown to Green
4:00 – 7:30 p.m. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Racing from Chicago Speedway
Shifts in the so-called Big Three US automakers marketing share indicate that NASCAR’s decision to let Toyota into the Cup and Busch Series was not a mistake. However, many former NASCAR fans are turned off about this decision especially the ones that have been following NASCAR for several decades. That’s part of the reason that there are empty seats at those Cup events. Another factor is the price and the costs to get to the track. NASCAR’s latest challenge is to get some new fans to replace those defectors. Easier said than done. Also, there’s a school of thought that NASCAR’s Cup races are too long and that’s another reason why TV ratings are down. Consider that even with lower ratings more viewers tune into the last 50 or so laps, according to data from the folks that monitor TV ratings like Nielsen. The viewers are voting with the remotes and NASCAR and the networks should take heed.
With TNT airing the Cup races, for the middle season, it’s going to be interesting to see how that cable channel deals with those frequent wall-to-wall commercials that have turned off a lot of of former NASCAR viewers. When the NASCAR Busch Series makes it’s upcoming debut in Montréal on that GP circuit, many are anxious to see what the event draws for a crowd and the resulting TV ratings. We’ll bet the suits in front offices of NASCAR and F1 will be eager to review all of the data and will be making comparisons between the NASCAR and F1 events. Also, how each of them spin it in their favor. How about Lewis Hamilton, an Afro-Englishman, winning his first F1 race in Montréal. That’s got to be great for selling tickets this weekend’s USGP at Indy as well as an expected uptick in the TV ratings when it airs on the Fox Network. It couldn’t be better because timing is everything.
From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter comes this understatement-YES, He REALLY Said That
Michael Waltrip, on his career. “If you go by the numbers I’m probably not going to get in the Hall of Fame.” Enough said.
Let’s see what’s happening on TV this weekend that should be of interest to the motorhead crowd. It’s going to be another wall-to-wall racing weekend on the airwaves. Starting Friday it’s F1 Practice from Indy at 10 a.m. on Speed. Stay with that cable channel for most of the day with Cup Practice from Michigan at 11:30 a.m. then more Indy USGP Practice at 1 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. it’s NASCAR Cup Qualifying from MIS followed by the ARCA 200 stockcar event from Michigan at 5 p.m. At the same time, ESPN2 offers NASCAR Busch Practice from Kentucky. Saturday gets it all underway at 8:30 a.m. with the Start of the 24 Hours of LeMans on Speed. More F1 Practice and then Qualifying for the USGP at Indy airs on Speed at 11 a.m. Speed comes back at 3 p.m. with the NASCAR CTS event from MIS. ESPN2 offers Busch Qualifying from Kentucky at 5 p.m. More 24 Hours of LeMans from Speed returns at 5:30 p.m. followed by NASCAR Cup Final Practice from MIS on that same channel SDD. Even more 24 Hours of LeMans returns at 8 p.m. on Speed then at 8:30 p.m. it’s the Busch race from MIS on ESPN2. Sunday goes like this. At midnight it’s the ongoing 24 Hours of LeMans on Speed and again at 6 a.m. Tune in to Fox for the USGP at Indy at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon while TNT airs the NASCAR Cup race from Michigan at 2 p.m. Then there’s the AMA MotoX for the bikers at 6 p.m. from Budds Creek, MD on Speed. (end)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES AND NOTES.
