TV Times

TV Times: Water on the Smoke?

Monday, January 24, 2011 153 reads
Lou Modestino

A humble and contrite Tony Stewart apologized at the Charlotte, NC, press conference for his emotional outburst and subsequent helmet throwing at the track promoter during a sprint car race in Australia. He said that he was very sorry that he became upset about the condition of the dirt track surface.

It appears that “Terrible” Tony’s old persona emerged again after a long hiatus. Over the past few years, Stewart seemed to have reinvented himself, but a brief lapse in judgment makes us wonder whether he’d truly been able to conquer his behavior or were they just laying dormant? There’s a little devil still lurking inside Stewart that made him do it, no doubt! Time will tell whether he’s put the reigns on those impulses again or not.

The pending purchase of NBC by Comcast could offer the IZOD Indy Car Series an opportunity as some of the major Indy Car races could move to that alphabet. The IZOD Indy Car Series has been hindered by the fact that the current VS anchor cable channel does not give that series the chance to expand its TV ratings. ABC carries the Indy 500 race day broadcast on a time-buy basis which is the IZOD Indy Car centerpiece event. Critics have felt that the very competitive Indy Cars would have been better served if the majority of its races were carried on ABC and even ESPN. In the process of this transaction, NBC could see Comcast flex its muscles and put more motorsports on that alphabet network. It also will give Comcast another window of opportunity to get into the major league stick and ball sports. Currently Comcast’s VS channel airs just about all of the NHL games. So expect to see some strategic moves when all the dust settles. We foresee a shake-up coming for both motorsports and stick-and-ball sports as a result.

Aren’t the attendants at Barrett-Jackson Auctions, as aired on Speed, ridiculously animated as they try to excite prospective purchacers to buy, buy, buy meanwhile upping the $$$? I find these cartoonish characters to be mildly annoying, to say the least. A major antique/collector of automobiles told me that he would never buy a car through them, and this is one of the reasons. This guy would prefer to go mano y mano directly with the seller.

The International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, AL, have announced their 2011 Induction Class. They are John Holman of the famed Holman & Moody race shop that fielded Ford factory cars winning 96 races for Ford with 30 drivers; Jan Opperman who raced the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series; Maurice Petty, engine builder for the famed Petty Racing Enterprises in NASCAR; Brian Redman who drove both F1 and Can-Am during his career; and Rex White one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers and an original member of the Chevy Racing Team.

We’ve just been advised by Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series officials that Fox’s popular FX channel is going to re-air a preview show on the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona. The show first aired on FX last Saturday. It will be replayed on SPEED TV (also owned by Fox) a few times prior to the start of the race (on Saturday, January 29, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern). The 24 Hours of Daytona marks the annual kick-off to start America’s motorsports season. At this 49th running, there will be more than 50 Daytona Prototypes and GT cars scheduled to start.

Managemet wanted to make certain that Lime Rock fans are fully up to speed on the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series coming to Northwest Connecticut May 27-30 for the Grand-Am Memorial Day Classic. Below are the airtimes for both the preview show and live coverage of the race itself:

Grand-Am Rolex 24 at Daytona Preview Show:
Sat., Jan. 22, 11:00 p.m., FX channel
Sun., Jan. 23, 8:00 p.m., SPEED channel
Sun., Jan. 23, 11:00 p.m., SPEED channel
Fri., Jan. 28, 10:00 p.m., SPEED channel
Sat., Jan. 29, 2:00 p.m., SPEED channel

Grand-Am Rolex 24 at Daytona Live Race Coverage:
Sat., Jan. 29, 3:00 p.m., SPEED channel
Sun., Jan. 30, 9:00 a.m., SPEED channel

Live racing returns to the tube this weekend with Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the NASCAR East/West All Star race from Irwindale, CA. Check RaceFanTV.com for all of the details.

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES AND PRESS RELEASE