Inside the NFL was a huge get for Showtime, when HBO decided to drop it, and now they're deciding to branch out. The channel has decided to copy the formula for a NASCAR show, and our favorite terrorist joke making sideline reporter will be the host. According to John Ourand at SBD, Chris Myers will be your host and Brad Daugherty, Kyle Petty and Randy Pemberton will be along for the ride....

Showtime Sports has signed a multi-year deal with NASCAR to produce and televise premium television's first weekly highlights and analysis show dedicated to auto racing. Inside NASCAR will premiere on at 10 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2010, on Showtime immediately following the season finale of Inside The NFL, and will consist of 38 one-hour episodes corresponding with the Sprint Cup Series' 38-week season.

"NASCAR is one of the most powerful sports brands in the country," said Ken Hershman, senior vice president and general manager, Showtime Sports, "and we are proud to team up with them on this compelling new series."

Inside NASCAR will feature narrated highlights and in-depth analysis from each week's Cup Series race, exclusive audio and video of never-before-seen aspects of race week and in-depth feature stories plus forecasts on upcoming races and opinions on America's No. 1 form of motorsports.

This is really a great move by CBS, who owns Showtime, as they try to get into the racing fray. An inside look at NASCAR really isn't anything new, but fans of the Sport eat that sort of thing up.

Showtime Sports launches 'Inside NASCAR' franchise (NASCAR)

Last year, ESPN received a ton of flak for their NASCAR coverage. Fans accused the "Leader" of not being ready to cover the sport, and a lot even thought that the network tried to create drama, to create story lines. Well this year ESPN has another chance, and so far, it's not off to a good start.

During Monday's makeup day in Pocono, Kasey Kahne got into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya on a restart. Kahne apologized to Montoya after the race, but ESPN reporter Vince Welch didn't see it that way. Welch accused Montoya of being the aggressor, and the driver of the 42 car didn't appreciate it at all....

You can obviously put some of the blame on Montoya's reputation, but that was pretty much an epic fail for Welch. Hopefully ESPN can get their act together for NASCAR fans, but it's not looking good.

Montoya Pwns ESPN's Vince Welch (All Left Turns)

There are a lot of announcers out there that have problems with various people in production and on-air co-workers, but it's rare that you hear about those issues. That however, is not the case for TNT. The network has confirmed to the Daly Planet that host, Bill Weber (pictured left), has been sent home because of a late night fight in the network's hotel....

Ralph Sheheen will handle the play-by-play duties for Daytona and Chicago with Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach alongside. TV ratings for the Sprint Cup Series race from Loudon, NH were up slightly and that may have played a role in this decision.

Weber was involved in a late night incident last Friday night at the TNT hotel in Manchester, NH. It spilled-over into Weber being sent home by TNT executives on Saturday and now his release from the TV package.

TNT has been tight-lipped about the issue and gave no indication whether or not Weber would continue with the network in 2010. Here is the official TNT release:

Bill Weber will not be part of TNT's NASCAR coverage of the Cup Series for the network’s last two races. Ralph Sheheen will handle play-by-play duties for The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland. Sheheen will be calling the races alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth.

Obviously this isn't really a big deal, considering that most of you probably didn't even realize NASCAR was aired on TNT, but still interesting to hear about. Weber must have done some serious stuff to be sent packing like that. If anyone wants to tell me about it (either on the record, or off), I'd love to hear about it.

Now Confirmed By TNT: Weber Out For Last Two Races (The Daly Planet)

One of the only redeeming things about February, once Football ends, is Daytona week/weekend. Well the NFL owners have been discussing a lot of things as of late, but the most intriguing ones is the potential to add two NFL games. That move would subsequently cause the Super Bowl to be pushed back....straight to the same spot as the Daytona 500.

The Daytona 500 starts earlier in the day than the Super Bowl, but the big hit would come in the form of advertising dollars. The number of companies using both venues would certainly decrease, especially if you consider the start of the Super Bowl would come right at the end of the race, and this has NASCAR officials reeling. Via Scene Daily....

NASCAR and Fox Sports officials are in a wait-and-see mode before commenting on what NASCAR would do, but it seems likely that the date for the Daytona 500 would have to change.

“I don’t think I can make a definitive answer to [changing the date], but I would have a hard time today seeing how that would work for everybody – working for the media partners, working for the sponsors that we share and quite frankly, working for the fan and the consumer base,” said Roger VanDerSnick, senior vice president for marketing and business operations for DIS parent company International Speedway Corp.

“I understand the NASCAR base pretty well, and there’s a fair amount of overlap. So why make that an issue when I think we’ve got several options so that it wouldn’t be?”

As mentioned above, it would only makes sense to move the Daytona 500 back, but that would certainly throw a wrench in the plans of few hundred thousand who attend the race and the millions who enjoy both events. It'll be interesting to see what NASCAR decides....and how quickly.

Daytona 500 date change likely if NFL moves Super Bowl to traditional 500 weekend (Scene Daily)

I watched exactly zero of the Great American Race yesterday, so I subsquently missed the debut of FOX's Digger and Friends, but lucky for me (and you!) Sox and Dawgs recorded the cartoon! I give you the first episode of "Digger and Friends"....

The Adventures of Digger and Friends Episode 1
by beisbolct

I guess it's not that bad, but if I was a NASCAR fan and I had to watch that nonsense while waiting for the race to start, I'd probably curse that damn gopher.

The Adventures of Digger and Friends: Episode 1 (Sox and Dawgs)

I don't know what we should blame for this trend (Laff-A-Lympics? Pro Stars?), but FOX has made a habit on depending on cheesy cartoons during games. First it was Slider, the goofy baseball with a face that told you about certain pitches. Next it was Cletus, the hip-hop inspired robot. And now it's Digger, the annoying gopher that pops up from the track during races.

Digger first appeared last year during NASCAR coverage, but this year they're giving him a little bit more airtime. To the tune of his own pre-race show! Via Sports Media Watch....

FOX has announced that Digger, an animated gopher that serves as the "alter-ego to FOX’s Gopher Cam," will be the subject of a series of vignettes that will air prior to the network's NASCAR telecasts this season.

The two-minute vignettes will be entitled "The Adventures of Digger & Friends", and will feature Digger, "his girlfriend Annie, best friend Marbles, Gramps and arch-nemesis Lumpy Wheels." The series' theme song will be sung by country star Keith Urban, who says of the theme: "I just hope that Digger likes it."

The series makes its debut during the NASCAR on FOX pre-race show prior to this Sunday's Daytona 500.

Digger and his associates will also "appear throughout NASCAR on FOX broadcasts as animated wipes, billboards and bugs," akin to what the network did with its robots during NHL coverage in the 1990s.

FOX hopes to use Digger & Friends to cultivate future fans. The network notes that "roughly a third of the FOX NASCAR audience" is made up of homes with children.

Are we positive that David Hill of FOX is qualified to run a network? I mean, between the band shots and now the cartoons, I almost picture him as Tom Hanks in "Big". A cartoon about a gopher before a NASCAR race? You think the names they call Jeff Gordon are bad? Wait until a kid down South gets caught watching this by some bully.

'Digger and Friends' to precede NASCAR telecasts (Sports Media Watch)

Tom Cruise knows a thing or two about NASCAR, and the actor is scheduled to make an appearance on the February 6th edition of ESPN2's NASCAR Now. Cruise will discuss everything from "Days of Thunder" to Daytona Motor Speedway. Via ESPN PR....

The Friday, Feb. 6, edition of ESPN2’s NASCAR Now will include an original interview with actor Tom Cruise at 5 p.m. ET. Cruise discusses his interest in NASCAR and how he drove a race car at Daytona while filming the 1990 movie Days of Thunder. The movie featured a young Cruise playing the role of Cole Trickle -- a hotshot rookie driver looking for success in NASCAR's premiere division. From the big screen to real life, Cruise has had a lifelong passion for racing. The NASCAR season begins this weekend at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Excerpts:

Cruise on NASCAR racing:

"You know it's just...it's just America. It's something about driving in a car. For me as a kid growing up, I always wanted to race cars. I came up with the idea to make this movie about NASCAR, it's just a piece of America and these icons who were there in the beginning and created this sport, you just see our history through time, our love affair with the automobile. It's a very unique kind of racing that feels very American. Rubbin's racin', you know."

Cruise on filming at Daytona:

"My personal Daytona memory is getting up close to 200 mph, personally driving on that track in the car. Having that opportunity to drive those cars on the track, meet those drivers that I got to meet. Making movies, I love it because I get to enter into a world and you meet these people, and the generosity that I've been extended by these people -- whether it's NASCAR or Jerry McGuire -- it's a great life because I'm interested in life and in engaging in life, and to have those experiences I feel very privileged."

What's that? You want a clip??? Happy to oblige....



Sorry it isn't longer, but that's all ESPN provided from the interview. Oh yeah, and another thing that I almost forgot. Apparently NASCAR is starting up again! Boy that ridiculously long layoff time of three months seems like it took forever!

Well we're getting close to the end of the regular season and with just two weekends to go, FOX has brought out the big guns. Yes folks, we get another dose of Josh Lewin and the dulcet stylings of NASCAR's Mike Joy!

Most of the country gets a seemingly worthless Cards-Cubs game because Chicago's magic number is two, and TBS just decided to air the same Sox-Blue Jays matchup that was on the station last weekend. If you don't already have and MLB.com account, I suggest that you sign up for one this weekend. Here's your schedule....

Saturday:

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs - Josh Lewin, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 3:55pm, 73%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Greensboro, Greenville, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tulsa, Washington

Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays - Mike Joy & Joe Magrane (FOX, 3:55pm, 18%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Boston, Fort Myers, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Providence, Raleigh, Seattle, Tampa, West Palm Beach

Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds - Brian Anderson & Chris Welsh (FOX, 3:55pm, 9%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Louisville, Milwaukee, Philadelphia

Sunday:

Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox - Chip Caray and Buck Martinez
Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees - Jon Miller and Joe Morgan

Back near the end of August, Stu Scott played a little one-on-one with Barack Obama, and after that you knew it was just a matter of time before John McCain got his turn on the network. According to MDS at Fanhouse, Bob Ley sat down with the Republican Presidential candidate and the interview will more than likely air sometime this week....

ESPN's Bob Ley interviewed Republican presidential candidate John McCain today at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the Worldwide Leader attempts to give equal time to both candidates after Stuart Scott interviewed Barack Obama last month.

The problem, though, is that Scott gave Obama a puff piece, complete with a game of one-on-one that ended with a hug. Somehow I can't see Ley and McCain hugging it out at the NASCAR track.

ESPN tells me they don't know yet when the interview will air, but I'm betting that when it does air, we'll see that Ley asked tough questions, because he's a good journalist. And I'm sure the McCain campaign will use Ley asking McCain tough questions and Scott asking Obama softball questions to bolster their claims that the media is biased against Republicans, because that's been one of the key McCain talking points in the last couple of weeks.

It is really odd that ESPN decided to use a different interviewer for each candidate when you think about it. If Ley does grill McCain it will obviously come across like ESPN set it up that way (whether they did or didn't), and about six months back that's the reason they originally said they weren't even going to bother with interviews. I'm not sure what changed their mind but one thing is for sure. They really should have thought this out a heck of a lot more.

On a side note, I'm also wondering who picked the locations. If it was McCain's choice, picking a NASCAR race is a pretty transparent move. We couldn't have just conducted both in Bristol? Guess not.

ESPN's Bob Ley Interviews John McCain, How Will It Compare to Scott-Obama Puff Piece? (Fanhouse)
Video: Obama's Sit-Down With Stuart Scott (Awful Announcing)

This is by far the best NASCAR video that this sight has ever laid eyes on. I have no idea who the guy is in the middle in between Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond is, but listen closely to how he pronounces NASCAR driver Patrick Carpentier's (Car-pawn-tee—eh) name. Via From The Marbles...

Amazing. I love Michael Waltrip's response there and Greg Biffle chimes in perfectly. Too funny.

Video: NASCAR botches its appeal to the Lilith Fair crowd (From The Marbeles)

This new Shell commercial had me laughing half way through and then dizzy the rest. The spot is for some sort of new gasoline and Kevin Harvick is testing the gas with a pair of scientists in the back, and Harvick is the only one smiling by the end....

I feel sick.

Crashes in qualifying for NASCAR never look that bad, but every once and awhile you get a pretty nasty one. Well this crash by Michael Mcdowell could possibly have been the worst ever when no one else was on the track.

"I came off of (Turn 4) on that first lap and felt a little bit off, that something wasn't quite right," McDowell said. "I went down into one and I don't know if it was the oil dry or if something happened. I hate to make that much work for the guys back at the shop.

Okay, first off all you just went head first into a wall and flipped your car numerous times. The guys in the shop will understand. Second, how do you walk away from something like that? That was nuts.

McDowell 'OK' after fiery qualifying crash at Texas (FOX Sports)

I'm not even talking about the fans watching on television that got dragged around by FOX and NASCAR but the fans who actually went to the race and got there early for the festivities were completely screwed.

Get this. Not only was the race delayed three times due to rain, crashes, and Michael Waltrip leaking oil onto the track, but NASCAR officials told fans at 10pm that the race was going off at Midnight. It didn't but fans had to wait until Midnight (PST) to get the final word.....

By the time they completed 87 laps and had to stop again at 6:11 p.m. -- this time for more than four hours -- race officials had issued seven cautions because of bad weather or debris on the track.

The race was scheduled to resume at 11 p.m., and only a handful of fans remained in the stands huddled under ponchos or makeshift shelters crafted out of plastic sheets. NASCAR officials finally decided just before 11 p.m. to postpone the race until this morning.

Those officials should be grateful that the day's casualty list was limited to dented sheet metal, sheared off bolts and shredded rubber.

That list could easily have included broken bones and battered bodies.

Okay, that's a little over the top, but I can understand the frustration. And mind you.....that's West Coast time. All in all fans at the track could have ultimately waited over 12 hours as NASCAR and FOX strung fans along.

You can't ulimately say if FOX was involved or if this was entirely NASCAR's decision, but with the Oscars happening on ABC it really seemed like they were trying to get people to stick around and watch the race. Just a horrible decision in regards to fans and it's drivers to try and finish one race.

I think Larry Brown sums it up best....."FOX had the viewers by the balls if you’re a NASCAR fan. If you made the choice to commit to watching the race, you hung around the extra two hours. And what’d they tell you on your local FOX channel? Sit around and watch our post-Oscars coverage in the meantime."

NASCAR Crapped on Race Fans Sunday (Larry Brown Sports)
Decision to go ahead with auto race is all wet (LA Times)
NASCAR's Debacle in Cali (The Sporting Blog)

I'm probably a little late on this, but there's nothing really going on until the combine gets going (NBA trade deadline...psshaw). I'm honestly trying to get back into NASCAR after 2 years off and this past Sunday's Daytona 500 was a great place to start. Apparently I wasn't the only one watching....

Nielsen said 33.5 million Americans watched at least part of The Great American Race, a 2 percent improvement over 2007's 33.0 million. And this year's numbers also marked the first time that the Daytona 500 has earned a higher rating than the prime-time NFL package, with NBC averaging 10.0/16 on Sunday Night Football during the past season.

Looking at other top Winter/Spring events, the Daytona 500 also posted a higher rating than the most recent NCAA Final Four on CBS (9.9/18), final round of The Masters (9.1/22 on CBS) and Kentucky Derby (8.8/21 on NBC).

It just blows my mind how that many people can watch car racing. Just amazing. I know it's not for everybody, but I think if you have HD and surround sound you should at least turn in for a bit.

FOX's Daytona coverage up versus a year ago (FOX Sports)

Ah the list is long isn't it? The Glow Puck, Slider, and that damn Robot are just a few of the network's missses. Well add NASCAR's Gopher Cam to the ever-growing list. Via SBD...

Fox has installed four small, stationary HD POV cameras, called "Gopher Cams," underneath the track at Daytona Int'l Speedway for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday. The Gopher Cams mark the first time a sub-track surface camera will be HD quality and have been placed at each of the track's four turns.

I guess it isn't the worst of ideas but if that damn gopher pops up multiple times during Sunday's Daytona 500, I think you might here a few grumblings from the gear heads.

(Source: Sports Business Daily)

ESPN was hammered last year for it's NASCAR coverage by those in the know (I am certainly not one who "knows" NASCAR). The network recently made a handful of changes in and out of the booth over the past few weeks, and they're now added current owner Ray Evernham as an analyst.

Ray Evernham, a successful team owner in NASCAR racing and a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief, has joined ESPN’s NASCAR coverage team as an analyst.

Evernham, who makes his debut this week from Daytona International Speedway, will appear on NASCAR Now, ESPN’s daily NASCAR news and information show, as part of a rotating panel of ESPN analysts for a weekly roundtable discussion in an expanded one-hour Monday edition of the program. The roundtable, hosted by ESPN’s Allen Bestwick, will discuss the latest NASCAR news and events.

In addition to his duties with NASCAR Now, Evernham will work as an analyst in ESPN’s booth for live telecasts of NASCAR Nationwide Series races from Mexico City and Loudon, N.H. Evernham also will join ESPN’s pre-race NASCAR Countdown show for some races in 2008, including prior to the Feb. 16 NASCAR Nationwide Series opening event from Daytona, and will appear from Daytona on NASCAR Now, SportsCenter and ESPNEWS.

It seems like a great move on the surface, and the insight he could provide is probably immense, but why would you hire an owner of a team in the midst of the season? This has to be an unprecedented move in the History of Sports. I can't for the life of me remember a party with ties to an actual season being an active member of a broadcast.

What would happen if Jerry Jones was hired to work Monday Night Countdown? Just an odd move if you ask me.

(Via ESPN PR)

ESPN 2 was carrying this past Saturday's Busch Race and everything was going on swimmingly. That was until "human error" cause the network to lost it's signal entirely during Lap #247. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal....you apologize when you come back and go on with the race. Well there was one small problem at Bristol.

There's only 250 laps for this race, and when the signal came back. The race was over...

Human error caused ESPN2 to lose its signal in the final laps of Friday's Busch broadcast from Bristol and caused fans to miss the final two laps ESPN spokesman George McNeilly said.

"We sincerely apologize for briefly losing transmission due to human error and have taken steps to prevent this from happening again," McNeilly said in a statement. "As soon as transmission was reestablished we apologized to viewers and replayed the last two laps of the race."

Dagger. I wasn't watching, but lucky for us someone from NASCAR Nation has created a 9-minute YouTube clip detailing the terrible coverage throughout the race. The dead air comes in at about the 7-minute mark, but the whole thing is pretty hilarious.



Blank Screen (Roanoke Times)

I really tried to watch NASCAR on ESPN today, but the commercials kept getting in the way. I would change the channel and start to get into the race, but talk of "Dirty Air" would lead into one of what seemed like 8 million commercial breaks.

I thought I was just being an ESPN hater until my Inbox started getting flooded with anti-ESPN sentiment. And just like Tony Stewart's (2nd) jab at ESPN the other day, people are pretty upset with the coverage....

"Every time we've got to deal with somebody from ESPN it's a sharp knife trying to dig for dirt. I'm not saying they're not fair questions. Do we always have to leave with a dagger on our back from ESPN? That's all I'm curious about."- Tony Stewart

They talk about "dirty air" every 5 minutes. Its like they were told "listen we have these cool graphics ... lets keep the dirty air talk up so we can keep using there". Ive never heard the term dirty air so much in a race ever.- BG

I watched the entire race and saw when Dale Jr. spun out. The thing is, he spun out because of a bad suspension set up, not because of a "blown tire" as every single mention of it on ESPN's Sportcenter and ESPN News has described it. They then show the tire, which amazingly is not "blown out" or even flat.....it had a flat spot from the from the subsequent sliding sideways. Rusty Wallace and the other announcers pegged it during the race; it's officially called a "flat spot" from going sideways, which of course was a result of the bad suspension and shocks setup. But ESPN constantly stated that his spin was because of a "tire problem", even when, during the race, it was plainly clear that Jr. was unhappy with the shocks so much that they had to take out some springs during a yellow flag pit stop. Why does ESPN misinform and misrepresent what the problem really was after the race?- WC

NASCAR on ESPN sucks! Fox does the best job covering NASCAR. The coverage on ESPN stinks, too many comercials, too many past race film clips, poor choice of commentators. I want NASCAR on FOX all season long.- BS

Suzy Kolber has an annoying voice and she doesnt know s*** about nascar. she should stick to football.- AN

I'll tell you what Double A, I caught the last half hour of coverage on ESPN, and I'll tell you what, that was some of the WORST announcing ever, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what, Rusty Wallace is a complete moron. I'll tell you what, there would be a huge wreck on the track and he wouldn't break off his verbal diarrhea to comment about it, said that Montoya had never driven at Indy before (he won the goddam Indy 500), added a "I'll tell you what" to every single comment.- HW

The ESPN Nascar A-Team has been awful since the start of the Busch season. Punch is a boring play-by-play guy and Wallace talks to the audience like we're children. Also, anyone else notice how much they kept hyping the airflow on the cars just because they had that awful Fox/NHL-esque Draft track stuff?- JW

There's many more that I couldn't put up because of very strong language, but you get the idea. And say what you will about NBC's coverage....at least they get viewers. Last week's ESPN telecast got 24% less viewers than last year's NBC broadcast from the Brickyard.

Not a good start at all for the "Leader".

Tony Stewart Goes Off On ESPN's NASCAR Coverage (Awful Announcing)
Not Since The Invention Of The Glow Puck, Has A Graphic Been This Distracting (Awful Announcing)
Stewart rips ESPN over NASCAR coverage (MSNBC)

So what does $25K buy you in NASCAR? About a million new fans perhaps???

Welcome to NASCAR, ESPN! War Tony Stewart!!! (I have no idea what that means btw)

Tony Stewart Fined $25,000 for ‘Bulls**t’ (Mister Irrelevant)

Tony Stewart won the Brickyard 400 this past Sunday and did so in front of the first ESPN audience in quite awhile. Never one to back away from a fight, Stewart took the network, and his new critics, head on...

And when Stewart's feeling swell, no one is safe — even a new broadcast partner. On the day Cup returned to ESPN for the first time since 2000, Stewart called out the network for criticizing him after he said he planned to celebrate Chicagoland with a case of Schlitz.

"I don't want anybody from ESPN talking about how irresponsible I am," he said. "Heaven forbid you actually have fun in life."

I guess that would be a dig at anyone who critiques a Sport. And while it is a valid point....it's just the way things are. It comes with the territory of being involved in a Sport or even being in the spotlight at all. ESPN is the leader of critiquing, and while Tony may not like it....he's going to have to learn to live with it. Pretty much how ESPN is going to have to live with blogs.

P.S.- I still think it's hilarious that Tony is the only racer who won't go on Jim Rome's show. If anyone has more info on this let me know.....I'd like to hear the story.

Temperatures, Stewart on patented midsummer rise (USA Today)