This is truly going to be a NASCAR telecast to watch from start to finish. A lot of things are going right for ESPN and the results could be one of the best Nationwide Series races in a very long time.
With Jerry Punch and the rest of ESPN's Sprint Cup Series broadcast team in Pocono, it will be Marty Reid, Randy LaJoie and Rusty Wallace handling the inaugural Nationwide Series race from Iowa Speedway. On pit road will be veterans Mike Massaro, Jack Arute and Rick DeBruhl.
For those who missed the earlier TDP posts about this event, extra grandstands have been brought in to expand the size of the sold-out crowd to slightly over 55 thousand. You read that right. 55 thousand fans on a Saturday afternoon for a Nationwide Series race.
Rusty Wallace connections are all over the place. He designed the track, is a part-owner and his two-car Nationwide team includes his son Steven. There should be little doubt that Steven's guys are going all out to see if he can win this event.
Marty Reid has been just what ESPN needs to get the Nationwide Series through the end of the season. His great sense of humor and ability to make things exciting really works well when he gets both Wallace and LaJoie fired-up.
Wallace has really gotten a new lease on life as the analyst on this team and does a completely different job than his earlier appearances in the analyst role with Punch on the Cup side. This should be a good challenge today for Wallace to balance all four roles as track developer, series owner, father and TV analyst.
Look for the ESPN team to keep it simple. No gizmos on the telecast, few recorded driver soundbites played-back during the action and a focus on the best racing on the track. This has all the potential to be a blast for the fans.
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