Update: The Sprint Cup Series race has been postponed due to rain until Monday at noon ET. There will be a one hour RaceDay show on SPEED at 11AM. TDP will live blog both shows. Join us for updates and info tomorrow.
Here we go with twelve hours of NASCAR TV. NASCAR Now is the bookend, with the preview show at 10AM and the review show at 10PM. Long day for host Mike Massaro.
RaceDay from the Glen allowed Wendy Venturini to put her meteorology skills to work and point out the huge storm headed for the area that is supposed to hit around 2PM.
Jimmy Spencer starred in the show opening as General Patton and had one foot in funny and the other in creepy. These interesting show opens are actually courtesy of The NASCAR Media Group that produces the SPEED Stage shows.
Allen Bestwick has Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside as he hosts an hour of pre-race at 1PM. This show should use the Saturday Nationwide Series race that ESPN produced as the foundation to build the Sprint Cup Series preview.
Wallace and Daugherty have been doing a very good job of building the excitement for these races. Between Wallace's outspoken comments and Daugherty's over-the-top enthusiasm, the Infield Pit Studio has been fun to watch.
Jerry Punch will have Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree next to him in the broadcast booth to call the race. Lots of TV watching in the booth as this is a road course and seeing all the way around the track is tough. Both Jarrett and Petree called the Nationwide Series race, so they should be ready to go.
As usual, the challenge for ESPN is to balance in-car camera views with wideshots following the double-file racing in the field. Trouble comes quickly at The Glen and the TV team is going to be called on to react quickly when something happens on the track or on pit road.
Watch the TV director cut the pit stops on this track that runs in the opposite direction from the other road course. Green flag stops should be in a double video box that allows the racing on the track to continue to be seen continually.
The quick camera cuts of this track make it tough to integrate elements like pre-recorded driver soundbites that ESPN has been forcing into the last two Sprint Cup Series races. It also makes it tough for Tim Brewer to get his points across from the Tech Garage. Hopefully, Brewer keeps it brief today.
ESPN continues to use the "flying headshots" as the cars finish the race instead of the same drop-down electronic graphic favored by the other NASCAR TV networks. This makes it tough to watch the race and also see who finished where.
We are going to open the live blog early today and welcome your comments on all the NASCAR TV programs on the air this Sunday. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by TDP.
