This Saturday is very different from most because SPEED has stepped out of the NASCAR TV scene with a Grand Am race and the Barrett-Jackson auto auction from Las Vegas, NV.
That leaves the Nationwide qualifying without TV, puts the Cup Series Happy Hour on at 3PM and the the Nationwide race coverage begins at 4PM ET.
The first TV transition on ESPN2 will be at 3PM. There is once again a live football game at noon ET. NASCAR has not had good luck with the football games as most have run well over three hours. It will be Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree featured on the Happy Hour coverage.
Allen Bestwick is next at 4PM with the NASCAR Countdown show for the Nationwide Series. He is joined by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. This is a thirty minute show that should review the untelevised qualifying and review the championship standings.
The emerging story of Saturday is that Kyle Busch continues to have flu-like symptoms. This may result in him starting, but not finishing, the Nationwide Series race. Denny Hamlin is said to be standing by in relief.
It will be Marty Reid teaming with Jarrett and Petree for the live Nationwide Series race coverage at 4:30PM. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage. Down on pit road will be Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Dave Burns.
This is a big and fast track where the Nationwide Series will be quickly divided into the "haves" and the "have nots." Look for the start-and-park cars to get off the track early to avoid being run over.
The big teams should be lapping quickly and the size of this track does not induce many caution flags. Hopefully, there will be more than a handful of cars who can hang with the leaders.
As far as ESPN, this track allows for lots of in-car camera shots with the long laps and big back straight. Low angle cams show the speed while high shots scrub it off for the viewers at home.
There is a tempation to allow the high cameras to follow cars around for the entire lap. As we have spoken about all season, TV viewers are looking for cars to race toward them and not away from them. Staying ahead of the pack at Fontana yields much better TV coverage.
This post will serve to host your comments as we watch Happy Hour and then the Nationwide Series race from Fontana on ESPN2. 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.
