Mike Mulhern

Dale Jarrett’s Last Ride: NASCAR’s Classiest Act Driving into the Sunset

2008_All-Star_Grids.xls
Dale Jarrett, one of NASCAR’s classiest
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)

By Mike Mulhern

CONCORD
This All-star race will mark Dale Jarrett’s last NASCAR run, after so many years on the tour. And he’s hoping he doesn’t go out with a bang but with a smile.
“As I think back on the career, there is one word that comes to mind, and it’s ‘fortunate,’” he says.
“Fortunate that I was able to be a part of a great sport in a time that it probably was gaining its biggest growth over the years. 
“…not because I was a part of it, but that I was just lucky to be a part of it.
“It’s very fortunate. I have been very, very lucky to be a part of this and to have what I consider a very successful career.”
These final days, Jarrett concedes, have been emotional, even though he’s not leaving the sport, just heading for the TV broadcast booth. 
“It’s difficult,” he says. “It’s been easy to talk about…but to be honest it’s been getting more difficult by the day—to know this is going to be it.
“But it’s the right thing to do. 
“It’s not that I’m having any second-thoughts, it’s just difficult knowing when I get out of the car Saturday night that is the last time I will ever compete at this level. 
“You can do a lot of fun things, I can go golf….but nothing will ever match the excitement you get from driving a race car and being able to compete at this level.
“I’ve already had calls from owners saying ‘Would you consider…?  We know that opportunity might be here.’
“Yeah, it would probably be just a crazy amount of money. But that’s not what’s ever driven me.”
Actually Jarrett, the 1999 tour champion, ran his last Cup tour event at Bristol several weeks ago. But he was in the ESPN booth at Texas, Phoenix and Talladega.
“I have to keep in touch with the sport, I have to keep up with what’s going on, because our (full Cup) coverage starts in July, and it’s pretty extensive,” Jarrett said. “My ‘next life’ here is going to require me to know a lot more stuff even, and I’ve tried to do that.”

Dale Jarrett and family...but will his new TV job be even more demanding?
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)

Jarrett might not be going out quite on a high; it’s been a few years since his last tour win. But he’s still fairly competitive, unlike some drivers who clearly held on to the wheel too long.
“We’re competitors, and just cutting off is difficult,” Jarrett says. “I know there are going to be times I’ll look back and think I should have kept going at this.
“But the announcing side is going to become extremely busy. I’m actually looking at my schedule, starting in July when we start with the Cup side at Indianapolis for ESPN, and I’m actually spending more time doing my job then if I were driving. It’s just a huge commitment.

DJ’s old office......
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)

“From 1993 to 2004 and 2005, that was a span that was just fantastic. You hear about people loving to get up every day because they love to go do their job, and that’s the way I was. 
“That’s how good it was—you wanted to do that every single day. 
“When they said ‘Do you want to go test somewhere?’ ‘Yeah, let’s go.’
“It was a blast.
“Even though everything came together in the latter stages of my career, it was perfect timing, because I was at a point where I could handle all of that.”
Through it all Dale Jarrett has been one of this sport’s classiest acts.
And Friday, on the eve of his final run, he offered a salute – to the media: “It has been a long time, and I appreciate the way all of you have treated me very fairly. 
“I can’t say you’ve always written good things…but that’s not your job. Your job is to write what you think and report.
“You’ve been extremely fair to me, and I appreciate that. It means a lot.
“Thank you. You do a lot of good things for the sport. I really do appreciate it.”

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The 48 Hours of Charlotte? Hey, this NASCAR All-Star weekend may never end

SPEED TV boss Hunter Nickell is all cranked for NASCAR All-Star Week
(Photo credit: SPEED)

By Mike Mulhern

CHARLOTTE

When it comes to entertainment promotion, NASCAR executives have the shotgun approach: if it moves, shoot at it. And if it doesn’t move, shoot at it anyway to get it moving.
Hard sell, hard push, these guys are the masters.
Little wonder that NASCAR’s TV buddies are so hopped up too: Saturation marketing, saturation promotions. Saturation, saturation, saturation.
And that’s the way it is again this NASCAR All-Star week, which kicked off with Thursday night’s annual Sprint Cup Pit Crew Challenge, pitting stock car racing’s best over-the-wall men head-to-head.

Brian Vickers’ crew, headed by crew chief Kevin Hamlin and coach Greg Miller, lived up to expectations in the finals – an all-Toyota championship – by narrowly beating Denny Hamlin’s crew (22.902 seconds vs 23.011 seconds, barely a foot). The cars are pushed by the crews.

The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin crew wins the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge by a foot over Denny Hamlin
(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Vickers’ team—Brian Haaland on the right-front, with Aaron Schields tire carrier, gas man Doug Newell and catch-can man Mike Metcalfe, rear-tire changer Danny Kincaid and rear-tire carrier Jake Brzozowski, and jackman Shaun Peet – beat the Kevin Harvick-Todd Berrier Chevy team in the semifinals. Hamlin’s crew – Mike Hicks right-front tire changer, Brandon Pegram tire carrier, Jonathan Sherman rear-tire changer and Heath Cherry tire carrier, and gas man Scott Wood and catch-can man John Eicher, and jackman Chris Anderson— beat the crew of teammate Kyle Busch in their semifinals.
Vickers’ crew won $70,000, as a team. The night’s competition had two stages, one measured team against team, the other measured man against man. The evening’s individual winners, each earning $10,000: Nick Odell and Brad Donaghy, right-front tire changer and right-front tire carrier for Kyle Busch; Dave Smith and Jason Binger, rear-tire changer and rear-tire carrier for Matt Kenseth; Caleb Hurd and Jamie Frady, gas man and catch-can man for Jeff Gordon; and jackman Eric Wilson of Kasey Kahne’s team.
An example of how seriously these crewmen take this competition – jackman Mark Jacobs suffered severe bicep tears last week while practicing for this event. Jacobs, of the Juan Pablo Montoya-Chip Ganassi team, underwent surgery Wednesday and is expected to be out three months recouperating.

To consider Bill Shakespeare, perhaps this is all something about ‘surfeiting the appetite with too much,’ or maybe it’s Mae West, about ‘never too much of a good thing,’ but if you want a little NASCAR this weekend with your TV dinners, well, how about 48 straight hours of non-stop coverage of this All-star thing?
A little NASCAR gluttony never hurt anybody…..
“The All-star race for us – right now, at this stage of SPEED—is the most important event for SPEED, and the most highly rated event: The NASCAR All-Star race Saturday night,” Hunter Nickell says.
“This is the coolest thing we do.
“So beginning about 9 a.m. Friday, we’re going 48 hours straight.”

Jimmy Spencer is every bit as outrageous with a mike as he was behind the wheel
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Nickell, three years now in this gig as head of Fox’ cable-NASCAR network, is sitting out in one of the dozens of anonymous TV trailers that surround the weekend stock car tour stop, amid an army of big Fox-SPEED haulers that carry everything from the several command-and-control centers, some with 60-some TV screen shots for the director-and-producer to pick from, to more esoteric games like the in-car camera stuff, the DirecTV stuff, and specialty sets like the SPEED Stage.
Nickell’s chair, like in all mobile rigs, is bolted to the floor, but wheels and spins like a Shanghai crane. And he can’t stop moving. This is no static performer.
Nickell’s crew carried Thursday night’s Sprint Cup pit crew challenge live, for the first time, and he seems almost giddy about the All-Star weekend….even though SPEED’s cable operations churn out thousands of hours of NASCAR coverage each season.
“Before we got the All-star race on SPEED a couple years ago, we did over 30 hours of programming around it,” Nickell says. “Last year we had the race and did 74 hours around the event. This year we have 87 hours, including the race itself Saturday night (9 p.m. start for the feature).”

The Trackside crowd at the SPEED Stage is sometimes wildly enthusiastic, sometimes just wild and crazy.
Check it out when Kyle Busch is centerstage.
(Photo credit: SPEED)

Still, in this NASCAR TV world of giants like Fox, ABC and ESPN in all its various permutations, just where does SPEED fit in?
Well, it fills in the blanks….like the hours and hours of pre-race practice (TiVo practice at home, perhaps).
And it surrounds each weekend’s feature event with hours of pre-race and post-race talk-talk and analysis, and more than a dash of goofiness and laughs.
It’s not quite The NASCAR Channel, but it does more NASCAR than anything else, and it does one heck of a lot of NASCAR.
And when NASCAR execs need a favor – like when ESPN decided to drop its Friday night Nationwide broadcast at Richmond a few days ago, in favor of an NBA game – SPEED steps into fill the void. That particular incident was interesting – the event was simulcast live on SPEED and ESPN Classic, and Speed’s broadcast got the better ratings.
“NASCAR is a huge, huge part of what SPEED is,” Nickell says dryly. “That’s obvious I guess.
“So when NASCAR calls and says ‘We’re in a jam,’ it’s cool to be able to say ‘Yes, we can.’
“For us the whole deal is being the ‘coolest,’ best NASCAR programmer to fans. That is it.
“It comes back to – Fox, ESPN, ABC, Turner, SPEED – everybody is doing great NASCAR programming. But we think we’re doing the ‘coolest’ NASCAR programming.”

An All-Toyota Night: The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin team (blue car, right lane) beats the Tony Stewart crew in opening round competition en route to NASCAR Sprint Cup pit crew challenge championship
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Well, any set with Jimmy ‘Who needs Jerry Springer’ Spencer on it, has to be watched. Just to see what outlandish things he might come up with.
And then there’s the Kyle Petty Show too….in which he finds some hapless journalist – and there are plenty ‘deer in the headlights’ in the NASCAR garage—and tries to rip them to shreds. Well, not literally of course, but Petty, while he may not be up front on the track, off the track he’s fearless, and a much faster thinker on his feet than most around the sport. (The ‘outtakes’ from Petty’s show would make a good show in itself, if Petty himself were brave enough to go for it.)
And SPEED loves to do its thing out in front a live audience, which can be daunting at times, but still visually exciting. Especially when Kyle Busch is on stage – facing a live racing crowd that at times seems almost rowdy enough to call for the chicken-wire safety netting.
But Nickell loves it all.

Not all the drivers spent Thursday pumping up their pit crews. Tony Stewart (L) and Greg Biffle were building a racing-themed playground in Charlotte
(Photo Credit: CIA for KaBOOM)

“I think we’re doing the coolest stuff,” Nickell says. “And when I watch our guys, I get so fired up because I know how much into NASCAR our guys are.
“We’re not worried about ‘Hey, what is Fox doing, what is ESPN doing?’ Everybody looks at everybody else’s stuff. But we’re working on ‘How can we make Raceday cooler this week than last week?’ ‘What can we try we’ve never tried before?’ ‘How do we make Trackside more fun?’”
Well, may taking Jimmy Spencer off valium?
Nickell laughs.
Well, why not bring in Danica Patrick to do those pre-race hot-lap segments?
Maybe Nickell needs his own late-night version of Elvira or Vampira for some of this coverage. After all, sometimes NASCAR action – particularly All-Star week—does seem as wacky as Plan 9 from Outer Space…..
Or, hey, how about being brave enough to bring back The Pit Bulls? Hmmmm.
Nickell seems seldom at a loss for ideas: “This year we’ve added a show called ‘NASCAR in a Hurry,’ which we put on in front of Race Day.
“We figured out there is so much stuff that goes on each weekend that very few people, if any, get to see all of it. So we built this show to let people know ‘Hey, before you watch Race Day, here’s all the cool stuff that’s been happening.’
“So we go back over the stuff that ESPN had, that we’ve had, stuff that’s happened on the track and off the track. So we stuff that in just before Race Day, to get the fans fired up.”
Last weekend at Darlington, for example, the race itself started about 740 p.m.; NASCAR in a Hurry came on at 4:30 p.m., and Race Day ran from 5 till 7.
And this week it’s the 48 Hours of Charlotte.

SPEED’s boss Hunter Nickell wants to create the next ‘Cool’ NASCAR race. Any suggestions?
(Photo credit: SPEED)

In this sometimes curious world of NASCAR TV, just where does SPEED itself it in? Compared to Big Brother Fox and ABC’s legendary ESPN, SPEED sometimes seems like ‘the other’ channel.’
That just makes Nickell bristle.
“It’s not us versus ESPN or versus Fox or who,” Nickell insists. “They have their deals and we have ours. And NASCAR is the largest piece of SPEED’s programming, by far.
“We’ve got the trucks, and weekend after weekend it’s not us-versus-anybody. It’s us versus, well, the next coolest NASCAR show, whatever that might be.”
What really is the purpose of this SPEED thing anyway? Where did this channel come from?
“It started back in 1996 as SpeedVision, as the video version of the magazine rack ‘everything about vehicles,’” Nickell says.
“Now as time has gone on, while we still have an enormous amount of enthusiast programming, motorcycles, automobiles…but when Fox and SPEED got into the NASCAR business, we got the opportunity to create a ton of NASCAR programming. And we’ve been adding hours ever since.
“SPEED has 21 on-air personalities. Heck, we used to produce all of Daytona’s SpeedWeeks with just 21 people; now we’ve got 21 on-air personalities alone: Steve Byrnes, Larry MacReynolds, John Roberts, Wendy Venturini, Krista Voda, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer….that’s ‘our gang.’”
The Trackside, Raceday, and post-race shows are the bedrock.
But competition? How about dueling 6 p.m. NASCAR daily newscasts? These networks may be a bit too scared for that.
“It is rare that a NASCAR show on SPEED or ESPN or Fox or Turner will overlap…..because that’s how NASCAR has built its TV deals,” Nickell insists. “It works for all of us, and the fans, most of the time, because we’re not going head-to-head all the time.”
Hate for the fluff to get in the way of any hard news here.
But then, hey, in this new media age, hard news may be way overrated anyway.
Of course there is the obvious economic issue too – covering this sport is so labor-intensive and equipment-intensive that the networks covering each weekend’s event share a lot – cameras, cameramen, uplink vehicles, command haulers.
“The relationship on the production level, week-in, week-out at the race tracks, is incredible,” Nickell says. “It is working.
“To watch the cooperation between production teams is awesome. It’s amazing to watch.”

SPEED’s Wendy Venturini, one of the network’s 21 on-air personalities
(Photo Credit: Wenty Venturini)

So what’s he dreaming up next? “That’s my favorite question – In the big picture we’re trying to find the next coolest NASCAR program to create,” Nickell says.
“Now that might sound like something everybody ought to be trying to do…..and maybe they are.”
Maybe something with Hannah Montana, a good ol’ Nashville girl who might need a new gig herself?
Nickell laughs again.

As Jimmie Johnson so well knows, a driver’s TV work is never done
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“Two things we are working on right now,” Nickell says: “First, we’re cooking up something special for the Truck series this year, to build programming around.
“Second, we would like to add the next ‘big’ NASCAR event. Not just one, but more. Like this All-Star race.
“We have the Truck series, all but two events. And we have SpeedWeeks (at Daytona), which is huge. And we have the All-star week.
“But we want to work with NASCAR to find the next ‘big’ event on SPEED. Because SPEED will make it a huge event; we will put the resources and the hours around it to make it a big event.
“We’ve got something huge in February, we’ve got something huge in May. What can we and NASCAR do next?”
Maybe a new IROC series? Cross-promotion with Danica Patrick and Ashley Force, maybe John Force versus Jimmy Spencer?
Hey, 320 mph is 320 mph.
And after all, this isn’t necessarily just about sports but about entertainment.

Hey, not so heavy on the rouge, please: They didn’t send you over from the MAC store, did they?
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

We want your reaction, so please comment on this story and offer your own opinions, on this story, on our NASCAR videos, and anything about NASCAR:

SPEED’s 48 Hours of Charlotte: Just how much NASCAR can you take? (P.S. It’s still a work-in-progress....)
(Credit: SPEED)

¿Las 48 horas de Charlotte? Hey, esta semana All-star de NASCAR puede nunca terminar

SPEED TV boss Hunter Nickell is all cranked for NASCAR All-Star Week
(Photo credit: SPEED)
Ponen al cazador Nickell del jefe de la SPEED TV todo para la semana All-star de NASCAR
(crédito de foto: SPEED)

ma Por Mike Mulhern

(Por favor, si esta traducción tiene grandes errores, o si quisiera sugerir una mejor redacción, por favor, utilice el botón de comentario y nos dicen. Muchas gracias.)
(Y envíe por favor este acoplamiento del URL a sus amigos. Gracias otra vez.)
(Deseamos su reacción, satisfacemos tan el comentario sobre esta historia y ofrecemos sus propias opiniones, sobre esta historia, en nuestros videos de NASCAR, y cualquier cosa sobre NASCAR: )

CHARLOTTE

Cuando viene a la promoción de la hospitalidad, los ejecutivos de NASCAR tienen el acercamiento de la escopeta: si se mueve, tire en ella. Y si él doesn’ movimiento de t, lanzamiento en él de todos modos de conseguirlo que se mueve.

La venta dura, empuje duro, estos individuos es los amos.

Poco se pregunta que NASCAR’ los compinches de s TV son así que saltado para arriba también: Comercialización de la saturación, promociones de la saturación. Saturación, saturación, saturación.

Y that’ s la manera es otra vez esta semana All-star de NASCAR, que golpeó con el pie apagado con jueves night’ desafío anual del equipo de hoyo de Sprint Cup, coche común que marca con hoyos racing’ s mejor sobre - emparede a los hombres comparativos.

Brian Vickers’ el equipo, dirigido por el jefe de equipo Kevin Hamlin y el coche Greg Miller, vivió hasta expectativas en los finales - un campeonato de todo-Toyota - por Denny estrecho de derrota Hamlin’ equipo de s (22.902 segundos contra 23.011 segundos, apenas un pie). Los coches son empujados por los equipos.

Vickers’ equipo—Brian Haaland en el derecho-delantero, con el portador del neumático de Aaron Schields, hombre Doug Newell del gas y coger-puede servir a Mike Metcalfe, cambiador Danny Kincaid del posterior-neumático y portador Jake Brzozowski del posterior-neumático, y Shaun jackman Peet - bata al equipo de Kevin Harvick-Todd Berrier Chevy en los semifinales. Hamlin’ equipo de s - el cambiador del neumático de los catetos de Mike Hicks, del neumático derecho-delanteros de Brandon Pegram, cambiador del posterior-neumático de Jonatán Sherman y cereza del brezo cansan el portador, y Scott Wood del hombre del gas y coger-pueden servir Juan Eicher, y a Chris jackman Anderson—bata al equipo del compañero de equipo Kyle Busch en sus semifinales.

Vickers’ el equipo ganó $70.000, en equipo.

El night’ la competición de s tenía dos etapas, un equipo medido contra el equipo, el otro hombre medido contra hombre. El evening’ ganadores individuales de s, cada ganancia $10.000: Nick Odell y Brad Donaghy, cambiador derecho-delantero del neumático y portador derecho-delantero del neumático para Kyle Busch; Dave Smith y Jason Binger, cambiador del posterior-neumático y portador del posterior-neumático para Matt Kenseth; Caleb Hurd y Jamie Frady, hombre del gas y coger-pueden servir para Jeff Gordon; y Eric jackman Wilson de Kasey Kahne’ equipo de s.

Un ejemplo de cómo estas tripulantes toman seriamente esta competición - bicep severo sufrido Mark Jacobs jackman de la marca rasga la semana pasada mientras que practica para este acontecimiento. Se espera que Jacobs, del equipo de Ganassi de la Juan Pablo Montoya, experimentó la cirugía miércoles y esté hacia fuera tres meses recouperating.

The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin crew wins the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge by a foot over Denny Hamlin
(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Para considerar a Bill Shakespeare, quizás éste es todo el algo sobre ‘ surfeiting el apetito con demasiado, ‘ o quizá it’ Mae West, sobre ‘ nunca demasiado de una buena cosa, ‘ ¿pero si usted quiere un pequeño NASCAR este fin de semana con sus cenas de TV, bien, cómo cerca de 48 horas rectas de cobertura directa de esta cosa All-star?

Una pequeña glotonería de NASCAR nunca lastimó cualquiera ..... “

La raza All-star para nosotros - ahora, en la etapa actual de SPEED - es el acontecimiento más importante para la SPEED, y el acontecimiento lo más altamente posible clasificado: La noche de sábado All-star de la raza de NASCAR, “ El cazador Nickell dice. “Ésta es la cosa más fresca que lo hacemos.

“ Tan comenzar cerca de 9 mañanas viernes, we’ el re ir 48 horas de straight.”

The Trackside crowd at the SPEED Stage is sometimes wildly enthusiastic, sometimes just wild and crazy.
Check it out when Kyle Busch is centerstage.
(Photo credit: SPEED)
La muchedumbre del Trackside en la etapa de la VELOCIDAD es a veces entusiástica, a veces apenas salvaje y loco. Compruébela hacia fuera cuando Kyle Busch es centerstage.
(Crédito de foto: SPEED)

Nickell, tres años ahora en este carruaje como jefe de Fox’ la red del cable-NASCAR, se está sentando hacia fuera en una de las docenas de acoplados anónimos de la TV que rodeen la parada del viaje del coche común del fin de semana, en medio de un ejército de transportadores grandes que lleven todo de los varios centros del comando-y-control, algunos de la Fox-SPEED con 60 algunos tiros de pantalla de la TV para que el director-y-productor escoja de, a juegos más esotéricos como la materia montada en el coche de la cámara, la materia de DirecTV, y los sistemas de la especialidad como la etapa de la SPEED.

Nickell’ la silla de s, como en todos los aparejos móviles, se emperna al piso, pero rueda y hace girar como una grúa de Shangai.

Y él can’ mudanza de la parada de t. Éste no es ningún ejecutante estático.

Nickell’ el equipo de s llevó jueves night’ el desafío del equipo de hoyo de Sprint Cup vivo, por primera vez, y él parece casi vertiginosos sobre el fin de semana All-star….aunque SPEED’ las operaciones del cable de s baten hacia fuera millares de horas de cobertura de NASCAR cada estación.

“ Antes de que consiguiéramos a raza All-star en SPEED un par hace años, hicimos durante 30 horas de programación alrededor de él, “ Nickell dice.

“ Teníamos la raza e hicimos el año pasado 74 horas alrededor del acontecimiento. Este año tenemos 87 horas, incluyendo la noche de sábado de la raza sí mismo (comienzo de 9 P.M. para la característica). “

Jimmy Spencer is every bit as outrageous with a mike as he was behind the wheel
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Iges for NASCAR)
La chaqueta de punto de Jimmy es cada pedacito tan indignante con un micrófono como él estaba detrás de la rueda
(foto por Jarrett/Getty oxidado Iges para NASCAR)

¿No obstante, en este mundo de NASCAR TV de gigantes tenga gusto de Fox, ABC y ESPN en todas sus varias permutaciones, apenas dónde SPEED ajuste adentro?

Bien, completa los espacios en blanco….como las horas y las horas de pre-raza practique (práctica de TiVo en el país, quizás).

Y rodea cada weekend’ el acontecimiento de la característica de s con horas de pre-raza y post-race hablar-hablan y análisis, y más que una rociada del goofiness y de risas.

It’ s no absolutamente el canal de NASCAR, pero hace más NASCAR que todo lo demás, y él hace una puñetas de mucho NASCAR. Y cuando los execs de NASCAR necesitan un favor - como cuando ESPN decidía a caer su Nationwide tour de la noche de viernes en Richmond hace algunos días, a favor de un juego de NBA - SPEED pasos en terraplén el vacío. Que el incidente particular era interesante - el acontecimiento era simulcast vivo en obra clásica de la SPEED y de ESPN, y Speed’ la difusión de s consiguió los mejores grados.

“ NASCAR es una parte enorme, enorme de cuál es la SPEED, “ Nickell dice seco. “ That’ s obvio conjeturo.

Not all the drivers spent Thursday pumping up their pit crews. Tony Stewart (L) and Greg Biffle were building a racing-themed playground in Charlotte
(Photo Credit: CIA for KaBOOM)
No todos los conductores pasaron jueves que bombeaba para arriba a sus equipos de hoyo. Tony Stewart (l) y Greg Biffle construían un patio competir con-temático en Charlotte
(crédito de foto: Cia para KaBOOM)

“ Tan cuando NASCAR llama y dice ‘ We’ re en un atasco, ‘ it’ s fresco poder decir ‘ Sí, nosotros can.’

“ Para nosotros el reparto del conjunto está siendo el ‘ el más fresco, ‘ el mejor programador de NASCAR a los ventiladores. Eso es él. “ Viene detrás - Fox, ESPN, ABC, Turner, SPEED - todos está haciendo la gran programación de NASCAR. Pero pensamos we’ re haciendo el ‘ coolest’ NASCAR programming.”

Bien, fije con Jimmy ‘ Quién necesita a Jerry Springer’ Spencer.

As Jimmie Johnson so well knows, a driver’s TV work is never done
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Como Jimmie Johnson sabe tan bien, un driver’ el trabajo de s TV nunca se hace
(Crédito de foto: Imágenes de Streeter Lecka/Getty para NASCAR)

Apenas para ver con qué cosas extrañas él puede ser que suba.

Y entonces there’ s la demostración pequeña de Kyle Petty también….en cuál él encuentra a algún periodista desgraciado - y hay la abundancia ‘ ciervos en el headlights’ en el garage de NASCAR—e intentos para rasgarlos a los fragmentos.

Bien, no literalmente por supuesto, pero pequeño, mientras que él puede no ser inicial en la pista, de la pista he’ s audaz, y un pensador mucho más rápido en sus pies que la mayoría alrededor del deporte.

(El ‘ outtakes’ de Petty’ la demostración de s haría una buena demostración en sí mismo, si es pequeño sí mismo era bastante valiente ir para ella.)

Y amores de la SPEED para hacer su cosa hacia fuera en frente una audiencia viva, que puede ser desalentadora ocasionalmente, pero todavía visualmente excitación.

Especialmente cuando Kyle Busch está en etapa - haciendo frente a una muchedumbre que compite con viva que parezca ocasionalmente casi camorrista bastante pedir la red de la seguridad del pollo-alambre.

“ Pienso we’ re haciendo la materia más fresca, “ Nickell dice. “ Y cuando miro a nuestros individuos, consigo así que encendí para arriba porque sé cuánto en nuestros individuos de NASCAR es.

“ We’ re no preocupante sobre ‘ ¿Hey, cuál el Fox que hace, cuál es ESPN está haciendo? ‘ Todos mira todos else’ materia de s. Pero we’ re funcionamiento en ‘ ¿Cómo podemos hacer major Raceday esta semana que la semana pasada? ‘ ‘ Qué puede intentamos nunca intentó antes? ‘ ‘ ¿Cómo nos reímos Trackside más? ‘ “

¿Bien, pueda tomando la chaqueta de punto de Jimmy del valium?

Risas de Nickell.

¿Bien, por qué no traer en Danica Patrick hacen que ésos la pre-raza caliente-traslapa segmentos?

Nickell necesita quizá su propia versión de última hora de Elvira o de Vampira para algo de esta cobertura.

Después de todo, a veces acción de NASCAR - particularmente semana All-star—parece tan raro como Plan 9 from Outer Space.....

¿O, hey, cómo sobre ser bastante valiente traer vuelta The Pit Bulls? Hmmmm.

Nickell parece raramente en una pérdida para las ideas: “ Este año agregó una demostración llamada ‘ NASCAR en una prisa, ‘ cuál pusimos delante de día de la raza.

“ Calculamos que hacia fuera hay tanto la materia que va en cada fin de semana que muy pocas personas, eventualmente, consigan para ver todo el él. Construimos tan esta demostración para dejar a gente saber ‘ Hey, antes de usted mire Raceday, toda la materia fresca that’ s sido happening.’

“ Pasamos tan detrás la materia que ESPN tenía, ese tenía, la materia that’ s sucedió en la pista y de la pista. Rellenamos tan eso adentro momentos antes de día de la raza, para conseguir el up.”

encendido los ventiladores; El fin de semana pasado en Darlington, por ejemplo, la raza sí mismo comenzó cerca de 740 P.M.; NASCAR en una prisa se adelantó en el 4:30 P.M., y el día de la raza funcionó a partir del 5 hasta 7.

Y esta semana it’ s las 48 horas de Charlotte.

SPEED’s boss Hunter Nickell wants to create the next ‘Cool’ NASCAR race. Any suggestions?
(Photo credit: SPEED)
SPEED’ el cazador Nickell del jefe de s quiere crear el ‘ siguiente; Cool’ Raza de NASCAR. ¿Sugerencias?
(Crédito de foto: SPEED)

¿En este mundo a veces curioso de NASCAR TV, apenas donde SPEED él adentro?

Comparado al Fox y a ABC’ del hermano mayor; s ESPN legendario, SPEED parece a veces como ‘ el other’ channel.’

Eso apenas hace la cerda de Nickell.

“ It’ s no nosotros contra ESPN o contra el Fox o quién, “ Nickell insiste.

“ Tienen sus repartos y tenemos los nuestros. Y NASCAR es el pedazo más grande de SPEED’ s que programa, en gran medida.

“consiguió los carros, y fin de semana después del fin de semana it’ s no nosotros-contra-cualquiera. It’ s nosotros contra, bien, la demostración más fresca siguiente de NASCAR, lo que pudo eso be.”

¿Cuál es realmente el propósito de esta cosa de la SPEED de todos modos?

¿De dónde este canal vino?

“ Comenzó detrás en 1996 como SpeedVision, como la versión video del estante de compartimiento ‘ todo sobre los vehículos, ‘ “ Nickell dice.

“ Ahora como se ha encendido el tiempo, mientras que todavía tenemos una cantidad enorme de entusiasta el programar, las motocicletas, automóviles… pero cuando el Fox y la SPEED consiguieron en el negocio de NASCAR, nosotros consiguieron la oportunidad de crear una tonelada de programación de NASCAR. Y que agrega horas desde que.

“SPEED tiene 21 personalidades del en-aire. Las puñetas, producíamos todo el Daytona’ s SpeedWeeks con apenas 21 personas; ahora consiguió 21 personalidades del en-aire solas: Steve Byrnes, Larry MacReynolds, John Roberts, Wendy Venturini, Krista Voda, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer….’nuestro gang.’ “

Trackside, Raceday, y las demostraciones post-race son la roca de fondo.

¿Pero competición?

¿Cómo sobre noticiarios diarios de 6 de la tarde que combaten en duelo NASCAR?

Estas redes pueden ser un pedacito asustado también para ése.

“Es raro que una demostración de NASCAR en SPEED o ESPN o Fox o Turner se traslapará ..... porque that’ s cómo NASCAR ha construido su TV reparte, “ Nickell insiste.

“Trabaja para todos nosotros, y los ventiladores, la mayor parte del tiempo, porque we’ re todo el tiempo.

“comparativo que no va; Odie para que la pelusa consiga de la manera de cualquier noticia dura aquí. Pero por otra parte, hey, en este los nuevos medios envejecen, las noticias duras pueden ser manera sobrestimada de todos modos. Por supuesto hay la edición económica obvia también - el recubrimiento de este deporte es tan necesitando mucho trabajo y equipo-intensivo que las redes que cubren cada weekend’ parte del acontecimiento de s mucho - las cámaras, cameramanes, uplink los vehículos, transportadores del comando.

“ La relación en el nivel de la producción, semana-en, semana-hacia fuera en las pistas de raza, es increíble, “ Nickell dice. “ Está trabajando.

“ Para mirar la cooperación entre los equipos de la producción es impresionante. It’ s que sorprende a watch.”

SPEED’s Wendy Venturini, one of the network’s 21 on-air personalities
(Photo Credit: Wendy Venturini)
SPEED’ s Wendy Venturini, uno del network’ personalidades del en-aire de s 21
(Crédito de foto: Wendy Venturini)

¿Que es él piensa después?

“ That’ s mi pregunta preferida - en el cuadro grande we’ el re intentar encontrar el programa más fresco siguiente de NASCAR para crear, “ Nickell dice.

“ Ahora que la fuerza sonar como algo todos debe intentar hacer ..... y quizá ellos are.”

Quizá algo con Hannah Montana, un buen ol’ ¿Muchacha de Nashville quién pudo necesitar un nuevo carruaje mismo?

Nickell ríe otra vez.

“ Dos cosas que estamos trabajando encendido ahora, “ Nickell dice:

“ Primero, we’ re cocinando para arriba algo especial para la serie del carro este año, para construir la programación alrededor.

“ En segundo lugar, quisiéramos agregar el ‘ siguiente; big’ Acontecimiento de NASCAR. No apenas uno, sino más.

Hey, not so heavy on the rouge, please: They didn’t send you over from the MAC store, did they?
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Hey, no tan pesado en el colorete, por favor: Ellas didn’ ¿t le envía del almacén del MAC, hicieron?
(Crédito de foto: Imágenes de Streeter Lecka/Getty para NASCAR)

“Como esta raza All-star.

“ Tenemos la serie del carro, toda sino dos acontecimientos. Y tenemos SpeedWeeks (en Daytona), que es enorme. Y tenemos la semana All-star.

“Pero queremos trabajar con NASCAR para encontrar el ‘ siguiente; big’ acontecimiento en SPEED. Porque la SPEED le hará un acontecimiento enorme; pondremos los recursos y las horas alrededor de ella para hacerle un acontecimiento grande.

“consiguió algo enorme en febrero, consiguió algo enorme en mayo. ¿Qué podemos nosotros y NASCAR hacer después? “

¿Quizá una nueva serie de IROC? ¿Cruz-promoción con Danica Patrick y Ashley Force, quizá John Force contra Jimmy Spencer?

Hey, 320 mph son 320 mph.

Y después de todo, este isn’ t necesariamente apenas sobre deportes pero sobre la hospitalidad.

Deseamos su reacción, satisfacemos tan el comentario sobre esta historia y ofrecemos sus propias opiniones, sobre esta historia, en nuestros videos de NASCAR, y cualquier cosa sobre NASCAR:

SPEED’s 48 Hours of Charlotte: Just how much NASCAR can you take? (P.S. It’s still a work-in-progress....)
(Credit: SPEED)
SPEED’ s 48 horas de Charlotte: ¿Apenas cuánto NASCAR puede usted tomar? (P.S. It’ todavía s un trabajo en curso….)
(Crédito: SPEED)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The best pit crew in NASCAR? Place your bets, and sit back for the annual pit crew challenge

Last season it was the Nextel Cup pit crew challenge, this season it’s the Sprint Cup pit crew challenge
(Photo by Davis Turner/Getty Images for NASCAR)

By Mike Mulhern

CHARLOTTE
So who’s the best right-front tire guy on the NASCAR tour? Who’s the best jack man?
What driver has the best pit crew?
On Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, in the clutch on race day, the answers may vary. Matt Kenseth for the past few years, it is generally accepted, has had the best crew chief; but perhaps not this season. If the answer comes with wins, check out Kyle Busch’s bunch, and Carl Edwards’ guys.
But here Thursday night the best of the over-the-wall guys will match up mano a mano, with $10,000 to $20,000 apiece on the line, in a made-for-TV venture, the annual NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, at Time Warner Arena.
All teams in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race are qualified here, for what may seem – to insiders and outsiders alike – as something rather gimmicky, with literally buzzers and bells and guys pushing their cars the length of the arena to a finish line.
But the guys on the floor Thursday night will be taking it all flat seriously.
And their drivers – though they don’t get to play a role in this thing, unlike the old pit crew championships at Rockingham – will be here cheering them on.

Okay, so pushing the car across the finish line is, well, rather odd....but all the drivers have to do in the pit crew championship is sit back and watch.
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Then Friday the All-star action gets underway just up the road at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. That’s been known as ‘Jimmie’s House,’ because Jimmie Johnson has dominated there the past several years.
However this season Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon, and a number of others, have all struggled with this new NASCAR winged car at the stock car tour’s mid-sized tracks.
Thus the betting action is likely on the tour’s two hottest men, Busch and Edwards.
Johnson, who’s had some hot streaks of his own, says it’s sometimes difficult to understand just why things are going your way: “The thing you can never gauge—or predict, or really understand—is why you are on a hot streak…and why, when you’re not.
“Our team feels like we’re primed, and would love to be on that tear…but it’s not there for us.
“We were there the last couple of years. But our sport is cyclical.

When it’s All-star week, forget the rules. Just enjoy the ambience and drama
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“So when I look at the cycle of racing, Joe Gibbs, and especially Toyota, are maximizing it, and really hitting their stride.
“We’re kind of rebuilding some.”
What happens this week, of course, might have little to do with what’s been going on around the tour the past three months, because the All-star race is sometimes quite wacky.
The All-star race, though it’s been run at Charlotte since the late T. Wayne Robertson created it more than 20 years ago, is still sometimes hard to figure out, the dynamic, the reasoning, the thinking….and certainly the rules, which seem ever-changing.
But one thing this All-star even does create is an unusual energy for drivers and teams: “The All-Star race, you try to come in and say ‘It’s no big deal…it’s just for some money…it’s not a points race,” Johnson says.
“Then they have the introductions (typically with fireworks and hoopla), and the crews are out there and the fans are there, and before you know it your heart rate is at 120 and you’re not even sitting in a car yet. You’re just jacked-up and ready to go.

Thursday night it’s the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup pit crew challenge
(Photo by Davis Turner/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“Now in the 600 (next week’s grind here), everybody is in the mindset of taking care of their equipment and making a long 600-mile race…and there is a different energy around that event.
“So when I think about this All-star race, what really pops up in my mind is the energy of the event that gets into my head and helps me adapt to whatever is going to take place.”
Of course this season things have been rather wacky anyway. Who would have predicted Johnson crashing twice at Darlington last weekend?
“Well,” Johnson says somewhat sheepishly, “I knew we were fast.
“All I needed was the confidence entering qualifying. And I down the best lap I could.
“Unfortunately I was too aggressive in those two practice sessions and tore up some cars.
“It’s uncharacteristic for me to tear up cars like that. But at least we were going fast.”

Uh, seeding? Scoring? Let me get back to you on all that
(A view of last year’s pit crew scoreboard)
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, clearly didn’t take it very well. “Physically and emotionally it was quite a ride,” Johnson concedes.
Also on tap this All-star weekend is a special ‘burnout challenge’ for drivers, to see who can pull off the best – and most accurate – ‘victory’ burnout.
Johnson, though not known for his burnout prowess, will take a shot at it: “It’s just something different, something cool.
“We sit around all Saturday and really don’t do much, so we might as well do something.
“I’ll just see what the car will do. I’m not sure how much horsepower we’ll have, or what the tire situation will be. But I’ll watch the other guys.
“Hopefully I’m not the first.”

NASCAR All-star week kicks off Thursday with the annual pit crew championship
(Here, Darrell Waltrip, left, and Rusty Wallace tangle in the 1989 classic, Wallace winning the controversial finish).
(Photo Credit: Lowe’s Motor Speedway Archives)

Humpy Wheeler’s Lowe’s track won’t have a monopoly on racing action these next few days. Indianapolis Motor Speedway will again be vying for headlines, and Danica Patrick, now an Indy-car winner, is a star to be reckoned with, in more ways than one.
Johnson says he’s surprised women still haven’t made much of a dent in NASCAR.
“I’ve watched women soccer players and ladies in the Olympics. From a physical standpoint it’s certainly challenging, but it’s do-able,” Johnson says.
“I’ve watched some very talented women come along, with great opportunities. Look at Erin Crocker with Ray Evernham. Sarah Fisher came on the scene hard in the Indy-car series.
“I guess it just takes time to develop.
“I’m not sure that all little girls growing up think they are going to be a race driver and dedicate their lives to it.
“To be at the top level it doesn’t matter about gender. You just have to commit at a young age. And I’m not sure that’s the first thing that pops up in a young lady’s mind.
“But as NASCAR racing becomes more popular, I would definitely see the opposite of that growing more and more. And there is no reason that it can’t happen.”

We want your reaction, so please comment on this story and offer your own opinions, on this story, on our NASCAR videos, and anything about NASCAR:

Things tend to get wacky during all-star week in Charlotte
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)