NASCAR Nuances Pose a Problem for Partners

While the on-air types at ESPN insist a NASCAR race that looks boring might not be dull at all, the inability of TV to transfer the nuances of auto racing could be another problem for the sport this week.

After Fox Sports and TNT split coverage of the Sprint Cup Series season since February, ESPN takes over for the final 17 races of the season beginning Sunday with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's an historic venue for racing, but it's also a the type of place -- a big, flat and sweeping 2.5-mile oval -- that rarely produces side-by-side action that best defines NASCAR.

Still, ESPN broadcasters and officials insist (as they must) the race merits watching.

"The history and prestige of the event is enough to make it a great race regardless," analyst Andy Petree, a former NASCAR crew chief, said during a teleconference earlier this week. "But it's also a great watch because it's very tactical how these drivers have to run it -- how they make these passes and how it's tactical for the crews to keep that track position because it is so critical at that track because passing is difficult. It just puts more emphasis on different strategies and that's what I love about it."

Those strategies and tactics rarely transfer well to TV, though, and a wide audience of potential viewers does not love it as much as those who formerly worked in the sport.

At its best auto racing thrives in an action- and personality-driven atmosphere and the Brickyard 400 typically pulls any such emotional momentum down like, well, a ton of bricks. While how drivers set up passes and make the most of what little room exists on the track, it often winds up on TV as a line of cars, nose to tail. For many casual viewers (and NASCAR needs that group for its ratings to ever recover to where they were a few seasons ago), that parade translates to boring racing.

Fellow analyst and former driver Dale Jarrett appreciates the challenges of those on the track. He calls it "very rewarding whenever you can make a pass at a track that is that difficult" while he also admits that from the broadcast booth "what we'll hopefully show is that there is great racing that goes on."

In the midst of a season when dips in attendance and TV ratings have been a big part of the NASCAR story, Indy represents a challenging starting point for ESPN's return.

For years, ESPN was the standard bearer for quality auto racing coverage. Way back in the 1980s, as about the only consistent TV outlet for stock-car racing, whatever the channel tried usually met with a positive response.

As NASCAR's popularity grew more advertisers came to the sport, things such as finding a good time for commercial breaks in an effort to miss as little meaningful on-track action became more difficult. In addition, TV partners changed, and they changed in the middle of the season -- as has been the case for several years.

Fans have become a bit more demanding an cynical in recent years, and broadcast partners inevitably hear from those fans. To their credit, the braodcasters take what they hear into consideration, but balancing what older fans might want to see on TV with finding ways to appeal to 18- to 34-year-old males (a desired demographic because of their purchasing power) cannot always be done easily.

"What we talk about is serving the NASCAR fan as a whole, first and foremost," said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president for programming and acquisitions. "ESPN has a ton of events but we have news and information programming that tends to skew to that younger demographic, so there is an opportunity there. We think if we cover the race and cover the product as we think NASCAR fans in general do, regardless of their specific demographic, that demographic will continue to climb."

So far this year, that 18- to 34-year-old male demographic is down 30 percent for races on Fox Sports and TNT. It's hard to believe ESPN's approach will differ in any significant level that might change that trend.

In fact, ESPN's planned changes to NASCAR coverage hardly seem monumental. They include broadcasts of "SportsCenter" directly after races -- allowing for more race-related news coverage -- and a deal with driver Carl Edwards as a standing guest after each of the races on ESPN.

Combine those ho-hum changes with a race that has more going for it in terms of strategy than sheer speed, and it might be another tough week for viewership.

TNT Misses Perspective on Pivotal Moment

A late-race mistake cost Marcos Ambrose a chance at his first Sprint Cup Series victory Sunday but he was not alone in making a mindless lapse -- and he at least had a decent excuse because he was in the midst of the on-track action.

Those covering the race, specifically TNT analysts Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty, slumped late in the race as well.

Ambrose, who had led 35 laps, was comfortably in the lead when a late-race caution slowed action. He took the opportunity to shut off his engine briefly to try to save gas. But when he tried to restart the engine it missed and he actually came to a stop on the track.

Because he was not able to maintain speed with the pace car and was passed under the yellow flag, NASCAR officials ordered him to start seventh in the ensuing restart -- a loss of critical spots that could not be made up with just a handful of laps remaining in the race. He eventually finished sixth.

Although the TNT crew correctly cited the rule NASCAR was applying at the time, they missed when they later strayed from racing to humor, and even to soccer.

The most tasteless moment came after the race, when Dallenback said in one egregious moment as Ambrose took his time before making himself available for an interview: "If you want to find Marcos Ambrose, go the the Golden Gate Bridge."

A reference to jumping off a bridge was not funny and unconscionable. Broadcast partners Adam Alexander and Petty groaned and, thankfully, tried to get away from that topic as quickly as possible.

Petty was not blameless, either. He tried to compare Ambrose's mistake to the potential third goal in the U.S.-Slovakia soccer match Friday, citing the need to follow the rules even if competitors do not like them. He was only half right, though.

Ambrose was a victim of the rules because he violated NASCAR's rules for caution periods. The soccer incident had nothing to do with rules, though, and Petty's disclaimer about not knowing anything about the sport should have been an out-loud clue even he could catch. Then he could have decided not to utilize the ill-conceived analogy.

To his credit, Ambrose did conduct the obligatory on-camera interview as he was walking from his trailer later in the broadcast and he shouldered responsibility for his gaffe. Dallenbach and Petty should do the same.

Weekend Pre: AFL, Auto Racing and Softball

Sure, we're getting closer to the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals (with a potentially interesting storyline involving the Philadelphia Flyers) but my remote might skip over the respective conference finals in those sports to find some even more niche events this weekend.

First, there's the Arena Football League on the NFL Network (8 p.m. Friday) -- just because I miss football that much. Plus, this game marks the on-air debut of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who seems destined to find a TV assignment with the real league once the fall rolls around.

We'll see how he sounds doing arena games, and he should be as well suited as anyone because the much-told and retold story of his career was how he started with the Iowa Barnstormers. He's working the Arizona Rattlers-Barnstormers game, and his Iowa jersey will be retired during the night.

Auto racing also merits a look this weekend, with Saturday as the big day. It includes pole qualifying for the Indy 500 on Versus (11 a.m. Saturday) and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star (9 p.m. Speed). Of the two, expect the NASCAR event to produce more drama, because it's a race and because of a not-so-simple qualifying process for the Indy 500.

While Indy qualifying used to produce "bumping," as one driver's top speed would put him into he field for the race and push another out, that's not going to happen this year. Still, it will determine where some drivers start and the technology of racing, with on-screen graphics that usually convey necessary information well, provides a nice technological highlight.

Finally -- and it's not an afterthought -- there's college softball. As it has with the Little League World Series, ESPN has latched onto college softball in a big way. It has expanded its popular coverage of the Women's College World Series back to regional and then super regional events. Regional play begins this weekend.

Game coverage works on TV because its fast-paced and the smaller diamond puts viewers closer to the action. Plus, the college competition comes with a bit more energy and enthusiasm than other events on the tube.

While we get a push of college softball at this time of year simply because it's a fairly empty TV window that ESPN can fill, the games usually are competitive. This weekend's regional action might not be quite the quality of the eventual super regionals (May 27-30) and College World Series (June 3-9), but they'll still be OK and they serve an even bigger purpose for ESPN because they provide familiarity with the coaches, players and teams involved -- giving any viewers who follow the action from the regionals to the World Series some relationships and rooting interests.

Danica's NASCAR Debut Drives TV Ratings

Expect to see even more of Danica Patrick, starting this week.

She initially committed to driving 12 NASCAR Nationwide Series races this year, then added the series' season-opening race at Daytona last weekend. She did OK on the track in her debut, eventually finishing 35th when she was unable to avoid a wreck in front of her.

She was more than OK on TV, though, as the race set a viewership record on ESPN2.

An average of more than 4.2 million people watched the race -- the most ever for a Nationwide Series on cable. Plus, many of the people Patrick pulled to TVs stuck around and watched the conclusion of the event even after she was eliminated from the race.

No doubt ESPN officials are thrilled Patrick will be behind the wheel this weekend when the Nationwide Series visits Auto Club Speedway in California. This was to be her first NASCAR race, until she changed gears and started things last week.

This week's telecast begins at 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2, and there's no reason to doubt that ratings for the race will not increase over those of previous years, or that her second race will be any less popular than her first.

Danica's certainly doing her best to promote herself and the sport. She has appearances scheduled on several shows this week, including: “The Ellen Show,” “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "CBS Evening News.”

Although some (especially other drivers who are not nearly as popular) lament the focus on Patrick at the track and on TV, she's certainly someone about whom viewers have an interest. ESPN2 has to be careful not to focus too much on Patrick, though. Or at least focus on her as a racer. Elements of last week's coverage, and the tone of that coverage, looked and sounded somewhat condescending -- mostly because they probably would not focus in the same manner on another popular open-wheel racer making the transition to stock cars.