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2009 OPer Awards: Worst NASCAR TV Network

December 19, 2009

For the second consecutive year, ESPN is our choice as the network that does the poorest job of broadcasting the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

I think that ESPN’s problem is the fact that they are…well…ESPN. They are the stick and ball network. They are the Sports Center Highlight Network. Sound bites and Web Jems are their bag.

NASCAR races - especially the long, three to four hour Cup contests don’t produce tight little packages of content like that. So ESPN seems to need to create “stories” to show during the races.  And they too often miss the race.

Written by Charlie Turner · Filed Under 2009 OPeR Awards, NASCAR, On Pit Row | Leave a Comment 

Drivers Looks for Chase Brakes at Martinsville

October 12, 2008

Martinsville Speedway celebrated its 60th consecutive year of operation in 2007.

The racetrack that is so very hard on bracks has been a NASCAR track longer than any other track on the Sprint Cup circuit.  NASCAR began operation in 1948, a year after Martinsville Speedway opened.  The shortest track on the circuit ran its first NASCAR race on July 4th of that year.

It’s 800-foot straights, turns banked at only 12 degrees has led to the racetrack being called “two drag strips with a turnaround on each end.” The demanding layout consistently produces some of the wildest fender scrubbing, push and shove racing on the tour.

Martinsville Speedway opened in 1947 as dirt track with 750 seats and has grown continuously over the years.  Other than being paved in 1955, the track configuration has not changed since Red Byron won the inaugural event. Martinsville Speedway, is the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still running Sprint Cup events.

Richard Petty remains the track’s leading winner with 15 victories.

The speedway’s founder, the late H. Clay Earles and track President W. Clay Campbell have always insisted on beautification, excellent concessions and attended rest rooms at the track.  Since he first built the track, Earles’ promoting philosophy was simple and effective - take good care of the fans and the competitors.

Campbell became track President in 1988 and, since that time, the speedway has more than doubled its seating capacity. The track has constructed 25 corporate suites, a chalet village for hospitality entertainment, high-rise grandstands, and doubled its free parking. Recently a new entrance for race day traffic has been added.

All pits are now on one pit road.  Prior to 1999 there were two separate pit roads.  Teams put extra effort into qualifying specifically to avoid having to pit on the backstretch pits.  An overhead walkway from the grandstand to the parking area, an infield media center, infield tunnel, competitors’ garage are all new in the past few years.

There are not many tracks on the circuit that can boast a Hudson Hornet as a past winnig car model.  The 1952 season saw a sweep by the defunct auto maker.  Dick Rathman and Herb Thomas piloted the whale-like cars to victory.

Jimmy Johnson has shown his prowess at the paperclip shaped short track. Johnson has won half of the last eight races.  Other than a couple of wins for Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin and a lone win by Rusty Wallace for Roger Penske Racing, Rick Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won all of the last eleven races.

As has been the theme so far this year in the Chase, look to a Hendrick car to pull off a victory.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Written by Steve Wronkowicz · Filed Under NASCAR, Nascar Chase 2008 | Leave a Comment