Hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend! It felt a little strange without a Sprint Cup race this weekend, but the NASCAR Nationwide series satisfied those pre-Easter chocolate cravings on Saturday afternoon! These guys always seem to put on a great show, primarily because drivers from the Sprint Cup Series frequently enter these races for some “extra practice.” But the Nashville Superspeedway is one track unique only to the Nationwide and Camping World truck series—which means LOTS of first-time winners! The race was competitive, with more lead changes than anticipated and even some weird, uncommon occurrences.
How about Joey Logano? I was guilty of not remembering that he is a full time Sprint Cup Series driver! So we are still waiting for a driver who races solely in the Nationwide Series to win a race in 2009. It almost looked as if Kyle Busch was going to win yet another race, but Logano kept the pressure on in the final 10 laps of the race. ESPN covered the race this weekend, and their “in-race reporter” was Justin Allgaier, a rookie who had so many good runs that he was the focus of this race to possibly get win #1. However it was Logano who drove to his own tune and took home the guitar!
This race coverage was a great change of pace. ESPN really took NASCAR to a new level in the 90s, and I was sad to see them go. But after 3 seasons with the Nationwide Series, I think they’ve taken their recognition to a new level. Marty Reid (who was in for Dr. Jerry Punch this week), Andy Petree and Rusty Wallace have a totally different flavor than the Fox crew. While they aren’t as entertaining, they are EXTREMELY knowledgeable. They also have a tech garage where former crew chief Tim Brewer explains parts of the race car or car problems in less than 30 seconds AND in terms everyone can understand! They pointed out all the major details, including Joe Gibbs’ 3rd 1-2 finish in the Nationwide series. The announcers also got into it when the big wreck happened near the end, when Joe Nemechek flipped over! (Check out the video coverage below!)
Overall, this broadcast gets an 8 out of 10. It was professional, well put together, and focused. I honestly did not feel like I was watching a Nationwide race with the stereotype that the coverage wouldn’t be as strong. It was still great coverage!
The Sprint Cup series returns to action this weekend at Phoenix. The first night race of the season is going to be fun! Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will be contenders…Kyle Busch may be able to get back on track. Also, watch for Jeff Burton—he won here a lot when he raced with Jack Roush in the early 2000s…can he do it again? We’ll find out together Saturday night!
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