The race to the chase is now three races old…and the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway almost looked to be another “Jimmie Johnson steals the show” yawner. However the fans who packed the stands at the Kansas Speedway were treated to by far the most competitive race in the chase in 2009.
After a few rather subpar runs to start the Chase, it was Tony Stewart who finally broke into the win column. Stewart had a quiet afternoon, not really making any noise until the final segments of the race. He didn’t make any noise in the past six races, finishing no better than 9th. Fortunately, “Smoke” rose to the top of the leaderboard and never looked back. Watch Smoke take the lead on the video below.
While it was a fight at my parents’ house to watch either the race or the Cleveland Browns football game, I was still able to watch majority of the opening stages of the race. What really caught my eye was the outstanding use of surroundings by Dave Burns, one of the pit reporters. On lap 78, after a round of pit stops, Burns was in the pit of Juan Pablo Montoya reporting that Montoya’s tire was going flat. Much to the surprise of the announcers, Dave Burns placed his microphone right next to the leaking tire, emphasizing how loud and obvious it was. This was the first time that any of the announcers in the booth had heard this effect, and it won major brownie points with me as a viewer.
I would rate this broadcast a 9 out of 10. I think ESPN has a wonderful team running all of these races. The only thing that hurts this from being a perfect score is camera placement. For the second time, a camera was placed on the helmet of a crew member on the #7 Robby Gordon team. The angle where the camera was placed was not as consistent as it was before. Fans noticed a dizzying display of work on pit road when the camera was pointed too high above the target it was aiming toward. It was a minor issue, but it was definitely a dizzy angle.
Next weekend, we motor on to Auto Club Speedway in California. Being a Jeff Gordon fan, I highly anticipate a win from that team this weekend. Their intermediate program has been incredibly stout this season. He may have the best performance out of the chase contenders. Watch out for Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle too…they perform well here historically.
Sunday at 2:30 on ESPN…don’t miss it!
Monday, October 5, 2009
JOHNSON TAMES THE MONSTER
Dover…The MONSTER mile. I think it is one of the coolest looking tracks in all of NASCAR. They also call it “White Lightning” since it’s totally made of concrete on the racing surface. The Triple A 400--Race number two of the Chase for the Sprint Cup-- was surely full of surprises…except for the winner of the race.
In the spring, Jimmie Johnson dominated Dover, and simply carried his momentum into Delaware to pull off the season sweep. Most of us race fans knew that he would win based on his communication with his crew chief Chad Knaus. When a driver feels as if his car can perform even better than it is, yet he’s pulling away lap after lap, the competition is in MAJOR TROUBLE.
Speaking of major trouble, the ESPN crew did a brilliant job in camera work and reporting on an incident which was seemingly impossible to occur at Dover. 19 year old Joey Logano got bumped from behind by Tony Stewart and it sent him on a wild wild ride.
Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett don’t get overly excited when this happens live. They do, however bring the whole accident into perspective. Punch mentions that the banking of the track is 3 stories high. Also, reporter Shannon Spake asked a great question in Logano’s post wreck interview: “In your 19 years of racing, how did this compare to anything you’ve been through?” Big props to the reporters and the cameras once again for bringing the whole incident into perspective.
This broadcast deserves a 10. All strategies were painted well, and the whole crew had to find time to fill throughout the delayed portions of the race since track cleanup took so long. Any time those guys can fill an extra half hour or 45 minutes (in addition to the 4 or 5 hours they spend on the telecast), they deserve a high rating like this. It’s an art to cover this sport and these guys proved it.
Next week…Kansas. Again, Jimmie Johnson should have the car to beat. However, I’ve read that Greg Biffle has built a brand new car SPECIFICALLY for this race. New cars generally have major implications on a race. Biffle should hover around the top 5 all day. On to race three of the chase for the sprint cup!
In the spring, Jimmie Johnson dominated Dover, and simply carried his momentum into Delaware to pull off the season sweep. Most of us race fans knew that he would win based on his communication with his crew chief Chad Knaus. When a driver feels as if his car can perform even better than it is, yet he’s pulling away lap after lap, the competition is in MAJOR TROUBLE.
Speaking of major trouble, the ESPN crew did a brilliant job in camera work and reporting on an incident which was seemingly impossible to occur at Dover. 19 year old Joey Logano got bumped from behind by Tony Stewart and it sent him on a wild wild ride.
Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett don’t get overly excited when this happens live. They do, however bring the whole accident into perspective. Punch mentions that the banking of the track is 3 stories high. Also, reporter Shannon Spake asked a great question in Logano’s post wreck interview: “In your 19 years of racing, how did this compare to anything you’ve been through?” Big props to the reporters and the cameras once again for bringing the whole incident into perspective.
This broadcast deserves a 10. All strategies were painted well, and the whole crew had to find time to fill throughout the delayed portions of the race since track cleanup took so long. Any time those guys can fill an extra half hour or 45 minutes (in addition to the 4 or 5 hours they spend on the telecast), they deserve a high rating like this. It’s an art to cover this sport and these guys proved it.
Next week…Kansas. Again, Jimmie Johnson should have the car to beat. However, I’ve read that Greg Biffle has built a brand new car SPECIFICALLY for this race. New cars generally have major implications on a race. Biffle should hover around the top 5 all day. On to race three of the chase for the sprint cup!
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