Race Event Observations

by Bruce Simmons

First things first.  Gentlemen, start your engines.
Isn't the field supposed to wait for those "most famous words in motor sports"?
I ask because this week, and last I noticed that while the honorary starters were introducing themselves, you can hear engines firing up before the command is given.
What's up with that gang?

Observation on the TNT Coverage of the Coke Zero 400:
With the Coke Zero 400, I wasn't that impressed with TNT's "Wide Open Coverage". 

The first half of the race I started to feel like there was an ad every few laps being run in the lower right corner of the screen.  We'd get a few laps of coverage, a few laps with an ad.  When they did this, you didn't get any announcer noise.

So for a little bit, I tracked the  commercials during this "special presentation":
Ads in the lower right corner kicked in on

Lap 88, complete coverage back on lap 90.
Lap 95, complete coverage back on lap 97.
Lap 104, complete coverage back on lap 105.
Lap 107, local break, so complete commercial break, complete coverage back on lap 110.

For in those 22 laps, we experienced 9 laps of some form of commercial.  So I wasn't that far off in what I was thinking and it happened so often that it got a bit distracting.

Oh, yea, those Spring girls were back there nodding their head during the post race interview as if they were part of it.  Eesh.  I'd like them to do more than just stand there.  But that's just me.

Just thought I'd share my confusion.