I Can't Take D-Shaped Tracks or Daryl On TV Any More!

Well, after ten plus solid years of never missing and watching each televised NASCAR race in its entirety, Daryl Waltrip won and for the first time in eleven years, I did not watch the entire race, as televised, from Texas or Kansas.  And there were a few factors that contributed to this slip.

D-Shaped Tracks Can't Be Good for TV Ratings
Cookie cutter mile and a half (or mid to large sized D-shaped tracks) can be quite the challenge to the viewer as you watch the race start and then the teams stretch out around the circuit.  There's only so much you can do with a D-shaped track and when there are so many of them in the season, well, it gets old.  No matter how much they pitch that track surface characteristics are different.  (And it's true.  Track surfaces in different climes can become different beasts.  But to the TV viewer, that's just word-smithing that more than likely falls on deaf ears.)
And the most shocking thing I did was that during Texas, I tuned in, watched the start.  And then I rented a movie.  When the movie ended, I still had plenty of time and racing action to get my NASCAR fix.  Kansas is interesting but in the end, it too provides a D-shaped racing experience.  Though I have to admit, a few of those restarts definitely got me on the edge of my seat.
Sorry gang, but that's how it is.  I make points with my wife, don't get too bored with the racing show, and still can keep up with the sport.  If the races were shorter I'd have a better reason to stick around.  But even though this is a sport about endurance and skill, I get the length of each event.  But fans, I think, need more to have an anticipation for.
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And Then There's Daryl Waltrip
Daryl Waltrip has won.  His presentation of what information he has is getting distracting at best for this viewer.
I think I started anti-focusing on Daryl back during the Daytona race this year.  I remember his statement about the fuel truck when it was on fire...  He more or less said that (while it was burning) someone should get in the truck and drive it off the track to prevent further damage from occurring to the track surface.  ...crickets.
Since then I've been a bit focused on what he says and I have to say, he seems to come up with some gems during each race.
I like to think I respect the experience of a driver whose behind the microphone, but I'm coming to realize that I'd rather appreciate the skills from a driver whose driven one of the cars from this era.  Right now, all Daryl has to offer is an opinion on a generic mindset of racers and some incredible historical perspectives.  Aside from that, I've seen more often than not his in-race predictions pander out a lot.  It's not his fault, but you'd think someone would direct him better.
Maybe it's just me, but he's become distracting
And as I look at that, I have to wonder who Fox is trying to appeal to with the cast of characters they've been presenting NASCAR with.  Sure, it's their roots, but isn't that demographic already sold on the sport?  And maybe that's working for Fox.  Who knows.

'Daytona 500' Telecast Top-10 Bonehead or Funny Observations

The Daytona 500 was a true test of the NASCAR fan, with the telecast having lasted six hours. 

And maybe the first caution that started on lap 2, that took out Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick might have been a warning. 

Though rain forced the postponement of the race until Monday, the huge stoppage this night wasn't for rain this time around, but for another incident involving the track.  Last year we watched the track get repaired with bondo after it came apart... all so the boys could get back to racing.  This year, Juan Pablo Montoya (by no fault of his) provided the two hour and five minute stoppage as something in his car broke and that sent his red No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy up into the jet dryer trucks that were out blowing debris off the track surface.  This ignited a huge fire and set our next couple of hours on a course of action no one could evade.

But the red flag period, for what it was, actually provided some interesting NASCAR news fodder, after and during the fact.

First up was how the ratings did not suffer from the stoppage... Fox stayed at No. 2 in the ratings race for the night, and that's impressive!  I thought for sure viewers would tune out. 
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TV Ratings for the Daytona 500

Daytona 500 (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 8.4/13 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 8.4/12 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 7.8/11 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 8.4/12 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 9.9/15 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 9.2/15 (#1)

(Ratings via TV Media Insights)

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But what did ensue during the stoppage was interesting.  And if you keep score, I think Daryl Waltrip might have won this round of observations.

1. :  In the lap 2 crash, the in-car footage shows Jimmie Johnson letting go of the steering wheel and crossing his arms while getting hit.  Daryl Waltrip seems to credit Danica Patrick for the drivers adopting this practice.  (Never mind the previous years of experience and that this has been Johnson's practice for quite some time.)
2. : Daryl Waltrip credited Danica Patrick's driving skills for getting through the mess...  except that the car was hit, spun, thumped and slid out of control through a few cars, threading the needle, so to speak.  All, without any intervention from the driver who was along for the ride.
3. :  It's a sad statement of sorts as to your name-driver status, Juan Montoya's impact with the jet dryer truck was not captured on tape.
4. :  During the huge fire of the track dryer truck, while it's still burning brightly, Daryl Waltrip suggests on live TV that someone should get in the truck and drive it off the track to save the track surface.  (Oh look, Daytona has a mid-race entertainment show with a flaming truck screaming past the stands.)
5. :  During the red flag, Fox started showing the ads, side-by-side, with the "action" on the track... of parked cars and drivers walking around.  Then when the race gets going, we're back to regular ads.  Somebody needs to make better judgement calls in the booth.
   
6. :  During the red flag, I stupidly Tweeted that no one was doing the Sterling Marlin.  That means getting out of your car to work on it during a red flag.  Rules state you can't do that.  But then we find out that Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch both were sent to the back of the pack for pulling off their window tear-offs aka dust protectors.  Harsh!
7. : NASCAR Reporter Dustin Long tweeted something I RT'd:  "In the remastered Days of Thunder version, Harry will tell Cole to go out and hit the jet dryer instead of the pace car."
8. :  During the red flag, the cameras closely follow Danica Patrick walk off track and taking the top of her fire suit off...  So the race was turning into a GoDaddy ad or breaking NASCAR news was Danica runs for the potty!
9. :  During the red flag (Man, that red flag created some great events) Brad Keselowksi started tweeting from his inside his car and sent a pciture to Twitter... and gained more than 100,000 new followers.   Brad started the race with just over 80k followers.  Today, as I'm writing this, he now has 207K followers!  Brad even got himself on Mashable for it.
10. : For the Dave Blaney fan:  For 2 hours, Dave Blaney led the Daytona 500 field...  during the red flag.

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