This weekend is arguably one of the biggest races of the season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
They head back to the beaches of Daytona for the final time of 2011 for the Coke Zero 400. This is the third of six races with TNT and they have left some fans wondering where the racing is?
After some strong television coverage to start off the season with FOX, TNT coverage has been less than desirable.
In the last three weeks it has seemed we have seen more commercials than racing and when they have been focusing on racing its usually of the single file racing up front and not what is going on in traffic.
Fans haven’t been afraid to vent their frustration on Twitter, Facebook and blogs throughout the race and the days following.
Dustin Long monitored the commercials versus on track action at Infineon. He found that early on in the race we are seeing more commercials. As the race goes on though that trend changes which is pretty much in line with other networks coverage.
He found there had been 31:45 minutes of racing action shown by TNT and 12:53 minutes of commercials but we saw the final 19 minutes of the race commercial free.
You can read the rest of his analysis here.
Even though fans are upset with the coverage or lack thereof the numbers don’t lie, fans are tuning in.
The race at Infineon had a 3.2 rating (up 17%), 5,188,000 total viewers (up 16%) and averaged 3,743,000 households (up 21%).
Fans continue to tune in and this week fans will get TNT’s Wide Open Coverage. This means limited commercials and plenty of on track action with Race Buddy. For some this will be welcoming after the last couple weeks.
Two Car Tango…
Some fans hate it while other fans like it and everyone else just accepts it’s the way it is for now on restrictor plate tracks.
The two car train that allows drivers to pair off and pull away from the pack for at least a couple laps. Most of the time those pairings are with teammates but there could be an instance where you and you partner get separated so you have to tag up with someone. They might not be a teammate and they might not even drive the same manufacturer. This means drivers radios will be a very busy place on Saturday night.
Once again the spotter will play a huge role in a duo’s success. For every pairing most will only use one spotter and he will guide them around the track and through traffic.
We have seen how hard it is for the driver pushing to see around the front car so the spotter will be the most important guy out there other than your dancing partner.
10 races to go…
These weekends’ race marks the 10 to go mark till the Chase begins. Drivers like Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski have some work to do.
Stewart fell out of the top 10 in what has been a steady decline since his near win at Las Vegas earlier this season.
His 39th place finish at Sonoma cost him not only a chance at a win but valuable points. He has won this event before but now with the races winding down he can’t afford any issues this weekend.
For Biffle his season has been inconsistent to say the least. At times he has looked like a contender for the win but then the team struggles to close the deal. Like Stewart they need to win and hope Jeff Gordon stays in the top 10 and Denny Hamlin works his way back in also. Otherwise they won’t be running for the title this season.
For Keselowski he sits 22nd in the points but only 13 points outside the top 20. This is very important because he has one win and if he can work his way into the top 20 he could make the Chase.
The top 10 and top 12 are far from decided even with 10 to go which makes every position and every lap on Saturday night all the more important.
The Coke Zero 400 is Saturday, 7:30pm on TNT.
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