Old Classic NASCAR Broadcasts

T

TwentyNine

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Would be fun to start a thread for people to post their favorite older race broadcasts. These two are pretty awesome to watch. The first with Eli Gold at The Rock, for some reason I have always enjoyed his voice.

Man that was some real short track racing in the second link, Harvick and Biffle mentioned in that race.

I'm sure you all have some good stuff you'd love to share. It doesn't necessarily have to be NASCAR broadcasts either.


 
Man, Eli Gould's voice instantly takes me back to the 1990s. Tons of nostalgia......but I was never a huge fan of TNN races. They used to play some races on taped delays (particularly rain delays) and it always felt a little "low class" on TNN. Especially since TNN was like the "western" channel (I can't remember if it turned into the CMT - Contry Music Television) and kind of reenforced that "southern hick" prejudice against the sport.

I've only been watching NASCAR since 1997, so was only a few years of TNN through 2000 that I experienced. ESPN carried the majority of I remember correctly. Bob Jenkins and Benny Parson and those ESPN races were great. CBS only had a few races - but they had fantastic broadcasting as well. Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett......I even remember David Hobbs on there. Ha.

Does anyone watch F1? I really enjoy David Hobbs. His voice is the voice of F1 to me.

FOX does a great job with their broadcast - more than we give them credit for. NASCAR felt like "big time" to be on FOX. And FOX really has done a lot of technical advancements as far as broadcasting goes - far superior to what TNN or even ESPN were ever doing. Those channels never really had pre and post race coverage. There was no cutaway cars or digital stuff.
 
TNN turned in to SPIKE. FOX's coverage was great the first few years, then they decided to innovate for the sake of innovation and lost touch with the fundamentals of sportscasting.
 
I'd like to see whichever Talladega cup race it was where Cale crossed the finish line with his fist in the air in victory. Think it may have been 1978...
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
TNN turned in to SPIKE. FOX's coverage was great the first few years, then they decided to innovate for the sake of innovation and lost touch with the fundamentals of sportscasting.
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Exactly.
 
ColeTrickle said:
Does anyone watch F1? I really enjoy David Hobbs. His voice is the voice of F1 to me.

FOX does a great job with their broadcast - more than we give them credit for. NASCAR felt like "big time" to be on FOX. And FOX really has done a lot of technical advancements as far as broadcasting goes - far superior to what TNN or even ESPN were ever doing. Those channels never really had pre and post race coverage. There was no cutaway cars or digital stuff.
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I enjoy listening to David Hobbs yes. I'm actually excited to hear him sometimes on NASCAR AMERICA come 2015.

As for FOX, they are doing fine. For all the negative comments about Fox broadcasting, I think it's just too easy to complain these days and I'm just as guilty as the next person.
 
PushRodV8 said:
I enjoy listening to David Hobbs yes. I'm actually excited to hear him sometimes on NASCAR AMERICA come 2015.

As for FOX, they are doing fine. For all the negative comments about Fox broadcasting, I think it's just too easy to complain these days and I'm just as guilty as the next person.
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I hear you but they have gotten so damn gimmicky!!! Started with Digger and has never been the same.

I LOVE David Hobbs.
 
If you can find the Talledega Die Hard 500, race in July 1993, it was the first race after Davie Allison got killed, with the 28 back on the track (with Robbie Gordon driving and finishing last). Its a good old race to watch. They knew how to cover a race back then. I have it on VHS, but I need to find a way to get it on DVD. They played "The Fans" by Alabama at the beginning in honor of Davie Allison. Jimmy Horton's car flew over the wall and outside of the track completely. Earnhardt won. Jeff Gordon was in it, barely.

Back then, the race WAS the event. Now, for Fox and ESPN every race is really a big show, and every show has its theme. Vegas is Vegas, Texas is the wild west theme, California is all Hollywood... Particularly on Fox, everything revolves around the stupid theme, and the championship. I sometimes think they'd rather not bother with the race at all. Back in the day, you didn't need an hour of prerace because in the few minutes they had, they told you what was going on, who the big players were to watch, and they interviewed some folks. Took all of what, 15 minutes. When people wrecked out, they interviewed them. At the end, they'd talk to a few more guys. Now they spend so much time bs'ing of course it takes an hour of two before the race. And when the race starts, half the time you still don't know what's going on.
 
Nichodemus said:
If you can find the Talledega Die Hard 500, race in July 1993, it was the first race after Davie Allison got killed, with the 28 back on the track (with Robbie Gordon driving and finishing last). Its a good old race to watch. They knew how to cover a race back then. I have it on VHS, but I need to find a way to get it on DVD. They played "The Fans" by Alabama at the beginning in honor of Davie Allison. Jimmy Horton's car flew over the wall and outside of the track completely. Earnhardt won. Jeff Gordon was in it, barely.

Back then, the race WAS the event. Now, for Fox and ESPN every race is really a big show, and every show has its theme. Vegas is Vegas, Texas is the wild west theme, California is all Hollywood... Particularly on Fox, everything revolves around the stupid theme, and the championship. I sometimes think they'd rather not bother with the race at all. Back in the day, you didn't need an hour of prerace because in the few minutes they had, they told you what was going on, who the big players were to watch, and they interviewed some folks. Took all of what, 15 minutes. When people wrecked out, they interviewed them. At the end, they'd talk to a few more guys. Now they spend so much time bs'ing of course it takes an hour of two before the race. And when the race starts, half the time you still don't know what's going on.
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Great comparison videos.







The video maker has pretty good descriptions under each vid saying what his point is.
 
The race that changed Super Speedway racing forever!

I was in the stands that day very close to start finish line.

 
TwentyNine said:
Great comparison videos.



The video maker has pretty good descriptions under each vid saying what his point is.
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Pretty hard to listen to, but I get the point. Announcers used to call the action on the track with some excitement. Now they just pump themselves up with who can say the deepest and most important factoid. Mike Joy is the biggest offender, IMO. Controlled monotone all race long.
 
FenderBumper said:
Pretty hard to listen to, but I get the point. Announcers used to call the action on the track with some excitement. Now they just pump themselves up with who can say the deepest and most important factoid. Mike Joy is the biggest offender, IMO. Controlled monotone all race long.
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The point is more the coverage/camera angles more than the announcers.
 
TwentyNine said:
The point is more the coverage/camera angles more than the announcers.
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The vintage ESPN broadcasts completely put the new ones the shame. It's amazing. TVs have gotten bigger. We have HDTV now. More space on the screen. Also, look how ESPN got everything out of the way in pre-race, explained the track, distance and everything. Five laps in and FOX is still explaining what ESPN 2000 explained before the green flag waved.
 
TwentyNine said:
The point is more the coverage/camera angles more than the announcers.
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Yeah, now I get it. The old angles showed the action better than todays tighter shots. But even the announcers voices dripped with excitement, much like MRN does today. It all adds to the show.
 
I used to always look forward to the Busch Series going to Hickory on Easter Weekend every year. Here's the Mountain Dew 400 at Hickory from 4/10/93 with Mike Joy and the late great Neil Bonnett on the call. This is just one part out of seven, but the others are out on YouTube as well:

 
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FenderBumper said:
Yeah, now I get it. The old angles showed the action better than todays tighter shots. But even the announcers voices dripped with excitement, much like MRN does today. It all adds to the show.
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I've been complaining about the camera coverage of races for a few years now.

The "zoom, zoom, zoom" camera drives me nuts.

Does anyone in their right mind stand up next to the fence to watch a race ?
 
ToyYoda said:
I used to always look forward to the Busch Series going to Hickory on Easter Weekend every year. Here's the Mountain Dew 500 at Hickory from 4/10/93 with Mike Joy and the late great Neil Bonnett on the call. This is just one part out of seven, but the others are out on YouTube as well:

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cool. I live 5 miles away, and it's hard to believe it's the same track.
 
pjmolo said:
I've been complaining about the camera coverage of races for a few years now.

The "zoom, zoom, zoom" camera drives me nuts.

Does anyone in their right mind stand up next to the fence to watch a race ?
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Probably more alcohol induced so no, not in my right mind but I normally do take time to take a walk down next to the track at some point during a race weekend. Seeing just how fast these cars are from that location is pretty cool IMO.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Probably more alcohol induced so no, not in my right mind but I normally do take time to take a walk down next to the track at some point during a race weekend. Seeing just how fast these cars are from that location is pretty cool IMO.
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I'll admit to standing next to the fence for a minute or two on my way back from the concession area under the stands.

Live and in person, there's nothing that compares to the sights, sounds, and smells that you experience being that close to the action.

But an extended camera shot from the same spot doesn't come close to conveying the sensation.
 
pjmolo said:
I'll admit to standing next to the fence for a minute or two on my way back from the concession area under the stands.

Live and in person, there's nothing that compares to the sights, sounds, and smells that you experience being that close to the action.

But an extended camera shot from the same spot doesn't come close to conveying the sensation.
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I guess it's the best they can do for the people that never go to these races which I'm guessing is the vast majority that are watching.
 
FenderBumper said:
Yeah, now I get it. The old angles showed the action better than todays tighter shots. But even the announcers voices dripped with excitement, much like MRN does today. It all adds to the show.
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Yep, I love listening to MRN, hell even PRN.
 
ToyYoda said:
I used to always look forward to the Busch Series going to Hickory on Easter Weekend every year. Here's the Mountain Dew 400 at Hickory from 4/10/93 with Mike Joy and the late great Neil Bonnett on the call. This is just one part out of seven, but the others are out on YouTube as well:

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Hickory's an awesome track. I can't wait for the Easter Bunny 150.


FenderBumper said:
cool. I live 5 miles away, and it's hard to believe it's the same track.
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LOL the only thing that's different now is the color of the walls.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Hickory's an awesome track. I can't wait for the Easter Bunny 150.




LOL the only thing that's different now is the color of the walls.
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lol I meant it's so small when you're there. It's hard to believe they ran cup races. I walked up to the fence the other day. The surface is real worn. Should make for good racing on those Hoosiers.
 
FenderBumper said:
lol I meant it's so small when you're there. It's hard to believe they ran cup races. I walked up to the fence the other day. The surface is real worn. Should make for good racing on those Hoosiers.
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In the BGN race I posted, there were only 30 cars in the field. Any more than that on a track that small might have been pandemonium. The Busch Series ran there until 1998, I'm not sure how much bigger the fields got before then.
 
pjmolo said:
I've been complaining about the camera coverage of races for a few years now.

The "zoom, zoom, zoom" camera drives me nuts.

Does anyone in their right mind stand up next to the fence to watch a race ?
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Actually they do or try to, but not for long.( Alcohol is usually involved)
 
ToyYoda said:
In the BGN race I posted, there were only 30 cars in the field. Any more than that on a track that small might have been pandemonium. The Busch Series ran there until 1998, I'm not sure how much bigger the fields got before then.
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Damn, I just missed the show! ;)
 
BamaFan said:
Been sayin this for years, Cut on MRN, mute your TV. You will feel like its a different race. They have to be better at describing the action because you can't see it. !!
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I feed MRN and TV audio thru my cheap ass home theater and flip inputs when commercials come on.....or when the Wally Bro's get on my last nerve. Even though they are delayed compared to the video, it's exciting.
 
FenderBumper said:
I feed MRN and TV audio thru my cheap ass home theater and flip inputs when commercials come on.....or when the Wally Bro's get on my last nerve. Even though they are delayed compared to the video, it's exciting.
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Quite often I will be driving home when the race starts and listen on MRN, only to be disappointed when i cut on the TV sound
 
Nichodemus said:
If you can find the Talledega Die Hard 500, race in July 1993, it was the first race after Davie Allison got killed, with the 28 back on the track (with Robbie Gordon driving and finishing last). Its a good old race to watch. They knew how to cover a race back then. I have it on VHS, but I need to find a way to get it on DVD. They played "The Fans" by Alabama at the beginning in honor of Davie Allison. Jimmy Horton's car flew over the wall and outside of the track completely. Earnhardt won. Jeff Gordon was in it, barely.
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Probably one of the most legendary NASCAR races of all-time. That was also the race that featured Neil Bonnett's first start since his injury at Atlanta in 1990. Bonnett flipped into the catchfence, but was uninjured and returned to the booth to call the remainder of the race. Unfortunately, it was also the race in which Stanley Smith suffered a career-ending head injury during the Horton crash.

Coincidentally enough, I recently burned the YouTube version to DVD myself. It doesn't have the Davey Allison tribute in it, but if you want the race on DVD, downloading it from YouTube and burning it to DVD is the way to go. Otherwise, I know there are stores where you can go and convert your VHS to DVD.
 
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