The Announcers Thread

I would prefer either Danica, Kenseth, or Stewart over Bowyer in the booth. Even Mike Joy has been "off" since last year
 
I wasn’t impressed with Danica at first but her dry wit and driver insight won me over as the race went on. Get her in one these new cars to give fresh insight from being behind the wheel and I think you have a winner here. She was pretty good today
 
Snappy D said:
I wasn’t impressed with Danica at first but her dry wit and driver insight won me over as the race went on. Get her in one these new cars to give fresh insight from being behind the wheel and I think you have a winner here. She was pretty good today
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yeah she was not bad. Logano and Blaney were really good last night for the Xfinity race also. They had a good time
 
I like Clint Bowyer, but he's not doing well as a lead analyst. He seems to be trying to fill too many roles at once. Mike Joy is one of the best ever, but he's way past his prime. The Busch / Truex battle toward the end was genuinely thrilling stuff, and I kept waiting for him to convey that. Or at least call the action. He barely did.

Kenseth actually contributed a lot of serious on point analysis last week, but with the guest star approach, there is no chemistry forming, and the whole broadcast feels rudderless.

It's still better than NBC's infomercial-style shouting fests, but I can't help but feel like Fox is prepping for a major overhaul in another year or two. I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin Harvick and / or Kurt Busch aren't at the center of it, when that time comes.
 
Aside from Mike Joy, who is one of the best to ever do the job, the ladies (Danica and Jamie) carried Fox's broadcast.

Clint Bowyer is terrible. Most of the time, it feels like all he wants to do is be funny and talk about partying. He's a discount Darrell Waltrip, and I knew he would be. I bitched about his move on day one.

Aside from Clint, the Fox commentary booth is much better - mainly because of Mike Joy. Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick were great and I hope one of the networks hires Danica full-time to be a part of their coverage in some capacity.

NBC's overall production is far superior to Fox's production, but their booth needs a shakeup. If they're getting ready to exit the sport though, they won't change a thing. I mean, I like Dale Jr and am indifferent to Steve Letarte, but Rick and Jeff, who are great people, just don't do it for me.
 
gnomesayin said:
It's still better than NBC's infomercial-style shouting fests, but I can't help but feel like Fox is prepping for a major overhaul in another year or two. I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin Harvick and / or Kurt Busch aren't at the center of it, when that time comes.
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I wouldn't count out Kevin Harvick going to ESPN.
 
Snappy D said:
ESPN coming back?
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That's the general expectation. SBJ has already noted in their predictions, which were pretty spot on about NBCSN last year, that a deal won't be signed this year but NBC will not express interest in renewing.

The next contract will be larger than the last one, and ESPN wants NASCAR rights. To be clear, ESPN never wanted to let go of NASCAR, they just didn't want to hold on to the Xfinity Series and the mid-summer races while NBC was investing big in motorsports.

NBC is already dumping some of their NASCAR commitments. While they still air NASCAR regional races on USA (per contract), they've offloaded those streaming rights to FloRacing, while some of their other content's been dumped off at MotorTrend TV.

It's more than likely going to be Fox and ESPN.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
That's the general expectation. SBJ has already noted in their predictions, which were pretty spot on about NBCSN last year, that a deal won't be signed this year but NBC will not express interest in renewing.

The next contract will be larger than the last one, and ESPN wants NASCAR rights. To be clear, ESPN never wanted to let go of NASCAR, they just didn't want to hold on to the Xfinity Series and the mid-summer races while NBC was investing big in motorsports.

NBC is already dumping some of their NASCAR commitments. While they still air NASCAR regional races on USA (per contract), they've offloaded those streaming rights to FloRacing, while some of their other content's been dumped off at MotorTrend TV.

It's more than likely going to be Fox and ESPN.
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If that’s the case, Hopefully none of the NBC On Air guys besides Jr make their way to ESPN.
 
I also have to say this, while the racing is objectively better with the NextGen car, I have to wonder if the races have been "bad" because of Fox's coverage.

In spite of The Gerbils, I've always found myself enjoying the races more when they're on NBC.

The problem is, Fox has the Daytona 500 on lockdown and treats it like a g.d. cartoon. They have the entire first half of the season. And all NBC can do is try to retain the viewers that Fox has already shed.

ESPN did a terrible job covering IndyCar, so bad that IndyCar rejected ESPN's bids and promises for more coverage and went exclusively to NBC. IndyCar ratings went up on NBC, and the Indy 500 ratings have gone up since the move to NBC, while the Daytona 500's ratings have consistently gone down since moving from NBC in 2006 to Fox since then.

I'm really hoping NASCAR sees what the fans are saying about the coverage this year (probably the first year I've ever seen fans nearly universally hate Fox) and seeing how poorly the sport is represented on there and decides to do the same thing, reject Fox's bid and either go exclusively on ESPN/ABC or go with an ESPN and NBC package.
 
^ There are some errors and misconceptions there. The NASCAR season has always "shed viewers" as it proceeds. The Daytona 500 is always the most watched race. Outside of a few marquee events, races in March draw larger viewership than races in May. Races in May draw larger viewership than races in August. Races in August draw larger viewership than races in October. This has been the pattern for decades, and no amount of incessant yammering about the playoffs has changed it.
 
I would love to see Clint and Danica full time. I love Clints humor, but she mellows him out just a little and I really enjoyed listening to them today...good call Fox.
 
gnomesayin said:
^ There are some errors and misconceptions there. The NASCAR season has always "shed viewers" as it proceeds. The Daytona 500 is always the most watched race. Outside of a few marquee events, races in March draw larger viewership than races in May. Races in May draw larger viewership than races in August. Races in August draw larger viewership than races in October. This has been the pattern for decades, and no amount of incessant yammering about the playoffs has changed it.
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Fox is shedding viewers year after year after year.
 
Nitro Dude said:
I would love to see Clint and Danica full time. I love Clints humor, but she mellows him out just a little and I really enjoyed listening to them today...good call Fox.
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It's interesting....I think that both Danica and Tony made Clint so much better. Clint is a great compliment to a co-analyst. However, it never worked with Jeff IMO. Unbearable. Tony Stewart though should be able to name his price. Unbelievably awesome.
 
I just feel like Fox is missing something there, a certain energy that is lacking I dunno. Mike seems past his time but I guess you could get some more years out of him. For as cheesy as DW was he did a good job. Clint should be in studio and Larry should be in the booth. I’m just kinda surprised at the lack of good up and coming announcers in the booth. It’s kinda been plug and place a driver and see how they do, which is alright but that often doesn’t always work.

Ralph Shaheen, Larry McReynolds, Kurt Busch or Kevin Harvick for Fox.

Allen Bestwick, Steve Letarte, Dale Jr for ESPN/ABC.

Hopefully if ESPN is back in the game they put more races on ABC.
 
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AndyMarquisLive said:
IndyCar ratings went up on NBC, and the Indy 500 ratings have gone up since the move to NBC,
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NBC's IndyCar and IMSA coverage shows they can field a reasonable intelligent booth that doesn't go hypersonic over third lap.

I don't think Tony is interested in a full time booth job.
 
My problem with NBC is the sound department. To me it seems like the sound guy has way to much say in things. They pay a lot of money for the announcers and this clown leaves the in car mike open and all I hear is a sick sewing machine engine sound.
 
Isn’t Jeff Gordon going to be a guest announcer later on in the Fox portion of the schedule?
 
Can pick on Danica, but then again, Boyer was all in on the faux hyperbole of glorification of the "new" NASCAR too. Wish it was not so glaring, but it is what it is.

Does Mike Joy actually watch what is happening on the track? He misinterprets about 80% of the action he is calling because it is reactionary instead of the culmination leading up to it. He says one car is getting passed when in reality it is the car that is doing the passing....or vice versa. He has to watch turn 2 to say what is happening when they get to turn 3 or 4. Instead he takes a snapshot of one moment and gives the incorrect explanation. Maybe it is just me... I tend to plan one lap ahead.
 
I truly enjoy Bowyer and his take on the action. Danica may be a better fit for an Indy car booth. I hope next week is the last of her stock car broadcasting career.
 
OldTimer said:
Does Mike Joy actually watch what is happening on the track? He misinterprets about 80% of the action he is calling because it is reactionary instead of the culmination leading up to it. He says one car is getting passed when in reality it is the car that is doing the passing....or vice versa. He has to watch turn 2 to say what is happening when they get to turn 3 or 4. Instead he takes a snapshot of one moment and gives the incorrect explanation. Maybe it is just me... I tend to plan one lap ahead.
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With this new car there is a ton of cross over moves so it's hard to say whos passing who. If you watched some battles guys passed each other 3 or 4 times before it settled out
 
wi_racefan said:
With this new car there is a ton of cross over moves so it's hard to say whos passing who. If you watched some battles guys passed each other 3 or 4 times before it settled out
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yeah for sure, I noticed that too, Just because they passed a car didn't mean it was a done deal.
 
OldTimer said:
Can pick on Danica, but then again, Boyer was all in on the faux hyperbole of glorification of the "new" NASCAR too. Wish it was not so glaring, but it is what it is.

Does Mike Joy actually watch what is happening on the track? He misinterprets about 80% of the action he is calling because it is reactionary instead of the culmination leading up to it. He says one car is getting passed when in reality it is the car that is doing the passing....or vice versa. He has to watch turn 2 to say what is happening when they get to turn 3 or 4. Instead he takes a snapshot of one moment and gives the incorrect explanation. Maybe it is just me... I tend to plan one lap ahead.
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I didn't notice that. The racing has changed. There is a whole lot more going on than in years past. Until they get strung out (and that is taking longer so far than years past), They're seems to be a lot of back and fourth for positions. That probably will change when they get to some of the one lane tracks which they are trying to eliminate...talking about you Atlanta.
 
I have to say at this point that I really like the style and fit in the broadcast that Boyer has made for himself. This year, he seems to have toned down the goofy energy just a bit (at least for Boyer) and his technical analysis is quite good. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out with him, but I think he has clearly worked on it and this seems like something that might last.
 
Overall I am pretty satisfied with the coverage by FOX from the announcers standpoint. Maybe we should have a "Producers thread." I can't understand how you can have a 3 car battle going on for 4th and they switch the camera to cover a single car running 17th or when the have a nice overhead view of a few cars with close racing and then switch to an in car camera that fails to show what is happening. I realize the producers have to make split second decisions and I am sure they are tough calls, but sometimes it seems like a no brainer.

I am certainly not looking forward to the return of NBC's screaming gerbils.
 
DIDIT said:
Overall I am pretty satisfied with the coverage by FOX from the announcers standpoint. Maybe we should have a "Producers thread." I can't understand how you can have a 3 car battle going on for 4th and they switch the camera to cover a single car running 17th or when the have a nice overhead view of a few cars with close racing and then switch to an in car camera that fails to show what is happening. I realize the producers have to make split second decisions and I am sure they are tough calls, but sometimes it seems like a no brainer.

I am certainly not looking forward to the return of NBC's screaming gerbils.
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Good point. I noticed a couple of times the booth would be talking about something important, and the cameras would completely switch to something else. Overall though human faults and all, they leave the fake drama gerbils in the dust.
 
I think Mike is trying to get the director's attention, a la Ken Squier in the '79 Daytona 500 when the director couldn't find Richard Petty after Cale and Donnie crashed.
 
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