Tropical Storm Hanna postponed our race from Saturday night to Sunday. And while very little rain and almost no wind hit Richmond on Saturday - I thought the racing yesterday was incredible.
Everywhere I looked there was three-wide life. The hornets nest from 12th on back was as good as anything at Talladega. The fact that we came within one caution of the record (15) didn't suprise me at all. The drivers were getting with the program yesterday and it was fun to witness.
We also saw that the problem with passing isn't with the CoT. Drivers could pass high, low and whenever they wanted at Richmond. We saw a tremendous side-by-side battle between Johnson and Stewart in the closing laps. I think next year when the teams are allowed to test more at the tracks we will race on, the car will just get better and better. By the way, I caught a glimpse of the Nationwide Series version of the CoT. It looks the same, except it has a spoiler on the back and not the wing. I assume it has a shorter wheelbase, but couldn't really tell. I don't have an issue with the wing, but the spoiler looked cool.
If you watched my channel of HotPass you saw several things I would like to discuss. First, our pre-race show. It was decided that since there was so much hype around this final race to the Chase, that we should do an extended pre-race with all of the channels checking in. I thought that went okay, except it put our channel in a situation where when we finally got our chance to interview Tony Stewart for the actual show, our resources were tied up with the Chase show. So, no Stewart.
That one miscue cost us dearly when the actual Stewart channel went to air. It threw our planned format off, which led me to scramble and setup a JD Gibbs interview instead. And here is where it went bad. I had recorded a taped piece about Tony announcing Grubb as his crew chief, the Nationwide Series probation being lifted and that Logano will have to wait to make his debut because of weather. We did this probably an hour before actual air time. So on the first take, we had a graphics issues and had to re-record the piece. On the second, I said "golf course" instead of "gulf coast". Those that know we could understand the Freudien slip. So I stopped and said, lets do it one more time. On the third, we nailed it. It was a great piece.
So, in the new format, which we were doing on the fly, I setup for my JD interview. Jeff Hammond tosses it to me about JGR in the garage. I think this is for my interview. So I start talking, setting up JD and while I do, I hear my voice like an echo. This is LIVE!!! So, I quickly think it is an audio feedback problem and keep talking. But now I can here that it is the taped piece running, so I stop and let it play. Okay, that was bad, but we could probably live with it. However to compound the issue, our EVS or tape guy, rolled the second take recorded piece where I say golf course and stop. Uggghh. Hammond does a great job of saying we are having technical difficulties. Which I guess we did since the wrong taped was rolled.
It was embarrassing and in my entire life of TV, I have never had that happen. I'm sure people at home were thinking, who is this idiot. (I would've had I been watching). The group at DirecTV is the best I have ever been around and fortunately, this is the only issue we have ever had on my channels. I haven't watched it back on my DVR. I'm afraid too. I'm sure its worse than I experienced LIVE.
I hope people stuck with us after that because I thought Jeff and I had one of our best shows. The conversation level was great. We played off each other well and had good input for the viewers. Tony Stewart had a good run, finishing second. It was very apparent from the team audio that Smoke wasn't happy and his exchange with Zippy made it even more clear. So I made the decision to skip any Zippy interview and make sure we got in line for Tony at the car. We had been told by NASCAR that there would be a ton of media at each car and that we would get our interview when instructed.
So I get to the car and there is no media there and Stewart is sitting on the wall. So again, knowing he isn't happy, we stretched our post race show to give him time. We weren't required to do so, but felt it would be best. I spoke about the fact that the fans needed to leave and then come back in for the Nationwide race, etc... So I see Winston Kelly from MRN make his way to Smoke and we get positioned. Tony does a quick interview with radio. The NASCAR rep tells us we are next. If this wasn't a pay per view channel, I would NOT have done the interview. But when you are paying extra to watch one guy, I think you deserve as much as possible. These drivers when they climb out are hot, their ears are ringing. I truly believe they are somewhat poinsoned from the Carbon Monoxide and when they are iritated above that, you really won't get anything worth the time.
So I know going in that we are going to get very little. So I ask about only needing 36th or better to get in Chase, but a good run finishing second. Tony doesn't say much but he answers the question. At this point I should have said back to you Jeff. But again, people pay for HotPass and so I asked another simple question about Johsnon moving to the high groove in three and four and having to much momentum. Again Tony doesn't say much, but answers the question.
As a viewer, I think while he didn't say much, he said alot. In my opinion, it spoke volumes about his desire to win races. It also showed his frustration in not winning this year (40 races since he last won at Watkins Glen in 2007). I received several emails about the interview and all of them blasted Tony. Look, I have done this a long time. As a reporter, you know its going to be a blast to interview a winner and no fun at all talking to the disappointed. Sure, some guys handle losing better than others. But passion and getting a chance to see what burns in a driver is something the fans don't see because they aren't there everyday. I saw that passion in Tony Stewart yesterday, the same as I did in Victory Lane at Indianapolis when I interviewed him.
When things calm down around Tuesday or Wednesday this week, one thing will be clear. The 12 drivers going for the Sprint Cup Championship will be closer in points than they have all season. And I believe it is wide open for every single one of them, with Jimmie Johnson being the early favorite. If Stewart sticks with his guys and they stick with him, the 20 car could be a factor to win it's third and final championship with Smoke as the driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.
