NASCAR On ESPN - Coverage and Other Controversies - Broadcast Interruptions - Other Problems/issues

Other Problems/issues

  • Due to college football commitments - and an exceedingly long race which had 26 caution flags - coverage of the Busch Series Sam's Town 250 on October 27, 2007 ended the moment that David Reutimann took the checkered flag to win the race. There was no post-race interview with Reutimann, summary of the finishing order, or any other usual post-race programming. No interview aired on ESPNEWS or SportsCenter, either, another decision that rankled some long-time fans.
  • Some drivers had testy relationships with ESPN reporters.
    • Tony Stewart was fined and docked 25 points after his win at the Allstate 400 in 2007, when he used an obscenity in his post-race interview. During it, he implied unfair treatment by the network in the past.
    • Also in 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. looked very uneasy in his interview with Mike Massaro at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400; Massaro ran a lengthy talk after Earnhardt Jr. dropped out with engine failure.
    • In 2009, Juan Pablo Montoya walked out on an interview with Vince Welch after the Pennsylvania 500 due to a line of questioning he was not happy with.
  • Most of the races broadcast on ESPN on ABC had minimal or no post-race coverage. Several times, ESPN only interviewed the winner and second place finisher. The most likely explanation is that the next program is, typically, ABC World News Sunday or a local newscast; the network wants to start the newscast as soon as possible.
  • At the 2007 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the majority of the coverage was focused on Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. There was only one mention when Juan Pablo Montoya led the opening laps of the race and ESPN on ABC did not air several of the lead changes or mention them on air. In addition, during the Busch Series O'Reilly Challenge race at Texas, the final laps were broadcast from an in-car camera of points championship leader Carl Edwards. ESPN did not air the finish of the race where Kevin Harvick won and instead stayed with an in-car shot of Edwards through the finish.
  • At the 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega, ESPN on ABC did not air the final lead change as they were covering a battle a little deeper in the field. Jeff Gordon made the race winning move without mention of the lead change on ESPN on ABC until well after it had happened. Gordon won the race.
  • At the 2010 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler crashed violently on lap 165. ESPN could get multiple angles of Busch's crash, but due to this being a blind spot on the track, ESPN only had one angle showing Sadler's crash (even then, partially out of frame), leaving many fans angry about not knowing how Sadler crashed and hit the inside wall.
  • Shortly after the 2011 DRIVE4COPD 300, ESPN lost audio just as race winner Tony Stewart was about to answer a question. Due to those technical problems, ESPN began its special edition of SportsCenter, from an infield studio at Daytona, early. The interviews with Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were still recorded and played back 18 minutes later with the audio restored. However, the usual final tape montage and proper sign-off was not shown, at least not in the original live versions.
  • At the 2011 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, ESPN did not show the final lead change because Brad Keselowski spun around, while Tony Stewart made the race winning move around Jimmie Johnson.

Read more about this topic:  NASCAR On ESPN, Coverage and Other Controversies, Broadcast Interruptions

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