Posted on July 16, 2007

Top of My Head – Chicagoland

Ta-Ta to TNT, Baby Owners’ Manuals, and Other Oddities of the Week

by Becky Noll About The Author	Email   Print

So it is time yet again to bid adieu to another network’s coverage of NASCAR.  I’m not sure who’ll be covering it when the circuit arrives at the Brickyard in two weeks, I guess I’ll have to check the TV listings to make sure I show up at the right place.

Anyhow, let’s DROP THE GREEN!

Is there any way that we can possibly get away from the Speed pre-race coverage?  They seem to get more pointless and shrill with each passing week.  Exactly what was the purpose of the montage they did of their “greatest” moments?  Lots of yelling by Jimmy Spencer, screeching by Kenny Wallace, and general vacuosity by that Ricky character.

Things I will miss about TNT’s coverage:  The online pit road coverage.  I will REALLY miss this because I just discovered it at the start of this race.  It was very nice to be able to watch it when TNT went to commercial break.  Some video is better than no video, and the MRN commentary was a nice addition.

I’ll also miss Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach.  Wally’s World has evolved into a segment I look forward to, getting to see various celebrities left speechless by how fast those cars really go.  I especially enjoyed this week’s passenger, Bill Engvall – never thought I’d see him speechless!

TNT’s series about the pioneers of NASCAR.  I never knew who Bud Moore was.  I do now, and I’m glad.

And special kudos to TNT for their grand experiment of Wide Open Coverage.  I hope the other networks were paying attention.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was good, and with a few tweaks, it could be great.

Things I WON’T miss about TNT’s coverage: “Born to be wild, born to be wild, born to be wiiiiild!”  Bill Weber.  That strange rotating stage.  Mark Fine.  I agree with Jeff Gordon, who IS he?  He sure wasn’t hired for his personality!

The race – Well, you know it’s not an exciting race when even the booth boys are saying it, but it had some good moments and at least the outcome wasn’t a certainty until, what, about 50 laps to go…?

Poor Jamie McMurray, getting all that pre-race hype after his win last week, and having this week’s race end so abruptly.  There seemed to be a lot more bad one- and two-car crashes and a lot more junk sheet metal than I recall at past Chicago races. 

But there should still be some way to liven up some of these races that end with less than half the field on the lead lap.  How about requiring the lead lap drivers to get out of the cars on pit stops and gas up the cars themselves…?

Am I the only one who thinks Jeff Gordon’s Nicorette car needs serpent eyes and dragon wings?  That car looks evil!

And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one holding my breath watching Dale Jr. wrestle his car around the track after the power steering went.  I was afraid he was going to start making it turn by banking it off the walls and other cars!

To take a quick left turn, did all of you veteran parents out there get as big a laugh out of Jeff Gordon’s comments this week as I did?  He and Ingrid were now looking after baby Ella ALL ON THEIR OWN!  The nurse who had been with them since the baby’s birth on June 20 was no longer with them!  Good Grief!  By the time my kids were three weeks old I was doing laundry, cooking meals, running errands, cleaning house… all while carrying baby hung in a sling around my neck.  I could just picture it, “Ingrid, where did you put the owners’ manual?  Is Ella SUPPOSED to be leaking like this?  Is it time for ANOTHER pit stop?  What do you mean I can’t spray Coke around the nursery?  I changed a diaper all by myself!”

So anyhow… CONGRATULATIONS to Tony Stewart and the whole #20 crew for finally bringing home that elusive first win of the season.  It was good to see Tony climb that fence again – although it doesn’t make me any less nervous than it did last year.

In case you didn’t notice, I’ve more or less given up trying to pick a winner for the race, since my last choice – Boris Said – seemed like a good pick until he got completely rained out of the line-up.  I WILL go out on a limb and predict there will be some changes in the qualifying format come next season – but that’s another column.

MEANWHILE – Everyone enjoy the week off from Cup, I’ll be watching Busch as usual, while keeping my head buried in the new Harry Potter novel

Wavin’ the Checkers for Now…

On to the Brickyard!

Sincerest sympathy and prayers going out to ALL the victims of the Florida plane crash.

You can contact Becky at marlinmama@gmail.com

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