So, what are the odds that today's race will look any better than last week?

I watched 15-20 mins of the last week's Michigan race on HDNet's re-broadcast this week, and I have to say, it looked remarkably better. Just an overall much cleaner, sharper, more "you are there" look to it. None of the issues noted in the Michigan.

So the question is, what it TNT doing to their transmission that's causing it to look so bad? I'm assuming HDNet gets a digital copy from TNT for their re-broadcast, or digitally records it from the TNT uplink for later broadcast. They couldn't possibly be recording from the same signal we've been getting as HDNet's looks too good.

I even considered passing up TNT's broadcast and watching the race later in the week on HDNet, but I simply don't have that kind restraint, especially for a live event.

Anyone know how HDNet gets their copy of the broadcast? That might provides some clues as to why TNT looks so bad.

Still sync issues with the sound. But it looks a lot better to me. The sound mix is pretty good too. The engine start sounded amazing through my TV speakers.

Not sure about PQ, but the Kyle Petty F-bomb came across loud and clear! :D

Not sure about PQ, but the Kyle Petty F-bomb came across loud and clear! :D

The silence from the annoucers after the f-bomb was hilarious.

The silence from the annoucers after the f-bomb was hilarious.

Indeed!
I have to say the picture looks pretty good. Last week was horrible - more artifacts than a good museum.

That superimposed turn marker graphic looks bizarre.

Overall broadcast does seem to be better.

Just started watching after the US whooped Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final 2-1 (that's football/soccer for those of you wondering) and the end the the PGA Tour event.

PQ is 100% better than last week. Too bad i missed petty's f bomb. I'll have to check you tube for it.

Heard Stewart went off the track early in the race and lost a bunch of positions, he's back up to 12th.

Heard Stewart went off the track early in the race and lost a bunch of positions, he's back up to 12th.
Better than that, my man Johnson went from last to first in 37 laps. :eek: :D

I think this race has been the best looking on TNT so far. I don't know about you guys but I enjoy the change of pace with the track. You can really see how good these drivers are and how frustrating a track the Infineon Raceway really is.

I think this race has been the best looking on TNT so far. I don't know about you guys but I enjoy the change of pace with the track. You can really see how good these drivers are and how frustrating a track the Infineon Raceway really is.

I think Nascar needs more road racing. Sonoma and Watkins Glen are two of my favorite races of the year.

Impressive 1st win for Montoya

Much improved from TNT, HD was impressive, better than anything I saw from them during the NBA season.

Better than that, my man Johnson went from last to first in 37 laps.

What, where did your boy finish? What 17th, with at least 100pt fine and a Crew chief suspension coming on Monday or Tuesday.

While Stewart finished 6th and got another Top 10. :D :p

Good to see Juan Pablo Montoya win a race, and do so cleanly. A couple mistakes for him there in the final laps, but worked out for him, and when McMurray went out he had no competition(aside from his fuel). Looking forward to more road course races between the former open wheel star and the others. Would be great to see battles between him, Boris Said, Tony Stewart and Robbie Gordon. Throw Jeff Gordon in there for good measure.

Would be great to see battles between him, Boris Said, Tony Stewart and Robbie Gordon. Throw Jeff Gordon in there for good measure.

Would love to see The Cup series drop two oval type [for how much I love the Pocono triangle, may be drop one of those (actually I hate California Speedway and Nascar is just trying to get the LA/Hollywood audience) and one of the New Hampshire] races and use Virginia International Raceway and bring back Riverside out in California or even give Sonoma a 2nd event.

Road races are truly fun to watch and just two a season is not enough.

Edit in:
Just found out that Riverside got turned into a shopping mall, drat.

I just can't see more road courses being added in Nextel Cup. NASCAR wants a track in the Northwest and another in New York(both looking like pipe dreams at this point, but they're working on it). Other ovals want a second race, like Las Vegas. The schedule is already crowded and everyone wants that second race or doesn't want to lose their second race.

A third road course being part of the 10 race "Chase for the Cup" would be great, though.

The Busch Series is pretty good with experimenting with different road courses, in Mexico and Canada.

I agree with ya 100% on all points.

Actually if anything, I completely forgot about the road course in Mexico. With this diversity program that Nascar has, maybe we can get a Cup race down south of the border.

That would make me very happy to have a third road course.

Australia and Europe have Nascar style racing that is all done on road courses, no ovals at all. The cars are highly modified but actually use stock-car body shells rather than the facsimile shells used by Nascar. The cars are all mid-size European and Asian sedans about the size of Mazda 6s or Accura TLs. These races are much more fun to watch than F1 and the drivers really go at each other at times.

Road courses may be fun to watch on TV in HD, but trust me, I live minutes away from Infineon, and I avoid it for live events at all costs. It's too hard to see more than one turn out of 11. I recently drove to Phoenix to watch a race, about a 12-13 hour drive, and will not go to Infineon < 10 mins away. Road races are better watched on TV. I actually think you'll see these road races eliminated before you see one added to the schedule.

Road courses may be fun to watch on TV in HD, but trust me, I live minutes away from Infineon, and I avoid it for live events at all costs. It's too hard to see more than one turn out of 11. I recently drove to Phoenix to watch a race, about a 12-13 hour drive, and will not go to Infineon < 10 mins away. Road races are better watched on TV. I actually think you'll see these road races eliminated before you see one added to the schedule.
A race at Infineon is definitely seen best on TV, too many hills and structures in the way. I went there for years when you could still wander all the way around the track, now you're pretty much locked into the section you're in, not as much fun any more.

TNT's picture was much improved this week. It was very nice.

Much better PQ. I thought the turn markers were a littel weird at first, but got used to them after a few minutes and realized that they are quite useful. On a typical track it is easy to see what corner is what and even then they are usuakly marked on the wall anyway.

I also heard the Kyle Petty f bomb. If he catches a fine from NASCAR it is kid of TNT's fault since that was a taped replay of the in-car and not live. Somoene had to find that bit and send it out. Surely they could have spent the extra 15 seconds to watch it to see if it was OK since it was alread a couple of minutes after the incident occured anyway.

Yes, the PQ was much better on TNT this weekend, I am sure they got many complaints about it. I did notice a slight audio sync issue at the very beginning of the broadcast, but it improved in a short period of time. Also when they were interviewing Kyle Petty before the race, they must have been having a problem with that particular camera because there was a lot of pixellation. The race was fine, didn't see the excessive pixellation I saw last week on the Michigan race.

PQ was much better than last week, still a bit "soft" to my eyes, maybe a side effect of the long lenses they use for this type of event.

Kyle's F Bomb.... :eek: ....gotta drop that one on TNT. Guy gets blind sided going into a corner (good job there Mr Kenseth), I can understand his reaction. The only reason it got out of the car, let alone on the air, is because TNT had the car wired with a live mic....no push to talk. If he would have done it over the team radio or in a post race interview....fine him.....but in this case TNT has to carry the can. Wonder who's looking for a job this morning? :rolleyes:

Computer generated turn markers....well, it makes it easier for casual fans / non road racing freaks to follow whats going on where. I don't like them myself but...I don't feel they detracted from the race at all.

More road racing in NASCAR....HELL YA! :D I would love to see it:) Can't see it happening any time soon though. As others have pointed out, it's tough to follow a roadrace live (in person) even with the video screens they set up. NASCAR has a product (and it is an entertainment product) that is easy for the fans to watch and understand...this is why they have far more butts in the seats / eyes on the screen than any other form of motorsport in America. They are not going to mess with the goose unless the golden eggs stop flowing. Give me V8 Supercars from down under, road racing motorcycles from anywhere, heck, even the European truck races (now THOSE are wild) in HD and I will watch it :)

Don't know if Jeff-ro and Jimmy will be getting fines or if NASCAR decides that loosing practice time and starting at the rear is enough....time will tell.

Amazing drive by Montoya....staying out front AND saving enough fuel to make it. Guess it stands to reason that a guy who did nothing but road race until this year would be kinda good on a road course :)

Australia and Europe have Nascar style racing that is all done on road courses, no ovals at all. The cars are highly modified but actually use stock-car body shells rather than the facsimile shells used by Nascar. The cars are all mid-size European and Asian sedans about the size of Mazda 6s or Accura TLs. These races are much more fun to watch than F1 and the drivers really go at each other at times.
Yep, you're talking about the Touring Car Championship series. They have them all over Europe. I think the BTCC (British) is generally considered the top TCC series, although I haven't followed it in ages.

The did try this formula in the US about 10 years ago. The USTCC was a complete failure. Only the Dodge teams received factory support (Stratus), while all other cars were "used" models from the BTCC or the ATCC. A lot of BMW 325's and Honda Accords. I think there was one or two Volvo saloons.

I remember watching the races and trying to convince myself that they were exciting. In the end, they weren't all that exciting, not when compared to BTCC. And they got zero ratings so it just died.

ft

That superimposed turn marker graphic looks bizarre.

Overall broadcast does seem to be better.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really think that computer generated turn marker was really condescending to NASCAR fans. Anyone with half a brain can figure out where the cars are after about 10 minutes of watching. No need to put that stupid graphic up.

It's like the glowing puck the NHL tried to do a few years ago.

ft

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really think that computer generated turn marker was really condescending to NASCAR fans. Anyone with half a brain can figure out where the cars are after about 10 minutes of watching. No need to put that stupid graphic up.

It's like the glowing puck the NHL tried to do a few years ago.

ft
I agree, there's too much added graphic crap on screens today as it is, no need for that cartoonish looking thing as well.

Yep, the graphics are really corny, lose 'em please. Pretty good picture quality for the broadcast though. Some slight lipsync issues, but I'm used to seeing them on TNT (and ESPN) via D*.

Kyle's F Bomb.... :eek: ....gotta drop that one on TNT. Guy gets blind sided going into a corner (good job there Mr Kenseth), I can understand his reaction.

And why on earth did Kyle apologize for the incident (not the F Bomb, but the wreck)? Kenseth drove right into him. Maybe he was feeling contrite because of the F Bomb, but that was what a lot of drivers would say when blind sided like that.

And speaking of the newly unemployed, I am guessing Robby Gordon's fuel strategy man would get the bonehead of the day award. Talk about throwing one away.

Brian

The amount of time wasted on "Full Course Yellows" (on a road course) was only topped by the amount of time spent on commercial breaks.

I remember watching the races and trying to convince myself that they were exciting. In the end, they weren't all that exciting, not when compared to BTCC. And they got zero ratings so it just died.

ftExactly how I feel about NASCAR road races compared to F1. I mean, I like the tech behind F1, but I'll take the competitive racing behind NASCAR road races anyday. When you have someone like Montoya coming from that far back to win AND all the fuel strategy and drama at the end, what's not to like? On the other (F1) hand, you have an admittedly superb driver (Lewis) winning from the pole in two straight races, BUT with just a couple of serious challenges for the lead in both. Which, while impressive for a youngster in F1, is still pretty ho-hum compared to what we saw at Infineon this weekend.

Give me a race in exchange for the latest tech ANYDAY.

The amount of time wasted on "Full Course Yellows" (on a road course) was only topped by the amount of time spent on commercial breaks.Agreed, it detracts bigtime when they're constantly throwing full-course cautions for a simple spin followed by a car stuck in the gravel. But it is a safety issue, and one that they should figure out how to manage better. The commercials, well, that's what a DVR is for. :cool:

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really think that computer generated turn marker was really condescending to NASCAR fans. Anyone with half a brain can figure out where the cars are after about 10 minutes of watching. No need to put that stupid graphic up.

It's like the glowing puck the NHL tried to do a few years ago.

ftIt's probably an attempt to aid the short attention spans that the casual viewers have, not the regular fans.

The amount of time wasted on "Full Course Yellows" (on a road course) was only topped by the amount of time spent on commercial breaks.


Yeah, too many of these for simple spin outs that once the field passes, the car should just go to the end of the line

And why on earth did Kyle apologize for the incident (not the F Bomb, but the wreck)? Kenseth drove right into him. Maybe he was feeling contrite because of the F Bomb, but that was what a lot of drivers would say when blind sided like that.

And speaking of the newly unemployed, I am guessing Robby Gordon's fuel strategy man would get the bonehead of the day award. Talk about throwing one away.

Brian


Petty apologized because he didn't know what happened. For all he knew, he didn't see Kenseth and ran him over. Petty is a good guy and just takes the high road, that's all.

They really need to lose the corny graphics.

How stupid would it have looked if a car went off the track right through one of those already tacky pylons.

They really need to lose the corny graphics.

How stupid would it have looked if a car went off the track right through one of those already tacky pylons.

How awesome would it have been if the car knocked over the fake pylon when it went off the track.

Not a big fan of the pylons, but less of a fan of the CGI video game style shots that they put up sometimes based on the GPS things in the cars.

How awesome would it have been if the car knocked over the fake pylon when it went off the track.

Not a big fan of the pylons, but less of a fan of the CGI video game style shots that they put up sometimes based on the GPS things in the cars.
They need to get that thing dialed in better if it's going to have any value, half the time it shows the cars off the track!