NASCAR Non-News Now

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

March 26, 2008 11:58 am UTC 15 Comments

I feel so used. Sucked in by the implied respectability of network television coverage of our beloved sport and the desperation of one of the biggest players in NASCAR media to invent stories when they are tough to find. Nice job ESPN.

I admit it. I bit. Shortly before leaving to get to our ON PIT ROW broadcast location Tuesday, I saw a blurb about MRN stalwart and Sirius Satellite radio host Dave Moody checking on a report that ESPN the Magazine was breaking a story about some Toyota team being caught red-handed with a top-secret Jack Roush Racing part.

Now we broadcast the show from our winter home, a sports bar called Frickers, just outside the right field wall at Fifith Third Field – the home of the Toledo Mud Hen’s and like all respectable sports bars, it’s full of TV’s – and one radio show that’s full of….itself. Just before our scheduled air time, ESPN’s NASCAR Now was on the tube, with a “special breaking news” report from Terry Blount. My suspicion level began to tick upward.

The Daly Planet actually watched the whole thing and JD seems disappointed that the show, formerly hosted by Eric “the Awful” has slipped from some recently reached level of credibility. Despite Alan Bestwick’s arrival, NASCAR Now is still a hype-laden shill-show and using a jaded, J-school ……. using Terry Blount for their investigative reporter says it all. If Jerry wasn’t laid up with a bad back, he’d say it better, but when I saw Blount was behind it, I should have let the story go.

So I apologize to ON PIT ROW listeners for wasting the time that Steve and I spent talking about this non-story last night. I wonder if ESPN will do the same?

Filed under: It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Rumors, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series, The Daily Bugle, Toyota