If the title caught your eye, do not worry. It's not all gone. But, looks like FOX will be killing off SPEED to make way for something unbelievably unnecessary. In the last 10 years, interest in racing has dwindled and it appears now that more people care about what Tim Tebow had for breakfast this morning than what got Kurt Busch in trouble this time. ESPN has stepped up it's coverage recently, but I still struggle to find mention of any motorsports on SportsCenter. NBC Sports Network has done a fantastic job with it's IndyCar coverage, and NASCAR and Formula 1 and all motorsports fans have SPEED. I might be just 17 years old, but my fondest memories as a kid come from watching SPEED. SPEED used to be the home of NASCAR. Many people disliked the network after the FOX buy out, but you can't deny that getting guaranteed NASCAR Cup, Nationwide, and Truck practice and qualifying, along with Formula 1 practice and qualifying, plus Grand-Am races, V8 Supercars, and a ton of other fantastic motorsports is pretty good. Heck, I'll even watch Monster Jam and AMA races. But with this recent bit of news here, looks like all that might be gone in the next few years.
FOX is planning to rebrand SPEED as FOX Sports 1 in the coming years. Why? They want to broadcast more baseball. Even if a state's specific FSN network is on basic cable, FOX seems to think that's not enough and they need to take away our only source of motorsports coverage. Now, rumor has it, we'll still have NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, possibly some practice and qualifying sessions, and maybe RaceHub and RaceDay. Who knows? No one knows what will become of the F1 coverage. Some sources claim a possible move back to ESPN. But I don't think anyone wants to see that the way ESPN treats their NASCAR and IndyCar coverage. (Albeit, it has gotten substantially better in the last couple of years.) I've also read that most programming could be moved to Fuel TV. A network even LESS people have. It's not a good business move by FOX. It's not good for NASCAR. It's not good for motorsports at all. FOX has some of the best people on staff. It is arguably one of the best teams in motorsports broadcasting history, but what they're about to do, will not only ruin their reputation as a network, but also possibly even further damage the reputation and interest level of motorsports as a whole.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
2013 IndyCar Outlook
Hello readers. I have been away and apologize for this. But I felt like it would be a good idea for me to write an article about the 2012 IndyCar season and my expectations for 2013.
The finale at Fontana capped off one of the best seasons American Open Wheel racing has seen since the late 80's and early 90's. Everything IndyCar needed to gain momentum, it got. Great story lines, a fantastic Indy 500, a fearsome points battle and most of all, an American champion. What more did they need? It was all there. Now, looking at 2013, we might actually see what we've been waiting for for years. Randy Bernard worked his tail off and got Pocono a date on the 2013 IndyCar schedule. This was something fans have so craved. More ovals and a triple crown. Albeit, Pocono will be 400 miles, but it's still better than nothing. Not to mention, we've got 3 double headers at Detroit, Toronto, and Houston. According to race director Beaux Barfield, the Saturday races will feature standing starts. Well there's something we have been wanting for a while! Personally, I'm all for the standing starts. It reminds me of the old ChampCar days. Especially the return to Houston. But what I think will be a good factor for IndyCar's success will be the number of races on ABC. NBC Sports does a fantastic job every week they have covering IndyCar. But without Bob Jenkins, who will they put in the booth? We can only hope it's a seasoned veteran. To everyone who thinks it will be Paul Page, Page released a statement on his Facebook page saying that NBC has chosen not to hire him back on. Many of you know Page is in his last season covering NHRA. That means, with hope and possibly petitions (hint hint) Page could be calling IndyCar races if ABC decides to re assign Marty Reid to NASCAR Nationwide races.
Overall, I am looking forward to 2013 and what it has to bring for all forms of motorsports.
The finale at Fontana capped off one of the best seasons American Open Wheel racing has seen since the late 80's and early 90's. Everything IndyCar needed to gain momentum, it got. Great story lines, a fantastic Indy 500, a fearsome points battle and most of all, an American champion. What more did they need? It was all there. Now, looking at 2013, we might actually see what we've been waiting for for years. Randy Bernard worked his tail off and got Pocono a date on the 2013 IndyCar schedule. This was something fans have so craved. More ovals and a triple crown. Albeit, Pocono will be 400 miles, but it's still better than nothing. Not to mention, we've got 3 double headers at Detroit, Toronto, and Houston. According to race director Beaux Barfield, the Saturday races will feature standing starts. Well there's something we have been wanting for a while! Personally, I'm all for the standing starts. It reminds me of the old ChampCar days. Especially the return to Houston. But what I think will be a good factor for IndyCar's success will be the number of races on ABC. NBC Sports does a fantastic job every week they have covering IndyCar. But without Bob Jenkins, who will they put in the booth? We can only hope it's a seasoned veteran. To everyone who thinks it will be Paul Page, Page released a statement on his Facebook page saying that NBC has chosen not to hire him back on. Many of you know Page is in his last season covering NHRA. That means, with hope and possibly petitions (hint hint) Page could be calling IndyCar races if ABC decides to re assign Marty Reid to NASCAR Nationwide races.
Overall, I am looking forward to 2013 and what it has to bring for all forms of motorsports.
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