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© St. Petersburg Times, published July 9, 2001
The Times asked readers to send in their views of NBC's broadcast of the Pepsi 400. NBC and TNT will broadcast the remainder of the season, taking over from Fox. Here's a sampling of readers' views:
-- The editors
Either the coverage was opening night jitters or we are in for a long second half of the NASCAR season. In key situations like the Dale Jr. pit stop near the end of the race, poorly timed commercials took center stage. I had to read the paper to find out if Dale Jr. took two or four tires.
Perhaps we were spoiled by the excellent coverage from Fox or maybe we have to wait a few races for this coverage to mature.
-- John N. Anderson, Tierra Verde
My reaction to the coverage is very positive. Allen Bestwick is a nice improvement over the "ramblings" of Darrell Waltrip. D.W. never shuts up long enough to make any sense out of his comments. Allen has control of his thoughts and Benny Parsons gives us the experience of his career and spontaneous comments to what is happening. Wally Dallenbach needs some time to get into the swing of things.
... The coverage was excellent. At least NBC covered the back of the pack. All we saw in the first half of season was the lead group, round and round. If your driver was not in the front, too bad.
-- Joyce Teague, Brooksville
After viewing the Pepsi 400, I am dreading watching the next race. Darrell Waltrip and Co. made me feel involved and informed. NBC made me feel like a NASCAR insider. This is not a compliment. Nobody wants their beloved sport butchered by sloppy analysts and inept commentary. Here are some mishaps of NBC coverage: Mike Skinner was hit hard. Was he okay? We never found out. Audio and visual problems throughout the race. The only pit stop I saw timed was Dale Earnhardt Jr. NBC did not give NASCAR the coverage it deserves.
-- Tom Baggs, Pinellas Park
Get Fox back. The transmission was terrible and the commentary would have been better with D.W. Otherwise it was just okay.
-- George Phelps, Largo
Great coverage so far. Just one thing -- show stats! Every time you have the camera on the cars, you should have stats at the top of the screen. Show the standings or lap speed or time behind the leader. Show something!
-- John Garko, Seminole
I really miss Fox coverage of NASCAR. NBC is okay, but I would rather have the running order of the cars like Fox did at the top of the screen. It's easier to read and watch the race at the same time. NBC has three names at a time and it doesn't flow with the race.
-- Donna Kopenhaver, Madeira Beach
Seventy-five percent of the race we were watching commercials. It would be nice to be able to watch such a good race. I'm very disappointed.
-- Lance Turner, Largo
I was not pleased with the coverage of the race at Daytona. The audio and video was nowhere near the expectations that we race fans have enjoyed by Fox. On a good note, Fox was terrible about post-race interviews. They would show victory lane for 3-5 minutes, then on came M*A*S*H. NBC did do a good job of continuing coverage after the race and conducting numerous interviews.
-- Scott Cox, Tampa
A great race to watch. ... Just a shame we could only watch 5-minute segments at a time.
-- H. K. Sharbaugh, Largo
I felt NBC's coverage went about as smoothly as Fox's coverage of the Daytona 500 back in February. While the announcing team may not have been as fluid as that of Fox, I'm certain that within the next couple of weeks the cohesion will improve.
The only complaint was the graphics which often would flash on the screen. Often, the graphics would take up a dominant portion of the screen (the NBC Speed Trap is a prime example), leaving the action covered and lost in the background. During pit interviews, the picture-in-picture would cover up the cars, leaving just a view of empty race track and the infield.
-- Justin Coriddi, St. Petersburg
This was the worst coverage of a NASCAR race we have ever watched. Alan and Benny were all right but Wally was terrible. All we saw was commercials and long shots of the race. NBC better take some lessons from Fox.
-- William Mason, Crystal River