Please FOX Keep Digger in the Hole

So I was browsing the Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Auto Club 500 on cawsnjaws.com and out of all the stats on the page, one in particular jumped out at me:

Number of animated Digger sightings: 18
Number of non-animated Digger sightings: 28
Number of Total Digger sightings: 46

Now look at this:

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 6:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 10:02 PM
Total minutes: 242
Minutes of race broadcast: 60
Minutes of commercials: 182

60 minutes of actually racing on your screen. 46 Digger sightings. Get out your calculators and for every 1.3 minutes of actual racing we had a Digger sighting. Not to mention, we saw three times as many minutes of commericals than we did action on the track. Now there were several cautions for rain, which is used as NASCAR on FOX's time to pay the bills, but 3x as many commericals as actual racing?

The numbers on Digger are plain absurd as well. This view does have a purpose, but not once every 1.3 minutes. I like the view, especially at Daytona because you get the appearance of speed that the cars carry through the corners. Times when we do not need to see Digger include the pre-race, every time someone drives over it, or every time there is a wreck. Showing Digger during a wreck is one of the absolute worst perspectives you can give the fans to show what actually happens. Show the rear in-car camera, show the front in-car camera, show the driver, show any other shot of the accident other than the Digger-cam. It is a gimick that has ran the course. Please FOX, keep Digger in his hole.

Thanks to cawsnjaws.com for the stats.

Do We All Have A Little Redneck In Us?

This post is for anyone who has ever told me NASCAR Racing was a sport for rednecks.

On Sunday the honorary starter for the Auto Club 500 was none other than actress and model Angie Harmon. Ok, so I started out saying to myself so what? An actress who happens to be married to Jason Sehorn, who is a used-to-be in the ranks of retired NFL players, fits into the Hollywood glamour that NASCAR insists on trying to parlay each trip to the Auto Club Speedway despite the fact that the best they can do on their VIP list is fill it with B grade actors and actresses and what used to be famous sports players.

Then the fun began. After waving the green flag, Ms. Harmon began celebrating in a fashion I have witnessed numerous times in the cheap seats of Charlotte, Martinsville, and Bristol. Waving, jumping up and down, throwing up the horns, screaming, and yelling for every lap the cars screamed by until they waved the caution for rain. Behaving exactly in the same manner that each and every one us would have acted in if we got the chance to wave the green flag.

It did my heart good to know that the red on Ms. Harmon's neck on Sunday wasn't just from the California sun. It seems the beautiful model and actress from Highland Park, Texas just might have a little redneck in her. The sad part is, this just might be the most excitement we see from an honorary anything this whole season.

Auto Club 500 Ratings Down

The Auto Club 500 ratings are in and FOX has good and bad news. The bad news, Fox averaged a 5.3/8 for the Auto Club 500 down 13% from last year's 6.1/10. The good news is that it was FOX's best night against the Oscars in some time. The 2009 Academy Awards averaged a 23.5/36 which is up 7% from last year. Still though, why FOX would run that race against the Oscars and the threat of rain is beyond me.

Points to Ponder - Auto Club 500

After tuning it to the entirely too long pre-race coverage and the "follow the leader" race that was the Auto Club 500 I must have seen at least 50 shots of the Digger cam, watched 5 of the 43 drivers on the track for over 3/4 of the broadcast, miss the victory lap and spin through the infield and watched FOX prempt the Victory Lane celebration while they caught up on commercials, I wam left with a few points to ponder about the weekend that was.

• They should ban full-time Cup drivers from the Truck and Nationwide Series.
• Junior's interview with DW might have been the best thing that aired all weekend.
• Drew Blickensderfer (say that three times real fast) or "Blick" (much easier) is the new "sliced bread".
• Joey Logano is going to have a very long year.
• The fact that Darlington lost it's date to the Auto Club Speedway amazes me more and more every time they race there.
• Mark Martin will need to improve his luck to have any chance of making the Chase.
• MWR has made big gains since last year.
• Due to the ban on testing, 2009 is going to look a lot like 2008.
• FOX spends 2 hours doing pre-race and ten minutes doing post-race. It should be mandatory that they interview all the drivers in the Top 5 and, if they haven't ran passed their alotted time, get the Top 10 in there, too.
• The Digger cartoon should be killed immediately.
• Larry Mac needs a dictionary.
• Evidently, when right front tires blow out now they also shoot flames and oil out of the back of the car, just for special effect.

Auto Club 500 Winners and Losers

So the freight train that was the Auto Club 500 is over and done. For a race track located in one of the driest areas of the country, it's the second time in three races the Cup Series has fought rain at the track.

I guess NASCAR does have to be worried about the economy after all. The grandstands reminded me of ghost town with the top 1/3 of the seats basically empty all the way around the track on Sunday. The Nationwide and Truck races had about 1500 people there and that was it. Pathetic really once you realize that one ticket got you in to see the Truck and Nationwide races as well as final practice for the Cup Series.

The action up front was more than lacking. Each leader basically checked out from the field with the exception of the final run which had Gordon keeping Kenseth in sight but never really threatening. The action mid-pack was better but since the FOX cameras seem to want to focus up front, we didn't get to see much of it. How this track continues to have two dates is beyond me.

Winners

Matt Kenseth - Although he still isn't fast on Friday his pit crew more than makes up for it on Sunday. They got him out front and he ran a mistake free race to stay there. Always the pessimist, his radio chatter would make you believe he was just waiting to get passed by Gordon for the win. Here's hoping two wins in a row turns him into a glass half full kinda guy.

Kyle Busch - This kid dominates the Truck and Nationwide races on Saturday and then finishes third on Sunday. Looks like another year of domination for Shrubby.

Michael Waltrip Racing - After what many would call a lackluster season last year, both Michael and Reutimann finished quietly in the Top 15 yesterday and find themselves in the in the Top 15 in the points as well. Reutimann is my dark horse to win a race this year.

Jeff Hammond - After Mike Joy, DW, and Larry Mac made incorrect calls on Greg Biffle's pit stop and Kevin Harvick's obvious blown engine that was called a blown tire Hammond jumped into the broadcast and quickly corrected the booth on both calls. Mr. Hammond I salute you. There are times when watching FOX's coverage that I wonder if they are watching the same race I am.

Losers

Jimmie Johnson - Dominates both practice sessions, sits on the front row in qualifying, then dominates the first third of the race. Their inability to keep up with the changing conditions and faster pace of the race negates them to a 9th place finish. This season is looking like a mirror to 2008 where the 48 team finished 27th at Daytona, 2nd and California, and 29th at Las Vegas and were sitting 14th in the points after 3 races.

Digger - The camera angle is great. We get it. But the cartoon must go. Even my eight year-old thinks it's ridiculous. My guess is that this concept was drawn up for the children watching the race. When they don't enjoy it, it's time to give it up.

Greg Biffle - Quite possibly the car to beat on Sunday but lost all hopes by sliding through his pit box. Look for him to steal some of Cousin Carl's thunder this year.

NASCAR Fans - A mostly boring race with once caution on the track for an actual accident, low attendance, Gavin Rossdale, and TV coverage that missed at least three calls. The day FOX realizes that the fans want more coverage like the interview Dale Jr. gave to DW and less Digger is the day ratings will fix themselves.

Next Up:

Camping World Series

• Off weekend, next race is March 7th at Atlanta. Coverage begins at 1:30 PM Eastern on SPEED.

Nationwide Series

• Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Coverage begins at 4:00 PM Eastern on ESPN2.

Sprint Cup Series

• Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Coverage begins at 3:30 PM Eastern on FOX.