By: Jim Williams
The Examiner
It is Daytona weekend and for race fans it just does not get any better than this!
It starts this afternoon at 1:30pm on SPEED with Sprint Cup practice as the boys get a chance to see what they can do on the high banks.
At 3:30pm on ESPN2 there is the Nationwide Series qualifying which should be very entertaining with so many new and young drivers in the series this year.
At 8pm on SPEED is the Truck series race The Nextra 250. If you have not seen the trucks race they are very entertaining and worth a look.
Saturday the action belongs to ESPN2 at 1pm with the first Nationwide race of the season the Camping World 300. The broadcast team will feature Dr. Jerry Punch along with analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.
Punch had a great story about some of the things going on this year at Daytona: “I’m thrilled this year to be able to sit with these guys who will do a phenomenal job of analyzing what’s happening on the racetrack. I’m excited about being in the garage area in the Nationwide Series because there are some very, very compelling stories that are developing. The economy has been a challenge for many. In the Nationwide garage, a lot of the drivers and teams look at it as an opportunity. People say there’s a lot of guys that don’t have a lot of sponsorship, so I’m going to come back and be an owner. We see some teams developing that weren’t here a year ago and plan on running the full series. You have Roger Penske who never in his career has run a full NASCAR Nationwide Series car. He will do that this year. Justin Allgaier is a great story. His parents drove him when he was 12 years old three and a half hours on a weeknight to night school to learn to do interviews in case he ever got a chance to be a driver. Guess what? When he was interviewed the first time by Roger Penske, that night school paid off.”
Sunday is FOX at 2pm with the prerace show from the Hollywood Hotel hosted by friend of the column Chris Myers.
At 3:30pm it is the Daytona 500 live on FOX. Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Mike Joy will handle the action.
Here are some quotes on what to expect this year at the Super Bowl of auto racing:
Darrell Waltrip on Jimmie Johnson’s chances of making NASCAR history and winning a fourth straight Points Championship: “Three in a row is pretty special because only one other person, Cale Yarborough, has ever done it in the history of NASCAR. If you win four championships in a row, you have put yourself in a class by yourself. Until somebody proves to me they have what it takes to do what he and Chad Knaus can do, which is make no mistakes in the last ten races, I’m going to bet on Jimmie Johnson.”
Mike Joy on how NASCAR’s drivers make opportunities for themselves: “There are several start-up teams, like Joe Nemechek’s and Jeremy Mayfield’s, that didn’t exist 30 days ago. In Mayfield’s case, he didn’t arrive with an established team for the Daytona 500, so he put a team together. Every person working on his car now was laid off last fall by a team. Every problem creates an opportunity somewhere else.”
Here are the highlights from Sirius-XM Channel 128 which is live from Daytona almost 18 hours a day all week.
Saturday
• 9:00 am – 12:45 pm: “The Front Stretch” hosted by Pat Patterson
• 12:45 pm – 4:00 pm: Camping World 300 Presented by Chevrolet NASCAR Nationwide Series Race
• 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: “Press Pass” hosted by Alex Hayden and Steve Post
• 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: “Dialed In” hosted by Claire B. Lang
Sunday
• 9:00 am – 11:30 am: “The Front Stretch” hosted by Pat Patterson
• 11:30 am – 1:30 pm: “SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre-Race Show” hosted by Claire B. Lang and Steve Post
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm (approx): Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race
• 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: “SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post-Race Show” hosted by Steve Post, Alex Hayden and Claire B. Lang
