It's a foggy morning at Pocono Raceway. The forecast is calling for rain this afternoon and everyone is hoping to get this race in as scheduled.
This is the 2011 debut of Lindsay Czarniak as the host of the six TNT summer race telecasts. She will handle the pre-race with Larry McReynolds and Kyle Petty to get things started. She then remains either on the outside TNT infield rig or moves to an indoor location with McReynolds in tow should the rain begin.
Adam Alexander is in his second season as the play-by-play announcer for this package. He was a surprising choice, but TNT liked his rookie effort and brought him back for this season. Alexander has spent the last four months as the solo anchor of Speed Center on SPEED.
The pairing of Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach is interesting in that the opinions and analysis related to the TV viewers are those of two former drivers. The classic approach of having a former crew chief paired in the booth was never embraced by TNT. The network is fine with having McReynolds positioned in the infield and ready to provide comments from that location.
What you get with Petty and Dallenbach is two drivers who never fit the NASCAR mold. Petty moved on after an up and down career that drew to a close after the tragic passing of his son in a race car. Dallenbach never caught on in NASCAR, despite bringing his colorful personality and strong family background in racing.
Phil Parsons is not returning to TNT as a pit reporter. It will be TV veteran Chris Neville replacing him. The other three members of the pit road gang are Matt Yocum, Marty Snider and Ralph Sheheen. It was Sheheen who filled in upstairs after Bill Weber was fired mid-season several years ago.
This TNT package will feature an expanded online RaceBuddy application available through the NASCAR.com website. This season there are two mosaic (four camera) views, four in-car cameras and two battle-cams. It's a great idea and one that has clearly struck a positive nerve with the fans.
The TNT races will not feature side-by-side commercial breaks. The Daytona event will be produced with the "Wide Open" coverage, but expect the normal commercial and promo load in the telecasts that we have come to expect from TNT since 2007.
After the FOX events, TNT is always a nice breath of fresh air. RaceBuddy lets fans see the racing during the commercials, Petty is a strong presence in the booth and Czarniak is a TV pro.
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