The good news is that the track is a sellout tonight. The bad news is that for those of us watching on TV, full-screen commercials are back.
Kentucky Speedway is an odd duck. Located where few wanted a major speedway, Bruton Smith wound-up buying the place and leveraging one of his own race dates to bring a Sprint Cup Series date to a track that had hosted Nationwide and Truck Series races for over ten years.
Tonight, TNT plays to a packed house. Lindsay Czarniak is up first hosting the Countdown to Green pre-race show. Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds will be on the TNT Infield Rig with her for the hour show.
Adam Alexander will then pair with Petty and Wally Dallenbach Jr. for the call of the race. Chris Neville, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider and Ralph Sheheen will be handling pit road.
This is a track known for a narrow groove, little passing and fuel mileage races. That makes it a big challenge for TV. Pit strategy, including tires will be a key to the race. Passes for the lead may well happen off pit road.
The number of cautions will feed into the number of double-file restarts. Long green flag periods will make it tough for TV. The producer is going to have to chase the best racing on the track and go after the stories unfolding on pit road.
Kentucky makes good pictures under the lights as ESPN and SPEED have shown over the years of producing NNS and truck races. The challenge is for TNT to make this telecast as memorable as possible by continuing to frame it as a first time opportunity for drivers in the field.
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