Last year’s introduction of the “Chase Grid” was not without controversy, but was able to be held without much confusion. This year, however, Nascar has had unprecedented issues determining which drivers advance and which drivers are eliminated. shortly after today’s elimination race at Dover, the culprit was found: The lack of TNT’s “Summer Series” to separate the men from the boys.
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“You know, we all took TNT for granted throughout our last TV contract, but they were really doing us a service”, said an apologetic Mike Helton. “Those six races, they were able to, as Larry Mac (McReynolds) always said at the start of the series, separate the men from the boys.”
When reached at Fox Sports headquarters in Charlotte, McReynolds reiterated his opinions of the “summer six-pack” of races that previously aired on TNT.
“A lot of people thought I was just saying that for marketing reasons, but it was true”, McReynolds said. “Rarely in our sport did you see such a variety of races on a variety of tracks, from a bumpy intermediate at Kentucky to a triangle at Pocono, from a road course at Sears Point, to the always unpredictable Daytona night race in JOO-ly.”
Turner Sports chose not to renew their Nascar contract in 2015, with the vital but small half-dozen Cup races no longer fitting into their sports portfolio of basketball, baseball, and more basketball.
Fellow Nascar on TNT broadcaster Kyle Petty echoed McReynolds’ feelings.
“Every year we went out there on TNT, it was incredible”, Petty said from the chaos at Dover. “Those six races, man, they were just incredible, really.”
In honor of TNT’s contributions to the sport, Wally Dallenbach was called, but had his comments not recorded.