Kevin Harvick showed up late but when he did he had the field covered. In usual Happy Harvick fashion, Harvick spent the better part of the Coca Cola 600 in mid pack until it was “GO” time. It was Harvick’s second victory at the 600 in the past three years, winning last when Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas on the final lap in 2011.
Social media was once again filled with complaints of FOX’s TV coverage or shall I say lack of coverage. The number of commercials during the race coverage made the race unwatchable at times. Frequently viewers were treated by two laps of racing and two minutes of commercials. Even some of the race coverage itself was a commercial with things such as race recaps brought to you by (insert sponsor).
Fox not only broadcast this race but also was responsible for a 30 minute red flag with some fans being injured when a cable used for a camera broke. Unfortunately, for the third time in two years fans were injured while watching a NASCAR event. Last July, in an unfortunate and likely unavoidable occurrence at Pocono several fans were hit by lightning in the parking lot area of that track. One fan was killed. This season at Daytona, during the Nationwide race, several fans were seriously injured as car parts and a tire catapulted into the stands. The last two incidents are the most concerning of the three because at first glance they appear to be so easily avoidable.
Ten spectators were injured when the cable broke. Fortunately this time none of the injuries were serious enough to require hospitalization. Seven fans were treated at the tracks Infield Care Center and released. Three fans were taken to local hospitals and were treated and released.
Several cars were heavily damaged by the cable. Kyle Busch the leader of the race at the time received the most damage. In an unprecedented move, NASCAR allowed drivers time under the red flag to repair the damage to their cars. This conjured up memories of 2004 at Martinville when Jeff Gordon was leading that race and chunks of asphalt came apart on the track seriously damaging his car. No such repair time was afforded Gordon. Perhaps NASCAR did not want to embarrass its broadcast partner and biggest apologist, FOX network.
FOX announcers were quick to commend NASCAR for allowing teams to repair their cars under the red flag. Chris Myers apologized to fans and drivers on air for the incident which occurred on lap 121 of the 400 lap event. In a statement Fox said it was still investigating the cause of the accident.
“The camera system consists of three ropes — a drive rope which moves the camera back and forth, and two guide ropes on either side. The drive rope failed near the Turn 1 connection and fell to the track. The camera itself did not come down because guide ropes acted as designed. A full investigation is planned, and use of the camera is suspended indefinitely.”
Spectators threw beer and soda cans on the track warning cars of the impending danger prior to the caution coming out. TV viewers were first shown the beverage containers as the cause for the caution. Soon we saw the #9 car of Marcos Ambrose dragging cable under his car. It was then that NASCAR threw the red flag as crews picked up the dragging cable and attended to the injured spectators.
We were fortunate Sunday night that no one was seriously injured. It could have been a disaster. In addition to the excessive amount of commercials during the race, FOX was responsible for damaged cars, cuts and bruises to spectators, and a 30 minute race delay. Its bad enough that the broadcaster became part of the story, but when they became responsible for injuries suffered by fans, and potentially altering the race itself by damaging the cars, we Fox has hit a new low on this one. There’s some good news for race fans on the horizon though. Next week’s race at Dover represents Fox’s last NASCAR race broadcast of the season. The bad news is ESPN and TNT take over the rest of the year.
My picks for the Monster Mile at Dover:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
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