A common complaint among many has been that NASCAR’s current crop of stars are too vanilla. At a press conference held at Daytona Speedway, eight current drivers were paraded out as Fox Sports announced it will once again broadcast a drivers only Xfinity broadcast. These eight could never be called vanilla.
Fox Sports Drivers Only Broadcast Returns
Some of the sports most opinionated and well for lack of a better word, characters have been chosen as participants in this year’s broadcast which will be held at Pocono later in the season. It really is quite a group and the broadcast regardless of the product on the track is bound to be entertaining.
The Eight
– Brad Keselowski has fast become the voice of experience among NASCAR drivers. He is as knowledagble as anyone you find in the garage plus he is not afraid to speak his mind.
– Kevin Harvick has already proven he’s not afraid to speak his mind. Just last season during an Xfinity broadcast he put some of the blame of NASCAR’s stunted growth on the lack of success of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
– Joey Logano has an easy going attitude and a huge smile and he’s also extremely popular among his peers in the garage.
– Daniel Suarez is a bright young driver with a huge upside. The former Xfinity driver is a graduate of NASCAR’s diversity program.
– Ryan Blaney has fast become a star on social media. Blaney cut his hair and shaved his beard during the off-season and it created a huge social media discussion.
– Clint Bowyer, for my money, is the funniest guy in the garage. His Midwest humor and demeanor will play very well on television.
– Erik Jones, last season’s rookie of the year in the Monster Energy Series, is one of the young drivers NASCAR hopes will drive the sport into the next decade.
– Ricky Stenhouse Jr who use to be known as Danica Patrick’s boyfriend will now try to shed that title for a new one. A former Xfinity Champion in his own right, Ricky has an easy going attitude that should translate well on television.
– Bubba Wallace, like Daniel Suarez, is a graduate of NASCAR’s diversity program. He’s got skills on the track and has a huge smile. A likable guy all around. I can’t wait to get to know him better.
There was a lot of laughs and good natured banter among the group during their get together with the media. Towards the end of the news conference Fox Sports executives were asked what the selection process was and if a ton of people turned them down and they ended up getting stuck with this bunch.
All eight belly laughed at that. Perhaps the reason this is going to work is none of these elite eight take themselves too seriously. One thing is for sure, its gonna be entertaining.
Thanks for reading. Listen to WTBQ Radio on Monday and Friday mornings at 8:45 as I join Frank, Taylor and the Morning Show gang to discuss the current happenings in NASCAR. 1110AM, 93.5FM or on line at WTBQ.com. You can follow me on twitter @JimLaplante.
