When NASCAR's TV Partners Didn't Care...

[@marcosluis201]

This was a serious April Fools Joke.

[@catjudo1]

I'm thankful for Mike Joy. Through the years, he has been a complete professional and a real benefit to the sport.

[@toyotaecw]

Let’s separate The Nashville Network from the new TNN. The Nashville Networks legacy shall not be tarnished.

[@603LostRoads]

Yes. This needs to be made more aware by people presenting history. The national network was amazing for Motorsports they put such a shining Spotlight on all forms of Motorsports. What's Viacom bought the national network it was never the same again. Once they officially changed it to the national network, it was nothing but a shell of its former self that is where ECW RollerJam and the stupid cartoons came in

[@patersonplankrd]

The Nashville Network core programming was oriented to country music, outdoors programming and rodeo competition. Some NASCAR track owners elected to sell their rights to TNN which in turn gave TNN a huge boost toward going outside what had essentially been a niche channel.

[@ZPaul_]

I’d imagine the people defending this would say “ WhO cArEs, all ThEy dO iS gO iN ciRclEs”

[@austinemms9772]

Well, TV partners still actually don’t care about NASCAR. It’s just that nowadays, FOX hides that fact with 2 hours worth of commercials during the race.

[@americanbadass88]

TV executives still see nascar as "redneck backwoods" stuff it doesn't meet their high society standards. its ALWAYS been like this. It amazes me how NASCAR still thinks they can shake this image. migh as well embrace the "good ol boy" image

[@harrisongrant8558]

I'd say Fox is worse, if only for the technical incompetence in addition to the 2 hours of commercials. NBC also has its problems, for instance I recall last year that the Coke Zero Sugar 400 was delayed because of rain and moved to the following day, but apparently nobody told the viewers that until like, 4 hours later, so anyone who tuned in expecting to see the race was met with coverage of a 2018 golf tournament and a preseason football game. Way to go, NBC. Why couldn't they put a small announcement saying something like "Due to inclement weather, tonight's broadcast of the NASCAR Cup Series has been postponed until tomorrow. Our local affiliates will show alternative programming in its place. NBC and NASCAR Broadcasting apologize for this inconvenience and we appreciate your patience."

[@justinturley7071]

@@harrisongrant8558 fox is really good at putting more races on their local channel, also, Fox is a free channel, so I could get an antenna and pick it up for free, so if there is a rain delay on fox, they will show that same race on fox, but nbc not only puts more races on cable channels, but if a rain delay takes place on their free channel NBC, they will not hesitate to put it on a cable channel, because they truly don’t care about NASCAR. I counted 7 and a half races aired on NBC and 13 and a half aired on Cable, 12 and a half on USA and 1 on CNBC, the 1 race that was shown on both NBC and USA was Nashville, in which the first half of the race was shown, then the rain delay, then the rest aired on USA, a big slap in the face of people who just have antennas.

[@quentinparhiala9415]

your right Austin

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

@@justinturley7071 plus the fact that Daytona race last year started very early in the NBC didn't want to interrupt Meet the Press and the Today show programming on NBC. Which I could definitely understand that on there part.

[@ToddyTurnsLeftRBC]

At least Cbs Was NASCAR’s Longest Tv Partner. It should’ve been in the Nascar record book

[@joshjarnagin3161]

They aren’t though. Fox is

[@ToddyTurnsLeftRBC]

@@joshjarnagin3161 bro, Fox join on the day we lost Dale Sr. NASCAR on CBS was the branding formerly used for broadcasts of NASCAR series races produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States from 1960 to 2000.

[@de31168]

The crash footage was aired during the sunday pre race show and rpm2night had footage of nemecheks crash as well as the finish so not all was lost. It was just never presented in full broadcast form.

[@joeyager8479]

ESPN & TNN are what made NASCAR popular thru the 80s & 90s and led to NASCAR negotiating with the major networks - who then dumped many of the races onto their obscure sister networks that weren't carried on many cable systems at that time. I'm old enough to remember when ABC Wide World of Sports was the ONLY broadcaster to carry only some of the races usually showing only the first and last 20 or so laps and a few highlights in between.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

ABC Wide World of Sports was also the only broadcaster to show F1 races for a number of years before ESPN came along in the early 80's. Wide World of Sports mainly showed the Monaco GP along with the US GP on tape delay, though in 1978 they also showed the Italian GP which saw Mario Andretti win the F1 title (though in tragic circumstances due to Ronnie Peterson dying as a result of complications associated with a violent wreck at the start of the race). Then in the early 80's in addition to ESPN, CBS & NBC also got involved with F1, though unlike Wide World of Sports both CBS & NBC showed races live. NBC showed the very awful Caesars Palace GP in 1981 & 1982 along with the Canadian GP in Montreal while CBS focused their coverage on the Detroit GP & the one year F1 raced in Dallas in 1984. Every other race at that time (apart from Monaco) was on ESPN.

[@joeyager8479]

@@chrisguardiano6143 ESPN also broadcast Thursday Night Thunder from IRP during the 1980s.I helped a local USAC sprintcar driver at the time. Got to meet Jeff Gordon as an 18 y/o sprint/midget driver before most people even knew who he was. We were back markers most of the time, but it was a ton of fun!

[@carrsllccarrillo6507]

@@joeyager8479 sure remember those times. ESPN2 kept that alive for awhile with the USAC coverage and even televised a few night time mini cup car races from the Paladome? Gosh it's been so long I'm sure I have them recorded on VHS tapes...those were fun times alright.

[@johnstickles6789]

When I was a kid Wide World of Sports and going to the track was the greatest thing on the damn planet. LMAO

[@joeyager8479]

@@johnstickles6789 Yup, going to the track - spent a lot of weekends watching supermodifieds at a local track. Then later became a part time crewman and later on a team co-owner. Sometimes your dreams do come true. It was all fun!

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

CBS/TNN did their April Fools joke so good, the rest of the Busch Series race is lost media :D

[@travisglantonthetowerenthusias]

Did they get the full race in?

[@brandonwray7260]

@@travisglantonthetowerenthusias no. He said in the video that no footage of the finish exists.

[@travisglantonthetowerenthusias]

@@brandonwray7260 oh okay

[@cohengamertv6548]

@@brandonwray7260 EVERYBODY GRAB YOUR VHS TAPES

[@stephenholloway6893]

Ultimately they finished the race Mark Martin won the event.

[@MillionaireWizard]

@BlackFlagsMatter This reminded me a whole lot of the 1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Rain caused the race, which was held on a Sunday, to be red flagged after about 50 laps in. After some deliberation due to a impending rain shower, NASCAR President Les Richter made the decision to postpone the race for the following day. Due to ESPN's contract at the time, they were not allowed to air the finish of the race.... and apparently, no other network decided to air the finish at all. The race did finish on Monday, with the #25 of Ken Schrader taking the win, with the only proof being newspapers that were issued that week. To this day, the 1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 remains the last NASCAR Cup Series race to have an untelevised finish.

[@coreypayne1208]

I find it funny that TNN didn't want to broadcast the rain delayed Busch Series race but yet they were willing to do it with the rain plagued Kmart 400 (The June Michigan race)

[@JoelGarcia]

I’m guessing because (1) it was a Cup race and (2) a bigger deal after what happened in Texas.

[@carrsllccarrillo6507]

I was at that rainfest race so personally I wouldn't of known when they switched over the coverage to TNN at that time. All I know was the skies never cleared up and it poured several times throughout that day.

[@jeffreyc6508]

It sounded like CBS stopped recording the race all together, so there was not a "live feed" for TNN to broadcast.

[@roadgeek09]

@@jeffreyc6508 interesting point

[@tanker335]

I'll take Eli Gold and Buddy Baker on TNN any day of the week.

[@AutoRockinRacing94]

TNN would use some of CBS' graphics too during their broadcasts in that time.

[@higgy04]

I know this is about NASCAR but I recall TNN showed the first ever NCAA Men's Basketball Play-in Game from Dayton between Winthrop and Northwestern State (when it became a 65 team field). CBS on-screen graphics and theme music was used throughout the broadcast.

[@retroguyretail1976]

that was part of the cbs family

[@carrsllccarrillo6507]

Remember when TNN use to be called "The Nascar Network?" Pepperidge Farms remembers...

[@NASCARFAN93100]

And I thought FOX was bad

[@crystaljon]

It's kind of like the 2014 Fall Charlotte race where the first 25 laps were missed because ABC and pretty much all ESPN channels were airing ball games. Sometimes I wonder why people want ESPN to come back so badly.

[@willengland7336]

I remember when that happened. I think the first 25 laps were actually aired on ESPNNews I believe but we didn’t get ESPNNews at that time. NBC has done some similar things recently but not as bad except when my local NBC affiliate blacked out the first half of the 2021 Xfinity Roval race for a local football game and I had to watch on the Roku NBC Sports app.

[@robbyburns]

Same thing in 2005, NBC was airing the finish of The USC-Notre Dame Game (The Bush push), they delayed the start of the Charlotte race, about 20 minutes.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

I hope ESPN doesn't do that when they show the Vegas night race for F1 in November on ABC. That race marks the first time that F1 has been shown in primetime in the US on over the air television.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Except they (ESPN News) didn't air the race at all. Due to an preseason NBA game. That game was in overtime at that point.

[@crouchb15]

Yea but it's supposed to start at like midnight or something

[@Tobytony65]

Me: *looks at FOX* Also me: maybe you aren’t so bad after all

[@PaperBanjo64]

Only thing FOX does I don't like is showing kids and tons of commercials.

[@stephenholloway6893]

In 2001 it nearly happened far as not showing an entire race live goes for Martinsville and Memphis. The plan was to air the Busch Memphis race via tape delay on TNT after the Cup race ran on NBC. The Cup race got ppd to Monday and instead NBC aired the Busch race with TNT airing the Cup race the next day at Martinsville.

[@JoelGarcia]

Yeah, that was a weird broadcast, especially because they still had to broadcast from Martinsville in the rain because 30 Rock was evacuated due to anthrax.

[@richieosborn2639]

ABC was also a good network for NASCAR. Great coverage!

[@retroguyretail1976]

back then i didn't like when they got with espn it was kinda lousy

[@PaperBanjo64]

When ABC had different announcers than ESPN they sucked, only when ABC got Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons from ESPN did they have good coverage.

[@Cincinnatijames]

Those '98 wild fires were crazy, it was snowing ash that summer in Volusia County.

[@josephconciatori9824]

Thanks for sharing! I can understand CBS moving the delayed Texas race to TNN, but I cannot believe that TNN did not show the remainder of the 2000 then-Busch (now Xfinity) Series race, even on tape delay. I didn't become a NASCAR fan until 2004, but what CBS and TNN did that weekend in Texas was unacceptable (and above all, embarrassing to fans, drivers, and even the sport itself). With the new TV deadline looming, both current and prospective broadcast partners alike should learn from this story and not make such a massive mistake.

[@coreypayne1208]

That was mainly MTV Networks' (Viacom) call because they were the owners of TNN

[@ElFuego35]

Luckily NASCAR learned, and made it where every race has to be televised, even if it has to be tape-delayed, and the Tape Delay is only for when two NASCAR races conflict with each other on the same network.

[@603LostRoads]

Legend has it there's still people drying out to this day from that Kmart 400

[@bofa83]

I miss TNN. the real TNN, the Nashville network.

[@AlonsoRules]

Still not as bad as missing Elliott Sadler's Pocono crash

[@stephenholloway6893]

Or missing the start of the 2014 fall Charlotte race.

[@danielfoster3642]

This is one of the reasons why it was a good thing NASCAR signed that television contract with Fox, NBC and TNT for 2001-2006. And also another reason to hate Texas Motor Speedway.

[@MarkOliveras215]

Wow! I never knew anything about this! Guess ya learn something new every day! Even then, TV Partners still don’t give less of a lick about NASCAR except the difference between then and now is the fact it wasn’t as big of a deal back in those days like it today considering Social Media and modern technology didn’t exist in 2000.

[@mchaseross13]

I was at this race with my dad. We stayed in the super cold, rainy weather during the delay. It was the race I discovered Kevin Harvick as a 7 year-old kid. I had no idea it never even got a broadcast after the delay. Crazy story!

[@maley2552]

At least NBC uses USA Network now for Nascar Races which is in the tier 1 Cable Package.

[@hogziller]

The 2000 TV contract was one of the single dumbest move by NASCAR that impacts the sport to this day........ you don't INTENTIONALLY limit your exposure/coverage and media partners. No other sport has reduced the number of media partners from 2000 to 2023 ....... except NASCAR. NASCAR should be trying to get as many TV partners as responsible.. this would also get higher quality coverage as you could lose your rights to a certain track.

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Yeah maybe NASCAR should let Fox Sports use FX again along with FXX and possibly bring in ABC and let Telemundo's sub station Telexitos show the races.

[@hogziller]

@@runrafarunthebestintheworld I was thinking more along the lines of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, TBS..... not the rinkey dink networks.... then the networks will have a vested interest in providing coverage / cross-promotion of the sport

[@mpf1947]

"not choosing to abandon it entirely" Instead, Comcast plans ahead of time to make a certain race streaming only because of preseason football on NBC and obliviousness to their own cable channels.

[@fishrocker95]

are you talking about the august daytona race last year? if it weren’t rain delayed i would have had to use peacock because NBC wanted to show the eagles preseason game instead

[@patbrown911]

Here in Brazil we get the "international" signal, that means almost no advertising during the race. I hate when I have to see the race online on the US broadcastings, so many commercials...

[@chrisguardiano6143]

It wasn't just NASCAR that CBS didn't care about as a few years later (2002 -2003 to be specfic) as CART was on its death bed, CBS offered to broadcast some races as part of its "CBS Auto Racing Series" or CARS where CBS would air CART along with ALMS races on weekends in which there wasn't any golf or NFL games. However there was a major catch as CART had to pay CBS each race for the airtime & like with this, CBS reserved the right to air races on tape delay or worse not show it at all if they felt airing the race would cause too much disruption to their other programming. This caused CART's ratings to further decline especially when compared to the IRL (which had its races shown live on ESPN/ABC). To add insult to injury CBS did not do this with their ALMS coverage as they showed every race live. CART in the span of two years went from live races on ESPN to tape delay races on CBS which along with a host of other issues killed the series after the 2003 season.

[@GBA_Time]

What’s crazy is the whole “the race will resume on TNN” but without social media, I forget how we would have known it had resumed!

[@Db_SpaceFace]

You'd just put that channel on in the background, turn the sound off and wait (while doing whatever else around the house).

[@ElFuego35]

Honestly, I wonder if this whole fiasco is why come 2001, the Networks stopped cutting away to non-NASCAR programming during rain delays, opting to do either extended interviews, races from earlier that season, or classic races.

[@Hammerhead547]

TNN was going through a massive identity crisis in 2000 and their programming department was so spectacularly schizophrenic in what it chose to air that a lot of their choices made almost no sense when you look at what they were trying to sell to viewers, so its no real surprise that they didn't seem to care about NASCAR that much at the time. They were trying so hard to go "mainstream" by getting in on the pro wrestling craze via giving a broadcasting deal to ECW and adding that stupid roller derby show which was lumped in with Monster Jam "live coverage" (aired as part of a two hour "Extreme Entertainment Block" that no one watched on friday nights, while at the same time trying to attract more "high minded" viewers with the addition of David E Kelly's Picket Fences (which had just finished 4 seasons failing on CBS in 1998), trying to attract older women with syndicated re-reuns of Dallas along with younger males with more action oriented shows like The "A" Team which aired along side more family friendly programming like The Dukes Of Hazzard ad Kid's Say The Darndest Things. The only truly memorable thing that came out of any of that was the five minute promo that Paul Heyman cut live on tv on TNN's network suits where he literally dared them too cancel their show because he was sick of how they were treating ECW.

[@Hammerhead547]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5jRZWmhpt6kY9k If anyone's interested. Here it is: Paul Heyman's famous "cancel us, we dare you" promo from ECW's show on TNN. And no they didn't take him up on the offer, instead they took $100.000.000 of WWE money while leaving them twisting in the wind for another six months.

[@justinyoung109]

As someone who grew up with TNN in both its original and post Nashville versions, this is a very true way to put it. At least we got Monster jam and later Robot wars out of it but you had to suffer through Star Trek, weird Kevin Nealon shows, and freakin Baywatch to get there. At least it was better that Spike which was literally Limp Bizkit as a channel.

[@Hammerhead547]

@@justinyoung109 Not to mention Gary The Rat and that stupid Pam Anderson cartoon. They really made a lot of truly bizarre programming choices back then, the strangest was probably when they started doing halloween night marathons of the first 8 Friday The 13th movies in 2001, There was no way they'd ever be allowed to air those movies on broadcast cable without editing them, and boy did they edit them. They had to cut something like 8 minutes of footage out of Part V and an easy 15 minutes out of Part III, some of the edits were so hilarious because they basically destroyed the movie (like cutting a shot of all jason's victims in a room but including the reaction shots too is so it looked like they were reacting to nothing). I always preferred Truck And Tractor Power with Gary Lee And Army Armstrong, but I was much more partial too Ken Bru and Mike Galaway on ESPN back in the 80's when I was a kid.

[@sirtom14]

"The NEW TNN"

[@Hammerhead547]

@@sirtom14 With pro wrestler Booker T and Pam Anderson as their spokespeople.

[@chefsquid8479]

imagine if we had twitter back then 💀

[@ElFuego35]

And the thing is... this isn't the first time CBS did this! A 1999 Truck Race from Nashville was rained out to the next day, and CBS promised that it would air on TNN, but TNN never aired the race. The ONLY reason this goes unknown among NASCAR fans is the the conflicting program that TNN was airing instead of the Truck Race was the July Cup Race in Loudon.

[@justinyoung109]

This happened at Nazareth not Nashville. It was Rusty wallace's first and only truck series race. Still considered lost media

[@ElFuego35]

@@justinyoung109 Nazareth happened in 1996, and is very well known. As mentioned, 1999 Nashville isn't well known since TNN's conflict was with the Cup Series, and the fans know that Cup gets priority.

[@justinyoung109]

@@ElFuego35 Ah true

[@greedoshotfirst1]

TNN at the time was an absolute mess, and very unprofessional. Apart from this which is just unacceptable, they put ECW on the air and did everything possible to screw it over from the beginning. No promotion, unless you were watching the show itself. Some nights it wasn't even on when it was supposed to be. You had no idea it was even on. Then they took millions of dollars from WWF and promptly shot ECW in the head, and contributed to their closing in 2001.

[@sirtom14]

The worst was CBS not airing the rain delayed Talladega race in 1996 until a week after it happened, because they decided to show Senior PGA golf instead. I remember watching the satellite feed live, and just as they started singing the National Anthem, CBS cut the feed without mentioning why.

[@heartlandauthor]

Speaking of golf, TNN aired the conclusion of the 2000 WGC-Bridgestone tournament instead of CBS because of a lengthy weather delay during the final round; in fact, the tournament finished after sunset, with Tiger Woods hitting an approach shot on the final hole within a couple of feet of the flagstick in near-total darkness; footage of Tiger's "shot in the dark" that originally aired on TNN is sometimes included in video retrospectives of Tiger's golf career to this day.

[@Nitron2097]

Fair point. Though there's a difference between "choosing not to" and being contractually obligated to go to the golf.

[@johnvandeventer8668]

This is way worse than the broadcasts now

[@slysupersonic]

Back when Texas Motor Speedway was ACTUALLY good.

[@bookerwashington691]

I love that track, they need to make some adjustments to it

[@slysupersonic]

@Booker Washington So do I, but the 2017 reconfiguration killed it completely. The 1998-2016 configuration was PERFECT!

[@bookerwashington691]

@@slysupersonic You ever notice there's scuff marks on the track?

[@slysupersonic]

@@bookerwashington691 What for?

[@bookerwashington691]

@@slysupersonic Idk but they need to fix that track because I think it has potential to be a good race track

[@roadgeek09]

I wonder if TNN refused to show the race because they thought they wouldn’t get any ratings because of the final four on CBS

[@BradRains]

Good point.

[@roadgeek09]

@@BradRains or did CBS ban TNN from showing the race

[@coreypayne1208]

The going rumour is that TNN's parent company MTV Networks refused to air it

[@stephenholloway6893]

Yeah aka Viacom who owned MTV Networks who also own CBS.

[@ElFuego35]

@@coreypayne1208 Wouldn't shock me. 2000 was in the middle of the restructuring in wake of Viacom Purchasing CBS, and TNN came from the CBS side. TNN under CBS cared about making Motorsports as one of their niches, but Viacom didn't care about what made the network unique, they wanted it to be their generic rerun farm, and only aired Motorsports b/c they were obligated (see what TNN did to the ASA in 2001-2002, and IMO is the main culprit of killing the series)

[@thebasicgeek]

Well shit I'll take a cup race being moved to CNBC or FS2 over a race not being broadcast at all

[@TheCwwl]

I’ll give it to you. The ad break right after Mike joy does the cut for the final four. Was timing perfection. 👏👏👏👏

[@TombstoneChris]

I don't want to know if you're playing me keep it on the low cuz my heart can't take it anymore. I hear that beat you're using using underneath the footage. Nice.

[@Ultimate23Dragon]

I would agree with your point about being thankful for FOX & NBC covering the races despite changing networks... Except I still remember people trashing 2010's ESPN moving a Phoenix Cup race from ABC to ESPN2. So it's not as easy as just that.

[@stephenholloway6893]

That and in 2014 they didn't even air the 1st 25 laps at Charlotte due to either college football or preseason NBA games. But at the very least besides cable there's Peacock and the respective sports apps for both Fox and NBC just in case this happens again.

[@MarkPentler]

This "tracks deciding contracts" thing was how F1 was as well until they brought it all in-house. It meant some races had yearly coverage that was always ropey, and then some tracks were absolutely top notch. Entirely dependent on which company in a country had the contract and how competent they were

[@soupafi]

I think Monaco is the only track they don't control TV

[@Bubbles23XI]

True, any country who hosted a race was also in charge of broadcasting the race for the rest of the world. For example, a race held held in the US would either be broadcasted by CBS, NBC, ABC, or ESPN. That feed would also air in other countries. Sometimes, one commentary is spoken over the original one. In some broadcasts, they focus too much on the home driver. There could be an incident or a pass for the lead, but the host broadcaster wouldn’t care because they’re too focused on their guy. It’s like saying that in the Spanish GP, the local media is too busy covering Alonso or Sainz while there are other stuff happening like a crash or other track action. They stopped doing it that in the 90s. I think Monaco is the only one who does their own thing.

[@MarkPentler]

@@Bubbles23XI I remember the U.K. commentators moaning about that a lot. Usually Martin Brundle

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

today is much better for broadcasters to keep the races because they turned into a show presenting commercials with occasional racing during ad breaks

[@johnnyroberts3761]

CBS & TNN took the Mike Tomlin approach, basically saying “We do not care.”

[@81casperflip]

I was already waiting for your video next year on #19 Joe Gibbs xfinity team Bad Seasons but Joe Graf is about to prove me wrong

[@AlphaHumphrey]

What do you mean "when" they didn't care? They don't care now and they haven't for years

[@stephenholloway6893]

I think he meant that consider that both CBS and TNN was in their last year covering the sport, they just decided for whatever the reason not to record and air the remaining laps of the Buach race.

[@zerodos_02]

Sadly, I think this is the case of money talks. The package for races is such big money now that it doesn't really matter if the network wants to scrap the tape or not, they are just so sunk finacially that they have to roll on. As a cord cutter, the Xfinity Fontana race might as well not exist since FS2 id basically near impossible to get if you don't have some type of cable subscription. That CBS Sports theme is still 🔥🔥🔥

[@JoelGarcia]

At least FOX went through the effort of promoting the race, with Mike Joy explaining how FS1 viewers could watch it and the broadcast sign-off indicating the race would take place later tonight.

[@armondealey3714]

I remember that. People who bitch about the current tv deal now just don’t know how it was

[@SilentDanDisney]

Yep. I studied tracks by network that was covering it in those days. CBS - Daytona, Michigan, Talladega ESPN - main cable network of all other races. TBS - Coca Cola 600, Pocono and Fall Charlotte.

[@paulcerrezin2498]

Who was leaning out the pace car window!? Haha

[@ManMountainMetals]

Cameraman.

[@willengland7336]

Although I’ve been critical of NBC booting races to cable, at least they will never do anything like that. I think instances like this one and Nashville last year show if a network is dedicated to NASCAR.

[@paulielase4995]

What a great video !!!BFM back again

[@cito1101]

What an April Fools Joke they did

[@seannetworkblogsandgames7504]

I remember that final four. Izzo finally got his title and Duke went down. I was really hyped because I wanted to see Michigan State win that year. I actually tuned in to see the race finish since there was no final four mega show at the time and was disappointed there was a weather delay because there was nothing else of interest to watch for that last half hour before the game. Not really the point of the video but thank you for jogging a bizarrely specific memory

[@ErikZarins]

Holy shit Texas had a packed crowd....for a BUSCH RACE???

[@douglasladowski6342]

Now the public doesn't care.

[@deantait8326]

TV’s okay today, if you can find the race …

[@ManMountainMetals]

A few years ago, Fox went to commercial at Bristol with 2 laps to go. By the time they got back to the race, they were in victory lane.

[@jets_mets]

You should do a video about NBC and Lowes Motor Speedway. Because NBC didnt call it Lowes Motor Speedway.

[@pattyatrumdycreations134]

That was extremely interesting.

[@TheDarkwingj]

Wow, I guess TNN didn't really care anymore once the tv contracts for 01 were signed

[@higgy04]

Didn't TNN become Spike TV the next year?

[@justinyoung109]

@@higgy04 Close. That was 03 I think. TNN would later end up shafting Monster Jam in a similar way to this very race because of the changeover

[@JoelGarcia]

@@higgy04 As another commentator summed up, the network was in the midst of rebranding from The Nashville Network to The New TNN. The best example of this identity crisis could be seen during their last race in Phoenix, when the broadcast used graphics with the old red TNN logo yet the channel bug and mics used by the talent had the newer logo.

[@TheDarkwingj]

@@JoelGarcia they still could have televised that Busch race from cbs but nope

[@SilentDanDisney]

Would’ve been on TNN but CBS graphics so it was still CBS.

[@patrickracer43]

At least now that I have Hulu with the live TV package I can actually find FS2 or CNBC

[@mightysofa]

I really wish that NASCAR, when they go to talk about the new TV deal, would come out with some kind of digital media platform to stream the races. F1 has had one for a few years now and I love it, I'm a bigger F1 fan now than I ever have been and I think that mostly has to do with the digital media platform that they have. The Aussie V8 Supercars have a similar type of thing but it's all on KZbin, I bought that for that first time this past year and I love it too! I don't have any intrest in buying some cable TV/Fubo/KZbinTV package that is 99% content that I have no intrest in especially when it's $65 a month or more. I would gladly pay NASCAR $10-$15 a month for just NASCAR's practices, qualifying, and races. It's probably not something that will happen but I hope that they see how successful other series are with their digital platforms. Maybe that could be enough for them to not give exclusive rights to a broadcaster, because I bet that there are a bunch of people that would rather just stream the race when/where/how they want.

[@johnhaas2523]

Streaming is going to be part of the next TV deal

[@jayd2517]

Outside of brief KZbin highlights I can't watch NASCAR here in the UK without paying a stupid amount of money for a channel that is mostly stuff that I don't watch.

[@johnhaas2523]

They post the full race replay on Tuesday so you can see more than the highlights

[@lisaeverage9691]

I think it's decent on Fox; they just need to quit missing crashes lol. :)

[@tincannavy3188]

I almost tuned away when you said the broadcasters didn't care but then mentioned that the race was Texas...

[@gilliganallmighty3]

Pretty sure failing to finish a sporting event is actually illegal after the "Dolly Game".

[@scotthoughton5368]

I strongly believe that NASCAR should have its own streaming package & they would benefit greatly from it. Imagine the racing library they have & all the other content they own. Combine they with showing the big 3 series races, it’s money. Hell, all the short track racing as well they could show live during the week. It’s a win/win and I think people would pay 10-20 bucks for that if they did it correctly.

[@lorenzograndini2731]

NASCAR until last season had NASCAR Trackpass for international coverage i think, too bad they shutted it down

[@SilentDanDisney]

CBS and TNN in that contract to 1991-2000 was the equivalent to FOX and FS2 now.

[@mwdiphone]

People forget but back when ESPN2 was first launched, most cable operators didn’t offer it. That was an issue as so many Busch and truck series telecasts were moved over there. Not to mention rain delayed telecasts often ended up there too. On the plus side, this allowed them to air more qualifying and practice coverage.

[@girlwithaguitar24]

In retrospect, it's still bizzare thinking about how random the TV partners were for NASCAR before 2001. CBS, TNN, ABC, ESPN, TBS, TNN? With no consistency from week to week? At least nowadays you know what channel more or less a race will be on if its not on one. Christ.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus NBC when it came to Homestead in both 1999 and 2000.

[@scottyoung7414]

As a fan who started watching in 96 i always wondered why nascar had 3 tv partners but scattered over the year.

[@DennyDeliversYT]

wait… you mean to tell me we used to be a society where FOX wasn’t the worst ⁉️😮😶‍🌫️🫢

[@rosscrashtain]

I will always appreciate the networks, I just wish they would just try a bit harder

[@hippylong]

Thanks. this explains a lot of years of frustration .

[@miscellaneoussarnian5282]

Just this weekend, we had something similar, luckily with a better outcome (people from the UK know what I'm talking) Sky Sports was showing the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix on both its main event and f1 channels. Because their coverage of Liverpool vs Man United (Liverpool went on to win 7-0) overlapped with their coverage of the Grand Prix. They had to end their coverage on Main Event, but thankfully kept it going on Sky Sports F1. I usually watch all the races on Sky Sports F1, so it wasn't a problem for me

[@PaperBanjo64]

I watched F1 via recording it off ESPN on Sling and heard about it.

[@ayehay5301]

FOX has certainly done better as far as treating NASCAR separate from other sports this year. Yes, we have more commercials but that is just to make up for the loss of viewers in general from the fan base not dying but facing natural selection.

[@coreypayne1208]

Correction TNN was owned by Viacom under their MTV Networks banner

[@BlackFlagsMatter]

In late 2000 yes, not at the time of this race.

[@johnhaas2523]

Tnn used to be the Nashville network

[@kangarooswild]

the irony of a CBS advert playing while watching this video HA😅

[@handsomedevil4928]

Marty Robbins

[@TimmyTheTinman]

I actually would like CBS to come back to NASCAR I think they could replace Fox because I think Fox wants to get out of NASCAR, but before 2001 NASCAR races were basically on a different network every week so in the 2001 broadcast deal happened it was a welcome change because it offered some consistency

[@harrisongrant8558]

CBS probably doesn't want anything to do with NASCAR anymore for the same reason NBC doesn't want to carry NASCAR anymore; NASCAR has an "image problem" in pop culture now; I'm sure we've all heard the jokes- "they go left, then left, then left again..." or "NASCAR fans are dumb, toothless rednecks..." and regardless of whether or not that's true, that's what everyone else thinks of NASCAR, and that's what NBC, CBS, ESPN and pretty much every mainstream cable broadcaster thinks of NASCAR now, maybe except Fox, who don't care about their image at all, only carry NASCAR because their core demographics just so happen to overlap, and their broadcasts still suck.

[@bull705]

CBS has college basketball during winter and college and NFL football during Autumn. Unless they create a summer package for them they are not getting back in NASCAR.

[@TimmyTheTinman]

@@bull705 hey they don’t have that much college basketball and NASCAR is only one day a week. They will definitely do spring and summer but they won’t do autumn because of football.

[@SilentDanDisney]

@@bull705 NFL is most expensive contract yep they’re not dumping that and I love my College Basketball.

[@bull705]

March Madness alone is enough for them to not bother with NASCAR during winter.

[@randyrudynski7026]

You also have to remember most NASCAR fans in 2000, were mainly watching Winston Cup and not the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series.

[@Darius.Aviation]

Love your vids

[@thicccheese4007]

I knew shit was about to get goofy as soon as you said it was on April Fool’s.

[@julianlymond975]

23 Years Later And There's No Footage Of The Last Half Of The Race!

[@rowdycmoore]

When you said TNN decided to air cartoons instead of the restarted race, I immediately thought they had to have been THOSE cartoons - the infamous adult cartoons of Stripperella, Gary The Rat and Ren & Stimpy APC - all of which I covered years ago on my own video series. But then I remembered all those came out in 2003 when TNN was rebranded as Spike TV, so at the very least, NASCAR wasn't pre-empted that day for some of the worst animated shows ever made.

[@cliffsta87337]

Man I loved TNN’s coverage.

[@bobroberts2371]

Something to think about. The camera crew might have been on a tight schedule and might have had another event to film. I wonder if this was filmed by CBS or a sub contractor. If sub, it would be even more difficult to force them to stay a little bit longer. ( " Jackson Browne - Stay Just A Little Bit Longer ( 1978 ) " on the channel " TheVideoJukeBox3 " ) It isn't like they can just pick up the camera, throw it in a truck and leave. There also could have been union issues too.

[@mrbadguy5040]

When NASCAR got moved to FS2 for bowling, I personally think it was a but of an overreaction. It was an important event and respecting it’s extended time was a good call. And for the Clash, it was just practice, and it was only on there for 10 minutes. It got moved back to FS1 after the Bowling tournament was over.

[@billmadison2032]

the Nashville network not national

[@matthewroy5076]

I remember that time in history. Racing was not that important to the big broadcast companies. That's why I loved SPEED. They were all about racing, be it motocross, NASCAR, F1, touring cars, etc. ESPN, ABC, and NBC would always bail on racing if basketball was coming on. They had more money tied up in those broadcasts. That's just how the game worked. Another gripe was how they would stay on the B-ball if the game went over and then go into the race midway, even if the race was pre-recorded. NASCAR had a lot of clout, more than Supercross, Superbike, or speedway racing; however, they were not always immune. 😤

[@Dream25_]

I'm just in a permanent state of anger that we lost Speed channel. MavTV, FS1, NBCSN might have races on randomly, but nothing like the old days. I constantly have to remind people when they question why I've never seen popular movies or TV Series' that from the time I was in Kindergarten to pretty much high school I could watch some kind of racing on TV like 20 hours out of the day. 😅

[@Nitron2097]

You seem to imply that they care now. 2 hours of commercials and almost as much FOX crash pornography say otherwise. These days were better, not worse. Bob, Benny and Ned could tell you everything that was going on WITHOUT electronic timing and scoring and a billion dollars of useless graphics.

[@bookerwashington691]

And that's one of the reasons why TNN is no longer in business

[@SilentDanDisney]

It technically is it’s Paramount now. CBS/TNN one in the same now Paramount and Paramount+. In 1990s Yellowstone would’ve been on TNN. Reruns air on CMT often now.

[@bookerwashington691]

@@SilentDanDisney That's my point, tell me this do you think CMT would be a good network to broadcast NASCAR

[@michaelflaherty3202]

I have to know which cartoons were on instead.

[@gareththomas2000]

Talladega 1996 was a best example of CBS not caring.

[@jinglebell61]

Greg Van Alst should be the next Harry Gant after winning the ARCA season opener at Daytona.

[@PapaVanTwee5]

New drinking game. BFM says, "comes in clutch", take a drink.

[@ralphwilliams2396]

Hell nobody cares about it now