It’s no secret that there are many issues with the way NASCAR broadcasts are run, and those issues were on full display Sunday (April 7) at Martinsville Speedway.
I won’t go into a bunch of details about it, as my colleague Phil Allaway covered it pretty well in this week’s Couch Potato Tuesday. However it’s worth reiterating that we don’t need hundreds of crowd shots, unnecessarily zooming in on a car to the point where you can see the driver’s eyes and graphics that are so unbelievably incorrect you wonder who even greenlit the graphic.
There are several things that need to be fixed within a TV broadcast. Some are of higher importance than others.
Arguably one of the highest priorities NASCAR should be focusing on is the fact that drivers don’t even get TV time anymore.
Ater the race weekend, Akinori Ogata, who made his first of four Xfinity Series starts with Joey Gase Motorsports at Martinsville on Saturday (April 6), posted a tweet that essentially questioned whether he should have shown up or not.
Ogata did not set a time in qualifying the previous day (April 5) due to transmission issues and then only went 40 laps in the race before brake issues forced him behind the wall for good.
And not a single mention was made on any broadcast.
From a personal standpoint, one has to feel so bad for Ogata. The Japanese driver is looked upon fondly by just about everyone. He’s never incited a rivalry or controversy and more often than not he’s able to stay out of trouble when he’s on the track.
From a professional standpoint, this is completely unacceptable. However, it’s not too surprising, as TV broadcasts have essentially made it impossible for those running outside the top 10 or top 15 to get any TV time.
Part of that can be blamed on the advent of stage points, only awarding the top 10 drivers at the end of a stage. This emphasizes the importance of running well, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that there are anywhere between 35-40 drivers in the field. If we want to promote the sport, we can’t keep showing the top five for 50 laps straight.
Most of the field has one or many sponsors who are more…
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