by Chris Myers
My brothers were the gearheads of the family. They knew cars and engines. They were mechanically minded and kept track of up-and-coming automotive technology. I wasn’t a car guy in the same sense, and I’m still not. I know how to turn it off and turn it on. Yet, there are a lot of fans that live for this. For them, NASCAR offers a delectable smorgasbord of things to look at. These are people who take their lawnmowers and motorcycles and pull apart the engines – just for fun. They know the names of all the different parts, and they can tell you what they do and why they’re important. They look at how things are fixed during the race and how teams make adjustments. They’re like crew chiefs watching a race.
That’s what separates NASCAR from all other sports. There’s this technological element in it – it’s where science and sportsmanship meet. It’s America’s most technologically advanced and scientific sport. Technology has a lot to do with the final result, and that’s what fascinates gearheads.
However, the sport isn’t just for the mechanically minded. Even people who just like speed and competition or fans who enjoy the human element of the race can appreciate the skill it takes for a driver to win. They can enjoy the ambience that the races offer, the spectacle, the sounds of engines purring, and the people around them. Every fan is a part of the sport. Our broadcasting team has made sure that all fans have an opportunity to learn what’s going on and enjoy the races – even if they have no idea what’s under the hood of their car.
Our broadcasting coverage of the sport has really helped NASCAR grow. Our approach keeps it simple: we ask the questions with everyone in mind. If our fans know about the engines and the cars, they won’t find themselves bored or alienated, but at the same time we try to keep our fans well-informed. We use diagrams and real-life vehicles to explain what’s going on and what technology is being used in the race. On top of that, we have a crew chief and driver on our team to give us the inside scoop.
Between Jeff Hammond, Larry McReynolds, and me, we make sure that NASCAR fans know what’s going on. Our team will physically go in and show the engine, point out the parts, and explain what they are. We keep the less-knowledgeable fan on top of what’s going on, yet manage to keep everyone entertained and engaged. Even people who know a lot often want more information, and this is where they get it. Fans want to learn. We’ve been working at this for twelve years, and by now we’ve become a part of the race.
To take one example: fans listening in on a crew chief and driver talking might hear the driver say the car is “pushing” or “loose.” We have to translate. We’ll explain that pushing is when the car is tight and isn’t moving smoothly, and that loose is when the car slides too much and the driver feels he has less control over the vehicle. On the race track, the computers aren’t there to diagnose the problem. The driver has to explain vehicle malfunctions to his crew chief. Sometimes the problem is difficult to communicate. It’s like a doctor and a patient: the crew chief listens as the driver describes the symptoms. Then the crew chief prescribes a solution.
Meanwhile, the fans try to figure out what’s up and why the driver is headed to pit road. We explain what’s going on so that fans will understand. Then the fan knows why the team had to go in for a pit stop to adjust the car. Sometimes it can get complicated. We know a big portion of our fans aren’t gearheads, so we try to make our explanations simple. That way fans don’t have to be engineers or know about the latest technology to enjoy NASCAR. As a result, we’ve drawn a lot of fans to the sport.
We’ve gotten a good deal of positive feedback from fans about our broadcast’s display of technology. We have loyal viewers, not only because they like what we’re doing, but because they like us. Being a good broadcaster and attracting fans is all about having a personality that will draw them in. You’re sitting in their living room and talking for hours on end – if they don’t like you, you don’t have a show. We have Darrell Waltrip, the former driver, who is NASCAR’s Terry Bradshaw. We have Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds. In addition, our team employs a great staff of pit-crew reporters. We’ve been successful because our staff is deeply involved in the sport, well-informed, and also because we like to have fun with each other. We each know how to play our roles well. Fans are going to get their questions asked and answered in a fun way. They’re going to enjoy watching, and that’s what NASCAR is all about.
Whether they’re into the details of it or not, fans love the technology. It’s just plain fun. You go to a race and you hear the sounds of the engines roaring and you get that feeling. The audio transmissions come buzzing on, and we get fans listening in on the driver’s conversations with the crew chief, as if they’re in the cars with the driver themselves. They may overhear a driver asking for a banana or some chips at the next pit stop. It’s funny to think of Stewart or Earnhardt Jr. munching on chips at 180 miles per hour, but sometimes that’s the way it goes. Fans are right there on the track, in the car – even if they’re at home. They love it. It puts them closer to their drivers.
Few sports translate as well to the screen. Some don’t translate to TV successfully at all. Hockey is a sport I always prefer to see in person; the television broadcast just isn’t the same for me. Football does a good job of being entertaining on the set, but baseball is somehow better in the stadium. With NASCAR, there isn’t a place we can’t put a camera. Whether you’re reclining lazily in your easy chair or gripping the edge of your seat, you’re on the track with the drivers. You’re right there.
That’s why our fans love the way we broadcast. We put the race track in your living room. One of the most popular parts of our broadcast is “Crank It Up”: we broadcasters close our mouths and let the cars do the talking. It’s the natural sound of the track. People at home with surround sound can crank up the volume and experience the races. They can really get the feel of the race. Using every camera angle possible and our carefully placed microphones, we’re able to put our fans everywhere on the track. They see every angle, watch the cars whiz by, and hear them roaring down the track.
NASCAR knows that many of its fans can’t always make it out to the races, and they’ve been very cooperative with FOX in that regard. We’ve seen a good deal of evolution in broadcasting coverage as a result. NASCAR let FOX put cameras onto the tracks so viewers can see the cars rolling, crashing, and crossing the finish line from every perspective. There are cameras inside the cars, so the race can be seen and heard from the viewpoint of the driver. You hear the crash and the sound of the tires screeching. You hear the radio transmissions. That’s the kind of broadcasting technology on which the fans depend. It’s all about getting them as close to the action as possible.
That’s what makes “Crank It Up” so popular. Fans feel like they’re really at the race. Even as a broadcaster, I have to say it’s nice to hear the cars. Our team knows that our fans want to be informed, but they also want to watch the race. We keep our fans informed – we weave in our conversations – but we make sure the fans don’t miss out on the action. On the radio I’d have to describe everything, but with television’s visual and audio clarity, my job as an announcer is simply to enhance things. People need to be able to hear the crew chief talking. Those are the moments that we don’t want to talk over.
Sometimes, if we’re paying attention, we’ll catch a driver and crew chief arguing. The crew chief might say something like, “You should come in for some fresh tires,” to which the driver will stubbornly reply, “No, I want to stay out here.” The crew chief will yell back in frustration, “Well, I’m in charge – get your butt in here, or stay out there and it’s your own neck. You’re on the line,” he’ll say. I don’t want to talk through that. If there’s a moment after the exchange, I’ll give an opinion to enhance the broadcast. But if an announcer talks too much, it can ruin the broadcast. With the broadcasting technology we have today, there’s so much that doesn’t need to be communicated by an announcer. The fan can hear and see a lot of what’s going on independently. As technology advan
ces, fans are able to get closer and closer to the races.
As the races have modernized, so have the broadcasts. If someone were to go back to the first televised version of the sport, they would see something entirely different. There’s a certain charm about those old broadcasts. Yet, they just didn’t have the ability to get their cameras in all the places we do, to get access to the radio conversations between the driver and the crew, and to put their fans as close to the action. Technology has taken NASCAR to the next level, and broadcasting coverage has had to keep up to make sure that fans don’t miss a thing.
As broadcasting technology grows, so does the concern that cameras might catch more than they should. With the in-car cameras, some of the drivers worry about their privacy. An in-car camera is only a few pounds. It’s a small discus – it resembles something you might see on a James Bond film. There’s no way that these little devices are weighing the car down or are any distraction to the driver. Yet some drivers ask that the cameras not be in the car. They just don’t want to be watched all the time, which is understandable. They’re already being watched and filmed by thousands; do we really need one more camera? Imagine being watched while you work, being filmed from every angle. It could get a little nerve-racking. These days, that’s the reality of live sports television. It’s true reality television because it’s unscripted and the viewers are right there. Most drivers are cooperative and consider the multitude of cameras just a part of the job.
Still, the concern for privacy isn’t unfounded. There have been situations when things have been caught on camera that should never be aired. We had a situation with a driver who crashed and suffered a concussion. The camera caught it, but we never aired it. You have to be respectful of the drivers and the fans. With cameras everywhere, they sometimes catch things that should be kept private. It’s a situation that calls for discretion, which is something that our broadcasting team definitely has.
FOX respects NASCAR drivers, their privacy, and their viewers. This is quality entertainment and a family sport; we don’t want to show anything inappropriate. We may catch a car hitting a wall and catching fire, and we might see something we’d rather not see. It’s our broadcasting team that then makes an adjustment. The first broadcast that I covered was the 2001 Daytona 500. One of Dale Earnhardt’s teams was winning and he was running third when his car crashed. We showed the wreck. At that time we didn’t know that it was any different than any other wreck. Another driver ran up to the car, and I saw him quickly run away. We had to carefully edit the shots. We want to make sure we’re not showing anything gory or too extreme. Until we know what’s going on, we have to wait before making an announcement.
At the time of Earnhardt’s death, we didn’t have the same technology as we do today, and there was less information available. We didn’t have the in-car camera in operation. While it would have helped us understand his death better, the in-car camera footage would never have made the air. We edit what we catch on camera before we put it out for the whole world to see.
Yet with the rise in popular communication technology today, it’s hard to stop information from leaking out. There are too many fans able to take photos, record video, and make phone calls for us to be able to stop the flow of information. When Carl Edwards had his spectacular crash in Talladega, people had phones and cameras. They got pictures of the crash the instant that it happened. One of the women who witnessed the crash was in the news within minutes. She was attending her first race. What baffled me as a sports newsman, however, was the fact that the word was out on the Internet minutes after the race ended – without the winner even being announced. With the growth of technology and the fast rate at which we can communicate with each other, it’s hard to keep anything quiet for long.
Technology is great. It makes our cars faster and our broadcasts better. It keeps us in touch with one another. It makes our races safer. But Dale Earnhardt’s death was far from simple – it was a tragedy that changed the face of the sport. In the years since, NASCAR has turned its focus toward harnessing technology in a way that maximizes safety for the drivers while providing an unparalleled level of transparency for the fans. The result is, hopefully, a sport that is safe and technologically advanced while still being human. It can be difficult to retain the human element amid America’s fast-paced, technology-driven society and NASCAR’s mechanically minded culture. But as the sport continues to evolve, it is constantly finding new ways to strike that perfect balance between man and machine.
Dale Earnhardt was one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. One of the hardest moments of my career came when we found out he’d passed as a result of wrecking in the 2001 Daytona 500.
The first family of NASCAR, the Frances (l–r) Amy France Helton, Sharon France, Jim France, Betty Jane France, Brian France, Amy France, and Lesa France Kennedy stand with statue of Bill France Jr. in front of Daytona International Speedway. Their strong family values have kept NASCAR humble over the years, while their keen business sense has helped it expand. (Photo by ISC Photography)
Mark Martin never ceases to amaze me. In his fifties now, he’s still able to out-race drivers half his age.
Carl Edwards is a driver I greatly admire. His love of speed carries over into his off-track hobby of flying airplanes and helicopters.
The flyover that starts many NASCAR races is just one of the many ways the sport honors the men and women that keep our country safe.
NASCAR knows how much the military means to its drivers and fans, so they are often invited to take part in the pre-race ceremonies. This is the 75th division color guard from Fort Sill before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, talk before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 5, 2008. Knaus is one of the best crew chiefs in the business, with him calling the shots, Johnson has won five consecutive championships.
Mark Martin’s pit crew is one of the best in the business. These unsung heroes are essential to NASCAR, just as the folks behind the scenes in America are essential to help keep America running.
NASCAR fans are proud of their patriotism, and it’s always shown in the pre-race ceremonies. The singing of the National Anthem is especially powerful. There’s nothing quite like being with thousands of fans and patriots, singing our great nation’s anthem to start the races.
Brad Keselowski is handed an American flag to pay tribute after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. I’ve always admired Brad’s poise and ability on the track, as well as his love for our country.
Richard Childress is one of the owners I admire the most in the business. He started as a driver before he moved into team ownership. He has always done what he can to make NASCAR a better sport, reinvesting his earning in developing great teams. That loyalty is one of the things that make NASCAR, and America, great.
It took me a while to break into the close-knit NASCAR community, but they let me know once I was in. Here I am with Jeff Hammonds getting a shower courtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew after they won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevy American Revolution 400 on May 15, 2004.
8
TRADITION
Jack is your average American kid. On the weekends, when he’s not at school, he’s in front of the TV. But he isn’t watching cartoons like many kids; he’s learning about the ins and outs of engines and listening in on crew chiefs and drivers as they talk back and forth on the radio about the transmission in their cars.
Before the race starts, he lines up his own cars. Although they are no bigger than his little hands, they closely resemble the NASCAR lineup, which he tries his best to mirror. He has taken great care to collect the most colorful race cars. He does not choose his drivers based on name, but rather on the color and appearance of their vehicles. Just as the race is about to start, he says, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” Though he is only four, this little NA
SCAR fan has grown more and more knowledgeable about the sport.
It all started when his father and my friend, Shaun Farnham, happened to have a race on. After that first race, the rest was history – it’s like the floodgates opened and there was no stopping him. Little Jack has now become perhaps more knowledgeable than his father, watching the race with dedication every week. Farnham, a sportscaster like myself, spends quality time with his son, bringing him to radio shows and making him a part of the sports world. That world is not only the way he and I make our livings, but a community that we are a part of and that we will pass on.
That’s why NASCAR continues to grow despite economic uncertainties and new trends in the sports world. It’s a family sport and a family tradition. It’s a way to impart values, such as teamwork and dedication, to kids like Jack. NASCAR is passed down generation by generation. That’s what keeps it strong.
NASCAR has stood the test of time. It’s been around for over sixty years and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s mindboggling to think that a sport that started as a result of an illegal activity could turn into the all-American family tradition that NASCAR is today.
Car racing originated on the dirt roads of the American South. Those early drivers weren’t the shining role models we have today. They were rebels and bootleggers transporting illegal moonshine to thirsty customers. They were the original speed demons. Picture two cars with two hell-raisers behind the wheels, eyeing each other, with jugs of homemade booze in the back of their vehicles as a couple of townsfolk watch with anticipation. How did that turn into NASCAR?
Well, those men and men like them continued to race. Eventually, their kids got involved, and so did their communities. Suddenly they realized that racing had potential as a sport and decided to dedicate space to it. Soon enough, there were tracks, and families were going to the races.