NBC had its final NASCAR broadcast in a five-year run that ended on a high note on Sunday. From the entertaining bits on the "Countdown to Green" pre-race show. Wally Dallenbach was funny as a digitized passenger of himself in his "Wally's World" segment (The digitized Wally's best line to the real Wally: "I'm going out with your wife.") but play-by-play man Bill Weber had the best line at the end.
"That was a great argument against human cloning," Weber said in a deadpan tone that had me rolling.
Although they've been stale often this season, the profile of Jimmie Johnson's family was also great.
But in the end, NBC didn't really do much as far as saying goodbye. From the tone of Weber - "It's been a great ride," he said at one point in the closing - I got the impression that NBC wasn't going to miss doing the races all that much. However, Weber, Dallenbach and Benny Parsons will still be the on-air voices for TNT next year.
Bring on ESPN and ABC. A rocking good time will be had by all when we reconvene at Daytona.
Beginning in February, Fox will be the permanent TV home of the Daytona 500. The network's load for Nextel Cup coverage won't be as deep as it has been in years past, when it aired the races up through the Dodge/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. and split coverage with NBC for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona over 4th of July weekend.
Here's how the TV schedule will work in 2007. Six different networks will air the races:
Fox (Channel 13): The first 13 races of the season, including Daytona on Feb. 18. The run ends at the first Dover race on June 3, 2007. Speed Channel (cable channel 51 in St. George), which is owned by Fox, will air the Nextel All-Star Challenge from Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 19.
TNT (cable channel 46 in St. George): The next six races, from the first Pocono race on June 10 to Chicagoland on July 15.
ESPN (cable channel 29 in St. George): After the off week, from the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis on July 29 to Richmond, the final race before the Chase, on Sept. 8.
ABC (Channel 4): All 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, culminating at Homestead 364 days from now.
Speed Channel will be the TV home of all NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races and the entire Busch schedule will be seen on either ABC (which will show the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas on March 10), ESPN or ESPN2.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your remotes!
However, if you're not at home and want to find the races on the radio, NASCAR will be moving from XM Satellite Radio over to Sirius starting Jan. 1.
I got a full year's headstart on the departure when I bought my XM radio in June of 2005. One of the coolest things I'll miss is hearing the classic races from MRN Radio that went as far back as the late 1970s. Even from the old tracks like Riverside, Ontario, North Wilkesboro and Rockingham, it was terrific listening material.
I even heard a bunch of the guys who are currently working on the TV side - guys like Mike Joy, Allen Bestwick, Marty Snider, and Mike Massaro, to name a few - on the broadcasts.
Please note: No station in the St. George area aired NASCAR races on regular radio in 2006. In 2007, your best bet to hear the races is to head to a retailer and get a Sirius Satellite Radio.
The programming does cost $12.95 a month, but the listening pleasure will be worth every penny, especially if you're a race fan.