NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup
Genre	Automobile Racing
Starring	Dave Despain
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	SPEED Channel
Original run	1996 – Present

NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup is a show that airs Monday nights on SPEED Channel during the NASCAR season. Presently hosted by Dave Despain, the show is taped every Monday morning at SPEED's studios in Charlotte, North Carolina about 11 a.m., unless a race is postponed to Monday, in which case the show takes place live. The show usually runs for 60 minutes, except for a brief period during the first few weeks of the 2005 season when it ran for 90 minutes.

Contents 1 History 2 Original show format 3 Current show format 4 Quotes 5 Recurring themes 6 Incidents

[edit] History

Inside NEXTEL Cup has been on SPEED since the network was called SpeedVision, and was called Inside Winston Cup until the title-sponsor change in 2004. The show was also rebroadcast on several Fox Sports Net affiliates when the show was on SpeedVision, but has been exclusively on SPEED since 2002.

The first episode aired after the 1996 Daytona 500. The original host was Allen Bestwick, who then broadcast races on Motor Racing Network. The original panelists were chosen because they each drove a different make of race car; Michael Waltrip drove a Chevrolet, Ken Schrader drove a Ford, and Johnny Benson drove a Pontiac.

The show has been so popular that when Fox, NBC, and TNT signed a television deal to broadcast NASCAR races starting in 2001, thousands of emails and faxes came in to ask that the show be saved. The show went on hiatus after NASCAR embargoed all race footage from non-NASCAR broadcast partners, meaning that there would be no highlight show on SPEED.

But the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, plus various changes in NASCAR, prompted SPEED producers to tape a special reunion program. The program, called "One More Time," involved only the regular panelists and frequent substitute Kenny Wallace, shooting on location at Schrader's home on Lake Norman in North Carolina.

But when SPEED became an official broadcast partner of NASCAR, the show began broadcasting again in 2002. It also had a spinoff, as Inside NBS debuted in 2003. The show was mostly devoted to the Busch Series, NASCAR's version of Triple-A baseball. Bestwick was joined by panelists Hank Parker, Jr. and Randy LaJoie. It only lasted one season.

[edit] Original show format

The show would show the previous day's races, with Bestwick reading notes while the highlights were shown. The panel would then then analyze the action taking place in the on-screen video, whether it's a pass for position or a crash. Sometimes, a member of the panel has to analyze a mishap he himself had, which leads Bestwick and the other two panelists to tease him about it. Other times, though, the panelist will be shown in a moment of success on the track. Also, there are times when two of the panelists will watch themselves in a battle for position, or being caught up in the same crash.

After the race highlights, a now-discontinued interview segment called "The Hot Seat" would take place, in which Bestwick and the panel asked the guest questions (and sometimes ribbed him in a friendly way). Guests ranged from drivers to NASCAR officials to even singer-songwriter Edwin McCain, who performed on the segment in July 2004. Often, the Hot Seat guest would stick around as the latest news and action in the NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series is recapped.

Other assorted segments filled out the rest of the hour. Sometimes, a SPEED camera crew would follow Michael Waltrip to various events, including a hilarious segment at an Iowa pumpkin farm. Another segment, SpeedFan Q&A, led to some answers and a few non-answers. The next Cup race would be previewed in detail, and, in the last few seconds of the show, the panelists would plug an appearance they are making later in the week.

[edit] Current show format

On September 5, 2005, a major (and controversial) change took place — Bestwick, removed from his hosting duties, hosted his last show, and was replaced by Dave Despain, who hosts SPEED's WindTunnel with Dave Despain. Benson, a panelist on the show from the beginning, was replaced by Brian Vickers. Benson was not present for Bestwick's last show. After the 2006 season, Vickers was dropped from the show, and Greg Biffle was announced as his replacement.

With Despain as host, the formula of the show changed. The show focuses almost exclusively on NEXTEL Cup, especially during the 10 weeks of the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. The "Hot Seat" segment was dropped in favor of a remote interview with either the winning driver or winning crew chief from the previous week's race. The show became much more tightly controlled (with the panelists holding clipboards and notepads now) and less spontaneous. The segment previewing the next Cup race has been dropped, and no show was taped in 2006 during off-weeks.

Inside NEXTEL Cup has been parodied in a commercial for Aaron's, where Despain, Waltrip, and Schrader comment on a pair of shoppers going through an Aaron's store.

[edit] Quotes

Micheal Waltrip:

• "Driving that car, I felt like I was sitting on a pickle bucket." -- commenting on the seating position in a bought ride late in the 2006 season after his team failed to make the race

• "Allen, you just stick to the commentary and we'll provide the comedy."

• "There's no solution to the problem. There's 150,000 people there and the ratings are great! Sometimes, you've just got to take one for the team."

• "So, are you pro-boogity or anti-boogity?" -- to NASCAR President Mike Helton regarding his brother's catchphrase

• "I asked my crew chief, 'Next time someone wrecks me, and if Buffy goes down off the box after them, could you call me?' Because I'd run to see that."

• "Anyone out there who thinks NASCAR rules are a little goofy sometimes should take a look at the Formula One rulebook."

• "'En fuego' ... I think that's German for 'on fire.'"

• "I don't know if any of you have seen Kurt's arms, but I've seen bigger muscles on a squirrel's leg."

• "You're gonna love it! It's gonna be more better! Brian (France) took all of the good adjectives and left with them. Me, Johnny, and Kenny, we don't know many good words, so trust us. Go with us on this one."

• "Hello, and welcome to Nextel Inside Nextel Cup Racing. I don't know the name of this show, anyway."

• "This show is probably more popular in Canada than it is anywhere in the whole country."

• "You're breaking up. Who's pregnant?"

• "We've got 120 laps to go, these guys are just riding, taking care of their equipment. That drives me nuts when people think that. People in general think we're just cruising, waiting to get to the good part. Every lap, you drive like your hair's on fire."

Ken Schrader:

• "I thought low would be my friend, because up top, there was a lot of stuff up there. And it was all moving."

• "Well, they put that wall there right next to the race track. It's softer than it used to be, but it's harder than the cars."

• "Oo-oo, I got it! I just multipled -- 400 miles times 43 cars is 17,200 miles. You're going to have a coupla flats."

• "You got someone goofier than Mikey to replace him."

• "Ok, so we've had a day off, so ... OK, so I was finishing my cookie. So, don't turn us off yet, just give us a chance."

• "I had 12 tires, but it wasn't enough to keep me from spinning."

• "You broke a tire? Well, it's better than blowing a wheel."

• "Look at the sledgehammers on John Andretti's car. We've got some high-tech tools, but we also got a lot of hammers."

• "And I'm looking forward to being Johnny's teammate in the Federated Auto Poits -- er, Parts Tundra."

Johnny Benson:

• "I'm not quite there yet. I don't remember that part, so I guess I picked a good part not to remember."

• "It comes off the printer, right? That's where we get (average lap speeds) from."

Allen Bestwick:

• "I now turn you over to our expert panel."

"So, where are they at?" -- a glib reply by Elliott Sadler

• "I declare this segment out of control. We'll be back."

• "And, network executives willing, we'll try it again next week."

• "Don't try this at home. I'm a trained professional."

• "But, we digress."

• "OK, where are we going next? How about you just roll a piece of video tape and we'll do it like live TV? Here we go!"

Dave Despain:

• "You're a prescient fellow."

[edit] Recurring themes

• Ken Schrader pointing out that some drivers who finish behind him in the race receive more money from the purse. Part of that is explained by contingency programs.

• Odd questions or answers in the SpeedFan Q & A segments. One classic question is, "What happens when a driver needs to go to the bathroom during a race?"

• Michael Waltrip having trouble with the digital video clicker.

• Substitute panelist Kenny Wallace's goofy laugh.

• Ken Schrader reminding Michael Waltrip of the time he punched Lake Speed through the window netting at the Michigan 400.

• Cell phones: Waltrip and substitute panelist Jimmy Spencer forgetting to turn their cell phones off; Waltrip dropping his phone into a glass of water; Waltrip phoning his brother Darrell to confirm the story when the Junior Johnson race team changed his engine in 13 minutes.

• Drivers having a sense of humor when talking about horrific accidents.

• The "Rule of Four," which says that, in very close nose-to-tail racing, especially on short tracks, that if there is an on-track wobble or wiggle, it's usually the fourth car behind that feels the effects of it, frequently in the form of a wreck.

• The postulate, first supplied by Allen Bestwick, that "cautions breed cautions."

• The "Whose fault is it anyway?" segments after wreck-filled races at the restrictor-plate races and Bristol.

• Lots of stifled laughs coming out of commercial and back into the show. One time, Waltrip said, "Sometimes I do my best expert commentary when the cameras aren't on." Another time, Despain suggested, "Note to the bosses at Speed: You could make some money selling a DVD of the conversation during the commercials."

[edit] Incidents

• In 2000, Darrell Waltrip came on the show as a special guest and Allen Bestwick could barely get a word in edgewise to get to commercial.

• In 2003, after Michael Waltrip won the Daytona 500, he couldn't make the show because of the numerous television appearances mandated of the champion. He appeared via satellite from Daytona USA, and started his segment with Allen Bestwick, mouthing silently, "I'm just so pleased, so happy to have won the race." Then, he vocalized the words, "I was just fakin'." The entire studio burst into laughter at the practical joke.

• In 2004, the earpiece that the control room uses to talk to each driver fell in Michael Waltrip's ear canal. A crew member with a long pair of tweezers was dispatched to fish it out.

• In 2005, a power-washing crew started its work during the show's taping. The show kept rolling, and Allen Bestwick, continuing on a theme of rude driving and behavior of some drivers, quipped, "Now, that's rude."