REMINDER (Part 1): PowerUpChannel.com will have four hours of exclusive live programming from Phoenix International Raceway Saturday, April 10, starting at 3 p.m. EDT (noon Pacific), leading up to the Subway Fresh Fit 600k NASCAR Sprint Cup event.
I'll host a special one-hour edition of The Race Reporters Saturday, April 10, live from PIR, starting at 4 p.m. EDT, 1 p.m. Pacific. Guests will include media covering the PIR weekend. (Regular show schedule guests listed at end.)
REMINDER (Part 2): Mark Armijo and I will have PIR coverage all this week in the Arizona Republic. Link below is to my Sunday story on the many changes fans, drivers and teams will experience this weekend. I'll have notebooks starting this Thursday. Look for my Q&A with Kurt Busch on Saturday. If you're not in Arizona, find our stories at http://azcentral.com/ .
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/03/20100403nascar-sprint-cup-subway-fresh-fit-600-changes.html
FAST LINES: Good luck to Steve Shunck, new IndyCar Series VP-PR . . . As someone who grew up a Jimmy Clark-Colin Chapman-Lotus fan, and who had the thrill of spending a day at Ketteringham Hall on assignment for Budweiser researching Lotus' planned 1985 CART program, I could not disapprove more of the paint design and graphics on Takuma Sato's KV Racing Indy Car. It's nothing more than a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to link to a proud heritage, because there is absolutely ZERO true connection to the legendary Lotus racing effort. As far as I'm concerned, it's a disservice to the memories of Clark and Chapman . . . It's Masters week, so let me include a golf thought here. As I've written before, I don't play, but follow the industry. Under the category of more-is-NOT-better, file Golf Channel's 19th Hole show. I've watched for a few years. It used to be a fun, informative, fast paced, sometimes controversial 30 minutes on Wednesday nights. Now, it's been expanded to one hour, and completely junked-up with crap and gimmicks and panelists so-full-of-themselves they could easily transition to Around the Horn. I, for one, have stopped watching . . . And, I've stopped reading "news" from organizations that either have nothing better to do -- or are so desperate for attention -- they send out stupid April Fools Day releases. Pathetic and beyond ridiculous -- and an unprofessional waste of our time!
Bob Pockrass, the hardest-working man in any NASCAR media center, said it absolutely right in SceneDaily.com last week. Read this:
http://www.scenedaily.com/blogs/bobpockrass/Texas_publicity_stunt_went_too_far.html
Upcoming The Race Reporters guests:
(Show is live Wednesdays at 7 p.m. EDT, downloadable, and available on-demand at no cost. Click on TRR page logo in upper right-hand column.)
April 7 -- Newsmaker: Max Papis. Panelists: Kenny Bruce, Dave Kallmann.
April 14 -- Newsmaker: Melanie Troxel. Panelists: John Sturbin, Bobby Bennett. Plus, Peter De Lorenzo.
April 21 -- Newsmaker: Patrick Long. Panelists: Larry Edsall, Jonathan Ingram. Plus, Matt Yocum.
April 28 -- Newsmaker: Simona De Silvestro. Panelists: John Oreovicz, Jim Pedley.
[ Max Papis news note Thursday . . . ]
